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Big in Japan: An Introduction

by Matthew Firestone (RSS feed) on Aug 15th 2007 at 12:30PM

This post is the first installment in a twice-weekly feature column detailing the weird, the wonderful and the wacky world that is Japan.

I suppose I should start out by telling you about me.

I spent most of my formative youth in a small town 100 kilometers south of New York City that is famous for its strip malls, drag racing and suburban discontent. My escape came in the form of a far-sighted admissions officer at Harvard who accidentally placed my application in the 'Admit' pile. Although the officer was later fired for his gross negligence, I on the other hand matriculated and began what was to be a short-lived career as a biological anthropologist.

My field research on the ancestral nutrition of indigenous populations in Sub-Saharan Africa was systematic, insightful and impossibly boring to read. However, people surprisingly seemed interested in reading about the exploits of a suburban-bred anthropologist, and thus began my new-found career as a freelance travel writer. For a brief but memorable spell, I worked as a writer for Let's Go Travel Guides, authoring guides on Scotland, Costa Rica, Thailand and Japan - my introduction to the Far East.

I suppose this is when my full-fledged and possibly incurable Japanophilia started kicked in.

(Then again, I must confess that I was that strange kid who preferred California rolls and green tea ice cream to McDonald's and Baskin Robins).

After graduating from university, I worked as a bartender in Tokyo where I learned Japanese by asking customers to scribble grammar patterns on the backs of coasters. I also learned a thing or two about the Tokyo underworld, and am fairly certain that I've seen too much to be allowed back in parts of Tokyo. With that said, I decided to take a break from my Japan trappings, and subsequently moved to the UK where I studied epidemiology at Cambridge.

Although grad school was a blast to say the least, job prospects were slim as I spent most of my free time traveling in the Middle East and North Africa. Fortunately, I was hired to work as a freelance travel writer for Lonely Planet soon after hitting the 50-country mark. In the past two years, I've authored guidebooks on Costa Rica, Botswana, Namibia, Japan, Panama and Egypt. When I'm not on the road, I spend most of my time in a six-tatami mat concrete prison of a room in Tokyo. It may not be the Ritz, but it's home.

So, that's me - if you've made it this far in the post without clicking on any of those sidebar advertisements, arigato ne - thanks so much.

Assuming I still have your attention, let me tell you a little bit about the blog. I'll be writing to you twice a week about the weird, the wonderful and the wacky world that is Japan. From the tastiest odorogui - the Japanese art of consuming live animals - to the most bizarre cosu-pure - the Japanese pop-cultural trend of costume play - stop by 'Big in Japan' and see what's new. Whether you're a seasoned ex-pat living in Japan, fresh off the plane and wet behind the ears or sitting in a cubicle 5,000 miles away, hopefully you'll find something here that peaks your interest.

よろしくおねがいします。

-Matt-

*Special thanks to Flickr user Udono for their picture of the Shinjuku skyline*

Filed under: Big in Japan