Nihongo BaseOnline Japanese lessons × a library of original materials

ABOUT ME

Hi, I'm Ken.

I grew up in the snow country of northern Japan, and I have lived in Taiwan for about 30 years.

I teach Japanese — at a university here, and online to students around the world.

  • 🇯🇵 Born in Aomori
  • 🏝️ In Taiwan since 1995
  • 🎬 Hundreds of my own video lessons
My teaching, in 90 seconds
Watch the intro video →

Three photos

A boy in Aomori holding a framed certificateAge 11
Aomori, deep snow country. I won a prize for a book report. I loved reading and skiing ⛷️
ID photo of a young man in a white shirtAge 28
The year I came to Taiwan. Time flies and I have been living in Taiwan for 30 years.
A wedding photo in traditional Japanese kimonoNow
Our wedding, in kimono. My wife is 31 years younger than me, even younger than my daughter.

Aomori 🍎Tokyo 🗼Oklahoma 🇺🇸Taiwan (Tainan & Kaohsiung)

How I got here

  1. 1967Born in Aomori — apples, and a lot of snow.
  2. 1980sI studied law at a university in Tokyo. I never became a lawyer.
  3. 1990–92A master's degree in the US, in TESOL — how to teach English to speakers of other languages.
  4. 1995Passed the Japanese Language Teaching Competency Test — the national test for teachers of Japanese.
  5. 1996Started teaching Japanese at a university in Taiwan. Still here.
  6. 2022Started teaching online. Students in many countries including the US and the UK.
  7. TodayI love to make all kinds of teaching materials. This site is where they live.

A few things about me

  • Favourite foodPeaches and grapes
  • SportSkiing — snow country kid
  • HomeKaohsiung, Taiwan
  • Instagram@satoken_0727