Stéphanie, Japanese-speaking tour guide on the Côte d’Azur, Digi Mart USA News (Côte d’Azur, France): For more than thirty years, Stéphanie has cultivated a passion for Japan, its language and its culture. The interest began almost by chance during her high school years and eventually shaped her entire professional life.
Today she works as a tour guide and private driver for a Japanese clientele, showing visitors the beauty of the Côte d’Azur. A Niçoise deeply attached to her roots, she has found her balance between two cultures, living close to her parents and grandmother, where family ties remain central to her life.
Her interest was sparked in 1994, when Japan was far less popular in France than it is today. Mangas were not yet widely translated, the internet was not common in homes, and Japanese culture remained relatively unknown.
A few characters glimpsed in a textbook piqued her curiosity. “I wanted to study a rare language.
I found it fun, these characters that looked like drawings. And there I was, hooked.” In second year of high school she chose Japanese as her third language, with three hours of class per week, and a teacher who taught her more than language: “Every class, he also talked to us about the culture.”
After her baccalaureate she continued at INALCO in Paris, earning a DEUG, a licence and a maîtrise. She then spent a year and a half in Japan to deepen her command of the language.
Back in France she prepared for the agrégation to teach Japanese, but after strong results she failed the oral exam of a highly selective competition. “I told myself that my destiny was not to be a teacher, contrary to what I had hoped.”
Rather than abandon Japanese, she decided to make it her profession in another way. She joined Fragonard in Grasse, where she led factory visits in Japanese.
A new opportunity then arose: accompanying Japanese visitors on the Côte d’Azur. She became a guide-driver and later took over the business of her former employer.
The venture went through difficult periods, notably after the Nice attack and during the health crisis. She then turned to translation, including of mangas and a book, but realized that what she loved most was human contact.
“What I love is meeting people, going out, showing places. I’m from Nice and I adore my region.”
Japan has become a second home in her heart, yet she does not see herself living there permanently. “When I lived in Japan, I loved Japan, but I could not see myself living there.” She cites the weight of social conventions and the expectations placed on women.
“I needed that French side too, even though I truly love Japanese culture.” She chose to build her life in France, near her family, while speaking Japanese every day.
She lives close to her parents and her 91-year-old grandmother, a proximity that has become valuable both personally and professionally. Her work involves irregular hours, early starts and constantly changing programs, so being able to rely on loved ones is essential.
“If I did not live this way, I could not do this job.” Her mother and grandmother also share her love of cooking. During the Covid period their culinary preparations even led to appearances on Instagram, and from those moments came a second book, devoted to Niçoise gastronomy and family recipes, aimed in part at Japanese readers.
Stéphanie returns to Japan every year, often with her family. Her children, who were long kept at a distance from this world, now also enjoy discovering the country.
Japan has thus become a family story, while proximity to her relatives remains her anchor in France.
For twenty years Stéphanie has accompanied Japanese visitors through the region’s landscapes and villages, including Èze, Monaco, Menton and Saint-Paul-de-Vence. Each visit is different, and she takes time to understand her passengers’ interests and expectations.
“I’m not a cassette tape,” she says. She has also published two books in Japanese: one on the Côte d’Azur through the seasons, and a cookbook featuring Niçoise specialties and her family’s traditions.
For Stéphanie, a successful trip is not about covering distance but about creating memories. She recalls a Japanese family whose dream was to visit the grave of actor Gérard Philipe and see his birthplace; she organized the itinerary and accompanied them for four days.
“This lady told me it was thanks to me that she could fulfill her dream.” When asked her favorite Japanese word, she chose ichigo ichie, an expression meaning that each encounter is unique and no moment will ever happen exactly the same way again.
