Hi there! I’m DEMI.
I’m currently working as a dance instructor in Yokohama.
I’ve been teaching for about five years, starting back in my college days, and I’ve had the pleasure of teaching over 500 students ranging from kids to adults.
Through working with students of various ages and backgrounds, I’ve developed a flexible teaching style.
Besides teaching, I also perform on stage as a dancer.
I’ve dabbled in over ten different jobs, from food and beverage to furniture, apparel, and entertainment.
These experiences have honed my ability to quickly adapt to different situations and provide excellent customer service.
My cheerleading background has taught me teamwork, and my experience in content creation has given me a knack for speedy web work.
People often say I’m good at balancing tasks and communication.
Since I was a kid, I’ve always chased after what I wanted.
I remember seeing foreigners in Shibuya and wanting to learn English, and being so inspired by a hippie’s autobiography I read in my college library that I flew to Alaska.
I’m the type who gets restless if I don’t understand something, and I’ll research until I find the answer.
Despite this drive, I’ve always struggled with building relationships. I’d jump into new workplaces, get stressed out, and then take off on solo trips.
During those tough times, my go-to comfort was reading essays by Gen Hoshino and Tetsuko Kuroyanagi（An actress who wrote “Totto-chan”）.
Their words helped me find peace and release my stress. I hope that through this blog, my writing can offer some solace to others too.
This blog explores
a journey of self-discovery and human connections.
I hope to find joy and happiness that roll around in everyday life,
express them,
and it would make me happy if it could serve as a hint for someone’s life..
Table of Contents
The Beginning of My Writing Journey
I’ve loved writing ever since elementary school when I enjoyed calligraphy.
My mom and I even kept a journal we’d pass back and forth.
In middle school, I wrote a diary about my crushes and loved sharing it with friends who gave me love advice. (Kind of a quirky hobby, right?)
In high school, I did a homestay in Canada, where my host mom was a web writer.
Watching her work made me want to become one too.
She’d be downstairs at night, working on her laptop while the washing machine hummed.
I’d say “Good night” and she’d reply “Good night.” It was such a peaceful routine.
I’d head back to my room, turn on a soft light, open my notebook, and write down new words and fun memories from the day. I’d fall asleep thinking, “Today was a good day.”
When I entered the working world and hit rough patches, essays became my refuge. The way actors and actresses could write so humorously about everyday life was truly impressive.
I’ve spent my turbulent twenties dreaming of becoming an essayist and a mom by the time I hit forty.
During the day, if I have free time, I like to write at a café and jot down my thoughts.
I usually order a refreshing drink, like juice, instead of coffee to keep my mind fresh.
I love getting lost in my writing and ideas during these moments.
This routine helps me appreciate how peaceful and fulfilling my daily life is and helps me find new approaches to any problems I’m facing.
The advice and information I share come from this environment.
Teen Years – The Importance of Embracing Individuality Learned from Studying English
Throughout my school years, I loved English.
I dreamed of working at an English conversation school and taking kids overseas.
But in my junior year of college, I broke a bone just before my final cheerleading competition.
This made me decide to focus on cheerleading. However, no matter what career path I chose, I believe I would have always integrated my love for English into my life.
Through studying English, I learned that what’s important isn’t just being fluent but having a strong sense of identity and being able to express your opinions logically.
How much identity you have
When you’re abroad, you get a lot of opportunities to introduce yourself, often out of the blue. Like during a pizza dinner in Canada.
I was with Anne, an exchange student from Mexico, my host mom, and my 3-year-old host sister.
We started sharing details about our lives, showing pictures, and talking about our families and backgrounds.
Anne’s parents were divorced, and though she grew up in a complex family situation, her family embraced it positively, with each sibling studying abroad and forging their own path.
When it was my turn, I introduced my family with photos, saying,
“This is my mother and father.”
The conversation didn’t go much beyond,
“You look like your father.” “Yeah.”
I realized that to talk about myself—what I do in Japan, what I like, who I am—I needed to understand myself better.
