In rural Japan in the 90s, girls were told they didn’t need further education because, in the end, they would just get married. So my parents didn’t support me to go to university, even though I really wanted to go. Instead, I started to dream of coming to Australia on a working holiday visa.
I found work in a sewing machine factory and another part-time job on the weekends, and although it took me 2 years to save the $10 000 I needed, I eventually achieved my goal. My parents were completely against my . . .