Interviews with Tokyo People

2024-04-09

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2024-04-04

日本語 Interview by Isao Tokuhashi info@myeyestokyo.com Vinod Vijayasankaran (India) Cinematographer/Filmmaker/Video Director We would like to introduce a longtime friend of ours. A filmmaker from India: the land of cinema. We met him through LinkedIn about 7 years ago. After reading one of our articles, he became interested in our activities. At that point, he was already working on several films and approached us to collaborate. Although we met him several times, we lost touch with him for a while. Last summer, after several years, we approached him for a project, reigniting our connection and leading to this interview. In the

2024-03-30

日本語 Interview by Isao Tokuhashi info@myeyestokyo.com Erin Shiraishi (Ukraine) Entrepreneur *Photo provided by Erin Shiraishi Last year, we received a message from someone after a long time. It was from Erin Shiraishi, a former journalist turned entrepreneur. Originally from Ukraine, Erin has lived in many countries. She told us that she recently came back to Japan from France and founded ProMaman – an online social platform to help women everywhere to discuss what they need. In celebration of her entrepreneurial achievements, we requested an interview with her. *Interview held online Creating an online space for struggling women I organize

2024-03-20

日本語 Daniel Penso Columnist/Proofreader/Translator Photo by Daniel Penso As one entranced by the cultures of Japan and other parts of East and Southeast Asia, going to somewhere in the former Soviet bloc would appear to be something out of the usual routine. Central Asia and Western Asia, albeit Asia, are not the same in all sorts of ways, be it food, language or ways people lead their lives. So going to Georgia was something I would not have imagined doing previously. I had been interested in the Georgian language (ქართული ენა Kartuli Ena) for the last few months and had

2024-02-13

日本語 Written by: Daniel Penso Columnist/Proofreader/Translator As an avid rakugo fan, I enjoyed Kristine Ohkubo’s Talking About RAKUGO 1: The Japanese Art of Storytelling, a wonderful source for learning about the history of the art and those who have and currently participate in rakugo. In this interview, we talk with Kristine Ohkubo about that book and her thoughts about rakugo and what makes it such an interesting comedy form. Please introduce yourself. My name is Kristine Ohkubo. I’m an author based in Los Angeles, CA. I officially began writing over a decade ago. I’ve published eight books to

2023-12-18

日本語 Interview by Isao Tokuhashi info@myeyestokyo.com Rizalyn Pascual Gonoi (The Philippines) Supervising organization staff About 10 years ago, we held English conversation meetings and presentation events many times at a co-working space in Tokyo. At that time, Ms. Rizalyn Pascual Gonoi helped us as an English speaker and English MC. We met her again in the fall of this year (2023). She, whom we affectionately call “Riza-san,” participated in the “Multicultural Panel Discussion: Psychological Barriers in a Multicultural Japan” (*Hosted by Global Peace Foundation Japan), which MET editor-in-chief Tokuhashi was involved in planning. We felt the gap of time and

2023-11-14

日本語 Interview by Isao Tokuhashi Edited by Jennifer A. Hoff info@myeyestokyo.com Yoshihiro Paul Kitagawa Former Refugee and Company Owner My Eyes Tokyo has interviewed many people who have come to Japan from various countries. Some of them are refugees, and others are supporters of refugees. We would like to introduce to you Yoshihiro Kitagawa, who arrived in Japan as a refugee, and later became the president of a company. Aw Wanping, an entrepreneur from Singapore, whom we interviewed in the spring of this year (2023), was who told us about Kitagawa. She said, “I have a business partner who

2023-10-25

日本語 Interview by Isao Tokuhashi Edited by Jennifer A. Hoff info@myeyestokyo.com Arutan Kobayashi (Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China) Restaurant manager One day we were browsing through our Facebook feed when we came across a captivating post. It was from a participant of an event we once organized, who visited a “Silk Road Cuisine” restaurant in Yokohama. A quick Google search revealed that the restaurant serves cuisine from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Hearing that the restaurant offers Xinjiang food culture, which is considerably rare in Japan, we decided to visit the restaurant on the day of our upcoming meeting

2023-09-29

日本語 Interview by Isao Tokuhashi Edited by Jennifer A. Hoff info@myeyestokyo.com Dewi Miyashita & Riri Watanabe Best friends The months of intense heat are finally coming to an end as we enter late autumn. However, we would like to introduce two women originally from Indonesia. Dewi Miyashita, a dancer, and Riri Watanabe, who supports her activities, became very close to each other in Japan—and make us feel like mid-summer is still with us. We first met them around June of last year (2022). These two bright and cheerful women were helping out with the “Multicultural One Family Festival,” an

