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Got a care package from one of my teachers in Japa

Got a care package from one of my teachers in Japan. She has been incredibly generous to me for sending me packages full of Japanese food, snacks, sweets, and delicacies. Every time I open the box, I smile and sometimes scream with joy. This time she also included the latest book her husband, my martial arts teacher wrote. I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve such generosity and support. So I remain forever grateful. / 尊敬してやまない先生からの贈り物。今回は日野先生の人生観が凝縮された最新刊も同封していただいており、喜びと感謝の気持ちとともに、背筋が伸びる思いです。本当にいつも有難うございます！#carepackage #japan #teacher #akirahino #martialarts #japanesemartialarts #gratitude #日野晃 #最新刊　#人生の達人になる #贈り物

During my one-month long journey in the US, I reco

During my one-month long journey in the US, I reconnected with some of my dear friends from the past and made some new friends as well. These photos capture just a glimpse of the joy they brought me.

Time passes and life happens to everyone. Sometimes we spend the best time together, and sometimes we don’t see each other for a while. But my one big takeaway from all this is that human connection transcends time and space. Whether it’s old or new, once in 16 years or every day, right by my side or oceans away, it’s always there whenever I allow myself to feel it. It’s deep and warm, making me tear up.

Thank you so much,
Tammy, Courtney, Candice, Clipper, Nannie, Alexis, Helena Rose, Jason, Amy, Bob, Minako, Minako’s family, Akiko, Leon, Betsy, Steven, Mary, Mavourneen, Barbara, Jeanie, Richard, Bryce, Ruby, Jenny, Yuki, Teresa, Roberta, Sue, Tiffany, Devon, Jasper, Cortney L., and all the wonderful people at the mVm in-person intensive for making my journey special.
I am so happy that our paths have crossed. Forever connected. ❤️

I had a lovely brunch with Teresa today. She is on

I had a lovely brunch with Teresa today. She is one of my dear friends from the Actors Theatre of Louisville acting apprentice program in Kentucky (2007-2008). Our reunion after 16 years was so pleasant and soul-nourishing that the passage of time seemed to melt away for a while.
Teresa and I shared many fun, crazy experiences in Kentucky. She was also one of the people who witnessed the most devastating moment in my life. She was by my side, literally holding me, as I crawled through sorrow to heal.

As I get older, I appreciate more and more the friendships that stand the test of time. Thanks to friends like her, I get to reflect on how far I’ve come and celebrate each other’s lives with profound gratitude and smiles on our faces.

Thank you for today, Teresa!

#friendship #memories #reunion #usa #actorstheatreoflouisville #actingapprentice

Acting showreel vol. 2. #actor #work #showreel #t

Acting showreel vol. 2. #actor #work #showreel #tv #finland

February 21st is my father’s death anniversary.

February 21st is my father’s death anniversary. He died 16 years ago. Every year, when the day comes, I feel intense sorrow.

The quality and texture of sorrow have been changing over the years, however. I no longer sob thinking about him. I no longer dwell on the pain of it, and I am able to go on with my life. If I don’t talk about it, no one would know the depth of my emotion for him. He exists only in my heart and memory.

But my memory of him is limited. All I have of him are a handful of paper photographs. No videos. No recording of his voice.

I sometimes watch other people’s funny or touching video clips or photos of their loved ones on social media and marvel at how they could capture the precious moments with the ones they love.

How would I feel now if I had recorded the moments such as my father’s late night talks with a beer can in his hand and a cigarette in his mouth, or his laugh, or his morning routine of putting Shiseido hair liquid on his hair with a comb, etc. etc.? Would it make me feel “better” in any way? I don’t know. And I will never know.

But then, I look at the photo of my father’s drawing.
When he was young, he saw a girl walking on the seashore of Amami Ōshima, Japan. He didn’t have a camera to snap a photo. So, he drew the back view of the girl on a piece of letterhead to etch her in his memory.
I’ll never know who the girl in the drawing is. I don’t even know if he knew who she was. But for some reason, when I look at it, I feel like I’m sharing a precious moment with my father. And by doing so, I feel ever more present with my own memories of him.

