Does it cost anything to join?
No. The community runs on LINE OpenChat, so anyone with the LINE app can join. There are no fees or dues of any kind.
Community
You don’t have to carry this alone.
- “I can’t picture the face of someone I met yesterday”
- “We’ve met so many times, and the name still won’t come”
- “I can’t tell the characters in a drama apart”
—Does any of that sound familiar?
顔が覚えられない人の集まり｜相貌失認・失顔症 (A Group for People Who Can’t Remember Faces)
This community is run in Japanese. Conversations take place in Japanese, so some reading ability is needed to take part.
What kind of place is this?
This is a relaxed space for people who find faces hard to remember, people who suspect they may have prosopagnosia (face blindness), and people who have been diagnosed — somewhere to talk about everyday struggles and the workarounds that help.
Prosopagnosia is a condition in which memory for faces alone does not work as it should. It is thought to affect roughly 1 in 50 people. Yet it is barely known in Japan, and many people are misread as rude or uninterested in others, and end up carrying it by themselves.
No diagnosis is required. “I don’t know whether I have prosopagnosia, but I struggle to remember faces” is reason enough to join. If speaking up feels hard, reading along is completely fine.
What people talk about
These are some of the topics that come up day to day.
- Ways to tell people apart at work or school (clothing, voice, hairstyle, where they sit…)
- Conversation tactics for getting through a “who is this again?” moment unnoticed
- To tell people or not: the dilemma of disclosing
- The shared experiences that make everyone say “yes, exactly!”
A few requests
- No abuse, solicitation, or advertising
- We cannot offer medical diagnosis. If you are concerned, please see a medical professional
- Please do not share anything personal you read here outside the group
People who share your experience are waiting.
This community is run in Japanese. Conversations take place in Japanese, so some reading ability is needed to take part.
Frequently asked questions
Questions we often hear from people deciding whether to join.
Can I join without a diagnosis?
Yes. A diagnosis is not required. If you are unsure whether you have prosopagnosia but struggle to remember faces, you are welcome. In practice, most members have not been formally diagnosed.
Can I take part anonymously?
Yes. LINE OpenChat lets you set a name and icon separate from your everyday LINE account, and your friends will not be notified that you have joined.
Is it alright to just read without posting?
Absolutely. Reading along is welcome. Many people find that simply seeing others describe the same experiences brings real relief, so there is no pressure to post.
Who runs the community?
It is run by the Name Mnemonic Research Institute (NMRI), which works to raise awareness of prosopagnosia. The organizers have prosopagnosia themselves. NMRI is not a medical institution and cannot provide diagnosis or medical advice.
Communities and resources abroad
All resources below are in English.
Questions & Inquiries
Whether you suspect you might have prosopagnosia, want to share thoughts on the site or our products, or have a media or writing inquiry — we take everything by DM on X or Instagram.
We cannot provide medical diagnosis or advice. If you are considering seeing a doctor, please consult a specialist. Replies may take some time.
Want to Help?
Here is what we are looking for right now. For any of these, a one-line DM is all it takes.
Try the AR glasses prototype
We are looking for people interested in trying our prototype under development. See the AR Glasses page for where things stand.
Join a survey
Be on our list for the next survey of people living with prosopagnosia. See the research report for what we have asked so far.
Share your story
We publish first-person stories under flower-name pseudonyms. See the Voices page for the stories published so far.