Inside Japan 🇯🇵

Get inspired by my life experience in Japan, and contact me when you are ready to embark on an adventure in the Land of the Rising Sun!

I have been travelling to Japan since 2016 and I have been living in Tokyo since 2018. Here follows my Japanese experience:

2016 and 2017
I had two trips to Japan, one in March 2016 and one in May 2017. I mostly travelled on the island of Honshu, where I visited more than 25 different places. The pictures I took during these trips were showcases in my photographic exhibition “Inside Japan – The Exhibition“.

From 2018 to 2020
I spent a little bit more than two years (from January 2, 2018 to January 11, 2020) living as a student and part-timer in Japan, in the city of Tokyo. My experience is narrated, chronologically, in the Inside Japan – Living Tokyo! articles.

2020
I came back to Europe at the beginning of 2020 due to my Student Visa’s expiration. I found a new job in Tokyo from there very soon, but I was stranded in Switzerland due to the worldwide Covid-19 crisis and travel bans. I finally got back to Tokyo on October 31, 2020, when I began a new chapter of my life in Japan!

From 2020 to 2024
I officially started living in Tokyo as a professional. The era of Living Tokyo! was over, leaving space to a broader Inside Japan one, with the aim to narrate the Land of the Rising Sun in a more general and/or conceptual way (e.g., cultural aspects, survival kits, and so on) while Inside Japan – Virtual Tours! focuses on travel tips. With my remote work in Tokyo I managed to become a Digital Nomad in 2021 and started travelling around the world, these adventure are narrated through the Escapes Around the World series of articles.

From 2024 to 2025
In May 2024, I unfortunately lost my job in Tokyo due to company downsizing, so I decided to move to a country where I do not need a visa and I am able to work on Elly Lakes with ease. I chose France and the city of Nice, in the beautiful French Riviera. I still collaborate with Japanese companies and Japan is my most requested destination by my clients. Japan is the country where I grew up and founded my own business, I am very grateful and my relationship with this country will never end.

2025
During the summer of 2024 I got hired to work at the Swiss Pavilion at the Osaka EXPO2025 from April 6, 2025, until October 18, 2025. During March 2025 I received my one year Visa from the Consulat Général du Japon à Marseille, found a pet-friendly apartment and a SIM card through my collaborators in Japan, bought a flight ticket Nice-Osaka, and created the brand new series Inside Japan – Living Oaka! Stay tuned.

“Inside Japan” articles (English/Italian):

• Inside Japan – Tiny Japanese Apartments! (2/10/2020)
• Inside Japan – Facing Crises the Japanese Way (4/3/2020)
• Inside Japan – Why JLPT and BJT Tests Are Important in Japan (5/11/2020)
• Inside Japan – The Secret Pros of Wearing Face Masks (5/23/2020)
• Inside Japan – Certificates of Eligibility, Visas, and Current Situation (8/23/2020)
• Inside Japan – Elly Can Go Back! All You Need to Know About the Japan Travel Ban (9/25/2020)
• Inside Japan – Historic Places Closing for Good, Not Only in Tokyo (10/5/2020)
• Inside Japan – Back to Tokyo: Working Visa and Other Procedures (10/26/2020)
• Inside Japan – Back to Tokyo: PCR Tests, Flights, and Quarantine (11/4/2020)
• Inside Japan – Setting Up Your Japanese Life as a Student or Employee (11/12/2020)
• Inside Japan – Moving to a New Apartment in Tokyo, Part I (1/31/2021)
• Inside Japan – Moving to a New Apartment in Tokyo, Part II (2/7/2021)
• Inside Japan – Ume, Earthquakes, and Next Media Interviews (2/16/2021)
• Inside Japan – Searching for a Job in Tokyo and Japan as a Foreigner (5/19/2021)
• Inside Japan – Exit and Return to Japan as a Resident During COVID-19 (9/10/2021)
• Inside Japan – 2021: The Year I Settled in Tokyo (12/31/2021)
• Inside Japan – Coming Back to Tokyo: Important Documents and Quarantine Hotel Experience (1/11/2022)
• Inside Japan – Moving to a Detached House (戸建て) in Tokyo! (2/25/2022)
• Inside Japan – Our (Dis)adventures With Renting Cars, Not Only in Tokyo (6/20/2022)
• Inside Japan – From an Outlander to a Mini, Our Odyssey With Buying Cars in Tokyo (6/23/2022)
• Inside Japan – The Silence That Kills, The Danger From Within (7/14/2022)

Inside Japan Cover from 2020: 

Discover more about my Japanese experience: Inside Japan – The Exhibition | Inside Japan – Living Tokyo! | Inside Japan – Virtual Tours!

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