Episode 18:
Be an Actor, Not a Bridge
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 and Deputy Assistant USTR for Japan and China at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, a senior business executive for five multinational corporations, and President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan. He is also active in several organizations that strengthen global, Asian, and U.S.-Japan ties. We discuss Glen’s upbringing as a Japanese American growing up in postwar Japan and California; the many different types of Japanese Americans; how he has supported U.S.-Japan relations through his many roles in government, business, and think tanks; his philanthropy and support for education and the arts; and why having a unique identity is fun.

(Feb. 28, 2026)

Episode 17:
Being Present in the Moment
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. We discuss Sam’s upbringing in Nebraska, including the close-knit community he grew up in; his family history, including his dynamic great-grandparents who came from Japan, and a recent reunion where 36 family members visited Fukuoka; his career in finance and how he decided to found his own business; the meaning of ikigai and qualities of a good leader; and the importance of leaving our comfort zone.

(Jan. 29, 2026)

Episode 16:
Owning Your Superpower
In Episode 16, we welcome public diplomat Niharika Chibber Joe, who is the Deputy Agency Head of the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission, a federal agency strengthening the U.S.-Japan Alliance through educational and cultural exchange. Previously, she was General Manager at Tata Sons, where she managed corporate sustainability. She has also held leadership roles at the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation. A published poet and writer, she communicates in seven languages and multiple dialects. We discuss Niharika’s upbringing in India, including the prejudice she’s had to overcome and how she came to command so many languages; how her interest in the Japanese language developed; her move to the United States; increasing diversity in the U.S.-Japan space; and the importance of connecting people.

(Dec. 30, 2025)

Episode 15:
A New Journey in Times of Change
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 posting in Beijing. Mizumi is currently a Doctor of International Affairs (DIA) candidate at Johns Hopkins SAIS. We discuss Mizumi’s upbringing in Japan and the U.S., including cultural adjustments she’s had to make; how her interest in China and journalism developed; some of the stories she covered in Beijing, including the heartbreaking Szechuan Earthquake; her fascinating friendship with Kim Jong-nam, the late brother of Kim Jong-un; and her career transition into academia.

(Oct. 27, 2025)

Episode 14:
Laugh Together, Be Together
In Episode 14, we welcome Gigi Modrich, an Indian law practitioner, roller derby skater, and stand-up comedian. 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 and then joined a law firm to serve Tribal clients. She now lives in Los Angeles, where she teaches beading at a Native non-profit. We discuss Gigi’s upbringing and her Jicarilla Apache identity; the historic and ongoing challenges that Native Americans grapple with; her fight against stereotypes in her childhood and the friendships she found in college; her legal accomplishments in protecting the rights of other Natives; and her ongoing transition into comedy and how she is building a community through humor.

(Oct. 10, 2025)

Episode 13:
Connecting Cultures Through Words
(and Insights from Ep. 1-12)
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 (addressing her identity and life choices) and why she started this podcast. Second, she discusses what she learned from the past 12 episodes, providing some recommendations on which episodes specific listeners might find especially helpful. Shiori grew up in Honolulu and Tokyo, and is currently based in Washington, DC. She is the President of Shiori Communications, LLC, where she connects her two home countries through interpretation and writing services.

(Sep. 1, 2025)

Episode 12:
Cultivating Our Humanity
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. We discuss how John’s upbringing in Gary, IN (where the only other Asians were his family members) affected his identity; how he taught himself to succeed in communications as an introvert; the importance of cultivating our humanity to thrive as individuals and workers even while technology increasingly takes over our jobs; how reading trains us to empathize with others and helps us fight forces that divide us; and how we can “find our tribe” by exploring different lifestyles.

(Jul. 29, 2025)

Episode 11:
Leading Step by Step
In Episode 11, we welcome Kazuyo Kato. Born in Australia and raised in Egypt until she was three, Kazuyo moved between the United States (Washington, DC, San Francisco) and Japan throughout her elementary to high school years. She has built her career at organizations focused on U.S.-Japan relations and international affairs in both countries. She currently serves as Executive Director of Japan Center for International Exchange (JCIE USA), a U.S. 501(c)3 organization specializing in policy dialogues and exchange programs. We discuss Kazuyo’s upbringing in multiple countries; how she overcame the challenge of learning languages and societal expectations; why she decided to work in the nonprofit sector and the importance of people-to-people exchange; and how she developed her own leadership style and what she learned from great leaders like Richard Armitage.

(Jun. 30, 2025)

Episode 10:
Towards Perfect Effort
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. He now writes for The Japan Lens, where his focus is the U.S.-Japan alliance, Japanese politics and foreign policy, and regional dynamics in the Asia-Pacific. Lefteris has master’s degrees in Japanese-English Conference Interpreting from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies (MIIS), as well as in International Affairs from UC San Diego. We discuss his upbringing and identity as a Greek American; how his interest in Japan evolved over time as a student, interpreter, and an analyst of U.S.-Japan relations; how he stays calm when interpreting for heads of state and other high-powered individuals; and how we can continue to maintain and strengthen the U.S.-Japan relationship despite recent uncertainties like tariffs.

(May 26, 2025)

Episode 9:
Beauty Not Loudly Told
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 publishes her work in a poetry magazine.  We discuss her philosophy in creating art; how she met her husband and built her own community in the U.S.; how she keeps in touch with the Japanese language and writes poetry; how she has contended with her child’s medical challenges; and how she stays positive no matter what challenges come her way.

(Apr. 30, 2025)