Anne Crescini returns to the podcast to open up about one of the most personal and difficult parts of her life in Japan: raising children caught between cultures. 

Anne and her husband are both American, but their kids were born and raised in Japan. On the surface, they were “fully Western,” yet in the classroom and in society, they were constantly marked as different. That tension led to deep identity struggles, feelings of isolation, and even 不登校 (school refusal).

In this candid conversation, Anne shares what it’s like for her daughter to grow up wanting to “just be invisible,” the stigma attached to looking like a foreigner/outsider, and the toll of always being seen as “other.” We also explore the broader issues of belonging, identity, and how children navigate growing up between worlds.

Related Articles:
娘が不登校、「教育者の子なのに」 言語学者が打ち明けた動揺と転機 (The Asahi Shimbun).
Naturalized linguist in Japan laments recent political trend to blame foreigners (The Mainichi Shimbun) 

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Outro Music:
消せない光.  
Zelda's Lofi Kingdom

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Yoroshiku and rockets. 🚀