Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on April 2011

If you have a young child who enjoys learning English, there’s a pretty good chance he or she knows Jennifer Periman, or Jenny, as she is known to the legions of fans of the NHK English-education program, Eigo de Asobo (“Let’s Play in English”).

This is Jenny’s fourth year on the program, which has been running for over 20 years in all. In each show, she performs with singer-songwriter Eric Jacobsen. “It is so much fun,” says the bilingual 26-year-old. “We use simple key words in each story and introduce a new English song every month. We have two mascot characters and we play together and go to kindergartens. When we go outside the studio, I can ad-lib a bit.”

Children on the show are aged 3-6. “At that age, they are good at picking up English and can sense what I am saying,” says Jenny. “I get drawings of myself from children. Sometimes they even recognize me when I am out and about, but usually the mothers recognize me first before their children do.”

Born in Ohio to an American father and Japanese mother, Jenny says she had lots of aspirations when she was a child. “I wanted to be a figure skater, a singer or an actress,” she recalls. “When I was young, my parents put me in this little modeling agency and I enjoyed appearing in front of others.” Her family moved to Japan when she was 7 and she continued to do some children’s magazine modeling. Then she got her showbiz break at the age of 12 when she was selected to be on NHK’s Tensai Terebi-kun, a long-running program that features children taking part in musical performances, skits and playing games. “That was my first time on Japanese TV, and I was blessed to have been a part of the show for two years,” says Jenny.

After high-school, Jenny became a cheerleader for the Yomiuri Giants baseball team. “That was an amazing experience—dancing in front of 50,000 people at Tokyo Dome for three seasons.”

These days, she concentrates on Eigo de Asobo and is happy to see more opportunities for foreigners and those of mixed heritage on Japanese TV. “I hope I can inspire more people like myself who are living in Japan to pursue their ambitions.

“Although it is not easy to get into show business, I believe that as long as you keep aiming toward your goals, you will eventually find the right agency, meet the right people and get your dream job, so never give up.”

When she’s not working, Jenny enjoys reading and working out at the gym, and she’s just started yoga. “I like to cook, quilt and sing karaoke” she says. She also has no qualms about being called a hafu. “I am what I am. What I do notice is that when I go back to visit relatives in California, it takes two or three days before my mind changes back into ‘English mode.’ Then I come back to Tokyo and it takes another few days to switch back into ‘Japanese mode.’”

Eigo de Asobo airs Mon-Fri on NHK channel 2 from 8:45-8:55am. Chris Betros is the editor of Japan Today