![\"Michelle](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Michelle-009.jpg?resize=512%2C768\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Hometown<\/strong>: Miami \u201cI feel more Japanese than American now!\u201d Michele laughs. Michele has lived in Japan nearly 20 years, and now runs Bliss Clinic with her husband and college sweetheart, Dr. Toyokazu Tajiri (a plastic surgeon with over 10 years of experience). Michele spent her teenage years on the US military base on Okinawa, and after a brief flirtation with college in the US, found she couldn\u2019t stay away. She soon returned to learn Japanese, and in two years achieved the highest level of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. This allowed her to pursue her dream of studying nursing. This is obviously hard enough in one\u2019s native tongue, but Michele achieved one of Japan\u2019s most respected nursing accreditations, the Public Health Nursing License \u2013 one of the very few foreigners to do so. It is rare to find someone so intelligent, yet strikingly warm and genuine. \u201cI really want to help the women of Fukuoka feel good about themselves,\u201d she told us passionately, \u201cto help their confidence shine through.\u201d Full interview and photos on our website! www.fukuoka-now.com\/michele-tajiri<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014 Why did you decide to come to Japan?<\/strong> After graduating the base\u2019s high school, I returned to America for a year, but the lure of Japan was too strong, and I ended up taking a year out of the University of Miami to study Japanese in Okinawa. I then decided to stay another year, and attained the N1 (the highest ranking in the Japanese Language Proficiency Test). One thing led to another, and now I\u2019ve been living here for 20 years!<\/p>\n I applied for nursing school in Okinawa because I\u2019d always been interested in medicine, and had known from an early age that I wanted to help people. Nursing really allows you to get close to your patients, so it seemed like a perfect fit for me. I was the only foreigner on my course, probably in the history of the school at that point. I then studied the fourth year required to attain the Japanese public health license; I guess that makes me pretty rare.<\/p>\n How did you meet your husband? Was it difficult to adjust to life in Japan and a Japanese husband? Western men and Japanese men perceive women very differently. Both have their family\u2019s interests at heart, but at first it was difficult to adjust to the Japanese\u2019s suppressed way of showing affection; now I think it\u2019s a deeper and more special way of expressing your love.<\/p>\n What had you heard about Fukuoka before you arrived? And have you come to love Fukuoka as much as your husband?<\/strong> Fukuoka is also the epitome of everything I love about the Japanese: everyone is so friendly, and they\u2019re kind for the sake of being kind, not because they want something. It\u2019s so harmonious and respectful.<\/p>\n We moved around a lot for my husband\u2019s work (when he was working at the Fukuoka University Hospital, he would be sent out to work at its sister hospitals), but it was always such a huge relief to come back to Fukuoka. I feel so at ease here. I think that, more than anything else, shows me how much I love this city. Setting up the clinic means that we now have a permanent home here, and we\u2019ve never been happier.<\/p>\n What do you feel is unique about Bliss Plastic Surgery Clinic?<\/strong><\/p>\n “My husband\u2019s been a plastic surgeon for ten years, and is a qualified specialist. Be it tattoo removal, eyelid surgery or liposuction, you\u2019ll be in the safest of hands.”<\/p>\n I\u2019m also confident in our range of treatments, particularly our IV Therapy treatments: we have the largest range of drips in Fukuoka, and \u2013 I believe \u2013 the nicest environment. It\u2019s set out with a caf\u00e9-style menu, luxurious chairs, and a great view through the wall-to-wall windows.<\/p>\n I also think we\u2019re special because my husband and I run this clinic as a team: he has the technical knowledge, but I\u2019m the voice in his ear helping him to see things through his patient\u2019s eyes. We take especial care to connect with our clients: we can make their coffee the way they like it, we ask about life changes they mentioned in their last visit, and we don\u2019t just give the stock replies. That last point is important to me, because we are eager to show the client they are welcome and wanted. We want the patient to have a magical experience. I\u2019m very proud of our holistic approach: he looks after the body and I take care of the soul. Perhaps the most unique thing about our clinic, however, is our approach to plastic surgery. We believe that changing the outside helps women feel better on the inside.