Fashion stylist and author of An Obsession Made In Japan. MA Design History graduate from the Royal College of Art. BA Politics at Keio University (慶應義塾大学). Formerly at Takarajimasha (宝島社) & Monocle.

Find out more about Tanuki

• 1) Do you speak this language fluently because of your origins or because a teacher inspired you to learn?

  Japanese is my mother tongue, as I was born and raised in Japan.

• 2) Can you name a living, historical or fictional character that you think is the emblematic representative of the language's culture?

  Ryoma Sakamoto.
  He lived/worked in the late 19th century, when Japan had a big pressure from the Western countries to open Japan.
  Sakamoto represents the harmony (WA) of tradition & modernisation of our country.

• 3) Is there a typical word, phrase, tradition or behavior in the language that you particularly like?

  七転び八起き。
  This is the Japanese proverb to say 'Fall 7 times, Rise 8'. It is my life philosophy.

• 4) Why does speaking this language matter to you?

  The language is complex yet unique with 3 alphabets.
  Speaking of 2, it is a harmony of traditional & modern, using Kanji (imported from China), Hiragana (originated in Japan) and Katakana (to describe the Western imports).

• 5) What is the main difficulty in learning this language and what can help the process of learning?

  It can be overwhelming due to 4.
  A lot of international learners find it hard for the first few lessons as it might be too much information.
  However, I always tell them to relax, try not to be a master of the language in one day.
  Learning language is like taking 3 steps forward, 2 steps back. It is always ok to make mistakes, forget something as those are part of your improvement.

• 6) Provide a valuable anecdote related to your language learning or your days at school.

  I remember I enjoyed 漢字ドリル。
  It is a notebook/template to practice all sorts of Kanji.
  You can repeat writing Kanji-s all the way through the pages.
  By doing so, not only could I remember how to write them but also I could discover how each character was artistically formed (e.g. Bird, River & Mountain etc).

• 7) How has travel or a specific trip helped you to increase your skill and knowledge of the language?

  When I travelled to Hong Kong, it was interesting to discover the difference between how we use/spell all the Kanji-s.
  They were different but I could still understand what they write about :)

• 8) What makes you a Superprof in language?

  Teaching Japanese is not only helping people speak, write and listen, but also I am representing the Japanese culture and tradition, or any small things in Japan that my students would never know without me.