About

I'm Nick Ramsay. I'm from southeast England, but I've lived in Japan since 1998.

I studied Computer Science in the mid-90s, but I've spent the last 28 years running my own English school. This blog is where I'm documenting my pivot back to technical work and my journey into building systems for small businesses.

Why I build this way

I use a PHP framework called Laravel and its admin companion, Filament, to let me tailor everything to how a niche industry actually works.

The goal is to give small businesses a system that is safe, dependable, and completely personal to their daily operations - without the massive price tag of a big software company. Here's my Mission Statement and Objectives.

A few things I've made

Shisensho Solitaire: A tile-matching game I released on Steam.
HotaruCMS: An open-source project I founded many years ago.
Websites: I run several sites, including Nick's English for my students.

When I'm not coding

I spend my spare time playing PC games, learning Chinese with an app, and enjoying the countryside here in Gifu prefecture. I passed the N2 Japanese exam a couple of times, though I still find the language a challenge after all these years.

Get in touch

Please use the form below. The answer to the anti-spam question is 1998.