Hi, I’m Toeps!
WordPress developer, sometimes photographer and author of But you don’t look autistic at all (also in Dutch, German and Italian), children’s book Ik ben autastisch! (I’m autastic!) and This autistic girl went to Japan (in Dutch: Deze autist ging naar Japan), about my recent move to Japan.
I love Polaroid camera’s, trains, Disney parks and vintage clothes. I live in Tokyo, Japan.
New: This autistic girl went to Japan
When Bianca Toeps first set foot in Japan in 2008, she just knew: “I’m going to live here someday.” Flash forward 15 years, and she’s finally traded her tiny apartment in the Netherlands for an even tinier one in Tokyo. But it wasn’t always easy. Between that first visit and now, Toeps was diagnosed with autism at age 26, suffered several burnouts, and switched careers a time or two (or three) before becoming a web developer and a best-selling author. And just when she was all set for the big move, the pandemic derailed everything.
Read more about my new book, This autistic girl went to Japan – And you won’t believe what happened next here!
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Fireworks
Every now and then, I check out Threads, Zuckerberg’s answer to Twitter. Now, we all know that people on Twitter (okay, okay, X) end up in bubbles, but Threads is way worse. The algorithm that serves up posts to me thinks I’m interested in exactly two things: autism and Japan. So, 50% of my feed is edgy takes from the autistic “community”, and the other half is filled with dumb questions (“How much money do I need for a two-week vacation in Tokyo?” – Uh, I don’t know, what do you plan on doing?) and even dumber statements (“Men in Japan never wear shorts because showing leg hair is gross!” – Uh, I just saw about ten guys in shorts on the train, nobody cares?) about Japan.
I like to move it, move it (the Japanese way)
Ever find yourself in this situation? You plan to move just a bed, so you contact a moving company, and before you know it, half your stuff is at your boyfriend’s place? That’s exactly what went down this Tuesday on moving day.
I went to a meeting for autistic girls in Japan
Some time ago, I was invited by Kohei Kato, an autism researcher at Tokyo Gakugei University who also works as an editorial manager at Japanese publisher Kaneko Shobo. He immediately told me not to expect too much, but he wanted to get acquainted. He gave me two books from his publishing company about autism in girls and women, in Japanese. I haven’t read the books yet (my Japanese isn’t that good, unfortunately), but the titles were promising – these books were about camouflage, or masking.
The Ikea haters
“Ikea furniture is not made for moving. It will break.” The Japanese gentleman from the moving company looked troubled. He spoke in Japanese to Google Translate, and then his phone spat out the translation in Dutch. Just before, he had asked if all my stuff was from Ikea, to which I cheerfully replied, “yes.” I love Ikea. The Japanese do not.
Buongiorno and konnichiwa
It’s-a me, Toeps, business manager. This blog is a selection of the things I have done in recent months. Because a lot has happened, and a lot is still going to happen! What exactly, you ask? Well…
Nine struggles you’ll probably recognize when you’re autistic
This article was initially written for Flow Magazine. They asked me: What do you struggle with when you have autism?
We went to an abandoned island near Nagasaki. No, another one.
If they’re good at anything in Japan, it’s…. Anime? High-speed trains? Bustling metropolises with illuminated billboards everywhere you look? Sushi that took ten years to study for? Finding your ikigai? Well, yes, also maybe, but today I wanted to talk about that other talent of Japan: leaving places and buildings behind and then letting them decay.