I was born and raised in the Tokyo area but briefly lived in the US when my father was transferred to Rochester, NY, for his job. Upon arrival in the United States as a teenager, I was surprised to learn how ignorant I was about my own country. This fueled an urge to learn more about my people, culture, and language when I returned to Japan, and led me to earn a BA in Japanese Language and Studies and a MA in Linguistics at Sophia University in Tokyo, and to become a Japanese Language teacher.
I moved to the Seattle area in 1997, and have taught at Bellevue College since 2009. My prior work experience includes teaching Japanese to foreign diplomats and businessmen in Japan, and to secondary, college, and post-graduate students in Japan and the US. I also worked as a consultant to the Natural Language Processing Group at Microsoft Corporation. My passions outside teaching are food and wine. I enjoy cooking and Slow Food dining (as opposed to fast food) at home with family and friends.