Unpacking Japan

The challenges of being a single mother in Japan

May 1, 2026·1h 11m
Episode Description from the Publisher

Meet Dr. Harriet Ocharo, an applied AI researcher from Kenya working in Tokyo. She sits down to talk to us about coming to Japan on the MEXT scholarship, moving to Tokyo to work in the tech industry, and her experiences as a single mother here in Japan.--0:00 Intro0:45 Meet Harriet4:55 Why Japan?8:13 MEXT scholarship10:25 Arriving at a Japanese university20:17 Cultural surprises27:02 Move to Tokyo30:55 Japanese questions about Kenya35:17 Joining a large Japanese company38:11 Challenges joining a Japanese company41:49 What AI is actually useful for47:11 Japanese AI situation52:47 Do Japanese companies want foreigners?54:19 Being a single mother in Japan1:00:40 What support does Japan provide?1:03:49 Raising black children in Japan1:07:05 What made you stay?1:08:55 Next steps--Follow Harriet:https://savvykenya.com/https://x.com/savvykenyahttps://www.instagram.com/savvykenya/https://savvykenya.wordpress.com/Follow us:https://unpacking.jp/https://www.instagram.com/unpacking_japanhttps://www.tiktok.com/@unpackingjapanhttps://www.facebook.com/unpackingjapanhttps://www.youtube.com/@unpackingjapanshortshttps://www.x.com/unpacking_japanhttps://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/unpackingjapanSubscribe for more in-depth discussions about life in Japan! Interested in working at a global e-commerce company in Osaka? Our parent company ZenGroup is hiring! To learn more, check out https://careers.zen.group/en/

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