Streamlining towards 2019, Japanese people usually celebrate the New Year with a sense of calmness and reflection.  The intentions of starting anew with vigor and individual improvement; like hitting the reset button within their souls.  I figured Kuna would be the logical choice to chat with.  She is a Yoga instructor as well as the studio director of the Gold's Gym in the Minamiaoyama branch ( www.goldsgym.jp/shop/13170 ) as well as Mellow Flow Studio ( www.mellowflow.jp ) which is on the 8th floor the upscale TAKASHIMAYA Department store in Shinjuku, Tokyo.  Kuna has also published articles on Yoga in Japanese health and fitness magazines such as "Woman's  SHAPE & Sports".  We talk about her story of becoming a yoga instructor, the style of yoga she teaches and most importantly how can it be beneficial for everyone.  Kuna would be a great person to contact for any foreigner yoga instructor wishing to work and live in Tokyo but she's also just a great person to hang around as she emits more positive and cheerful vibes than anyone I know in this city.   If anyone is interested in the 2019 New Year Yoga Party please check out Minamiaoyama Branch website for more information. 

If you're interested to take her yoga class, you can follow Kuna on Facebook and Instagram : @Kunita  and both her studios as well @goldsgym_minamiaoyama   @mellowflow.studio

Today I had a quality chat with Motohiro Kishi, a US-born Japanese commercial airline pilot for Japan Airlines. I invited him on to my show because truly how often have you ever heard of a podcast episode with a Boeing 777 pilot?! It’s not every day that we get a chance to hear what life’s like as a commercial airline pilot as well as someone who works in one of the most arduous and controversial airline companies in Japan. We walk along his path from a trading house worker's son growing up in Los Angeles to challenging himself in the strict and exhausting process of becoming a Japanese airline pilot. Buckle your safety belts and adjust your seats to the upright position because he'll take you for a spin!

Welcome to my first episode of my podcast! My first guest is Natsuki Yasuda, a young entrepreneur who's worked at Rakuten, a global Japanese e-commerce rival to Amazon, but then he went rogue to co-found his own consulting firm and build his own travel guide/tour package website of his homeland, Hokkaido prefecture in Northern Japan, treasurefurano.com Activities such as dogsledding with Siberian huskies make me want to sign up! It was a trip down nostalgia lane catching up with one of my former students that I've witnessed grow from a teenager to a member of the new generation of Japanese young adults that have ambition break out of the social norm yet do something worthwhile to help others.