About Me

Hi, my name is Deran Yamada. I am born and raised in Honolulu, HI. Growing up, I felt like I had a very stereotypical and normal upbringing. I like cars, watching tv, playing sports like baseball, soccer, karate, and swimming when I was young. 

 

Growing up in Hawaii, we have a lot of Asian influence. So using chopsticks, eating mochi on New Years, taking your shoes before entering ones' home was all very normal things to me, and thought that everyone was raised that way growing up.

 

As I grew up, I saw the differences between Hawaii and the mainland, and then eventually to each culture and religion's way of doing things. I started to have a real interest in Japan from elementary school. I remember having a friend that went to Japan every year and having the best toys. Remind you that this is the time that Pokemon, Digimon, and Nintendo N64 was the coolest and best toys. I remember him having a unique color Digimon toy that was only available in Japan. I was so jealous. 

 

Then my interest grew again in middle school when I had classmates talk to a very inspirational teacher in Japanese. Again I was so jealous and wanted to be able to join them, and also understand what they were saying.  Japanese cars started getting popular around this time and started to become mainstream. From that point, I always had a dream to go experience Japan and all its glamour. 

 

I finally got the chance to go to Japan in 2014, loved it and made it my mission to try to move there. So everything I have done since then has been driven by my love and dream of working and living in Japan. As I learn more and more, it becomes more of a challenge but follow me if you have similar interest, dreams, or passions for Japan.