Services, research and collaboration

Challenge

As Spain's official cultural institution in Japan, the Instituto Cervantes Tokyo needed to expand its reach beyond the existing Spanish-speaking community and connect more effectively with Japanese audiences — a market with high cultural curiosity but low brand awareness of the institution.

Approach

As Communication and Press Advisor within the Cultural Department, I redesigned the content strategy across social media channels to speak directly to Japanese audiences, shifting the tone and editorial focus to increase relevance and engagement. In parallel, I restructured the public relations approach to build institutional relationships with key Japanese organisations, positioning the institute as a serious cultural partner rather than a language school. Working closely with the Academic Department, I designed and executed promotional campaigns for the full range of training products — Spanish courses from A1 to C2, DELE official certifications, and teacher training programmes. I also designed and implemented a digital system through the institute's website to census Spanish language teachers across Japan, creating the first comprehensive database of its kind.

Impact

Grew social media following and engagement across all channels. Established lasting institutional relationships with NHK and the University of Tokyo. The teacher census was a significant success — producing the first real database of Spanish language teachers in Japan across universities and private academies — a unique institutional asset with lasting research and strategic value.

Challenge

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games — held in 2021 due to the pandemic — brought the Spanish Olympic Committee (COE) to Tokyo, with the Instituto Cervantes Tokyo serving as the official COE headquarters during the Games. The challenge was to manage press and communications for the institute during one of the world's most high-profile sporting events, coordinating with multiple Spanish sports federations and a large contingent of Spanish media simultaneously.

Approach

As Press Chief of the Instituto Cervantes Tokyo during the Olympic and Paralympic period, I worked side by side with the COE press team, supporting the organisational needs of the Spanish sports federations attending the Games and acting as a key point of contact for the Spanish media present in Tokyo — including TVE, Cadena SER, Onda Cero and El País. I coordinated press access, managed communications flow, and produced content capturing the Spanish delegation's participation across both the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Impact

The Instituto Cervantes Tokyo's communications throughout the Games ran smoothly and professionally. Media coverage was effectively managed across all major Spanish outlets. Video content featuring successful Spanish athletes generated a significant boost in social media reach and engagement for the institute — turning the Olympic moment into a lasting audience growth opportunity.

Challenge

The Embassy of Spain in Japan required a reliable creative partner for high-profile institutional events and communications — capable of working across audiovisual production, graphic design and event organisation at the level of diplomacy demands, where quality and discretion are non-negotiable.

Approach

Over several years I became the Embassy's go-to specialist for design and communication, working across three areas. First, audiovisual production — creating photography and video content for significant institutional events including meetings of Spanish nuclear energy scientists and promotional videos for the Association of Spanish Scientists in Japan. Second, corporate design — updating the Embassy's outdated graphic materials, designing signage, roll-ups and print collateral, and managing the full production and printing process. Third, event organisation — producing cultural events at the Embassy premises, including a landmark conference by Catalan designer Javier Jaén in December 2025, organised under the NODA banner as an official Embassy event. The evening brought together leading figures from Japan's design sector, international brand representatives from Meta and Google, and Japanese press.

Impact

The Javier Jaén conference was a critical and public success, establishing NODA as a trusted cultural organiser at embassy level. Across the collaboration, the Embassy consistently turned to NODA for design and communication challenges — a relationship built on years of institutional trust and demonstrated creative results.

Challenge

JICA — Japan's official international cooperation agency — needed to equip its professional staff with Spanish language skills and cultural knowledge of Latin America to operate effectively in the regions where it deploys its cooperation programmes.

Approach

As part of the external advisory team at JICA's headquarters in Ichigaya, Tokyo, I designed and delivered Spanish language training programmes for JICA professionals across multiple levels. Beyond language instruction, I developed the curriculum structure and produced the training materials — integrating cultural and regional knowledge of Latin America to ensure staff were prepared not just linguistically but contextually for their work in the field.

Impact

Contributed to building internal Spanish language and Latin American cultural competency within one of the world's leading international cooperation agencies — equipping JICA professionals with the tools to engage more effectively with partner communities across the region.

Challenge

ICEX — Spain's official trade and investment agency — needed a specialist partner in Japan to develop and manage New Spanish Books, a digital platform promoting Spanish-language publishing to Japanese industry professionals and inviting them to consider translations and local publication rights.

Approach

NODA won the public tender and took on the project as strategic and technical lead. We conducted a full audit of the starting point and developed a content strategy and information architecture to make the platform genuinely useful for editorial professionals — not just an institutional catalogue. We applied SEO expertise to strengthen discoverability, produced regular improvement reports identifying new content opportunities and audience segments, and managed content updates and translations as Project Manager. We also supported the physical promotion of the project in Tokyo, organising events at the Embassy of Spain and at some of Tokyo's most prestigious libraries — designing all graphic and print materials for those occasions.

Impact

The platform established itself as a credible tool for Japan's publishing sector. The success of the Japan-facing project led directly to NODA being appointed to lead the international English-language version — newspanishbooks.com — extending the project's reach to a global audience.

