[Japanese Interviews: Life in LA] Chizuko Higuchi : “Writing Only the Good” Is My Motto

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“My goal is to write things that offer readers meaningful insights and warm their hearts. Both of these careers are my true callings.”

■ Navigating a Demanding Profession with Passion

“The reality of the real estate industry is that 75% of newcomers quit within their first year. Buying a home is something most clients only do a few times in their lives. Guiding them through this process requires strict confidentiality; it is a solitary and immensely heavy responsibility. However, that is exactly why I find it so rewarding.”

Chizuko Higuchi successfully balances two distinct roles: real estate agent and essayist. Many may recognize her name from her energetic essay contributions to The Rafu Shimpo and the business information magazine US.FrontLine. We take a closer look at the turning points of her life.

■ A Childhood Dream of the Outside World

Born in 1949 in Hagi, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Higuchi grew up in a family of four, including her parents and an older sister. Hagi is famous for Yoshida Shoin’s Shokasonjuku, a historical academy that educated anyone regardless of social status. However, Higuchi notes that the region also retained a strong cultural expectation for women to become “good wives and wise mothers,” alongside a persistent sentiment that “nothing good comes from women pursuing higher education.” Consequently, she spent her girlhood dreaming of one day traveling abroad.

Opportunities for discovery can be found anywhere. At her local private Catholic high school, which she attended on a full tuition waiver, she encountered two English teachers who opened her eyes to the world: one from Spain, and another a Japanese teacher who had just returned from studying in the U.S. “They became the catalyst for me to look out into the wider world,” she recalls.

■ Independence and Resilience in Tokyo

During an era when most people from her region only ventured as far as neighboring prefectures or Osaka, Higuchi chose to attend a university in Tokyo. When asked if her parents opposed sending their beloved daughter so far away, she gave a surprising answer. “Not at all. Because the condition was that I had to cover all my expenses myself without burdening them.”

True to her word, she funded her tuition through a special government scholarship and covered all her living expenses on her own. Although she could afford to wash her hair at a public bathhouse once a week, she had no way to dry it, meaning she caught a cold every single winter. She spent those four years entirely consumed by her studies and part-time jobs, eventually earning her middle and high school teaching credentials.

■ Her book published by Gentosha in 2016

■ Overcoming Market Waves and Finding Two Callings

In 1976, she secured a position that allowed her to move to the United States. Traveling all over the nation for work, she experienced firsthand and was captivated by a America where the climate, race, and culture shifted dramatically from place to place. She married a man she met in Las Vegas and purchased a home.

The couple continued to buy rental properties. Even after their daughter was born, both held full-time jobs while managing these rentals themselves. Over the course of those ten years, Higuchi learned the hands-on skills required to maintain a house.

The family later relocated to Palm Springs and then to Orange County. Once her daughter grew old enough to no longer need rides to school, Higuchi asked herself, “What can I achieve next in a full-time capacity?” She decided to get certified and launched her career as a real estate agent. She has survived a market full of peaks and valleys, navigating through the subprime mortgage crisis, the Lehman shock, 9/11, and the pandemic to reach where she is today.

Along the way, driven by a desire to give back to society using the insights gained from her life, she began writing essays. “I write with the goal of creating pieces that offer readers meaningful insights and warm their hearts,” she says. “To me, both of these careers are my true callings.”

■ Her book displayed prominently on tables at Kinokuniya Bookstore in Tokyo