CURRENT MISSION

To prevent memory loss by making every day memorable.

ABOUT ME

Currently getting used to Tokyo's urban atmosphere. I said goodbye to Aomori, my home of about eight years, in January 2012 to take a job in the big city.
But my heart will go on and on...or something like that.

I enjoy a cheap night on the town, something I took for granted in Japan's more rural areas. It's quite a challenge to find a good beer at 200 yen a jokki or a big plate of curry for a mere 310 yen. My new hobby has become finding these rare, and very often barely palatable, gems in the central wards of Tokyo.

PHILOSOPHY

Feel free to do what you want--as long as what you want never harms and always benefits others.

Interests

Chinese, Japanese, linguistics, and dialect. World/Japanese history. Japanese oldies, folk songs, and enka. Festival hayashi and a tad of acoustic guitar. Hot springs. Local brews and libations. Monster Hunter 3. Learning.

• festivals
• beer
• guitar
• hunting
• history

Music, Movies, and Books

I generally like old music of all sorts, mainly American, Japanese, and some Chinese goodies.

Other than that, some long-standing favorites of mine are Blonde Redhead, Black Keys, Belle & Sebastian, Conor Oberst's music, Rocky Votolato, Elliot Smith, Of Montreal, and such.

Literature-wise, mostly Japanese. Silence, Norwegian Wood, In the Pool series. But my staple genres are atlases and textbooks.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I broke my back and was on the verge of becoming a paraplegic a couple years ago. Amazing? Maybe not. But it was definitely life-changing.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach lots of Japanese, some basic Chinese, and most all of English grammar. I have a couple acoustic guitars, but I'm not very talented when it comes to playing them.

Countries I’ve Visited

South Korea, Taiwan

Countries I’ve Lived In

Japan

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