Niko McGrathSelected work, 2021–2026
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Vol. I · Reference · 2026

The Almanac

Everything that isn't a project: who I am, where I've worked and studied, and an index of skills that points back into the stack.

Based in
Saitama, Japan
In the stack
10 issues
Indexed
30 skills
Résumé, to read or download →

In this volume

  1. (1)Résumé
  2. (2)Bio
  3. (3)Work and education
  4. (4)Japanese
  5. (5)Index of skills
  6. (6)Contact

The Almanac · Reference

(1) Résumé · current as of October 2026

Made from the Almanac's own entries

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(2) The Almanac

Bio

I'm Niko McGrath. I grew up in San Diego, studied international business at Cal Poly Pomona, and since March 2025 I've lived in Saitama, teaching English at a prefectural high school where the staffroom runs in Japanese.

In 2021 I co-founded SalmonCat, a mechanical-keyboard company; its first kit raised $231,849 in 30 days. I then spent three years as Director of Photography on a documentary channel that grew past 600,000 subscribers. Lately I build software for the work in front of me: an order tracker, a tool that cuts video to a script, a Japanese-learning product.

NextFrom April 2027 I'm looking for operations, business analysis or product operations roles, in Tokyo or Southern California.

Grew up
San Diego, California
Studied
International business at Cal Poly Pomona, 2024
Lives
Saitama, Japan, since March 2025
Languages
English, native. Japanese, every day at work

Year by year

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

2025

2026

(3) The Almanac

Work and education

Where I've worked and studied, newest first. Each role lists the issues in the stack that came out of it.

Work

Freelance video editor

Sep 2026 – present

A Japanese-learning YouTube channel · Remote

  • Edit two to three long-form educational videos a month, 10 to 20 minutes each, with custom motion graphics, graphic design and some filming.
  • Built Roughcut, which finds every take of every script line in the footage and plans the rough cut for DaVinci Resolve.

In the stackNo. 08 · Roughcut

Assistant Language Teacher

Mar 2025 – present

Interac · Warabi Saitama Prefectural High School · Saitama, Japan

  • Teach 18 classes a week to about 400 students, including 12 periods of debate and discussion for the school’s international-language track, at around CEFR C1.
  • Lead the second-year speech curriculum this year: I co-develop the course with my Japanese co-teacher and make all of its slides and materials.
  • Lead the English Debate Club and judge at prefectural and regional competitions; co-led the English Drama Club to first prize at the prefectural competition.
  • Coach third-years for university entrance-exam speaking tests and the TOEIC. Staff meetings, planning and day-to-day work happen in Japanese.

Director of Photography

Feb 2022 – Mar 2025

James Klug · Documentary YouTube channel · United States

  • About 240 productions over three years for a channel that grew past 600,000 subscribers; a flagship short reached 17 million views.
  • Planned shots, locations and lighting, ran multi-camera shoots on location, and carried out sponsors’ creative briefs.
  • Built the channel’s shorts strategy around YouTube Premium revenue sharing, and launched a live-stream donation stream whose ad revenue per view ran about 600% above normal videos.

In the stackNo. 04 · James Klug

Co-founder

Feb 2021 – present, winding down since 2023

SalmonCat Studios · Mechanical keyboards · United States and Japan

  • Led the June 2021 launch of the Aozora kit: $231,849 in 30 days on 849 orders, 4.6× the $50,000 goal, from an audience we built ourselves.
  • Cut the unit cost from over $350 to $138 across five design-for-manufacture rounds with the factory.
  • Ran supplier negotiation, Shopify operations, community and fulfillment, and took hand-shipping from 20 to about 100 orders a day.
  • Rebuilt operations in 2026 in Google Sheets and Apps Script: Shopify order sync, part-by-part inventory and reorder points.

In the stackNo. 01 · SalmonCat StudiosNo. 02 · Aozora 69No. 03 · Aozora PCBNo. 07 · Inventory Tracker

On my own

Education

Cal Poly Pomona

2020 – 2024

BS Business Administration, International Business · Pomona, California

  • Dean’s List for two semesters in the final year.
  • Coursework in international business strategy, international agreements and negotiation, strategic management and financial accounting.
  • Co-founded the Japanese Language Learners Club and served a year as its vice president.