That’s when I decided to strengthen my individuality. I wanted to be able to explain who I am, what my background is, and what values I live by, no matter where I am in the world.
How much you hold your own opinions and speak confidently and logically
During a speech contest, I gave a 7-minute English speech titled “Communicate Face to Face.”
I questioned how, with the rise of social media, miscommunications and misunderstandings through text could harm friendships.
But at university speech contests, there’s a Q&A session, which can be pretty nerve-wracking. Really smart professors from other universities act as judges and can see right through speakers.
One judge asked me,
“I find social media fun and it expands my social circle. Why is it bad?”
I got stuck and couldn’t respond well.
I learned that when you state an opinion, if you don’t have confidence and actions to back it up, people will see right through you. On the other hand, if your logic is sound, even emotional opinions are welcomed. This was the biggest lesson from my ten years of speech contests.
This experience made me think more logically, even when discussing emotional topics like future plans.
How proactive you are
Honestly, even if your English isn’t great, having the willingness and ability to express yourself can take you far.
Abroad, if you don’t show initiative, people might just think, “They’re not interested,” and won’t engage with you— it’s pretty clear-cut like that.
On my first day at school in Canada, I got scolded for being an hour late with a “Don’t act like you’re in a foreign country.” I wanted to explain it was a misunderstanding with my host family, but my Japanese passive attitude made me seem like I was just thrilled to be abroad, which I regret to this day. If only I had pushed a bit harder and said, “Sorry, but my host mother and I totally misunderstood that it was a 10:00 AM arrival.”
Not getting swept up in the atmosphere there. Speaking up. Those kids over there are amazing. Seriously, full of energy.
When I visited a primary school in Australia, about five kids surrounded me and said, “Come play with us!” I was nervous because I couldn’t quite catch the rules of their game, but they reassured me with “It’s OK!” and included me anyway, which was just awesome. When I told them my name was “Hidemi,” they struggled with the pronunciation and kept asking “What was your name?” every five minutes to confirm. Eventually, they settled on calling me “Hedemi,” and I laughed it off.
I was moved by their mentality of asking right away if they forgot something. I think their positive personalities influenced me to become more proactive.
Culture shock: Being straightforward even with negative things.
There were moments of culture shock too. Right before my homestay, they told us in the orientation, “Don’t hesitate to say what foods you don’t like.” In Japan, we’re taught to eat what’s served without complaint, so it was tough for me to speak up if something wasn’t to my taste. But I nervously tried saying, “This is not my favorite.”
To my surprise, they just said, “Oh, OK,” and changed the menu from the next day. I cautiously looked at my host mother, but she seemed completely unaffected, which was a huge relief. It was like she was saying, “That’s fine!” This was a positive culture shock for me. From this experience, I started to appreciate foreign cultures more, realizing it’s a wonderful world where people speak up without hesitation and don’t impose on others. It also taught me to live more honestly with my feelings.
In my twenties – Rediscovering Interest and Concern for Human Relationships through Teamwork
Since my student days, stress has always been my number one cause of illness. I couldn’t say no to social gatherings, pushed myself too hard, and soon my health suffered, leading to alopecia areata. It was embarrassing, and I deeply disliked my life at that time.
I decided in my twenties to do everything I wanted without regrets. Among these pursuits, I found the most interest in nurturing my unique qualities. With this in mind, I quit my job and set out on a journey as a freelancer.
Taking advantage of my youth, I challenged myself in various ways. For instance, I composed and sold music, apprenticed under a stage lighting designer for eight months, took on delivery jobs I’d never done before, and even tried my hand at musical theater. Despite intending to live solo, I found myself constantly in team-oriented environments. This new endeavor shifted my focus towards team building and a keen interest in human relationships.
From a young age, I struggled with forming meaningful connections. For example, I often avoided seeking explanations out of fear of getting hurt. I also tended to distance myself preemptively because I was afraid people would drift away. It took me thirty years to truly recognize the love my mother poured into me. I yearned not just for friendship but for a kind of nurturing and unwavering acceptance akin to “motherly love.”
