Jayne Nakata Promoting Women Podcasters in Japan

Jayne Nakata is a New Zealander living in the city of Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, and the voice behind the award-winning “Transformations with Jayne” podcast. Japan Times contributing writer Louise George Kittaka interviews Nakata for the publication’s regular lifestyle column, “20 Questions”.

Upon returning to Japan after a transfer to Sweden with her family was cut short by the pandemic, Nakata created PodLaunch Family, a network of podcasts that focus on community and empowering women. She has also resumed her involvement in efforts to promote tourism in her region, Kittaka writes.

“Transformations” came about, Nakata says, because she felt isolated and alone in Japan.

“As a mother of two small kids living away from Tokyo … I went in search of a podcast about foreign women living in Japan and didn’t find one, so I decided to start my own,” she says.

“In life the hard things are the things that give you the most chance to grow.”

Original article by Louise George Kittaka, The Japan Times, November 28, 2021.

Photo by Ippei and Janine Photography.