Have you ever been in a meeting where everyone’s speaking the same language, yet you still feel like you’re missing something? Maybe no one says “no,” but nothing moves forward. Maybe decisions seem to be happening somewhere else.

After more than five years in Japan—working as both as a solo designer in a Japanese team for a global product, as well as in a global team for Japanese products—I’ve seen how culture, communication styles, and design understanding directly shape how teams work and what they create.

In this talk, I’ll share the realities and often-unspoken challenges of working in global design teams in Japan. You’ll learn practical approaches for fostering meaningful cross-language conversations, navigating subtle power dynamics, and using your design “superpowers” to bring clarity and alignment. You’ll walk away with techniques you can apply immediately—not just to design better products, but to design better ways of working together.

---