Namiko Hirasawa Chen

I was born in Osaka, Japan and raised in Yokohama, a vibrant port city south of Tokyo with a rich culinary culture shaped by global influences. I moved to the U.S. at age 20 to attend college, and I’ve been cooking ever since. However, my culinary journey began long before that (more on that later).

Mr. JOC and I married and settled in the San Francisco Bay Area. It has been my second home for so long that I’ve now lived in California longer than I did in Yokohama.

I’m a proud mom to a son and daughter and a happy grandma to a mini Aussiedoodle named Miso.

Outside the kitchen, I love to travel, wander through national parks, explore new foods, and discover beautiful tableware and unique kitchen tools. That inspired me to launch JOC Goods—a curated shop offering artisan Japanese tableware and kitchenware that brings beauty, heritage, and joy to everyday cooking.

Curious what my job looks like day to day? Let me take you behind the scenes.

I’m a food blogger and entrepreneur who wears many hats. Here’s a glimpse of what I do with a team supporting me:

I developed my home cooking skills through hands-on experience, daily practice, and my mother’s deep knowledge and passion for Japanese food. Starting at age 12, I spent countless afternoons in the kitchen as my mom’s sous chef. She taught me katei ryori (家庭料理) —Japanese home-style cooking—through repetition, care, and intuition.

When 4:30 p.m. rolled around, she would call me in to help prep dinner. Like most teenagers, I often wished I could be doing something else. I didn’t realize how much I was absorbing at the time. When I moved to the U.S., I was amazed by how easily I could recreate her dishes from memory.

After starting my own family, cooking became my way of staying connected to my roots. In 2011, I launched Just One Cookbook simply to preserve and share my family’s Japanese recipes. Today, I’m deeply grateful that it’s grown into a go-to resource where people around the world come together to discover, cook, and enjoy authentic Japanese food at home.

Thanks to your incredible support, Just One Cookbook is now the largest English-language Japanese recipe site with over 3 million monthly visitors. Over the years, we’ve been featured in The New York Times, Forbes, The Washington Post, The Japan Times, The New Yorker, and more. 

In 2017, we were finalists in the SAVEUR Blog Awards for Best Food Video. And in May 2025, our YouTube channel reached 1 million subscribers!

Thank you for being here. Your support and love for Japanese cooking continue to inspire me. I can’t wait to share more recipes, stories, and meaningful moments with you.

There’s another side of my story that many people don’t know—one that has quietly shaped the way I create and share recipes every day…

The Struggles I Couldn’t Explain

For nearly 30 years in the U.S., I quietly struggled with reading, writing, and expressing myself. Even when I understood the ideas, I often needed extra time to process what I read or heard, organize my thoughts, and find the right words. I also had trouble remembering what I had just read or heard.

When I first came to the U.S. for college, I pushed through long nights, thinking I just had to work harder. Since English is my second language, I assumed these difficulties were simply part of learning and communicating in another language. I did well academically, which made it even harder to understand why certain things were so difficult for me.

For years, I felt like something was wrong with me, but I couldn’t explain why. Even my family and closest friends didn’t notice anything unusual.

Before my diagnosis, I thought dyslexia was mostly about reversing letters and numbers (b vs. d and 12 vs. 21), flipping words (was vs. saw), or struggling to read altogether. I didn’t realize that seeing text “float” or blur on the page could be part of what I was experiencing.

I also didn’t understand how challenges with working memory, recalling words, organizing thoughts, and processing information could affect the way I read and communicate.

This helped explain why I’ve always struggled with recording Instagram Stories and YouTube videos, appearing on podcasts, and doing live demos. I knew it wasn’t just shyness or a fear of public speaking. I just didn’t know what was causing it.

Everything changed when I learned that dyslexia can present differently across languages and may be harder to recognize in people who grew up reading languages that use character-based writing, like Japanese or Chinese. Because I could read Japanese, I never considered that I might have dyslexia. It was the first clue to a mystery I had been trying to solve for almost three decades.

Finally Getting Answers

At age 48, I reached out to a psychologist for testing. In July 2025, I was diagnosed with dyslexia, along with weak working memory and expressive and receptive language disorders.

The diagnosis gave me a huge sense of relief. For the first time, my struggles began to make sense. My daily challenges haven’t disappeared, but I’m learning what works for me and how to be kinder to myself.

I wish I had understood myself this way sooner. That’s why I’m sharing my story. I hope it helps someone recognize the signs earlier or better understand someone who is struggling.

If you or a loved one have navigated learning differences, a late-in-life diagnosis, or similar quiet struggles, I’d love to hear your story. Feel free to drop me an email!

How Dyslexia Shaped JOC

My diagnosis helped me understand my struggles, and to my surprise, it showed me some of my strengths as well.

I’ve always had a strong eye for organizing information and making it easy to follow. Looking back, I can see how that shaped Just One Cookbook, from the website to each recipe I create.

Since I started blogging in 2011, I’ve naturally broken recipes into clear steps and used step-by-step photos, clean layouts, and videos. Long before I understood my learning differences, this was simply how I made sense of information and explained it to others.

Today, I’m even more intentional about making JOC easy to scan and follow. This is not only for people with dyslexia but also for anyone who learns better visually or feels overwhelmed by too much information.

What came naturally to me became the way I teach millions of people how to cook Japanese food.

Whether you’re new to cooking, a visual learner, or facing challenges of your own, I hope JOC makes cooking feel easier and more approachable.

If you ever need help with my recipes, don’t hesitate to reach out. My team and I are always here for you!