Finding my way
From Yokohama to New York: My First Chapter
I grew up in Yokohama, Japan, with a wonderful childhood, so good, in fact, that I didn’t even realize how lucky I was until much later. My sister was one of those rare people who knew exactly what she wanted to do from the start. At just three years old, she was already declaring she would become a doctor, there’s even a home video from 1996 of her saying it with complete conviction.
I was different. At twelve, I started modeling and quickly fell in love with the attention, the travel, and the glamour of it all. By 17, I moved to New York to pursue it full-time. Unlike most of the horror stories you hear, I actually made money and more importantly, I enjoyed it. For two years, I lived out of suitcases, flying from city to city, building a career in an industry that so often swallows people whole. But eventually, the lifestyle felt hollow. I didn’t know what was next, but I knew I wanted more.
That year was also when my mom passed away. Her biggest regret in life was never having a profession of her own, and she had always drilled into my sister and me the importance of having a license, a skill, something to truly call your own. After losing her, those words became etched into me.
Before she died, my mom had seen a doctor who told her that a whole-foods, plant-based diet could cure her cancer. It wasn’t true, and I wish it had been, but it cracked something open in me. I realized how powerful food and prevention could be. I was hooked. I devoured every book I could get my hands on, fell into the raw vegan and YouTube nutrition rabbit holes, and read The China Study by T. Colin Campbell.
That passion pushed me to apply to NYU to study nutrition and public health. Over the next six years, I earned both my bachelor’s and my master’s in clinical nutrition. I became a registered dietitian (RD/RDN) and began my career at a major New York City hospital.
It wasn’t a straight path, but every step gave me a foundation in science, patient care, and resilience that I carry with me today, and that eventually set me on the road to becoming a PA.
Don’t give up on holistic medicine. My mother also died of cancer and she would have been open to trying Laetrile (Apricot kernels) and other alternatives like the Gerson Therapy, but they imbued her body with radiation and chemotherapy. Allopathic Doctors are not fully trained in preventative medicine and are mostly skilled at treating trauma. I am all for what RFK Jr is doing. Insisting on rigorous, peer reviewed double blind placebo studies over time, giving the public informed consent and holding vaccine manufacturers liable for injuries and deaths and exposing the corruption. This is of the essence and IS happening through his integrity. Science is never “settled” and it’s vital for everyone to keep questioning. The rules surrounding the pandemic were absurd. Finally people are waking up, but unfortunately immunity has been drastically compromised and there will be far more illnesses due to this heinous debacle. As a PA keep your wits about you and explore the alternatives. Do not cause more iatrogenic conditions due to blind allegiance or ignorance.