However, my own mother, who never experienced maternal love herself (due to losing her mother early), earnestly sought to ensure I never felt alone. Her expression of love took this form. Misinterpreting this form of affection as “a mother who won’t stay by my side,” I repeated cycles of living alone and returning home.
(Now, thanks to our extended cohabitation, we’ve developed a deeply comforting and wonderful relationship.)
Despite claiming I’m not good at getting along with others or participating in group activities, I’ve been involved in team-centric roles like cheerleading throughout high school, college, and my professional life. I’ve always thought people are incredibly complex beings.
Through self-analysis, however, I’ve come to deeply understand myself as an “individual.” This insight has allowed me to cultivate wonderful relationships with others. Nowadays, I’m confident enough that colleagues have told me, “If there were a contest for saying the best things about Demi, I’d win.” Since then, interacting with people has become incredibly enjoyable for me.
Looking back, whether in English speeches at fourteen about family relationships or during university discussing social media communication, I realize I’ve long been fascinated by relationships with others. It’s a bit mysterious, but I believe this is my true nature.
Choosing to pursue a career as a dance instructor may have been destiny in a sense. Dance has provided me with a profound theme of “how to relate to others.” As I continue to converse with people, this work will serve as the backdrop and essential experience.
What Matters Most in Life
I believe the most important thing in life is “to have no regrets when you die.”
My mother lost her own mother at a young age and understands the value of life more than anyone else.
Since childhood, my mother has shown me, through words, actions, and by example, the importance of “doing what you love wholeheartedly and living without regrets.”
She didn’t want her daughters to experience the same hardships she did, so she took us to various places—like the sea, mountains, festivals, and homestays abroad—even though we weren’t wealthy and it was a struggle.
She worked tirelessly and saved money because she wanted us to pursue what we truly loved, though she never explicitly said it.
In her every word and action, I felt her belief in “living without regrets.”
A certain doctor who has seen 3,500 patients to the end reportedly hears these words every time: “I wish I had traveled more with my family,” “I wish I had taken more challenges.”
Facing death, people reflect on their lives and try to convince themselves they’ve led a good life.
From what this doctor observed and what my mother taught me through her actions, to avoid regrets in death:
– Spend time on meaningful activities like hobbies and travel.
– Show genuine love to those who matter to you.
– Don’t hold back from challenges you want to pursue.
– Embrace your emotions instead of denying them.
I believe these things are important.
My mother’s teachings have shown me how to live a life without regrets. With her help, I’ve pursued my hobbies and interests, and in the process, I’ve grown.
Now, I repay her kindness through writing, dance, and educational activities.
Life is short, and I strive daily to make it meaningful.
Finally
I recently started YouTube, so from now on, along with my Taiwanese husband,
🌏 I aim to be a bridge between Taiwan and Japan
🌏 and to be able to live anywhere in the world, blessed with people.
I want to polish both Chinese and English and accumulate precious time with precious people.
When you can speak English and Chinese (Mandarin), you can communicate with as many as 2.72 billion people.
Among the world’s population of 8.1 billion, only 120 million speak Japanese.
There are 1.5 billion English speakers
and 1.1 billion Mandarin speakers.
Combining Japanese with these totals 2.72 billion people, meaning you can communicate with about a quarter of the world’s population.
If it were only Japanese, it would be 1 in 85 people.
The spread of the world is so different. The number of people you meet, the scenery you see, and the value of your life that you can notice will change.
This blog also has a top page image of an airplane. Airports and the sun are both packed with my blog concept.
A place where the sun warms and brightens the world and gives freedom to my wings.
So the image color is colorful and represents not being tied to any color.
If it were a theme song, I think Jessie J’s “Price Tag” would be perfect.
Isn’t the lyrics ↓ just right? 😄
“It’s not about the money money money
We don’t need your money money money
We just wanna make the world dance
Money can’t buy us happiness”
Thank you for reading this long post,
and look forward to future posts! 😊
