23 June 2025

We’re delighted to welcome Naho Kubo to CNWL Recovery and Wellbeing College (RWC) this summer. Naho is a 24-year-old university student from Japan with lived experience of mental health challenges. She’s here until mid-July to learn more about recovery education and to share insights from her own journey and experiences in Japan.

Naho is passionate about helping others and wants to bring recovery-focused care to more people in Japan. She has already made a big impression at the college. She recently gave a moving presentation about her personal recovery story, which inspired many of us.

While at RWC, Naho has taken part in a range of courses and activities. She is keen to understand how peer support roles and lived experience are embedded in the UK’s mental health services. In Japan, these approaches are not yet common.

Sharing Perspectives Across Cultures

There are big differences between the mental health systems in Japan and the UK. Naho explained that in Japan, people often stay in psychiatric hospitals for long periods — the average stay is around 300 days. In contrast, a typical stay in a UK hospital is around two weeks.

She also told us that most recovery colleges in Japan are very small and run by volunteers. Career opportunities for peer workers are still limited. Seeing the way services are organised in the UK has given Naho new ideas about what’s possible.

She recently joined a session hosted by the CNWL Minds Matter staff network, where she took part in a discussion about complex emotional needs. This helped deepen her understanding of mental health care approaches in the UK.

Football and Friendship

Outside the college, Naho has also found time to enjoy one of her passions — football. She plays with the Minds United Football Club and has even taken part in international competitions. She continues to join her recovery college classes online in Japan when she’s not on the pitch or attending local events.

We were also pleased to welcome Naho’s football coach, Makoto Tabuchi, to our site at Argo House. Makoto is a social worker in Japan and the founder of a football team for people with mental health needs. He spoke with the RWC team about the importance of seeing the whole person, not just a diagnosis. He describes coaching as “his personal medicine”.

Looking Ahead

Naho is keen to learn as much as possible during her stay. She’s particularly interested in:

  • Open Dialogue
  • Peer support work
  • Human library projects
  • Community-based mental health care

Her hope is to take what she learns here and bring it back to Japan, helping others on their recovery journey.

In Naho’s Words

“I used to be in a psychiatric hospital in Japan. I had lost all hope and gave up on life. But through Open Dialogue and self-help groups, I started to think differently about my life. Joining a football team helped me reconnect with others, and I began to live in society again.

At 21, I started studying social work online and met Professor Masahiro, who introduced me to the UK’s Recovery Colleges. I’ve been involved with recovery colleges in Nagoya and Fukuoka — but they are very small and mostly volunteer-run. That’s why I came to the UK, to learn more.

I’m grateful to everyone at RWC and CNWL for welcoming me and supporting my learning. My dream is to share recovery and hope with more people in Japan.”