All tagged Life Lessons

Lincoln Waweru — A Kenyan’s Experience of Living in Japan (Part 3)

Lincoln Waweru — A Kenyan’s Experience of Living in Japan (Part 3)

Julie Taeko
Life, Japan, Empowerment, Female Empowerment

A jovial, kind-hearted, vibrant, and highly intelligent young man, Lincoln Waweru hails from Kenya. Relaxed, yet driven, Lincoln has the perfect personality for a challenging PhD research topic — the remediation and proper utilization of contaminated soils from an environmentally sustainable perspective at Kyoto University’s Global Environmental Studies Department. With plans to graduate in March 2020, Lincoln would love to work full-time in Japan or Kenya at potentially a university or a research company.

Needless to say, Lincoln has an important mission to fulfill in Japan, with his critical research topic that will help create a more environmentally sustainable future.

Katrina Navallo — A Filipino Expat in Japan, Pursuing a Ph.D. in Southeast Asian Studies in Kyoto University

Katrina Navallo — A Filipino Expat in Japan, Pursuing a Ph.D. in Southeast Asian Studies in Kyoto University

Julie Taeko
Life, Japan, Female Empowerment, Empowerment

With a wealth of diverse experiences ranging from consulting for the Asian Development Bank and Civika, a local NPO to working in the Asian Center at the University of the Philippines, Katrina Navallo was ready to embark on a fresh new challenge — one that would take her to Japan to research about migrant workers in the social sciences field at Kyoto University. But it wasn’t without challenges. In fact, she was initially rejected in her first attempt to earn the prestigious Monbukagakusho MEXT Scholarship. Through grit and determination, she studied how to earn the MEXT Scholarship, and crafted a winning application the following year.

After learning about her acceptance, Katrina took an enormous risk by packing her bags, saying 'goodbye' to loved ones, and moving to Japan with close to 0, Japanese language skills. All of this was done, to pursue her dream of earning a Ph.D. in the Graduate School of Asian and African Studies at Kyoto University, in a topic that she was truly passionate about.

Baking Her Way to Success — A Deeper Look into the Life of Miki Yamamoto

Baking Her Way to Success — A Deeper Look into the Life of Miki Yamamoto

Julie Taeko
Japan, Female Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurs, Female Empowerment

A positive, curious, and successful business woman, mother, and wife, Miki Yamamoto epitomizes the ideal blend of managing both a career and family. In 2011, Miki made her childhood dream — to start her own business — come true, when she opened a stylish bakery in Kameoka called Patisserie Perle or パティスリーペルル.

Impeccably designed, her store features exquisite, ready-made gift boxes and spectacularly-designed goods. Plus, Miki's baking skills even earned her 4th place in a national competition in Japan. With over 10 years of experience, a nationally-recognized baking award, and a year of apprenticeship in France, Miki is a top-notch baker in Kyoto's backyard of Kameoka.

Let's Bring on the Sunshine & Positivity!

Let's Bring on the Sunshine & Positivity!

Julie Taeko
Japan, Expat Life, Women Leaders, Life

I. Why Do You Blog?

Originally, I built my website as a portfolio of what I planned to accomplish, if I were fortunate enough to earn the Monbukagakusho MEXT Scholarship. Fortunately, I did receive the scholarship, and decided to make this an online resource for Japanese women who are thinking about starting their own business. And now, it's evolved into a collection of inspirational stories of Japanese female entrepreneurs, plus my musings of living abroad as an expat in Kyoto!

A Calming & Creative Twist to a Centuries Old Tradition

A Calming & Creative Twist to a Centuries Old Tradition

Julie Taeko
Female Empowerment, Women Leaders, Japan, Female Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurs II

Graceful. Elegant. And mired in tradition. These were my three takeaways from my visit with Atsuko Mori at Camellia — the founder of a traditional tea ceremony experience, geared towards foreigners in Kyoto. Atsuko started her company a mere 3 years ago, and already plans on expanding to a new location within the next year. 

Now with a steady business under her belt with 13 people working for her, all of whom are women, Atsuko is conducting more PR and making more time for herself. She recently appeared on television, was featured on Facebook Japan’s #SheMeansBusiness to promote female founders, created a video on how to make matcha tea, and married a man from the UK

Introducing Japanese Female Entrepreneur — Emi Takemura Miller of Peatix.com & FutureEdu Tokyo

Introducing Japanese Female Entrepreneur — Emi Takemura Miller of Peatix.com & FutureEdu Tokyo

Julie Taeko
Women Leaders, Female Entrepreneurship, Female Empowerment, Japan, Entrepreneurs II

Recently, I interviewed an incredible female founder, Emi Takeumura Miller. We spoke about everything ranging from the advantages of starting a female entrepreneurship to the importance of sharing your vision with everyone you meet. Not only did she co-found Peatix.com, a mobile-focused event platform, but she also co-founded FutureEdu Tokyo, an education-based community, and co-hosted Unreasonable Labs Japan, a 5-day, hyper-accelerator to give Japan-based, social entrepreneurships an “unfair advantage to scale and succeed.” Most recently, Emi spoke at TEDxRoppongi to encourage more young female participation in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math).

Introducing Kay Deguchi, Owner of Ochanomizu, an Innovative Orthopedic Rehab Center – Part 2

Introducing Kay Deguchi, Owner of Ochanomizu, an Innovative Orthopedic Rehab Center – Part 2

Julie Taeko
Women Leaders, Female Entrepreneurship, Female Empowerment, Entrepreneurs

As this is Part II of a wonderful interview with Kay Deguchi, please refer to Part I before reading Part II.

A second life lesson she shared with me was the fact that our time is running shorter by every second.

Steve Jobs once said, “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.”  

Our days pass by, so it’s up to us to actively participate in life. So why not live life to the fullest, instead of complaining all the time? It’s our call.