WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN?

A less intense school system of their daughter prompted Shinobu Teraguchi and his wife to leave the Tokyo city life for the countryside of New Zealand.

Koichi Takada grew up a stone's throw from the scenic banks of Japan's Tama River, learning to appreciate the beauty of nature, something that now resonates in the work of his architectural company in Australia.

Art, says New Zealand-based Jun Arita, is not about the money, it's about making connections and creating something meaningful.

For nutritional epidemiologist Fumiaki Imamura, an overseas education is key to global impact.

Avant-garde artist Yoshiko Chuma challenges the conventions of dance, traversing disciplines, nations and causes.

Becoming an actress was a way to liberate Mari Yamamoto from a salaryman way of life.

Whether good or bad, propelled by fate or duty, the director of arts and culture for the New Zealand-Japan Society of Auckland believes no experience is a wasted one.

Studying film in New York, working in TV in Japan, and now living in Berlin, "Yosuke Hosoi says international filmmaking is his calling.

From working at McDonald's in Himeji to making noodles for Japanese restaurants in America, Shuichi Kotani has always looked for and taken opportunities.