Maybe this is more than I can ask for on his death anniversary. My heart remembers and imagines the stories he had told through his words, art, and the way he had lived his life. They are still here, only for me.
#father #memories #お父さん #命日

My latest headshots. Kiitos ihanista kuvista @emma

Received a care package from one of my teachers in

Received a care package from one of my teachers in Japan. 🙏 / 尊敬する先生が毎年のように送ってくださる日本食詰め合わせ。身に余る幸せとはこのこと。今年もありがたくいただきます。😊🙏#carepackage #japan #japanesefood #gratitude #ゆかり#かつお #ひろし#シブい

(日本語はコメント欄にあります) My mo

(日本語はコメント欄にあります)
My mother recently received the letter of appreciation from the Chief of Higashiyodogawa Ward, Osaka, Japan. The letter acknowledges how her work of tidying up the public park in front of her house has improved the park environment significantly over the years.
Almost every day she wakes up before 5am and goes out to the park. Whether under the scorching sun or in the freezing cold weather, she would squat down along the park enclosure and pull weeds for hours. Using her bare hands and a little broom, she puts weeds and fallen leaves into a trash bag and hands it over to the garbage collection. That’s been her routine for years.

“I’m ambivalent about this,” she says, showing me the letter of appreciation. She didn’t want anyone to thank her for her work. She was doing it for her own enjoyment. No one has ever asked her to clean the park. It’s been her private pleasure to see trees and flowers grow and change throughout the year while pulling weeds alone in the park, unbothered by others. “It has become like my own garden,” she smiles. She tells me about the trees and flowers in the park, every time we talk on the phone.
And that is probably why she has never backed down, even when some mean passersby occasionally harass her verbally. (I don’t understand why anyone would harass a 72-year-old lady who is just pulling weeds from the public park so that the park would be clean and nice for everyone to use…) Anyway, as much as I feel indignant about those heartless harassers, I am also very happy that others have noticed her work and appreciate it very much.
She’s unintentionally embodying the spirit of the grassroots activity to improve the community. It usually takes years of uncompensated work, perseverance and commitment to a bigger cause. But my mother does all that with joy. What an inspiration.
#mom #mother #volunteer #pullweeds #park #japan #prouddaughter

I was on the RAF (Rapid Art Force) tour from July

I was on the RAF (Rapid Art Force) tour from July 26th through August 4th. RAF is an avant-garde, multidisciplinary music collective that consists of artists from various fields, such as music, theatre, circus, dance, and visual art. It has been touring around some unusual, interesting places for site-specific, improvised concerts, mostly during summer.
I’ve performed as a RAF member for a few years now, and it is one of the very special projects, where I learn and enjoy improvisation in extreme circumstances, crossing the borders of art. And I get to do it with highly skilled and generous artists from across the globe. It’s creative collaboration so thrilling and wonderful.
This year’s tour felt especially potent for two reasons. One is professional; a physically intense performance schedule really challenged my stamina and ability to concentrate. 12 concerts in 9 days. Moreover, each concert was at a different place, and the program was also different each time. It was overwhelming. But each place gave me a lot of inspiration for improvisation, and I tried my best to explore all that.
The second reason is personal; I am so grateful to my fellow RAF artists for their friendship during the tour. I often feel like the odd one out in social situations, but never had I felt alone when I was touring with the RAF members. Some of them I’d met for the first time for the tour, and yet they ended up being the ones who celebrated my birthday (August 3rd) in such a beautiful way. I was deeply touched by their kindness and love. It was truly a happy birthday for me.
Now the tour is over, and I’m feeling fatigue and profound growth sizzling inside me. I don’t yet know what the growth would mean in my life, but maybe I don’t have to know… just like in improvisation, I only need to stay present and curious.. and act with courage.
#RAF #RapidArtForce #music #avantgarde #experimental #summertour #2023 #kuusamo #kalajoki #pyhäjoki #konnevesi #finnishnature #memories

Some moments during summer solstice in Helsinki./

Some moments during summer solstice in Helsinki./ Kesäpäivänseisauksen tunnelma Helsingissä. / 夏至の日のヘルシンキでのとある風景。#summersolstice #summervibes #summertime #helsinki #finland

