The Marriage of my two loves: Science and Travel

My first experience of coming to Japan has never left me. I was ten years' old, and my umbrella was swept out of my hand by strong winds on a rainy day at the Mt. Fuji Fifth station! But there was no way this could have spoiled my experience of seeing Fujiyama for the first time. It's a sight so grand it's difficult to adequately put into words; I don't think I even noticed the rain. 25 years later, I still bring my guests to the same place, and I always think of that day when I look at the sea of umbrellas moving through the station in the rainy season.

It might come as a surprise to some, but I was not born here. I am originally from Singapore, and I still feel the same sense of wonder in Japan today as I did on that first visit. It's a combination of many things together, both the tangible; the view of the iconic Tokyo Tower as I'm driving along the Tokyo Metropolitan Expressway; the reflection of Tokyo Skytree in the Arakawa River and the intangible, the dry air and the smell of winter, fabric freshener and gingko leaves and the gentle hues of the Japanese spring, punctuated with the pinks and reds of cherry blossoms.

It's this perspective that I want to share with our guests. Not the perspective of someone for whom Japan is simply a home that is taken for granted, but the perspective of a traveller who knows Japan to be a spectacular, captivating mystery that with each visit becomes at once more familiar, yet more captivating still.

I started TokudAw because I wanted the world to experience Japan as it really is; to have the most enriching and authentic experience they can of one of the world's most fascinating cultures, the brilliant and inspiring, but also the everyday, and everything between. 

I wanted our visitors to see a little deeper into Japanese life, to allow them to learn something new and depart with the feeling that they've brought some part of Japan, some new insight and understanding home with them, and for the Japanese people, locals, guides, and many others, to learn something from meeting people from overseas. Learning as we live is a very important principle, one I strongly advocate, and seeing the truth of people, beyond the images and caricatures we carry around in our minds, is essential to it.

The perspective I bring to travel, and share with our guests, is unique. It's one that draws on my other professional life in science and education. To me Japan is not just Tokyo Tower, Shibuya Crossing, Mt Fuji, Kyoto or seasonal flowers, it is the home of my other professional life in science and education.

I came to live and work in Japan as a Japanese Government (Monbukagakusho: MEXT) scholar and JSPS Postdoctoral Fellow. I received my PhD in Biomedical Science, and the first part of my degree was dedicated to developing a diagnostic technology for preventive medicine. In my scholarship application, I always said that I wanted to become a bridge between Japan and the rest of Asia. I'm very pleased that I am able to do this today in both of my professions.

I am now a Research Associate at Keio University's prestigious Institute for Advanced Biosciences where I teach nutriomics – the scientific connection between good food and nutrition and good health. Imagine working in this field in a country where the food is so richly varied, with such deep roots in the country's history and so many expressions in every part of its culture! There are few places in the world with such a reverence for food as Japan, and such an intuitive grasp of foods that are beneficial to the body. Fermented foods like miso and pickles, antioxidant rich green tea, and of course, foods which are high in protein, low in fat, and full of Omega-3 to support healthy brain function, like sushi.

It's not hard to see how the science of eating for good health, and creating experiences for visitors to Japan go hand in hand. Naturally, I set out to bring these two passions together, and this is why many of our packages bring together elements of insight into eating, the relationship of diet to culture and wellbeing, and education more broadly. Our packages are crafted with the intention to educate – don't worry, there are no classrooms! – but there are centuries of Japanese wisdom, seasoned with a little contemporary science, about everything from food cultivation and preparation, to traditional methods of measurement, that our guests are very glad to see their young families take home with them.

Travel brings together mind and body. It is at once a physical and a psychological, even spiritual experience. Many tours will show you the sights, but TokudAw is the only place you will find the complete package, the art, and the science: an experience of the true Japan, and a deeper understanding  into eating and living healthily for a long and fruitful life.

Enquire about booking one of our private tours, and start your journey with us today.