the Way to Japan Vanessa Villalobos

Put the kettle on & enjoy an enlightening chat with the charming Charlie, a tea shop owner in London with real passion for Japanese culture. I got INSPIRED with so many TEA BREWING TIPS from talking with Charlie, and I think you will too!

A milliner by training, Charlie has established the tea shop Tencha with her husband Chris, a jeweller after they fell in love with the taste & aesthetics of all things tea in Japan on their honeymoon.
The couple study Urasenke Chado (tea ceremony) here in London and they love the link that tea has with all facets of Japanese culture, including seasonality, history, clothing, ceramics and art. Charlie want to celebrate tea & all the hard-working Japanese tea farmers! 
In this episode we talk about: 
How Charlie was weaned on tea from the bottle!Tencha’s friendships with the hardworking tea growers in Japan The caffeine hit in coffee ☕ vs. matcha 🍵PROS & CONS of Yorkshire Tea bags!How to prep your water for clear (NOT murky) tea 💕Hojicha (Charlie’s fave) for beginnersThank you so much for listening! To read the podcast transcript, click here.
Get to know Charlie & her tea better:
You can explore Tencha’s online shop here for a carefully curated tea range & tea making accessories, along with homeware & incense.Follow Tencha on Instagram to know about tea, pop-ups and markets where you can find them.

I'm SO chuffed to finally catch up with my talented friend, Yuki Gomi, a professional chef, teacher and cookery writer. I can still remember the taste of the delicious aubergine dish we made when I attended one of her wonderful Yuki's Kitchen cooking classes in her home near my old haunt, Crystal Palace, about 10 years ago!
Since then, Yuki has gone from strength to strength, with her first book 'Sushi at Home' published in 2013 by Penguin, and her Japanese cooking expertise has reached many thousands of people. Yuki has been featured in the Guardian,  Monocle Weekly, Vogue magazine, and has been on The Chris Evans Breakfast Show, to name just a few!

Alongside regular classes at her home in South London, Yuki offers courses and private lessons at special events around the world and colleges such as the prestigious Leiths School of Food & Wine.
In this episode, we chat about:
The ubiquity of the soya bean in Japanese foodBacteria, mould and heritage sporesWhat to do with the miso lurking at the back of your fridge5 core ingredients of Japanese cooking & what they all have in commonWhy koji is magical ✨ & where to get your hands on some in LondonThank you so much for listening! To read the podcast transcript, click here.
Get to know Yuki's work better::
Instagram @yukiskitchenWebsite https://www.yukiskitchen.com/If the Way to Japan mission to explore the art of Japan-inspired living to be found in the UK resonates with you, click here to subscribe to the newsletter. You'll be notified of the latest podcast episodes & blogs, as well as receiving our encouraging edit of juicy, Japan-inspired recommendations.

Let's connect on Instagram! @thewaytojapan
Korekara yoroshiku onegaishimasu. ♡ Vanessa

It was SUCH a joy to speak with my writing mentor & bestselling author, Beth Kempton, who is an award-winning entrepreneur and producer of online courses, a Reiki Master, a yoga teacher, a mama of two young girls, and a self-help author whose books have been translated into more than 25 languages.
Even if you don't have a copy of her book 'Wabi Sabi', you would likely recognise it from it's gorgeous pale green cover... I see it in practically every book shop, gift shop & boutique! 
I loved speaking with Beth about what the pandemic revealed about the true nature of things, her fifth book 'The Way of the Fearless Writer', as well as this small but significant details of what tea & toast she likes best when she gets up to write at 5am!
In this episode we chat about:
The significance of 'Wabi Sabi' in a post pandemic world!Why we always use pencil in diariesThe correct pronunciation of the word 'gaseous'🤯Why we should make a list of things we do for ten minutes every dayThe joy of Japanese stationary & best writing notebook tipsThank you so much for listening! To read the podcast transcript, click here.
Get to know Beth's work better:
bethkempton.com dowhatyouloveforlife.com (for all her courses)Instagram @bethkempton for regular writing inspiration and community challengesAutumn Light Writing Course -  Before October 6, listeners can get free access to a writing course called Autumn Light (a deep dive into the topic of impermanence) when you pre-order 'The Way of the Fearless Writer' book in any format (hardback/ebook/audiobook)

If the Way to Japan mission to explore the art of Japan-inspired living to be found in the UK resonates with you, click here to subscribe to the newsletter. You'll be notified of the latest podcast episodes & blogs, as well as receiving our encouraging edit of juicy, Japan-inspired recommendations.

Let's connect on Instagram! @thewaytojapan
Korekara yoroshiku onegaishimasu. ♡ Vanessa

WELCOME back to the Way to Japan Autumn 2022 interview series! 