I finished the job as a facilitator for the youth

I finished the job as a facilitator for the youth theatre group at Lapinlahden lähde. It was a long-term commitment, a 90-minute of theatre workshop once a week from August 2022 to May 2023, directed towards a group of teenagers with immigrant backgrounds in Helsinki.
On the last day, the teenagers gave me gifts to thank me: “Luxury Fudge,” tea bags, gummy candy, a tea candle, a postcard of Cicely Mary Barker’s artwork, a seashell, and the hand-drawn outfit designs for me and the other facilitator. I was, of course, touched by their gesture, knowing how far they had come since the beginning. The outpour of their enthusiasm continued. They were thanking each other for the little theatre community where everyone learned to have fun together while respecting each other’s talent and differences. … I mean, this is huge for the teenagers, and probably the most important of all is that they wanted to continue. They wanted to keep on being in the community where their uniqueness and creativity can be seen, appreciated, and developed.
Nibbling on the Luxury Fudge, I ponder on the significance of this. Theatre might be one of the most wholesome educational frameworks. You not only learn how to make theatre but also develop a community that functions through creativity, respect, collaboration, and support for one another. And such a community is especially important to minorities, whose existence is often diminished and/or ignored by the majority.
However, there’s an annoying challenge: how to maintain the financial resource for pedagogical expertise to facilitate such an open, compassionate, creatively exciting educational space. More financial support is needed to continue a theatre workshop series for the immigrant youth in Finland. If it can make a marginalised teenager find his/her/their way to be creative, learn to work with others in a respectable way, and grow up to be an amazing human and artist, what a great investment that is for a society. Its worth is not measurable in the currency of money. In fact, I’ve got lovely gifts from talented young people. And they are all friends now and more confident in who they are. Priceless. You cannot get richer than that.

Talven hetkiä Helsingissä 2023. / Some moments i

Talven hetkiä Helsingissä 2023. / Some moments in the winter in Helsinki. / ヘルシンキの冬2023年。#photography #helsinki #finland #winter #sininenhetki

A holiday gift/care package from my teacher in Jap

A holiday gift/care package from my teacher in Japan. The thoughtful gesture of generosity and support. I’m so grateful 🥹 / 色んな場面でお世話になっている先生から、贈り物が届きました。色々と日本の味が恋しくなる私の事を察してくださり、いつもこんなに盛りだくさんです。さっそく鏡餅を飾って、ウキウキ気分。本当にありがとうございます‼️🙏🙇🏻‍♀️ #gift #fromjapan #teacher #generosity #kindness #thankyouthankyouthankyou

C More-alkuperäissarja Kaverikirja on nyt katsott

C More-alkuperäissarja Kaverikirja on nyt katsottavissa! Oli ilo työskennellä hienojen taiteilijoiden kanssa😊 #kaverikirja #cmoresuomi #actorsjob #bitchboss

After 14 years, I finally had a reunion with one o

After 14 years, I finally had a reunion with one of my dear friends from the SITI community. What’s more, he also invited me to see his show, a 4-hour opera, which was really, really enjoyable and nourishing to the soul. How life brings people together and again feels like a miracle sometimes. I feel extremely lucky and grateful. Thanks @gamblormastor and @okroadwhores ! #friends #reunion #burtturrido #burtturridoanopera #naturetheaterofoklahoma #performance #performingarts #touring #espoo #finland

If I ever become a prime minister of any country,

If I ever become a prime minister of any country, let this video be the proof of my most scandalous conduct. Back in 2007, I danced at a club, wearing a donation box.. sober 🫢 I was having fun and collecting money…
Video by my wonderful friend Matt Sa 😊 #memory #dancing #funtimes #usa

It was a 3-year-long journey, starting from the fi

It was a 3-year-long journey, starting from the first meeting at a cafe in Kallio to Saari residency to Inkost in Malmö, Sweden to Rønnebæksholm in Næstved, Denmark to finally Kiasma. I am in deep gratitude to the TTY team for allowing me to be part of this artistic endeavor. The project not only brought me juicy creative challenges and excitement but also embraced me with endearing friendship and love. I was constantly touched and inspired by the collaboration culture we were nurturing together with patience, compassion, and humor. It generated beautiful art, beautiful memories, and beautiful humans. It saddens me to say goodbye to the project, but I am feeling the growing of the creative seeds we had planted in each other’s life throughout the years. So, it’s the end, but it’s not. The seeds will sprout, and we’ll keep growing.. together.
Thank you, and I’ll leave you with my favorite lines from the show:
“This is
another
chance to
R e p e a t
S e p a r a t e
R e p e a t
Joined together
composed apart,
which evokes
the attainment
of fellowship and love”- WORM

