I grew up in the port of Kobe, Japan, which used to be the largest trading port in all of Asia. I grew up in an international community with kids from India, Philippines, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Indonesia, Germany, France, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, United States of America, United Kingdom, Australia and more.  As I was growing up, I always wondered about how language affects our thinking, feeling and sense of self.

This led me to double major in psychology and philosophy at Boston College and then to study with Professor Eugene Gendlin, a philosopher and psychotherapist, at the University of Chicago, graduate school.  I continued to study Focusing and Focusing-Oriented Therapy, developed by Dr.Gendlin, trying to use it in my work as a psychologist at the psychosomatic unit of KitaKyushu Municipal Hospital (Kokura).  I went on and got a doctorate in medical sciences at the University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Japan (UOEH) where I was engaged in mind-body research, studying the physiology of meditative states, using Autogenic Training. 

At UOEH I got involved in corporate mental health, a field that I continue to work in.  I got into full time teaching at UOEH, then at Okayama University, School of Education and then Kobe College.   During a decade at Kobe College, I met a lot of interesting colleagues and students, and served as  the Chair of the Psychology Department, and the Dean of Academic Affairs. During this time, I helped set up the Japan Focusing Association, and served as the Executive Director and later, President. In 2006 I moved to Kansai University in Osaka where I teach in the Graduate School of Professional Clinical Psychology.

I teach as adjunct faculty at Kobe College and Hyogo University of  Teacher Education.  I am a board member of the Japanese Association of Humanistic Psychology and the Japanese Society of Autogenic Training as well as members of several other professional organizations.  I also practice as a Focusing-Oriented Therapist privately and at an automobile corporation.