Business “Emotional Labor Across Cultures: What Japan Taught Me About Invisible Care”
Why Emotional Labor Isn’t Universal — And Why That Matters When I first heard the term “emotional labor” in an English-l...
Business Business Designing Work That Works for Moms
Flexibility, Freelancing, and Reclaiming Control — One Small Step at a Time I used to think work had to look a certain w...
Life “The Invisible Career Pause: Re-entering the Workforce After Maternity Leave in Japan”
Why guilt, gaps, and glass ceilings don’t have to define your story. I didn’t plan to “pause” my career. It just sort of...
Family 🌱 Invisible Load, Revisited — How Mental Overwhelm Sneaks Back In (And What I Do Differently Now)
I Thought I Had Balanced the Load. So Why Was I Still So Tired? I remember sitting at the kitchen table one afternoon, s...
Family “Fair Enough?” — Growing Fairness in Marriage, One Conversation at a Time
Why Fairness in Marriage Isn’t About Keeping Score—And What It Took Me Years to Understand I used to think fairness in m...
Family The Invisible Load Revisited: How We’re Rebalancing Household Mental Labor (Without the Resentment)
introduction "Just tell me what you want me to do!"My husband said that one night, clearly frustrated.And I snapped back...
Family Talking Without Fighting — What I’ve Learned About Communicating With My Husband in a Japanese Marriage
Why Talking Feels So Hard (Even When You Love Each Other) Before I got married, I thought “good communication” meant bei...
Life How We Grew Closer While Growing a Family: Bridging the Distance in Parenthood
“You take the baby, I’ll do the dishes.” That one sentence felt like love, negotiation, and survival—all in one breath. ...
Life “Read Between the Lines? Why ‘察して’ Doesn’t Work Overseas (and What I Learned Instead)”
The Invisible Script I Grew Up With I grew up in a world where silence could say everything. Where the sigh after dinner...
Family 🌱 Mom, Interrupted
How Motherhood Rewrites Our Creative Lives When Creativity Meets the Crib Before I became a mother, creativity felt… spa...