<\/p>\n There\u2019s such a stigma, especially in Japan, about plastic surgery. I hate it because there\u2019s nothing wrong with women (or men) wanting to change something, if they\u2019re unhappy. If you feel that whenever anyone looks at you, all they see is the mole on your cheek, then getting it removed will help your confidence and true personality shine through. For me, it\u2019s like going to the hairdressers: you go because you want to look your best, to take care of yourself. And once you feel better you act better: you\u2019re a happier, brighter version of yourself. It\u2019s not about fixing anything, it\u2019s about helping people become who they want to be, both inside and out.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why I\u2019m putting together Bliss Club: women will be able to take classes on how to walk elegantly, how to talk about wine, how to use the hundreds of forks at fancy restaurants. It\u2019s a bit like a finishing school. The aim is to make women feel more comfortable by resolving their insecurities. For our Japanese members I\u2019m also planning to offer free English lessons, so they\u2019ll feel more confident to travel independently and in business with foreign clients. I want to create something for the women of Fukuoka.<\/p>\n
\nIn Japan<\/strong>: 19 years
\nIdentity<\/strong>: General Manager and RN at Bliss Plastic Surgery Clinic<\/p>\n
\nInterviewed May. 12, 2015.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nMy father was in the US air force, and when I was a teenager we were moved out to the military base at Okinawa. My mother was actually Japanese, so I thought it would be pretty neat to learn about her culture, but it was still a big adjustment.<\/p>\n![\"Michelle1\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Michelle1.jpg?resize=640%2C425\")
<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>I met my husband at a party co-hosted by the nursing school, and the local med-school\u2019s baseball team. My friend had asked me to go with her because she was interested in one of the guys from the team. At the party, my husband-to-be sat down across from me, and I remember thinking, \u201cThis is the guy I\u2019m probably supposed to marry.\u201dI could see a future with him before I\u2019d even got to know him. My friend never got her guy, but I found mine.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>I now feel more Japanese than American; I\u2019ve lived here for longer than I ever did in the States. It\u2019s strange because I always imagined growing up that I would marry an American man, have American kids, and live an American life. But in the end I loved Japan too much. It can be difficult; you\u2019ll always be treated as special when sometimes you just want to fit in, but the Japanese are so welcoming and considerate. I stand out, so sometimes I still get handed English menus in restaurants; I used to get offended. When I was trying so hard to learn, I would think, Why do they still treat me like this? But now I just laugh. From the bottom of my heart I just really love being here, so nothing really offends me anymore.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>My husband is a Fukuoka Freak: he\u2019s 120% Fukuokan. He always told me wonderful things about this city, and he obviously couldn\u2019t wait to get back. So when we got married straight out of college, he applied for a job here. My mum was actually from Fukuoka, so I knew that if two of my favourite people loved this city, I would too.<\/p>\n![\"Michelle](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Michelle-010.jpg?resize=512%2C768\")
<\/p>\n
\nYes! Fukuoka is perfect in every way: it\u2019s the perfect size, the people are so warm, the food is delicious, and it\u2019s wonderful for raising children. This last point is important to me as I have two kids. You live in a city, but on the weekends it\u2019s only a short drive to the mountains, or the sea, or the natural hot springs. But perhaps my favourite thing to do in Fukuoka is take my kids up to the play area on the top of Hakata station and watch them ride the train.<\/p>\n![\"Michelle4\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Michelle4.jpg?resize=640%2C425\")
<\/p>\n![\"Michelle3\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Michelle3.jpg?resize=640%2C428\")
<\/p>\n![\"Michelle2\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Michelle2.jpg?resize=640%2C428\")
<\/p>\n![\"Michelle](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Michelle-004.jpg?resize=512%2C768\")
<\/p>\n