We are an online educational platform designed to uncover the essential wisdom, creativity and beauty underlying Japanese culture.
Our mission is to bridge cultures and empower individuals to better navigate their lives and our planet.
We do this by sharing carefully curated stories, interviews and essays featuring contemporary voices from Japan and beyond. Giving you a chance to learn directly from modern day Zen priests, craftspeople, designers, business innovators and more.
Later in the year, we’ll be offering our first immersive online program. Allowing you to learn directly from some of these teachers and practitioners how to bring these values and insights alive in your own life.
Our Vision
“I believe Japan has a unique and important contribution to make on a global level.”
We are at a point in time where many people see the need for and crave a different way of being in the world. A way of being that is rooted in universal values of interconnection, embodiment, and regeneration. As well as the integration of Eastern, Western and Indigenous wisdom and knowledge.
Over many centuries, Japan has refined and preserved numerous traditions that put these universal values and their accompanying way of being at their very core. Often creating exquisitely beautiful and innovative forms to convey them.
From Zen to the way of tea, from Shinto to aikido, from craft to contemporary design. Together we’ll be exploring the deeper layers and contemporary relevance of all of them.
“Musubi Academy is the expression of my deep affinity for Japan.”
The culmination of over 20 years of both living and visiting there. Fostering countless connections to special people, places and experiences that have enriched my life and how I understand, as well as question, what it means to be human.
From my early experiences and insights as I practiced aikido and zen meditation, to living there and meeting my wife, onwards to some of my most cherished friendships with contemporary craftspeople, priests, designers, business innovators and others.
Join me, my team and our amazing contributors as we dive deep into their stories and the values embodied in their work.
Laurens van Aarle
Founder & Creative Director
Amstelveen, The Netherlands
Our Team
Tomo Yoshizawa
Writer & Cultural Translator, Odawara, Japan
Tomo is a cultural translator born into a family of craftspeople. Her father was a koto maker, her mother a kimono weaver, and her grandfather Rikizo Munehiro, a Living National Treasure of tsumugi weaving. She writes, translates, and interviews in the fields of Japanese crafts and culture. Her aim is to provide authentic understanding and universal relatability in a modern context. She is also the founder of Wisdom Toolkit.
Mitsuru Wakabayashi
Photographer, Kyoto, Japan
Born in Kyoto, his unique style captures the beauty of everyday scenes, often featuring individuals within the broader landscape, conveying a sense of the moment’s overall aesthetic. He has a diverse portfolio of clients both in Japan and internationally, including shooting for Kifune Shrine, as well as for advertisements, magazines, and social media platforms. He is dedicated to creating works that leave a legacy for future generations through photography.
Joe Keating
Photographer, Kyoto, Japan
Joe is a British photographer and designer living in Kyoto. Despite living in Japan many years, Joe retains an outsider’s eye and a natural curiosity for the traditions, craft and details of the culture. His time is divided, working on retail interior projects for brands with his company half, and street-style photography through the neighbourhoods of Kyoto with the other.
Ben Beech
Photographer, Tokyo, Japan
Ben is a freelance photographer originally from London in England now living in Tokyo, Japan. His work broadly focuses on Japan, its culture and its people. Ben has worked closely with a number of Japanese prefectures and international media outlets helping expose the lesser known parts of the country to a wider international audience.
Everett Kennedy Brown
Writer, Tokyo, Japan
Everett is a multi talented American artist and writer based in Tokyo. He writes books in Japanese, performs ancient wind music and uses an 8×10 camera and hand-made glass negatives to explore Japan’s deep culture. His innovative images are in the permanent collections of museums in Japan, Europe and the United States. In 2013 he was awarded the Japanese Government’s Cultural Affairs Agency Commissioner’s Award in recognition for his creative activities.
Masaya Takeda
Designer, Hayama, Japan
Masaya is a graphic designer and art director based in Hayama, a coastal town just south of Tokyo. He has worked on numerous projects that bridge Japanese culture to a global audience. Always capturing the essence of a project in a visually beautiful and provocative way.
Matt Jelfs
Web Developer, Bangkok, Thailand
Website and brand designer, occasional writer and photographer, travel enthusiast and music fan. Matt is passionate about helping businesses and entrepreneurs thrive by creating the perfect online presence. Matt designs and builds websites, online course platforms and e-commerce solutions. Embracing the freedom enabled by working on a laptop, Matt frequently travels for exploration, inspiration and to photograph the world he finds.
Shoko Kanazawa
Calligraphy Artist, Tokyo, Japan
Shoko san is an acclaimed calligrapher born in Tokyo. She began writing calligraphy at the age of five, studying under her mother, who was a calligraphy teacher. Her bold and evocative works have been exhibited in Japan’s leading shrines and temples, including Ise Jingu and Todaiji temple. Under her slogan “Living Together”, Shoko san continues to work on activities that aim to realize a more cohesive society, supporting disaster-stricken areas and supporting people with disabilities.
Maria Prosviryakova-Katzir
Social Media Strategist, Amsterdam, Netherlands
With a background in journalism and urban planning, Maria leads Musubi’s social media presence. She is dedicated to helping cultural and educational initiatives thrive by streamlining their communication strategies. At Musubi, this role allows her to bridge historical insights with modern applications, enriching a global audience’s lives. She also offers private tours in Amsterdam, focusing on spatial history and culinary scene, sharing her deep knowledge and love for the city.
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