CrossWorld Puzzles

In Episode 19, we welcome Kuriko Wong , a certified coach and the founder of Confidently Clear (a coaching practice helping leaders and mid-career professionals clarify their vision and take confident action toward their own definition of success). With her 20-year international career in public relations and communications at some of the world’s biggest corporations, she has worked with dozens of...

In Episode 18, we welcome Glen S. Fukushima , a bilingual and bicultural Sansei (third-generation American of Japanese ancestry) raised in the United States and Japan. He is a Visiting Fellow at Stanford University, Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, and Vice Chair of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation. His previous roles include serving as Director for Japanese Affairs...

In Episode 17, we welcome Sam Ushio , Founder of Ikigai Lab , where he leads the social enterprise’s commitment to human sustainability and societal impact. Sam designs purpose-driven ecosystems for individuals and organizations around the world. Prior to founding Ikigai Lab, Sam was Director, Practice Management at Russell Investments, where he led the team that coached approximately 1,000 financ...

In Episode 16, we welcome Niharika Chibber Joe , a public diplomat with experience across government, corporate, and nonprofit sectors. She currently serves as Deputy Agency Head of the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission, an independent federal agency strengthening the U.S.-Japan Alliance through educational and cultural exchange. Previously, she was General Manager at Tata Sons, where she managed c...

In Episode 15, we welcome Mizumi Dutcher , a policy researcher and former journalist specializing in Chinese politics, U.S.-China relations, and East Asian strategic affairs. She most recently served as a Foreign Policy Fellow at the U.S. House of Representatives. Her journalism career spanned more than two decades at Fuji Television, including service as the Washington Bureau Chief and an earlier...

In Episode 14, we welcome Gigi Modrich , an Indian law practitioner, roller derby skater, and stand-up comedian. She was brought up in a multiethnic household: her mother is Jicarilla Apache and her father is Croatian American. While she is multiracial, her upbringing focused on her Native American culture. After attending Dartmouth College, she earned her Juris Doctorate from Cornell Law School a...

Episode 13 is a special edition, commemorating one year since the start of the podcast in two ways. First, the host and producer of CrossWorld Puzzles, Shiori Okazaki , discusses her own journey, attempting to address questions she has been asking her guests about identity and various life choices she's made so far. She also discusses why she started this podcast. Second, she discusses what she le...

In Episode 12, we welcome John Onoda , a principal at iQ 360, a strategic consulting firm with current clients in the United States and Japan. He has led communications at companies including General Motors, Levi Strauss, Visa USA and Charles Schwab. He also has decades of experience providing counsel to major global corporations, universities, NGOs and government agencies. He is a member of the U...

In Episode 11, we welcome Kazuyo Kato , the Executive Director of the Japan Center for International Exchange (JCIE) USA. The daughter of a diplomat, Kazuyo was born in Australia, spent her early years in Egypt, and grew up going back and forth between the U.S. and Japan. Kazuyo has nearly two decades of experience at nonprofit organizations dedicated to U.S.-Japan relations and international affa...

In Episode 10, we welcome Lefteris Kafatos , an interpreter and analyst specializing in U.S.-Japan relations. Lefteris went on the Japan Exchange Teaching (JET) Program in Okinawa and served as a diplomatic interpreter at the U.S. Department of State, interpreting for Presidents Obama and Trump on several occasions. He now writes (in both English and Japanese!) for The Japan Lens , where his focus...

In our ninth episode, we welcome Mari Yobp, an artist and poet raised in Japan. After graduating from Musashino Art University, she worked as an art teacher at a school in Osaka (where she met her future husband) and immigrated to the U.S. She is currently based in Pittsburgh, PA, and has also lived in Idaho. Mari draws and paints mostly flowers in watercolor. She also writes Tanka poetry and publ...

In our eighth episode, we welcome Natalia Quintana-Feliciano , a Puerto-Rican & Colombian storyteller, poet, artist, and student reporter based in Washington, DC. She currently works as a communications and event coordinator at a health policy think tank. She has also worked at PBS KIDS, and has written for several award-winning publications. We discuss the complicated relationship between Pue...

In our seventh episode, we welcome  David Caprara , an award-winning multimedia journalist based in Japan. His documentary work has ranged from covering Nepali honey hunters in Himalayan foothills, to reconstruction efforts after the 2011 Tohoku disaster, to uncovering the mysteries of a WWII B-29 crash on a Buddhist holy mountain. He lives in a  kominka  (traditional Japanese house) that he bough...

In our sixth episode, we welcome Yuri Akahira , who's worked in multiple locations around the world, and is now a Tokyo-based director at a global IT company. A strong advocate for women, she has a background in social work and leads the women's employee resource group in her company. She's even taken part in the Mrs. Universe Japan competition and won in the 40s category! We discuss how she becam...

In our fifth episode, we welcome Yuko Watanabe , a strategy & operations consultant based in Seattle. She's worked all over the world supporting everything from big companies to nonprofits, and has also built various online communities that allows participants to connect in unique ways. We discuss how she first came to the United States, what led her to create those communities, and how it...

In our fourth episode, we welcome Robert Holloway . His mother was adopted from South Korea. He did not grow up speaking Korean, but not only has he become fluent enough to serve as a simultaneous interpreter, he also supports other Korean adoptees by building a community and teaching them the Korean language. We discuss his family history and the challenges many Korean adoptees face, as well as h...

In our third episode, we welcome Mari Kuraishi , who grew up in Japan, Italy, and West Germany. She is now based in the U.S. as the President of the Jessie Ball duPont Fund, and is also the Co-Founder (and former President) of GlobalGiving. We discuss her upbringing, what led to her work in international development and social entrepreneurship, as well as how she found her own style of leadership....

In our second episode, we welcome Grace Kim , who grew up in Korea, Japan, and the U.S. She now runs an event planning company in the Washington, DC area using her multilingual skills. She is also pursuing several artistic side projects! For more information on Grace, see photos (and the episode transcript) here: https://crossworld-puzzles.com/episode2-grace/

CrossWorld Puzzles is a podcast that explores how multicultural individuals consider life’s big questions, such as where to be based, how to build their career, who to spend their life with, etc. In this first episode, we welcome Sayuri Romei , who grew up in Italy speaking Italian, French, and Japanese--but is now based in the U.S. (she also happens to be an expert on nuclear deterrence!). We dis...