Speaking of Japan – with Care

In today’s fast-paced, opinion-rich social media world, we’ve grown used to bold headlines:

“If you do this…”

“5 things you shouldn’t do…”

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Posts about Japan are no exception to this trend. Scroll through your feed, and you’ll see countless posts marveling at its cleanliness, efficiency, hospitality, and culture. And while many of these observations are true, they often scratch only the surface. The story of Japan (or any other culture, for that matter)  is more layered, more nuanced.

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That’s why we do what we do at Kontexto. 

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As its founder, I’ve come to see it as my life’s calling to help build mutual understanding between Japan and the world. Not because I have all the answers, and certainly not because I speak for all of Japan, but because I care deeply about how Japan is seen, felt, and understood beyond the headlines*. 

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We want to offer context. Not to contradict what’s being said, but to enrich it. We invite you to look again, maybe a little deeper. Take a common example: “Japan is so clean, even without bins!” Yes, that’s true. But why is that the case? What cultural values, historical experiences, or unspoken norms lie underneath that simple observation?

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I live for these kinds of questions. In seeking them, we connect not just with facts but also with people, values, and worldviews.

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Welcome to Kontexto—Japan’s storyteller for the world.

Founder
Nami Sakai

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*To share these stories, we often need to generalize, something we do with care. Our goal is never to reduce Japan to a stereotype but to offer a starting point for deeper understanding.