TOMO COSMOS / ABOUT
Tomo Haraguchi’s journey from founding PanKobo in 2013 to football, community, Japan–Malaysia connections and the developing TOMO COSMOS.
A LITTLE ABOUT TOMO
Entrepreneur & Connector | Founder, TOMO COSMOS
I am Tomohisa Haraguchi—Tomo: a father of five, a Japanese entrepreneur based in Malaysia, and the founder of TOMO COSMOS. My wife is Malaysian Chinese, and family life is as much a part of my story as business.
I started PanKobo Japanese Bakery in Johor Bahru in 2013, and the bakery has taught me more than how to make bread. I have learned by working with staff, listening to customers, developing products, adapting when plans change and keeping a small food business moving forward day by day.
At home, my wife and I are raising five children in a family with Japanese and Malaysian Chinese roots. Parenting brings laughter, discovery and a kind of joy that is hard to put into words. It also brings uncertainty, difficult choices and days when I have to learn all over again. That experience shapes how I see education and the people around me.
Over time, my world grew through football, community activities, cultural events and friendships between Japan and Malaysia. I also keep revisiting what I learned at Money & You in 2015 and an Instructor Training Program in 2018. Those experiences made me curious not only about what people do, but how they arrived there—the choices, setbacks, turning points and hopes behind a job title.
That curiosity is why I am building TOMO COSMOS: a place for real conversations, practical learning and connections that can continue after the first meeting.
FAMILY, PARENTING & EDUCATION
Family is not a separate chapter from my work. It shapes the questions I ask, the choices I make and the way I connect with people.
My wife is Malaysian Chinese, and together we are raising five children in Malaysia. Our different cultural backgrounds bring discovery and perspective into everyday life. I do not have perfect answers to parenting, and that is part of the learning.
Parenting is challenging. Work responsibilities, each child’s needs and ordinary decisions do not always fit neatly together. There are days of worry and exhaustion, and there are also laughter, play and little moments that make everything worthwhile. I want to acknowledge both sides.
Waldorf (Steiner) education has so far been the best fit for our family and our children. That is our experience—not a claim that one educational approach is best for everyone. What I value most is its learning environment and the community around it, where children, parents and educators have opportunities to grow and support one another.
I care about education beyond the classroom: how children develop, how we listen to them, and how parents keep learning as well. I want to exchange experiences with other parents, caregivers and educators about the questions, challenges, resilience and joy that we share.
I am not a parenting expert. I am a father who keeps learning, finding joy and trying again—and I believe we can move forward together.
AN ENTREPRENEURIAL JOURNEY
The ideas behind TOMO COSMOS did not begin as a technology project. They grew out of work that required craft, service, teamwork, patience and responsibility to real people.
I founded PanKobo Japanese Bakery and became a hands-on F&B operator. Natural-yeast baking, product development, production, staff teamwork, customer relationships, retail and B2B supply all became part of the same daily practice.
A bakery makes every decision visible. Quality, timing, costs, people, service and unexpected problems meet every day. The practical lessons—especially the imperfect ones—continue to shape how I build and collaborate.
Participation and organizing support with JJFC / JJFA brought Japanese and Malaysian adults and children onto the same field. Football showed me how trust can grow through shared activity before anyone needs a formal introduction.
Little Japanese Market and cultural-event collaboration created more ways to meet families, makers, performers, vendors and community groups. The 2026 AEON Tanabata Bon Odori was one such collaboration, with many different contributors making the event possible.
I am developing a platform for conversations, process-focused media, relationship building and thoughtful follow-up. The goal is to help useful experience become shared learning and, when it makes sense, meaningful action.
LEARNING BEYOND THE CLASSROOM
Personal development has been another part of my journey. I value what stays with me years after attending a seminar and how I use it in everyday life.
I attended Money & You in 2015. More than a one-time seminar, it became an experience I still return to as I reflect on choices, relationships, work and life with my family.
I attended and completed the Instructor Training Program in 2018, as part of my learning in coaching and instructor training. I value that experience for what I can keep putting into practice, not as a claim to be a professional coach or to hold a coaching certification.
I do not see myself as someone trying to become a coach. I am someone who continues to revisit, question and apply what I learned—in parenting, conversations, teamwork and the decisions of everyday life.
A PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHY
八方良し is my reminder to look beyond a two-sided win. A decision should consider the customer, the team, collaborators, the community, the next generation and the wider relationships around the work—not only the person making the deal.
In practice, that can mean protecting trust instead of rushing a transaction, introducing two people even when I gain nothing immediately, or sharing a difficult lesson so someone else can make a better decision.
It does not mean every outcome is perfect for everyone. It means asking a wider question before acting: who is affected, what can be learned, and how can value travel further than one exchange?
PORTFOLIO & CONTRIBUTIONS
These are different kinds of work. Status labels are intentional: an operating business is not the same as a community contribution, a completed event or a developing concept.
Founder and hands-on operator
Built and continues to operate a Japanese bakery in Johor Bahru, working across products, production, staff, customers, retail, hospitality, B2B supply and everyday problem-solving.
Participant and organizing supporter
Supports a football environment where Japanese and Malaysian adults and children can play, help one another and build long-term relationships through a shared game.
Event collaboration and PanKobo participation
Contributed as part of the wider event team, helping connect vendors, performers and community participants, while PanKobo also participated as a food vendor.
Community building and participant connections
Helps create approachable gatherings around food, makers, families and Japanese cultural activity, giving people from different circles a reason to meet in person.
Founder and system builder
Developing interviews, process-focused media, relationship practices and AI-supported memory and follow-up. These are evolving projects; public First Orbit intake and booking are not open.
WHY I WANT TO MEET PEOPLE
I want to understand how people reached the present: what they tried, what worked, what failed, what changed their direction and what they still hope might be possible.
There is useful knowledge in successful work, but also in closed businesses, unfinished ideas, difficult seasons and beginning again. Honest process can teach more than a polished result.
A meeting does not need to become a transaction, an interview or a published story. Sometimes the value is a clearer question, a useful introduction, or simply being understood accurately.
WHAT I AM BUILDING NOW
In development · not a finished public service
TOMO COSMOS is the public-facing universe: conversations, stories, field learning, projects and connections shared only with appropriate care and permission.
TOMO COMPASS 8 is the developing internal support system: a way to remember context, reflect on meetings, notice possible connections and follow through more thoughtfully with help from AI.
The technology is not the relationship, and recording is not publication permission. The purpose is to keep meaningful experience from disappearing while people remain in control of their own stories.
WHY MEET TOMO?
A conversation may be worthwhile if you value practical experience, thoughtful connections and honest discussion across different worlds.
FIRST ORBIT
The First Orbit page shows the current secure registration status.
See First Orbit registrationTHE FIRST ENCOUNTER IS ONLY THE FIRST ORBIT
You don’t need a pitch or a perfect plan. A question, a story, or a little curiosity is enough to begin.
Tell me a little about your cosmos.