Challenge

The Faculty of Engineering at the University of Tokyo needed a designer with the ability to translate complex scientific content into clear, compelling visual material — capable of working at the standards required for academic publication.

Approach

I developed graphic materials to accompany the Faculty's scientific publications and articles — including infographics and cover designs that made technical research more accessible and visually coherent. Beyond the design work, I also acted as a connector between institutions, facilitating introductions between the University of Tokyo and the Instituto Cervantes Tokyo to explore potential collaborative programmes.

Impact

Delivered visual materials that met the rigorous standards of academic publication. The institutional connection established between the University of Tokyo and the Instituto Cervantes Tokyo opened a channel for future collaboration between two of the most significant institutions in their respective fields in Japan.

Challenge

LaLiga sought to deepen its presence in the Japanese market by connecting with local audiences through cultural and educational initiatives — going beyond sports broadcasting to build genuine community engagement among Japanese football fans and Spanish language learners.

Approach

Working at the intersection of LaLiga and the Instituto Cervantes Tokyo, I led the development of multiple editions of the LaLiga Course — a collaborative programme combining Spanish language learning with football culture. I handled the full scope of each edition: content organisation, session structure, in-person events, promotional videos, marketing, outreach to specialist Japanese media, client management, merchandising and final results reports. In parallel, I co-produced the LaLiga Spanish-Japanese Football Dictionary — a bilingual reference connecting Japanese fans with the language and culture of Spanish football clubs. I organised the official launch event, which brought together former Japanese professional players who had played in Spain, attracting strong attendance and widespread praise from attendees and press.

Impact

Both initiatives were well received — the dictionary became a distinctive cultural product at the intersection of sport and language, and the launch event was a public success, generating positive media coverage and establishing LaLiga's cultural presence in Japan on solid foundations.

Challenge

Mahou and Solán de Cabras — two of Spain's most recognised food and beverage brands — needed a partner in Japan capable of building genuine brand presence in a market where Spanish gastronomy was growing in interest but lacked consistent cultural anchoring.

Approach

Over several years I designed and produced cultural and gastronomic events across Japan — in Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka and Kyoto — positioning Mahou and Solán de Cabras not just as products but as expressions of Spanish lifestyle and culture. Each event was conceived as a brand experience connecting Japanese audiences with the identity behind the brands, rather than a simple promotional activation.

Impact

Delivered dozens of events across multiple cities, contributing to sustained brand awareness and positive cultural association among Japanese consumers — establishing Mahou and Solán de Cabras as recognisable Spanish references in the Japanese market.

Origin

Founded in Tokyo as a creative and communication agency built around a specific proposition: helping brands and organisations establish genuine presence in Japan. Born from years of hands-on experience working with Spanish institutions and brands in the Japanese market, NODA operates from the inside — with deep cultural knowledge of both sides of the Spain–Japan axis.

What it is

NODA develops creative and communication projects across five areas: graphic design and print production, web development in Japanese, social media strategy for Japan-facing audiences, strategic communication and press, and event production. The studio works with clients who need more than translation — they need a partner who understands how to connect with Japanese audiences meaningfully.

Current status

Fully operational from Tokyo. Active across multiple ongoing projects including the ICEX NewSpanishBooks platform, the Embassy of Spain and the softpower.school initiative. Clients include the Embassy of Spain in Japan, Instituto Cervantes Tokyo, Mahou and Solán de Cabras.

Origin

On arriving in Japan, I identified a gap: no platform existed to connect Japanese audiences with Spanish culture in a way that felt native to them — in their language, through their channels, with their cultural references in mind.

What it is

I founded Club Español en Japón スペイン倶楽部 to professionalise a series of cultural events around Spanish language and gastronomy, creating a brand capable of attracting wider audiences and opening doors to commercial collaborations. The early years produced lasting partnerships including the ongoing collaboration with Mahou in Japan and the work with JICA. Eight years on, the club has evolved into a Japanese-language digital platform covering Spanish gastronomy, travel, language and culture — applying digital communication and SEO expertise to build organic reach and position Spain as a reference in the Japanese cultural landscape.

Current status

An eight-year track record of community building, brand partnerships and cultural programming. A growing Japanese-language platform with active social media presence and sustained audience engagement.

Origin

Despite the global influence of Japanese cultural industries — videogames, anime, music, cinema, fashion and design — no structured professional education existed in Spanish to help cultural professionals, creatives and students understand how these industries operate and how to engage with them strategically.

What it is

Drawing on years of experience in Japan and an extensive network across the cultural sector in Asia, softpower.school was conceived as an online education platform covering the structural ecosystem of Japanese cultural industries across six sectors. The curriculum provides the foundational knowledge needed before entering the ecosystem professionally — designed for cultural industry professionals, internationally-minded creatives, and students orienting their careers toward Asian cultural industries.

Current status

Landing page live at softpower.school. Content being published through Instagram and YouTube — covering cultural events and industry analysis from Japan. Full platform and first training programmes in preparation.