Ferry trip between Finland and Sweden and cost saving tips

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-Nordic countries are very similar?

This was the question I had out of curiosity. To my little knowledge, many people (including myself) have tendency to group nordic countries as rich countries with good social welfare (and high tax rate for that!).

Since I came to live in Denmark, one of the nordic countries, I decided to take this opportunity to travel neighboring countries – Finland and Sweden. In addition, I learned that there is daily ferry to connect those two countries, so gave it a try for the first international ferry experience.

In this entry, I will share some of highlights and learnings in Finland, Sweden and some experience of international Ferry travel and some tips to reduce your travel cost (!)

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Introduction and strong intention of my first published book “How to meet who you want to be”

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My first book will be published on August 9th!

The title is …（quite long…inhaling….）

“How to meet who you want to be ー Messages from someone who jumped into the world ー ”
(Iwanami Books).

Since this is my first published book, let me briefly explain what this is about and my strong intention around the cover page (in Japanese version, I included some hidden stories).

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Highlights and Learnings after Living in Denmark for 6+ Months

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What we can learn from Denmarkー one of the happiest countries in the world

This was the title of an online webinar I joined 6 months before moving there. Had I known that I will actually live in that country, I would have listened more seriously.

In this entry, I will share some of my thoughts of living for more than 6 months in Denmark ー one of the happiest countries ー with specific interests in food, culture, education and things to see. I hope this will serve a guide and learning for anyone interested to visit and know more about Denmark.

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How to relate yourself to the global problemsーWorld Refugee Day 2022

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Today is just another day?

Probably “yes” to some people and “no” to some others, including specific groups.

The 20th of June is the World Refugee Day, and this year is something unique because of Ukrainian crisis which caught global attention. As is the case with most crisis, however, it’s been almost 5 months since the attack and we tend to take it for granted because we don’t relate this kind of global problem to “our own thing” as time goes by. And as you read this, there are so many things going on in the world besides the Ukrainian crisis.

As a person who has been working in global aid and refugee issue, in this post, I would like to provide some snapshots of global refugee situation to honor this day, and share some insights into how to relate global problems to our own things.

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Highlights and Learning from short trip in Iceland

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-See Aurora.

It has been one of my life’s to-do-list items.

Considering several conditions to see it (places, season, weather, my availability, budget, equipment etc.), I decided to go to Iceland in April 2022 while I lived in Denmark.

Although the aurora season (until March-April without guarantee) was almost over and I could stay just for 3 nights, I decided to give it a try. In this entry, I will share some of highlights and learnings in Iceland with specific interests in food, culture, education and recommended places (and the outcome of aurora hunting).

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12 Mistakes / Lessons Learnt as a Beginner House Gardener

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Ok, I will plant something! ……But how can I do it?

This is exactly the situation I had last year. I just read some books on house gardening and assumed I got the basic logic, then took some actions. But as is always the case, knowing theories is one thing and actually doing something well is different.

In this post, I will share 12 mistakes (learning) I had from home gardening, hoping they will serve for beginner planters and some lessons might be applicable to other areas.

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Arigato Natto 3ーFive steps to scale up small initiative in Europe

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Since I moved to Denmark (last November), this is the first entry to write something related to the experience here.

I could have written about Nordic culture, Danish winter, mindset, new year fireworks, its social welfare system, etc. But instead of those, the topic I decided to write about is this.

Natto making in Denmark as a scale-up.

Yes, it is about natto making which I started in Africa. But it is also about showing how to scale up something. So hopefully this will serve for natto lovers as well as anyone who wants to scale up what you do, be it a start-up, project, hobby or your learning cycle.

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