The Ikigai in Career and Activism with Rochelle Kopp

Ikigai with Jennifer Shinkai

This week on the show I have a fantastic conversation with my long term mentor and multi-potentialite, Rochelle Kopp. Rochelle is a consultant, an author, a mentor, an educator, a board director, and an activist. Last year Rochelle was named as one of Change.Org Japan’s Changemakers of the Year, and has recently been spearheading a movement to protect Tokyo’s green oasis Jingu Gaien from a redevelopment plan that would sacrifice a thousand trees and raze two historic stadiums in order to make room for three skyscrapers. Listen to the episode to hear all about Rochelle’s career and activism and how both are sources of ikigai for her.

If you enjoyed this episode and it inspired you in some way, we’d love to hear about it and know your biggest takeaway.

In this episode you’ll hear:

• Why her career as an intercultural consultant is a source of ikigai for Rochelle
• How Rochelle started her activism through online petitions to protect Japan’s green spaces
• Why trees and green spaces are so important for our physical and mental health
• Rochelle’s ideas about what her role as a non-Japanese person in Japanese society is and could be

About Rochelle:

Rochelle is a consultant, author, mentor, educator & board director specializing in global communication, leadership, human resources, & organizational development. She primarily works with Japanese companies with global operations and global firms doing business in Japan, primarily through training seminars, teambuilding, and coaching. Rochelle also keeps busy with several other activities. She writes columns for the Japan Times and several Japanese publications including the Asahi and the Nikkei Sangyo Shimbun, and has published over 35 books on intercultural and management topics. She is an outside board director to two Japanese companies. She is a mentor through 500 Global. And more recently, she has become an activist, spearheading a movement to protect Tokyo’s green oasis Jingu Gaien from a redevelopment plan that would sacrifice a thousand trees and raze two historic stadiums in order to make room for three skyscrapers. Her petition on Change.org has over 195,000 signatures and last year she was named one of Change.org Japan’s Changemakers of the Year.

Connect with Rochelle:

Website: www.japanintercultural.com

Twitter: @Japanintercult in English and @JICRochelle in Japanese

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rochellekopp/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rochelle.kopp/

Petition for Jingu Gaien: https://www.change.org/Save_jingugaien_en

Connect with Jennifer

Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifershinkai/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jennifershinkaicoach

Website: https://jennifershinkai.com/