(4) The Almanac

Japanese日本語

I work in Japanese every day at a high school in Saitama. These pages read my study data from Migaku, the app I learn in, and keep themselves up to date.

Updated 2 days ago· from Migaku

JLPT N2 · July 2026

88 / 180

Two points short of the 90 needed to pass. Every section cleared the 19-point minimum.

Vocabulary & grammar 28 / 60
Reading 29 / 60
Listening 31 / 60

I took N2 without studying for the test itself; my study is input-first, through Migaku and Japanese TV and YouTube. Next sitting: July 2027.

Right now

Words known
2,174

+28 in the last 4 weeks

Days studied
11 of 28

in the last 4 weeks

Time reviewing
2 h 10 min

in the last 4 weeks, 93.9% passed

Streak
3 days

in a row, counting today

Since 24 Jan 2025: 238 days studied, 19,883 reviews, 62 hours. Migaku Japanese Academy, Level 1: 1,985 of 1,992 cards studied.

Goals

  1. Moved to Japan, N5 passedMar 2025Start78 words known
  2. JLPT N2: 88 / 180Jul 2026Not passed2 points short, with about 2,000 words known

“At my pace” is my average since moving to Japan: 107 words a month. Over the last four weeks it was 30 a month.

Words known, and where my average pace leads

Migaku's count of words I know, rebuilt day by day from every review since January 2025. The dashed line carries on at my average since moving to Japan.

Moved to JapanJLPT N2 At my average pace 3,500 by Dec 20266,000 by Jul 2027 2,174 today

Source: Migaku. History before today rebuilt from the review log; see below.

Time spent on Migaku reviews, each week

Flashcard reviews only. Study on my focus timer and immersion (TV and YouTube) aren't counted here yet.

JLPT N2
See the numbers
MonthWords known (end)Days studiedTime reviewingReviewsNew cards
Jan 20254381 h 53 min357147
Feb 202578312 min660
Mar 2025112713 min510
Apr 2025190131 h 26 min31654
May 2025249111 h 48 min38092
Jun 2025280852 min19311
Jul 202528564 min140
Aug 202529038 min340
Sept 2025313623 min1480
Oct 202531414 min2714
Nov 202531614 min173
Dec 202534892 h 12 min613149
Jan 2026453173 h 21 min925159
Feb 2026810267 h 30 min2,275376
Mar 20261,1832310 h 24 min3,589522
Apr 20261,4242210 h 29 min3,486448
May 20261,685216 h 35 min2,145151
Jun 20261,812166 h 25 min1,914233
Jul 20262,108113 h 14 min1,205145
Aug 20262,124328 min2400
Sept 20262,197132 h 57 min1,40910
Oct 20262,202101 h 04 min47940

How this is measured

  • Words known is Migaku's own count. A word counts once I've passed its flashcard at a gap of 5 days or more, or marked it known myself. It can also fall: failing a card, or adding a new card for a word I already know, moves the word back to learning.
  • The history before today is rebuilt by replaying every review with that rule. It matches Migaku's own status for 99.2% of the words I've studied. From today on, Migaku's count is also saved each day.
  • Projections are straight lines at my average since moving to Japan. Real learning isn't a straight line, so they're a guide, not a promise.
  • JLPT scores are scaled: each section is out of 60, and a pass needs 90 in total with at least 19 in every section.

(5) The Almanac

Index of skills

All 30 skills in the stack, with the issues that use them. Pick one to bring its issues forward.

Business and operations

Design and hardware

  • 02
  • 02
  • 03
  • 03
  • 01, 02
  • 03
  • 03

Software and data

  • 09
  • 07, 08
  • 05
  • 09
  • 07
  • 06
  • 05
  • 08
  • 09
  • 06, 09

Film and video

Teaching and language

(6) The Almanac

Contact

Email is quickest. I'm in Saitama, Japan, on Japan time (UTC+9).

NextFrom April 2027 I'm looking for operations, business analysis or product operations roles, in Tokyo or Southern California.