Motoko Ishihara Evans lives in Dallas, Texas. Her company name is MOTOKO Japanese Culture Consultant; you can find more information at www.motokojapaneseculture.com. She taught for many years in Japan and won an award from Kurashiki City for educational contribution. She says what made her unique as a teacher was getting her students involved with projects outside of school as well as with academic tutoring. Some of their projects include visiting Kamedake Hibakusha Elder’s Home in Nagasaki, exchanging English letters with Taegu Girls Junior High School, making quilts for AIDS babies, sending letters and toys to an elementary school in Vietnam. She has been a licensed teacher of Ikenobo Ikebana with experience for 26 years, and has two certificates related to the tea ceremony she has been practicing for 12 years. She learned kyokushin karate and sodou, Japanese kimono and manners.