Giving a speech about sex, cultural identity or underwear thieves to a live audience might not be everyone’s cup of tea — but at Tokyo Freedom Toastmasters Club, it’s just another Saturday night.

The club was founded in 2020 by Paul Malone, who hails from Alamogordo, New Mexico, and Miki Suzuki, a native of Toyota, Aichi Prefecture. Malone, 57, has lived in Japan since 1996 and first joined Toastmasters International in 2010. Suzuki, 49, is the owner of Miki’s Art Cafe, which hosts the club’s meetings, in Hatagaya.

Tokyo Freedom is part of the Toastmasters International network, which comprises nearly 14,000 member groups across the globe. Tracing its roots back to American educator Ralph C. Smedley in 1924, Toastmasters International was originally envisioned as a space for young men to hone “the art of public speaking.”

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