Health Nighttime Notes: Why Japanese Women Sleep So Little, and How I Reclaimed My Dreams
Where the sleepless story begins — with a cup of cold tea at 1 a.m. The house is quiet, finally. The dishes are done, th...
Health Health The Rest Rebellion: How Japanese Women Are Reclaiming Their Right to Slow Down
“When Rest Becomes Resistance” In Japan, rest is often seen as a reward — something to be earned onlyafterall obligation...
Health Stretching Between Roles: Wellness for Women in Japan’s Pressure Cooker Culture
“When ‘Me Time’ Feels Like a Myth” There’s this moment I think every mom or working woman in Japan has had. You’re stand...
Life Mental Health Behind the Sliding Door: What I Wish More Japanese Moms Talked About
When I first became a mom in Japan, I expected a lot of things — sleepless nights, laundry mountains, and endless diaper...
Business Tradition vs. Transition: Living Inside Japan’s Social Tug-of-War
Introduction I didn’t grow up dreaming of becoming a culture commentator. I was just a regular Japanese girl, raised in...
Business “Designing Work That Works for Moms: How I Rebuilt My Career After Kids — One Nap at a Time”
The Quiet Revolution on My Kitchen Table If you looked at my resume, you might think I took a long break from “real” wor...
Family The Bento Box and the Ballot Box: How Everyday Choices Shape Democracy
A Kitchen-Sized Revolution It started with a sausage cut into an octopus shape. My daughter squealed in delight, my son ...
Family Raising Citizens, Not Just Students: What Japanese Schools Won’t Teach — and Why I Will
The Education We Don’t Talk About My son came home with a perfect test score last week.Kanji: 100.Math drills: 100.Readi...
Life When Politics Hit the Dinner Table: A Tokyo Mom’s View of Japan’s Future
Setting the Scene We were halfway through dinner — grilled salmon, miso soup, the usual — when my 10-year-old son asked,...
Family “Wife, Mother, Citizen: Watching Japan Shift from the Sidelines”
Living in the Pause It always starts the same way: I’m sipping lukewarm coffee from a chipped mug, toddler socks hanging...