ONE PERSON. A FAIRLY LARGE TOOLBOX.

Everything Ryan.

AI, websites, automation & practical business support.

I work across technology, business, communication and Japan — especially when the problem doesn’t fit neatly into one box.

I can help with AI & automation.
Put Me to Work See My Work →
Available for selected projects · Japan now → Canada next
JAPAN CANADA
DAYS UNTIL CANADA
— DAYS
— HOURS
— MINUTES
— SECONDS

The countdown marks the move, not the end of the work.

AI ✦ Automation ✦ WordPress ✦ AWS ✦ Web Development ✦ Business Development ✦ Japan ✦ Research ✦ Training ✦ Python ✦
THE SHORT VERSION

More than a label. A toolbox.

Depending on where we met, you may know me as an English teacher. Or the web guy. Or someone from business development. Or simply the Canadian who has been hanging around Japan for a very long time.

All of those are true. None of them is particularly complete.

Over the years I've accumulated a fairly eclectic collection of useful skills — and I'm often most useful when a problem doesn't fit neatly inside one department.

01
Tech + Human Systems should serve people.
02
Local + Global Japan experience. Canadian perspective.
03
Strategy + Execution Ideas matter. Shipping matters more.
04
Systems + Story Build the thing. Explain the thing.
WHAT I DO BEST

Five pillars. Quite a few ways to be useful.

Not an exhaustive list. That would become ridiculous.

01

AI & Automation

Use better tools. Eliminate unnecessary work.

  • AI workflow design
  • Business automation
  • Python & APIs
  • Custom AI assistants
  • Research & document systems
  • AI training
02

Web, Cloud &
Digital Systems

Build it. Fix it. Move it. Make it work properly.

  • WordPress
  • Business websites
  • AWS & cloud
  • Hosting & migrations
  • Web applications
  • Troubleshooting
03

Business Development
& Sales

Find the opportunity. Start the conversation.

  • Market research
  • Prospect research
  • B2B outreach
  • Sales messaging
  • Partnership research
  • Market-entry support
04

International Trade
& Japan Support

Research markets. Find suppliers. Bridge the gaps.

  • Supplier sourcing
  • Japan market research
  • Quotation comparison
  • Canada ↔ Japan support
  • Cross-border research
  • Business coordination
05

Communication
& Training

Clearer ideas. Better communication.

  • Conversational English
  • Business English
  • Presentation coaching
  • Writing & editing
  • Website copy
  • Corporate training
SELECTED WORK

I actually do this stuff.

A few examples of what an eclectic toolbox looks like in practice.

Everything Ryan website project 01
WEB · POSITIONING · FRONT-END

Everything Ryan

Problem

My career makes very little sense when forced into a conventional résumé.

Built

A single-page storefront that organizes technology, business, Japan, communication and side projects around the problems I can solve.

Under the hood

WordPress · Flatsome · PHP · HTML · CSS · JavaScript · responsive UI · reusable dialog system · LiteSpeed

Result

You're looking at it.

Cross-border business and market development 02
B2B · JAPAN · MARKET DEVELOPMENT

Cross-Border Market Development

Problem

A Japanese trading business wanted to develop overseas opportunities, but the useful work had to happen long before the sales conversation.

Did

Researched markets, suppliers, buyers and partners; helped shape English business materials; supported outreach and organized opportunities into something usable.

Under the hood

Market research · prospect qualification · supplier sourcing · quotation comparison · cross-language research · outreach workflows · web content

Result

A more structured path from scattered research to qualified commercial conversations.

WebShotter website review workflow tool 03
PYTHON · INTERNAL TOOLING · WORKFLOW

WebShotter

Problem

Website review notes were getting scattered across screenshots, browser tabs, messages and documents.

Built

A local desktop tool that captures full web pages, anchors notes to visual regions and exports the review as a usable PDF report.

Under the hood

Python · browser automation · full-page capture · anchored annotations · PDF generation · local desktop UI · AI-assisted development

Result

Turned an annoying review process into a repeatable capture → note → export workflow.

MapleLion Eikaiwa English teaching business 04
BUSINESS · EDUCATION · OPERATIONS

Building My Own Eikaiwa

Problem

I wanted more control over the work, the service and the customer relationship, so I built my own English-teaching business.

Built

Student acquisition, pricing, scheduling, curriculum, lesson delivery, communication, retention and the day-to-day operation of the business.

Under the hood

Service design · customer acquisition · pricing · recurring scheduling · lesson systems · retention · referrals · capacity planning

Lesson

The business worked. The catch was that I eventually became the product. Revenue capacity was tied directly to the number of hours of me available to sell.

Neon Arcade retro Python game collection 05
PYTHON · PYGAME · GAME DEVELOPMENT

Neon Arcade

Problem

I was bored in the office.

Built

Started recreating the 1980s arcade games I grew up with in Python, gave them a shared neon visual language, then kept going.

Under the hood

Python · Pygame · game loops · collision systems · entity and state management · enemy behaviour · sprite and audio assets · packaging · refactoring

Result

Arkanoid led to Galaga. Galaga led to Alley Cat. Boredom became a reusable little arcade framework.

THE STOREFRONT

Pick something. Off the shelf.

You don't need to decipher my résumé and invent a job for me.

COMMUNICATION

Conversational English

¥3,500 / hour

Natural one-to-one conversation without the unnecessary ceremony.

COMMUNICATION

Business English

¥5,000+ / hour

Meetings, presentations, interviews and professional communication.

AI

AI Consultation

¥7,500+

Bring me the problem. We'll work out where AI is actually useful.

