About Yohanashi
How this space came to be
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Yohanashi began through years of conversations.
For the past ten years, I have worked in education in Japan, supporting people at many different stages of life. Over that time, I have taught in conversation schools, supported children in after-school programmes, and worked closely with private students, before eventually teaching English in a junior and senior high school. Across these different environments, I met people with completely different backgrounds, personalities, and life experiences, and yet, through all of these conversations, I began to notice something that appeared again and again.
Through our conversations in English, people would often open up about their own lives, sharing memories, regrets, and things they hoped to do but hadn't yet found the confidence for. It was in these small, unplanned moments that I began to notice something. Underneath the everyday exchange of stories, people were often searching for a clearer sense of who they were and what they truly wanted, and different as these conversations were, they kept returning to the same place.
Working in education allowed me to witness these moments closely, but it also showed me the limits of the systems I was working within. Schools are built to measure academic achievement, and rightly so, but a test score has never captured who a student is becoming, only what they can recall on a given day. Meanwhile, the world these students are growing into is changing faster than any curriculum can keep pace with, and the skills they actually need, how to sit with difficult emotions, how to build honest relationships, how to manage their own money, are rarely taught at all. But this gap doesn't close once someone leaves school. Most adults were never taught these things either, and carry the same unanswered questions into careers, relationships, and everyday life, often without ever having had space to stop and get to know themselves.
This stayed with me, and I began to wonder what it would look like to create a space where people could intentionally choose to spend time understanding themselves, a space with no pressure to perform, no expectation of having the perfect answer, and no need to explain everything before beginning. I imagined a space where people could explore themselves with curiosity and reflect on the stories they carry. That question became the foundation of Yohanashi.
About Yohanashi
How this space came to be
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yohanashi began through years of conversations.
For the past ten years, I have worked in education in Japan, supporting people at many different stages of life. Over that time, I have taught in conversation schools, supported children in after-school programmes, and worked closely with private students, before eventually teaching English in a junior and senior high school. Across these different environments, I met people with completely different backgrounds, personalities, and life experiences, and yet, through all of these conversations, I began to notice something that appeared again and again.
Through our conversations in English, people would often open up about their own lives, sharing memories, regrets, and things they hoped to do but hadn't yet found the confidence for. It was in these small, unplanned moments that I began to notice something. Underneath the everyday exchange of stories, people were often searching for a clearer sense of who they were and what they truly wanted, and different as these conversations were, they kept returning to the same place.
Working in education allowed me to witness these moments closely, but it also showed me the limits of the systems I was working within. Schools are built to measure academic achievement, and rightly so, but a test score has never captured who a student is becoming, only what they can recall on a given day. Meanwhile, the world these students are growing into is changing faster than any curriculum can keep pace with, and the skills they actually need, how to sit with difficult emotions, how to build honest relationships, how to manage their own money, are rarely taught at all. But this gap doesn't close once someone leaves school. Most adults were never taught these things either, and carry the same unanswered questions into careers, relationships, and everyday life, often without ever having had space to stop and get to know themselves.
This stayed with me, and I began to wonder what it would look like to create a space where people could intentionally choose to spend time understanding themselves, a space with no pressure to perform, no expectation of having the perfect answer, and no need to explain everything before beginning. I imagined a space where people could explore themselves with curiosity and reflect on the stories they carry. That question became the foundation of Yohanashi.
The Person Behind the Space
Diana Mote
Quiet by nature, curious by heart
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I have always been drawn to the simple layers of life. From early morning walks to sharing a good meal, singing karaoke until my voice gives out, or simply doodling the small details of an ordinary day, I have found that these moments often reveal something important about how we feel, connect, and experience the world.
Perhaps it is this curiosity that has always guided me. Through my own experiences and through supporting others, I became increasingly interested in the relationship between our thoughts, emotions, and bodies. I began noticing how we process the experiences we carry, how stress can quietly build over time, and how easy it can be to lose connection with ourselves when life becomes busy or overwhelming.
This led me to explore practices that helped me return to myself: creativity, movement, rest, sleep, and nutrition. These became the steady pillars in my own life, helping me reconnect with my thoughts, feelings, and personal needs. More importantly, they helped me rebuild trust in my own inner voice and the decisions I make.
As I continued exploring this connection between self-awareness and wellbeing, I found myself drawn towards holistic counselling and reflective practices. Alongside my full-time teaching job, I studied for two years with the Australian School of Holistic Counselling, and qualified as a Practitioner of Holistic Counselling, Certified Holistic Coach, and Meditation & Mindfulness Practitioner. Through this training, I learned how to hold space with care, structure, and responsibility, while supporting people in exploring their own experiences.
Alongside this, I have explored Reiki, sound healing, and yoga through personal study, drawn by my own curiosity about how the mind and body influence one another. These practices are not offered as clinical treatment, but they inform the grounded and embodied way I approach self-awareness and reconnection.
My approach is collaborative. I do not see myself as someone who provides answers or tells people who they should become. Instead, I believe each person has valuable experiences, perspectives, and strengths to draw from. My role is to listen with care, ask questions that open things up, and create space for you to slow down, understand what you are experiencing, and gain a clearer sense of yourself and what you need.
Together, we can notice what feels important, understand what you need, and consider the steps that feel right for you.
I believe understanding ourselves is an ongoing process. It is not about changing who we are, but about becoming more aware of what we value, what we need, and how we want to live.
The Person Behind the Space
Diana Mote
Quiet by nature, curious by heart
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I have always been drawn to the simple layers of life. From early morning walks to sharing a good meal, singing karaoke until my voice gives out, or simply doodling the small details of an ordinary day, I have found that these moments often reveal something important about how we feel, connect, and experience the world.
Perhaps it is this curiosity that has always guided me. Through my own experiences and through supporting others, I became increasingly interested in the relationship between our thoughts, emotions, and bodies. I began noticing how we process the experiences we carry, how stress can quietly build over time, and how easy it can be to lose connection with ourselves when life becomes busy or overwhelming.
This led me to explore practices that helped me return to myself: creativity, movement, rest, sleep, and nutrition. These became the steady pillars in my own life, helping me reconnect with my thoughts, feelings, and personal needs. More importantly, they helped me rebuild trust in my own inner voice and the decisions I make.
As I continued exploring this connection between self-awareness and wellbeing, I found myself drawn towards holistic counselling and reflective practices. Alongside my full-time teaching job, I studied for two years with the Australian School of Holistic Counselling, and qualified as a Practitioner of Holistic Counselling, Certified Holistic Coach, and Meditation & Mindfulness Practitioner. Through this training, I learned how to hold space with care, structure, and responsibility, while supporting people in exploring their own experiences.
Alongside this, I have explored Reiki, sound healing, and yoga through personal study, drawn by my own curiosity about how the mind and body influence one another. These practices are not offered as clinical treatment, but they inform the grounded and embodied way I approach self-awareness and reconnection.
My approach is collaborative. I do not see myself as someone who provides answers or tells people who they should become. Instead, I believe each person has valuable experiences, perspectives, and strengths to draw from. My role is to listen with care, ask questions that open things up, and create space for you to slow down, understand what you are experiencing, and gain a clearer sense of yourself and what you need.
Together, we can notice what feels important, understand what you need, and consider the steps that feel right for you.
I believe understanding ourselves is an ongoing process. It is not about changing who we are, but about becoming more aware of what we value, what we need, and how we want to live.