For the past 17 years, Yoko Maruyama Wong has been devoted to promoting cross cultural awareness and building bridges of understanding between the U.S. and Japan. After receiving her M.A. in Applied Linguistics at Ohio University in 1992, Yoko founded JAPANESQ in 1993. She has also taught Japanese at Kent State University, Case Western Reserve University, and John Carroll University. Yoko moved to San Diego in 1997 to bring JAPANESQ to the Southern California region. Yoko is a native of Kanazawa, Japan.