AI

AI Workflow Audit

¥25,000+

Find repetitive work, bottlenecks and realistic automation opportunities.

WEB

WordPress Troubleshooting

¥10,000+

Broken layout? Plugin conflict? Migration problem? Something on fire?

WEB

Website Build

¥150,000+

Modern business websites built around what visitors actually need to do.

AUTOMATION

Business Automation

¥50,000+

Turn repetitive processes into workflows requiring far less babysitting.

BUSINESS

B2B Prospect Research

¥40,000+

Define the target, research companies and build useful prospect lists.

INTERNATIONAL

Supplier Sourcing

¥50,000+

Research manufacturers, suppliers and potential business partners in Japan.

WRITING

Website Copy Overhaul

¥75,000+

Make your website explain what you do without putting visitors to sleep.

Prices are starting points. Some work makes sense hourly. Larger work is scoped around the problem and outcome.

MY FAVOURITE CATEGORY

Got something weird?

The interesting jobs rarely arrive with a tidy label. Maybe you need research, code, a website, a business process fixed, or some combination nobody thought to name.

“I'm not even sure if this is something you do, but…”

Good. Those are usually worth a conversation.

Tell Me the Problem →
Ryan
RYAN Generalist by accident.
SO, WHO THE HELL IS RYAN?

A fairly strange career path.

My career path doesn't draw a particularly straight line.

I've worked around technology, web development, manufacturing, business ownership, education, sales, international business, cloud infrastructure, writing, automation and AI.

The common thread is usually the same: understand the problem, figure out what is actually useful, then make the thing work.

Looking at my career as a résumé, it's messy. Looking at it as a toolbox, it makes considerably more sense.
01 Builder at heart
02 Systems thinker
03 15 years in Japan
04 Canada next
05 Still curious
Download the boring résumé ↓
FIFTEEN YEARS IS A LONG TIME.

Japan became home.

I came here for one chapter and stayed for several.

I've worked here, built businesses here, taught here, developed projects here, met remarkable people here and accumulated an absurd number of stories along the way.

Fifteen years also changes how you look at things. You learn how differently businesses communicate, how differently people make decisions, and how much context matters when two cultures are trying to understand each other.

There are things I'll miss more than I expect. There are probably things I won't realise I miss until months after I'm gone.

But eventually every chapter ends. Mine ends this autumn.
WHAT'S NEXT?

Canada. Then we'll see.

I have plans.

I also have half-plans, experiments, businesses I'd like to build, projects I'd like to try and probably several ideas I haven't had yet.

Some of the work I've built in Japan can continue remotely. Geography matters a lot less when the work is research, technology, writing, communication or solving a strange problem through a screen.

And I want to build new things in Canada.

I'm not going back as the person who left. I'm going back with a much bigger toolbox.

SIDE QUEST Maybe another bar someday.

No promises. No pressure. No sob story.

Buy a Future Barstool →
QUESTIONS. GOOD.

A few things worth knowing.

The move. The work. The AI. The occasional weird request.

I'm moving from Japan to Canada this autumn, but geography is only part of the story. Here's what actually changes — and what doesn't.

NOW Japan
NEXT Ontario, Canada
THE MOVE
Do you stop working when you leave Japan?

No. I move to Canada. That's all the countdown means. Work that makes sense remotely can continue after the move.

What happens to projects accepted before you leave?

Anything I agree to take on will be honoured according to the terms we agree on. I'm not going to accept your project and then vanish over the Pacific.

Can we continue working together after you move?

For work that makes sense remotely, absolutely. If there is enough ongoing demand from Japan, selected services can continue from Canada long term.

Can Canadian clients work with you now?

Yes. Remote projects can begin before the move. Once I'm back in Ontario, local and in-person work becomes part of the mix as well.

Are you leaving Japan work behind completely?

No. Geography changes; useful relationships don't have to. Japan-related research, sourcing, communication, business support and other remote-compatible work can continue where it makes sense.

AI & HOW I WORK
How do you actually use AI?

Across quite a lot of my work: research, development, analysis, writing, translation, automation, document processing and communication.

I don't treat AI as a product that needs to be forced into every problem. It's another tool in the toolbox — sometimes an extremely useful one.

Does every problem need AI?

No. Most don't.

If a normal website, spreadsheet, script, process change or human conversation solves the problem better, that's what I'll recommend.

I use AI when it genuinely makes something faster, easier, cheaper or possible where it wasn't before.

Are you just letting AI do the work?

No.

AI doesn't replace judgment. It extends where I can use mine.

The useful part is knowing what to ask, what to trust, what to verify, what tools to connect, and whether AI belongs in the solution at all.

Can we work together if our English or Japanese isn't perfect?

Yes.

Modern AI gives us a remarkably capable communication layer for research, correspondence, documents and day-to-day coordination.

You don't need perfect English, and I don't need perfect Japanese. Anything where precision genuinely matters still gets checked rather than blindly trusting a machine translation.

Do you speak Japanese?

Not fluently. Fifteen years in Japan gives me plenty of context and practical familiarity, but I don't pretend to be a native speaker.

For Japanese-language research and communication, I use modern translation and AI tools where appropriate and verify important details when accuracy matters.

EVERYTHING ELSE
What if what I need isn't listed?

Ask. That may be the most important answer on this page.

ENOUGH SCROLLING

So. What can I do for you?

Big project. Small problem. Something straightforward. Something strange.

Tell me what you're trying to accomplish and I'll tell you whether I can help.

AI Web Automation Business Japan Writing Something Weird
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