Tony R. Vega is the founder of JapanKyo.com. He is a content creator, writer, digital marketer, adventurer and advocate for the blind and visually impaired.
Tony became legally blind at the age of 18 due to a condition called Leber Hereditary Optic Neuropathy. In just a few weeks he lost nearly all of his central vision and became unable to drive, see people’s faces, see regular-sized text and do many other things. Despite these difficulties Tony eventually adapted to life as someone with a visual impairment and accomplished many things since then.
Tony has worked as a language teacher in both the U.S. and Japan. He participated in the JET Programme for three years during which time he taught English in the city of Kobe. Following this he attended graduate school at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. There he graduated with a masters degree in Japanese languae & linguistics.
After his time at the University of Hawaii, Tony was hired to be the editor-in-chief of Wasabi magazine. Wasabi was a publication that focused on Japan and Hawaii related topics. At Wasabi Tony started up the magazine, oversaw operations, hired writers, conducted interviews, wrote articles and more. Wasabi ceased publication in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic.
In 2020 Tony launched Transmissions from Hawaii, a radio documentary style podcast focused on Hawaii.
In 2021 Tony began creating content in Japanese focused on NFTs and cryptocurrency. In November of that year he launched NFT Nippon (YT & Apple), a Japanese-language podcast focused on the NFT/digital art market in Japan and around the world. During 2022 NFT Nippon became the top ranked NFT focused podcast on Apple Podcasts Japan. NFT Nippon was renamed to Manē Bakudan in 2023.
In July of 2023 Tony launched MAJISON, a project with the goal of creating a Japanese style mascot (yurukyara) for people active in the cryptocurrency and NFT space. The result was MAJISON, a fairy who is drowning in debt, always loses money and yet never gives up. The project officially began with the sale of an art collection made up of 2333 NFTs which sold out in August of 2023.
In the fall of 2023 Tony walked from Kyoto to Tokyo along the historic Tokaido road. He called this the Tokaido Challenge and documented it in real time on his X account. He also produced an 11-part video series showing the entire journey.
You can contact Tony via email: mail@japankyo.com.
