Tokyo Alumni Podcast

Lina Yamashita (ASIJ 1997-2003)

Lina Yamashita is Program Director at VIA, an international education nonprofit based in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she develops programs that promote cross-cultural understanding between Asia and the U.S.  Her experiences living in Japan*, Singapore, and the Philippines have shaped her commitment as an educator to highlight diverse perspectives, especially those that are less visible.  Lina earned a doctorate in Education from UC Davis, a master’s degree from Harvard Graduate School of Education, and a bachelor’s degree in Biology & Environmental Studies from Oberlin College.  Outside of work, Lina enjoys making latte art, reading contemporary and historical fiction, and spending time with her husband and son.  

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Christopher Harris (EIS 2015)

He is an American National born and raised in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.  ​During his time in Honduras, he attended SERAN Bilingual School, Escuela Internacional La Lima for and graduated from Escuela Internacional Sampedrana in 2015.  He earned a bachelors in Business Administration from Northeastern University. During his time at Northeastern, Chris was involved with the IDEA Venture Studio on campus and did co-ops in accounting and asset management. During his senior year at Northeastern, Chris was part of the founding of Disrupt, the Fintech Initiative at Northeastern, aimed at building a community on campus at the intersection of finance and technology. ​ 

He now works as an Associate at The Early Stage Banking team at Silicon Valley Bank in San Francisco learning and building relationships with young startups, founders, and investors from the Bay Area.  

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John Mikton (Former ASIJ Tech Coach 2000-2005)

I am a bi national Swiss-American born and raised in Switzerland, in the Nyon area, and grew up in a bilingual home with an American father and Swiss Mother, and was educated in Switzerland and England, I studied in the United States for my Bachelor's, Teaching Certification and Masters. Currently I am the Head of Education and Media Technology/ Deputy Principal at the International School of Luxembourg.  I am a trainer and course designer at the Principal Training Center and Teacher Training Center. , a Learning2 Community Coach and trainer at the Institut de formation de l’Éducation nationale du Luxembourg. 

I have 25 years experience working in Education and Media Technology and 17 years as a Leadership Team member in International Schools.( International School of Tanganyika, Western Academy of Beijing, American School in Japan, International School of Prague, Inter Community School Zurich and currently in Luxembourg)  

I share my learning and passion for digital fluency at : https://beyonddigital.org https://digitallife.live/   

I also co-host a podcast focused on international education, innovation, creativity, and learning  https://www.theinternationalschoolspodcast.coma

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Andrew Melton (ASIJ 1994)

 I am from Arkansas.  I grew up overseas in Riyadh and Tokyo.  

I then focused on international teaching, at the American School of Marrakech, Morocco, the American School of Lima, Peru, and then Shanghai American School.  Now Canadian Ac. in Kobe.  At all of these I taught some combination of band, choir, strings, and general music. It’s so great to be back in Japan, still trying to learn the darn language!  Towards the end of my time in Lima, I married Jen Van Ness whom I met at an ASIJ 20 year reunion in Washington DC.  She attended ASIJ just for one year as a 9th grader in 1991.  

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Minako Abe, M.D. (ASIJ 1988)

Minako Abe is the director of the Tokyo Cancer Clinic in Japan. She attended ASIJ from 1976-1988 and after graduating, attended UC Berkeley for her B.A. and earned her M.D. at SUNY Stony Brook.  She has dual U.S. board certifications in Emergency Medicine and Lifestyle Medicine.  Practicing Emergency Medicine in NYC and NJ for over 15 years, she loved treating all kinds of illnesses and people from all walks of life, but found that nearly 80% of what she saw was related to unhealthy lifestyle choices.  Chronic illnesses such as obesity, diabetes, stroke, heart disease, and even 30-50% of cancers are preventable. As such, she developed a strong interest in Lifestyle Medicine, particularly in relation to the field of immunology and oncology.  

In 2014, she and her family moved to Tokyo to help with her father’s cancer immunotherapy clinic. Having lived outside of Japan for 26 years, she experienced a bit of culture shock, having to relearn Japanese and understanding a completely different medical system.  However, with both of her children currently attending ASIJ, this has given her family a sense of belonging within this very special international community.A year into moving here, her husband was diagnosed with a rare spinal cord tumor, and when searching for the best treatment options in the U.S., she was surprised to find that the most advanced treatment options were actually right here in Japan.  Even the patented cancer vaccines and immune cell treatments at the Tokyo Cancer Clinic is not widely known or available elsewhere in the world!  

This experience got her thinking – how isolating it is for expats in Japan to go through a cancer diagnosis while also navigating a foreign medical system.  How are people to know that perhaps the best treatments and opportunities lie right here?  Her passion project is to help cancer patients navigate the Japanese medical system, while coaching them to thrive and not just survive with Lifestyle Medicine and Mindset.   

You can find her at

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Harald Gjerde, MD, FRCSC (St. Mary’s 2006)

He was the Clinical Director of the Special Olympics Canada Opening Eyes eye-screening program for Atlantic Canada. He has worked as a professional narrator and voice actor, to authoring scientific papers, as well as being a published poet and writer. He will be moving to Vancouver this winter to work for the BC Children’s Hospital as a Pediatric Ophthalmologist, and work as a Clinical Instructor at the University of British Columbia.  

Kazuna Yamamoto (CAJ 2015)

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Voice Up Japan https://voiceupjapan.org/

Ellen Richards

Experiencing the societal differences of both the US and Japan, Ellen discovered another passion of hers: promoting the status of and advocating for professional women, especially in Japan. Although only at the beginning of what she hopes is a fruitful journey, Ellen has been working with fellow alumnae to develop the first professional alumnae network for her all-girls alma mater. In developing this, she hopes to make pre-professional development part of her former high school’s education as well as bring professional alumnae together to exchange opportunities and advice for navigating the business world as a woman.  

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Jason Chung (Zama 2005)

Jason was born in 1986 and is originally from Honolulu, HI. Due to being an Army family, his family moved around stateside and to Korea before landing a long-term residency in Japan. Camp Zama to be exact. Jason attended John O’ Arnn Elementary School located in Sagamihara Family Housing Area (housing for military families) and eventually transitioned over to Zama American High School to complete his secondary years, graduating in 2005. During his time with the Zama Trojans, he participated in varsity football and the JROTC program.  Upon graduating, he relocated to California to pursue his post-secondary education and eventually enlisting in the United States Army Reserves. Following his graduation from Solano College in 2008 with an associate in Liberal Arts, he transferred to the neighboring college, California State University – Sacramento to work on his bachelor’s in Psychology. Through the Army Reserves, he was selected to participate in the Simultaneous Membership Program (SMP) where he would eventually contract as a ROTC cadet to work towards in becoming an Army officer.  As many have experienced the hardships at the time, Jason decided to withdraw from both the college and the ROTC program to take what became a long-term “break” in 2011.  Upon completion of his contract with the Reserves, he relocated to Texas to start a new chapter. The Lonestar State opened up new friendships, career experiences, and eventually meeting the love of his life who is now his wife, and the mother to their toddler son. In late 2016, his wife gave him the motivation to go back to school to complete his degree; and so, he did Spring of 2017. ​ Jason is now pursuing a career as a secondary English Language Arts Reading teacher. If timing and life allow it, he’d love to head back to Japan to contribute as a DoDDS educator to his alma mater Zama High School or even a neighboring DoDEA school.  

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John Hong (KISJ 2016)

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