About
Japan in Small Ways explores the ideas, objects, and everyday practices behind life in Japan — and how some of them might find a place in your own life.
Looking Beyond the Surface of Japan
Not by recreating a Japanese home. Not by collecting Japanese things. But by looking a little more closely at the culture, thinking, and attention behind them.
About Asuka Tsuchiya
Founder of Japan in Small Ways
Asuka Tsuchiya, known to her Japanese language students as Asuka sensei, is a Japanese educator and author who has lived in the United Kingdom for nearly 20 years.
Living in Britain while staying closely connected to Japan has given her a deep appreciation of both cultures, as well as an understanding of the differences between them. She is particularly interested in how culture shapes the way people think, communicate, learn, and approach everyday life. She has also published a book in Japan exploring the differences between British and Japanese education.
Asuka has more than 10 years of experience teaching Japanese at a British university, in schools, and through private lessons. Today, she runs Nihongo Academy, an online Japanese language school designed to help busy adults learn at a pace they can sustain. Alongside practical communication skills, students explore the cultural values and ways of thinking reflected in the Japanese language. Through her teaching, she has seen how learning a language can open the door to understanding the assumptions and perspectives behind everyday life in Japan.
She holds a B.A. in Literature and Linguistics and an M.A. in Education from the University of Tokyo, as well as a Ph.D. in Psychology from Nara Women’s University. She has also passed the Japanese Language Teaching Competency Test.
She has written Japanese language learning books for students and teachers, with titles reaching No. 1 in Amazon bestseller categories in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan.
Japan in Small Ways grew naturally from this work and from her life between two cultures.
Here, Asuka brings together her experience in education, language, psychology, and everyday life to explore the Japan that lies beyond familiar images and traditions.
Her aim is not to present a single idea of what Japan is, or to suggest that everyone should live in a Japanese way. It is to share the stories, ideas, and small details that might help readers see Japan — and perhaps their own everyday lives — a little differently.