❤️ and 🙏 to @itsanorska @1000xyes @marjaahti @jennykalliokulju @johannakalliokulju @laura_cem @johannes_j @noga.cph , Essi Kausalainen, Florian Feigl, Henning Fredriksson, Saara Olarte, Aino Juutilainen, Ingrid, Edith, Etna, Villa, Ahti, the elementary school kids from Næstved, and all the people who helped us to make this dream journey come true. Photo credit: 1️⃣2️⃣3️⃣4️⃣5️⃣:Pirje Mykkänen/Kiasma 6️⃣7️⃣: Christian Brems 8️⃣: Henrik Hellström 9️⃣: Laura Cemin 🔟: me

(日本語はコメント欄にあります） On

(日本語はコメント欄にあります）
On my 41st birthday, I’d like to share a little story about my life.
In Japan, in June, 1997, I was suffering a throbbing heartbreak and depression. I’d just started my high school life a few months earlier, and soon afterwards, I got dumped rather suddenly. It was a cruel end to my first and most intense, closeted relationship. There was no one to whom I could talk about it. I had no friends in the new school then. My family was worried but didn’t really know how to help me back then. I was suffering alone, or so it felt like. I thought that my world was collapsing. I had no motivation, no interest, just seemingly never-ending self-loathing. I would stare at railway tracks when I had to take a train to go to school in the morning, pondering “an easy way out.” But there was no such thing. So, I just found myself lonely and miserable in my room. Then suddenly a thought came to mind. I took up a pen and paper and started writing a letter to my future self. The gist of the letter was encouraging my future self to take action and never repeat the regret of not doing anything. I placed a passport photo of myself on the letter, signed it, and put it in an envelope.
25 years later- In Finland, on a hot summer day in June, 2022, I was suffering the same things for the hundredth time. I felt that I’d failed at healing and helping myself, even after many hours of counselling and with a good support system. Crying alone in my room, I rummaged through the boxes of my old journals and the letters I’d received from friends over the years. Then.. I found it, the letter to myself. I stared at the photo of the 15-year-old me on the letter. Such sadness and pain in her eyes, and yet she decided to keep on going and cheer up her future self. I felt inexplicable warmth towards the 15-year-old Yuko. “You have no idea what’s in store for you,” I said to myself, well, to the younger me. Then I reminisced on all the people I’d met, all the places I’d been, and all the things I’d experienced over the 25 years since the day I’d written the letter. “You have no idea,” I repeated and said, “Thank you for choosing to live. You are awesome.”

(日本語下にあります) My mother has been w

(日本語下にあります) My mother has been working at a local udon restaurant run by my childhood friend’s parents for a long time. The restaurant has been in existence for 42 years, and I literally grew up with it. It has remained loyal to the local community, providing fresh, homemade udon noodles and friendly service. I’ve loved their udon, and they also have given me friendship and support, which involves both my family and theirs. Now the restaurant is taking a break indefinitely due to some technical issues and the aging staff. Today was the last day before the break. In the photo you see my mom, my childhood friend’s mom, and my mom’s co-worker. Those three beautiful ladies have carried the restaurant for many years alongside the restaurant’s udon master, my childhood friend’s dad. I am so grateful to the restaurant, and I am so proud of my mother today. Thank you! / 幼なじみの両親が長い間(42年間)営んでいたうどん屋さん喜楽苑が、今日をもって長期休業に入る事になった。物心ついた頃からの、家族ぐるみの付き合いの喜楽苑。美味しいうどんのみならず、母が長い間勤めさせてもらうなど、色んな面でサポートしてもらって、本当に感謝の気持ちしかない。この喜楽の看板娘三人の笑顔が、今日はいちだんと輝いている。長い間ありがとうございました！#thankyou #udon #restaurant #osaka #japan #喜楽苑 #うどん #大阪

This is me playing the role of Worm in Thousand Ti

This is me playing the role of Worm in Thousand Times Yes, an experimental chamber opera about finding connection through language, communication, space and the body. I’ve been lucky enough to play many awesome roles as an actor so far, and this is definitely one of such roles 🙂 Upcoming shows:
1️⃣21.5.2022 (Sat) at 15:00 at Rønnebæksholm, Denmark
2️⃣ 3.8.2022 (Wed) 19:00
5.8.2022 (Fri) at 19:00
6.8.2022 (Sat) at 15:00
at Kiasma, Finland
Welcome! Photo by Henrik Hellström #theatre #chamberopera #experimental #Performingarts #rønnebæksholm #denmark #kiasma #finland #thousandtimesyes #1000xyes

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