Kaoru

Slotsve

[Recording: 8.23.2025]

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Educational Pioneer ● Author ● World Silver Medalist

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Just your average, ordinary, everyday, Pioneer.

A lot of good happens to a lot of people when you travel far and remain in place. You carve out opportunities for those around you to learn and experience worlds they do not yet know and you expand your world beyond the boundaries you weren't aware existed. You pull from nothing and build everything. You find home far from where you began. Pretty average stuff, right?

A Classic is Born

Crafting an iconic book isn't something you quite set out to do. It just kinda... happens. But, smack-dab in the middle of the 90's, three friends at Kobe Steel had just the right mix of moxie, verve, and talent to pull off such a coup. The book they first published with Tuttle in 1994 remains in print; still the go-to volume for anyone interested in the warmth of the colorful Kansai-ben dialect. The linchpin in that team of three? Kaoru.

From Osaka to Old Faithful

"I'm in Casper for a reason." When a move from Osaka, Japan to the literal American Wild West for what was supposed to be a one year study abroad experience turns into three decades spent building an expansive community of Japanese language learners deep in the heart of American rangeland, you have to imagine a lot of good happened to a lot of people in the years since Kaoru arrived without her hat and boots.

Trading Spurs for Skates

Freezing your butt off on the cold stands of your son's hockey rink can make you wanna hustle. Inspired at the age of 47 by the other adults zipping about the ice with their own kids, Kaoru decided to act. Eleven years later, fresh off a silver medal win at the World Winter Masters Games in 2024, it's still paying off. Her 'Ina Bauer" is there, but she's still working on her jumps. "Kaoru, at least you're good at making funny faces!" her coach tells her. Grit and a smile.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN WITH KAORU

How to get things moving fast when working with partners who prefer to move slow.
How a belief in the impossible can result in impossibly great things.
How getting through life's past difficulties can be our greatest future strength.
What it takes to secure meetings with people who prefer to stay off the radar.
What it feels like to build a product people clamor to support.
Keys to maintaining success once you've latched onto it.
Key steps in course-correcting an impending crisis situation.
His strategy for building rest and fun into the ongoing drive to follow through on your mission.
His view on what it takes to run and sustain multiple businesses in the finicky world of real estate.
What it was like to play a significant role in the massive effort to blow up mountains, cart dirt and rock to the ocean for miles, and build skyscrapers on man-made Rokko Island.
Why, despite the busy moments in life, beating your age in golf, attending as many Brahms symphonies as possible, and sailing your 28.5F Beneteau around the capes of Japan, remain worthy goals..., and ones worth pursuing with as much vigor as life will allow.

Thirteen trips... AND COUNTING!

The 1964 Tokyo Olympics and 1970 Osaka World's Fair shone a bright light on Japan, and foreign-affiliated companies and embassies soon sought to establish more of a presence. But despite the enthusiastic rush to come to Japan, urban housing development was so slow one would be considered lucky to win a lottery for a 2DK public housing unit in the suburbs. There was just no where to put everyone; "Field of Dreams," but in reverse. Japan needed a solution. And, fast.

OUR WELCOMED GUEST

Kaoru Slotsve

Jun Maeda is a near lifetime resident of Kobe, Japan, having resided until the age of ten in Nagasaki's Isahaya. He is a legendary real-estate developer, Hyogo International Association council committee member, fervent supporter of culture and people, and a gosh darn good golfer.

Mr. Maeda's influence in the Kansai region can be felt AND seen, and the admiration of those who have been touched by his generosity cannot be understated. He's an avid sailor and full-on fan of the symphony. He looks forward to doing more of both in the years to come.

A JAPANESE LANGUAGE PROGRAM LIKE NO OTHER.

Maplopo helps intermediate and advanced learners of Japanese internalize language through the power of story—all in a single learning platform. Maplopo is rigorous, structured, and handcrafted for serious learners of Japanese.