NHK Tokyo

In partnership with African-American hafu, Joe Oliver, and two news anchors from NHK, we conducted a roundtable discussion about diversity and inclusion in the workplace and the role media plays in shaping people’s understanding. We discussed our own experiences of discrimination and asked participants about unconscious bias and what they can do to better diversify media & entertainment in Japan. 123 producers, directors, and news anchors participated in this two hour online workshop.

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For Empowering WOmen

I have spoken to this women’s organization on various occasions. I was also the former Membership Director for the organization in 2017-2018.

May 2019 guest speaker, monthly meeting: For Multicultural Girls Night, members had the special treat to bring their multicultural/hafu daughters as well as inviting members of Hafu Ladies. I discussed my own upbringing and the methods in way parents and adults play a key role in raising multicultural daughters. In the breakout session, girls aged 10-17 joined with young adult Hafu Ladies members to talk about life, school, and identity.

November 2020 breakout session leader, Career Strategies Seminar (Signature Event): I conducted a session titled, “How to Grow Your Team, and the Fans Who Root for You,” discussing the key points in community building and growing. The session also included tips on how to be a community leader, enhancing emotional connections with a community, as well as technical information on growing an online community.

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Shibuya Hatashino Elementary School

I conducted a workshop and lecture for teachers and student counselors at an elementary school that has a large multicultural community. We discussed how adults can be more supportive of multicultural children in school and at home in order to foster positive diversity among children in hopes to help them become compassionate future leaders.
 

Mercari

I conducted an internal workshop for employees at Mercari as part of the guest speaker series for their enrichment program that focuses on female empowerment, LGBTQ alliance, and diversity. 70 employees joined us in this interactive workshop focused around discrimination and prejudice that foreigners face in Japan.

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Small talk (online series)

In partnership with Boundless, the Small Talk series brings in speakers on a monthly basis to talk about anything and everything. As a guest speaker, I discussed statistics about what diversity looks like in Japan and conducted a roundtable discussion about where everyone stands on the topic of diversity.

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Peace Boat

I spent 106 days (3.5 months) onboard Peace Boat’s Ocean Dream where I worked as a J-E interpreter for guest lecturers, daily events, and on-land tours. While working onboard, I also had the opportunity to conduct my own workshops and lectures mostly centered around identity.

What does it mean to be Japanese?: In this interactive workshop, the 50 participants from Japan, China, Taiwan, and a variety of Western countries observed identity - especially Japanese - through various lenses. We played a games and held discussions to provoke participants to dig deeper into what it means to be from somewhere and to identify with a certain race or community.

The True Faces of Hafu People: In this lecture, I introduced the truth behind the societal and cultural pressures half-Japanese people encounter in Japan. In addition, I introduced the diversity within the hafu community and urged listeners to break down stereotypes that many people hold of hafus.

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