According to my mum, my love for reading started when I was a toddler… reading books upside down. This gives you a pretty good idea of what I am like now. Strange but interested. I’ve been writing stories since I was nine, starting with an embarrassing Pokemon-inspired series, then a twice-visited fantasy trilogy, and most recently Young Adult. My goal is to eventually get published and be able to point myself out on the shelves in Waterstone’s.

This Japan blog originally started out as a solution to the inevitable frustration that comes with graduate job-hunting. I studied History at university and, with my love for all things Japan, a Japan blog seemed like the right way to go!

My younger sister, Grace, who was an avid manga reader and doodler,  initially sparked my interest in Japanese pop culture. When I was 15, I had spinal surgery for a condition called scoliosis and met another girl my age (Louise) who opened a whole world of video games, anime and cosplay to me. I went to a few anime conventions during university and eventually persuaded my mum to visit Japan with me, where I realised my real love for Japan lay in its history and culture. I balanced my dissertation with casual reading about the samurai and developed an addiction to matcha.

I’ve visited Japan four times now and hope to go back for the 2020 Olympics!

The Japan blog allows me to balance my love for writing and desire to discover more about Japan. This is purely a hobby and I blog in between work and other ‘normal’ things and having readers who enjoy the stuff that falls out of my brain makes it all worthwhile.