A Dream That Began in Japan
Growing up in Japan, I loved learning English, especially English conversation. The excitement of communicating in another language inspired my dream of becoming a Japanese teacher.
At 18, I moved to Australia to pursue that dream.
My English was far from perfect, but I was excited about the possibilities ahead. I began studying childcare at TAFE, which eventually led to my first teaching job.
My journey did not follow a straight path, but every experience opened a new door.
🌏Discovering a Different World in Australia
One of my strongest impressions of Australia was its sense of freedom and equality.
I remember thinking that Australia was a country where a cleaner and a lawyer could sit together and talk as equals.
Coming from Japan, where age and social position often influence communication, I found this refreshing.
Australia gave me the confidence to explore opportunities and make my own decisions. I began to believe that I could shape my own future.
A simple philosophy became part of my life:
“You never know until you try.”
🌸My Journey as a Japanese Language Teacher in Australia
After studying childcare at TAFE, I began working as a kindergarten teacher at 22. I loved working with children, but my dream of teaching Japanese remained.
When I was around 24, I discovered a newspaper article about a new bilingual school in Sydney, described as the city’s first. It offered education from daycare through high school.
The article had been circled, but there were no contact details.
I immediately thought:
“This is for me!”
I loved children, had some teaching experience, and was excited by the opportunity to teach my native language in a bilingual environment.
Determined to find the school, I telephoned the newspaper publisher, obtained its contact details, and arranged an interview.
And I got the job!
It became my second teaching position, teaching Japanese from kindergarten through high school.
Later, I became a mother and spent a period raising my child as a single mother. I realized that I needed to become more independent and create a secure future for us.
When my child was four, I began a four-year teaching degree at the University of Queensland (UQ).
Studying while raising a young child was challenging, but with determination and support from people around me, I completed my degree.
It remains one of my proudest achievements.
Over the years, I have taught Japanese in preschools, primary schools, high schools, language schools, and corporate programs.
In 2015, another opportunity came through an educational project for the Australian Defence Force (ADF).
Together with another Japanese teacher, I developed the textbooks, teaching materials, and learning resources for an intensive one-year Japanese language course in Sydney and Melbourne.
Our team was selected through a competitive process. We did not teach the course ourselves; our responsibility was to create its educational resources.
Another unforgettable opportunity came when I saw a Japanese teaching position advertised at the Institute of Modern Languages (IML), University of Queensland.
We were away on a week-long family vacation during the school holidays, and the application deadline was approaching.
I thought, “Imagine teaching Japanese at the very university where I earned my degree!”
I wanted that position so much that I drove home alone, leaving our family vacation early to prepare my résumé and application.
I attended the interview.
And I got the job!
Returning to UQ as a Japanese language teacher was a very special moment.
Another dream had come true.
Today, I continue teaching Japanese in primary schools and at IML. After more than 40 years in education, I still love helping students discover what they can achieve.
📚 Creating Japanese Graded Readers: Another Dream
Throughout my teaching career, I have seen how students gain confidence when they can read Japanese independently.
I have also seen how difficult reading can become when books introduce too much unfamiliar language or provide insufficient support.
I wanted to create books that would make Japanese reading accessible, meaningful, and enjoyable.
That dream became Mariko Sensei’s Japanbooks.
Drawing on my classroom experience, I create Japanese graded readers with carefully selected vocabulary, meaningful repetition, supportive layouts, and engaging stories about Japanese life and culture.
Approximately 90% of the visual content in my readers uses authentic photographs, alongside illustrations where appropriate. Many books also include furigana, while audio recordings and additional learning resources support reading development.
My greatest reward is seeing a learner discover that they can read Japanese independently.
“I did it! I read it myself!”
That moment inspires me to keep creating.
✨ Still Dreaming After More Than 40 Years
Looking back, my journey has taken me from Japan to Australian classrooms, university studies, educational resource development, and publishing my own Japanese readers.
There have been challenges, unexpected opportunities, and dreams I never imagined would come true.
But I could not have achieved these things alone.
I am deeply grateful to my family, friends, colleagues, and everyone who has encouraged and supported me along the way. Their kindness and belief in me have made an enormous difference.
Today, I am also fortunate to have a wonderfully supportive husband.
I am still teaching, still creating, and still learning.
And the belief that has guided me since my early days in Australia remains unchanged:
“You never know until you try.”
I hope my journey encourages others to pursue their dreams, even when the path ahead seems uncertain.
And whenever a learner opens one of my books and proudly says, “I did it! I read it myself!”, another little part of my dream comes true.
日本語 
English