2023-09-11

日本語 Interview by Isao Tokuhashi and Jennifer A. Hoff Edited by Jennifer A. Hoff info@myeyestokyo.com Noriki Tamura Entrepreneur When we at My Eyes Tokyo (MET) planned to travel to Canada this year (2023), Jennifer, MET’s English editor-in-chief who is a native Vancouverite, told us about a hot dog chain that she had been familiar with for many years — “JAPADOG“, a Japanese-style hotdog restaurant that operates both in Vancouver and in the United States. It has been featured in numerous media outlets for its uniqueness and has become so integrated into the everyday lives of the locals that all

2023-07-13

日本語 Interview by Isao Tokuhashi info@myeyestokyo.com Kelly Sun (Canada) Educator This summer, My Eyes Tokyo team is going to Canada, a country known for its multicultural communities. To commemorate this trip, we would like to introduce a Canadian woman who has been a friend of ours for many years. Kelly Sun, an educator and a school owner from Vancouver. She used to help us with some interviews. You can see her in the following articles: –I want to make Japan a better place with my idol group. –What does “MARU” mean? – Tell me, Japanese people! Vol.16 We had not

2023-05-24

日本語 Interview by Isao Tokuhashi info@myeyestokyo.com Aw Wanping (Singapore) Entrepreneur/Researcher One day we received a message on LinkedIn that said, “I came across one of your interviews and wonder if it would be possible to be interviewed.” This message was sent to us by an entrepreneur from Singapore. However, looking at her background, most of her experience was as a researcher in the medical field. The website of her company, TokudAw, introduced not only her but also her co-owners, but we were still very curious about how she started her own business in the travel field with almost no experience

2023-04-16

日本語 Interviewed by Isao Tokuhashi Edited by Jennifer A. Hoff info@myeyestokyo.com Samuel Aning (a.k.a NANA YAW POP) Actor/Businessperson One day in April this year (2023), we were invited to an offline gathering organized by a newly established English school in Yokohama. The main purpose of the event was for English conversation learners to enjoy communicating in English while enjoying delicious dishes. There were several foreign nationals and one of them was Samuel Aning from Ghana, known as “POP,” who has been active in the Japanese entertainment industry for many years. Our seats happened to be next to POP’s and

2023-01-27

日本語 Interview by Isao Tokuhashi Edited by Jennifer A. Hoff info@myeyestokyo.com Florsan Bolando Kondo (Philippines) Moringa Cultivator and Enthusiast Photo provided by Florsan Bolando Kondo The “Multicultural One Family Festival” was held in Tokyo on November 23 last year (2022). At the festival, where people of various backgrounds living in Japan gather to share their culture and traditions through shows and stalls, we met an interesting group of people. A group called “ATE Moringa” grows the “Moringa” plants in Yokoshiba-Hikari, Chiba Prefecture, about 70 kilometers from central Tokyo. It is a highly nutritious plant with origins in Northern India which

Interviews with Tokyo People Achieving Dreams

In Progress : Vancouver to Narita at just $270 CAD! ZIPAIR’s Vancouver route begins service on March 13, 2024

I began learning Japanese for a trivial reason, yet it paved the path to my dreams. Now, I aim to elevate this dream to a grander scale worldwide.

I want to foster helpful dialogue between women from different backgrounds and nurture the concept of “Happy Woman, Happy All” to prevent more war.

A Stopover in Georgia

Rakugo has been pretty consistent for the last 400 years but it’s not as static as we might think. It’s changing and evolving to reflect the world around us.

I have been giving back to the children of Japan and young people from other countries the kindness I received from my teacher in my childhood.

A lot of luck led me to Japan. Thanks to the help of many people, I was able to survive in Japan as a refugee. I am grateful to all the people I’ve met.

Every time I say “Thank you,” it makes me happy. I want to say “Thank you” from the bottom of my heart to my customers and to this town.

Together we are like a pot and its lid. We want to go everywhere together and stay together forever.

We’re delivering dreams and excitement to the world—not just selling hot dogs

I have made all my own decisions so far. I have no regrets in my life.

We should always think differently in order to succeed in business.

If I hadn’t come to Japan, I would’ve been dead already.

Revitalizing this country with Moringa is my way of giving back to Japan!

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