I hugely enjoyed talking to my inspirational friend Anna, who is a Devon-based nutritionist and a mum in a busy Japanese British family day-to-day. I met Anna through an online course have since been relishing her Japan-inspired approach to food over on Instagram. 
Anna has gained much first-hand insight into the Japanese ways of approaching food through her varied experiences of living in Japan, first teaching in rural Akita, then returning with her Japanese husband and children to live and work managing a guesthouse in rural Kyoto. When she returned to the UK, she used her unique perspective to set up a social enterprise, Nourishing Families, which supports parents, children and young people to build a lifelong positive relationship with food to nurture wellbeing. 
Anna is the Nutrition for Wellbeing Lead at the National Center for Integrated Medicine. She was shortlisted for a Wellbeing Award in the Complementary Therapy Awards 2022. 
In this episode, we chat about:
Why likes and dislikes are not allowed 🙅‍♀️The way school lunches are served in Japan Why 'mottainai' can mean a wasted opportunityA GREAT excuse to buy a dinner gong! Why we couldn't live without our rice cookersThank you so much for listening! To read the podcast transcript, click here.
Get to know Anna's work better:
Instagram @kandojournalandkitchenInstagram @NourishingFamiliesCICFacebook https://www.facebook.com/kandonutritionWebsite https://www.nourishingfamilies.co.ukEat, Talk, Thrive course info If the Way to Japan mission to explore the art of Japan-inspired living to be found in the Uk resonates with you, click here to subscribe to the newsletter. You'll be notified of the latest podcast episodes & blogs, as well as receiving our encouraging edit of juicy, Japan-inspired recommendations.

Let's connect on Instagram! @thewaytojapan
Korekara yoroshiku onegaishimasu. ♡ Vanessa

WELCOME to the Way to Japan Autumn 2022 interview series! 

I'm delighted to kick off with my wonderful friend Masa, a London-based 'Zen POP' singer/songwriter & artist from Yokohama, Japan. I first met Masa about 12 years ago, and shortly after that, O-ARC played their ambient 'Zen Pop' at the JapaneseLondon.com launch party!
Some of O-ARC's other highlights have been playing at Tate Gallery, Whitechapel Art Gallery, ICA, Le Pop in Paris and Myosaiji Temple in Tokyo. 4 songs from EN album were used for Channel 4’s Hollyoaks! Masa's art has been exhibited at Cass Art Hampstead, London, Chrom Art Gallery, London, Toukou Gallery in Tokyo, and is now at gallery L'embrasser in Paris.
The Paris exhibition at gallery L'embrasser runs from Thursday 25th August - Wednesday 7th September 2022.
In this episode, we chat about:
Gobsmacking advice he got about his 'fake English' that changed everything My fave kanji MA 間 Spaciousness & the art of subtractionMasa's 'healthy addiction' tips for staying motivatedThank you so much for listening! To read the podcast transcript, click here.

Masa's Social:

Instagram @masaiidaart
Facebook /masaiidaart
Twitter /masaiidaart
Linked In /in/masa-iida-1b748423/
Soundcloud https://soundcloud.com/o-arc


2022 Paris exhibition at the gallery L'embrasser


彩心 IROHA (couleur, coeur, & esprit) exhibition
L'embrasser, 24 rue Saint-Louis en I'Île ,75004, Paris
Thursday 25th August - Wednesday 7th September.
Special opening : Saturday 3rd September from 6pm (Masa will be present).


https://www.facebook.com/lembrasser
https://www.instagram.com/lembrasser_paris

If the Way to Japan mission to explore the art of Japan-inspired living to be found in the Uk resonates with you, click here to subscribe to the newsletter. You'll be notified of the latest podcast episodes & blogs, as well as receiving our encouraging edit of juicy, Japan-inspired recommendations.

Let's connect on Instagram! @thewaytojapan


Korekara yoroshiku onegaishimasu. ♡ Vanessa

My 7-year-old's middle name is Zen.
No, really, it is.
We gave him the name hoping naively that it might, I don't know... infuse qualities of calm into his nature?
He is, ermm, not calm. He is like a tightly coiled spring, ready to bounce off unpredictably in any direction. His spirit animal is, I think, Tigger.
2020’s adventure in ‘home schooling’ rapidly led to clenched fists, hyperventilating, hiding under the desk, shouting ‘NO!’. And that was just me!
All the lessons in the meaning of Zen are for mummy.
Something I had to quickly understand is to follow the path of least resistance. Make it easy. Make it fun. Make it interesting. This inspired me to think more deeply about learning Japanese, and how it can be Omoshiroi.
Really, this applies to all learning, doesn't it? EVERYTHING we do in life. It's just got to be compelling and enjoyable, or else we resist doing it.

In episode 6, I will talk about The Real Reason You May Fail to Learn Japanese, including 3 steps to take to smash it to smithereens:
Step 1: How to Break Your Learning Up into Small Chunks
Step 2: How to Get the Habit of Learning Japanese
Step 3: How to Create Your Japanese Language Community

Thank you so much for listening! I have been so touched and overwhelmed by your kind support. It makes it all worthwhile.
I’ll be back in January 2021 with my next Japanese London Living series of podcasts. So you can be first to know about, please do sign up to my newsletter. 
I have defined 6 simple steps to OMOSHIROI learning, which I can’t wait to share with you in this series of podcasts!

Start uncovering your UNIQUE visions, goals and tactics to learn the Japanese that YOU WANT!

To grab a copy of the playbook that accompanies this series, click here:
The OMOSHIROI Method Fill-in-the-Blanks Playbook

Visit JapaneseLondon.com to get more info about learning Japanese, and enjoying a Japan-full life in London.

Vanessa connects learners with 1-1 native speaking Japanese tutors for private lessons and runs the Japanese London Conversation Club.

She also blogs about Japanese living in London, and can be found on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Yoroshiku onegaishimasu. ♡