When Helen Nomura first moved to Japan in 2002, she could stroll through Kyoto’s temples without struggling for space.

The then-23-year-old from Weston-Super-Mare arrived on a Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) programme shortly after graduating from Aberystwyth University.

“I remember landing in Tokyo for the first time and being absolutely bowled over by the neon lights,” Nomura told The i Paper . “The futuristic feel to the place at the time was impressive, to say the least.”

Nomura, now 46, met her Japanese husband in the country and decided to stay there, becoming a permanent resident. She ultimately settled far from the capital’s crowds, on the outskirts of a small city 500 miles away, where she lives with her husband and their two daughters, and she sees herself spending the r

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