Category: English

立石 亮 Ryo Tateishi

Born in 1985. After graduating from the Faculty of Law at the University of Tokyo, he joined Mitsubishi Corporation in 2010. Following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, while working in the shipping business, he also continued volunteering in Ishinomaki on a personal basis. In 2012, he transferred to the Environment and CSR Promotion Department’s Reconstruction Support Team, where he was mainly responsible for investment and financing projects for small and medium-sized enterprises and entrepreneurs in the affected areas, as well as a winery project in Fukushima as part of agricultural support. He is currently enrolled in the MBA program at Stanford Graduate School of Business, focusing his studies on “new forms of social value created by corporations.”

野藤 弓聖 Misato Noto

Born in 1989 in Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture. Inspired by a mother who loved Western music and movies, developed an early admiration for English and foreign cultures. Moved to Tokyo upon entering the School of English Studies at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. During the third year of university, took a year off to study abroad at a university in the UK, focusing on international relations. After graduation, returned to Aomori and worked as a public servant for three years. Later married a Trinidad and Tobago national met during the study-abroad period and relocated to Trinidad and Tobago. Currently pursuing a long-held dream of becoming a subtitle translator, while also volunteering as a TED Talks subtitle translator and teaching Japanese to local residents.

Profile on TED

郡司 まり香 Marika Gunji-Yoneoka

A hardware engineer based in Silicon Valley. She moved to the United States in 2006 and earned a PhD in Materials Engineering before working as a process engineer in semiconductor memory. Aside from spending two years in Boston during early childhood, she was born and raised in Japan. This year, she experienced her first career change and is set to work as a process engineer in display technology at her new company. Recalling her graduate advisor’s words, “Connection is everything!”, she says the phrase resonates strongly with her during this career transition. Her motto for using English—especially at work—is: “Speak clearly, loudly, and with simple words.”

井清 桜 Sakura Isei

Originally from Kagawa Prefecture, she moved to the United States at age 11 due to her father’s job transfer and spent seven years attending a local school in New York. After returning to Japan, she enrolled in and graduated from the Faculty of Liberal Arts at Sophia University, where all classes are conducted in English. She began her career at a major financial institution in Tokyo, working in a generalist position. Questioning Japan’s work culture while also realizing her declining English proficiency, she decided to pursue a career change in the United States. She is now working as a flight attendant for United Airlines. Instagram

井清 蘭 Ran Isei

Born in 1992 in Higashikagawa, Kagawa Prefecture. In 2003, she moved to the United States due to her parent’s job transfer and began attending a local school in New York from sixth grade. In the fall of 2010, she entered Sophia University’s Faculty of Liberal Arts and relocated to Tokyo. As a student, she founded a college club and organized various events. In her senior year, she took part in an American Airlines recruitment event held in Texas. After graduating, she completed nearly two months of aviation security training and officially began working as a flight attendant in the spring of 2015. Since 2016, she has been based in Los Angeles.

下向 依梨 Eri Shimomukai

Originally from Osaka Prefecture, Eri Shimomukai works as an educational creator, primarily designing cross-curricular English and math materials and curricula for elementary school students, as well as providing consulting on classroom management.

After graduating from junior high school, she moved alone to Switzerland to attend a fully residential high school. Upon graduation, she returned to Japan and enrolled in Keio University’s Faculty of Policy Management.

She created Changemaking Patterns in both Japanese and English, a work that articulates the tacit knowledge and experiential insights of social entrepreneurs using the Pattern Language method, and published the English edition. In 2014, she moved to the U.S. and earned a master’s degree in Learning Sciences and Developmental Psychology from the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania. After returning to Japan, she taught at a full-time alternative elementary school in Tokyo.

She later assumed her current roles as Director of Live Innovation and Manager of the Education Creation Division.

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