Full Name: Brett Alan B.
Age: 25
Location: Osaka, Japan
Occupation: junior high school teacher – soon to be graduate student at Columbia Univ. in the East Asian Languages and Literature Department
Hobbies: guitar, music (both making and listening to it), traveling, reading, writing (in my journal), basketball, languages, collecting (stamps, Asian masks, Japanese pottery), making collages/ paintings, other weird stuff like that
Pets: do my students count? I have no pets in Japan. But my mother has 12+ cats, and one dog.

1: the heavy part
Where are you from originally? What was it like there?
I was born in Northern California. California is a beautiful place, and I still have good memories of it. I moved to Pennsylvania when I was six. At the time, I had no idea there were these things called states, of which California was only one. I confused Pennsylvania with Transylvania, which was much more real to me as I'd seen vampire movies on TV. I imagined a place of eternal darkness, ghosts, werewolves, and vampires. It was slightly different than I imagined.

Update us on your situation in life? How did you end up in Japan?
I've been living/working in Japan for the last three years. I began my relationship with Japan in college. I scored a five on the AP European history exam in high school, exempting me from it in college. I figured why not learn about Japan, since my education had been really Euro-centric. I visited Japan with my girlfriend in college. I went back again to do a home stay, and after college got a job working here.

Has the experience met/exceeded/not lived up to your expectations? How?
Living and working here has allowed me to do everything I wanted to do – travel, learn Japanese, make money, and gain experience teaching. I have been to Bali, Vietnam, S. Korea, Thailand, France, not to mention all over Japan. I have made a ton of good friends and contacts. My Japanese has really improved, as has my reading and writing. I was able to make enough money to buy a house in Pittsburgh (a pretty three-story Victorian house in Edgewood for you Pittsburghers), and I have taught over 2000 people in my three years here. It has given me lifelong memories, plus knowledge and experience that will prove useful in grad school. So yes, it's been very good.

Have you missed anything about home? If so, what?
Wow... Yes of course. Food, friends, family – perhaps in that order. I miss cereals. Spoiled for choice in the US... I have dreamt of Clusters and Special K with strawberries, I must confess.

I'm vegetarian too, so I miss those fake hamburgers and hotdogs, etc. But this has faded in time. I was prepared for Japan before I came here to work. I had been here in college, and I knew something about the culture, country, and people. Still, I think the first year of living here was the hardest. But I have gradually adjusted, and now it has become my home. I think it will be difficult to leave here. I may actually have culture shock going back to the US since I haven't been there more than one month in the last three years.

What is the Japanese Music Archive?
I started the Japanese Music Archive as a free, online, digital source for info about the Japanese indie/underground music scene. It's basically me and my friends, though theoretically it's open to almost anyone, writing stuff about little-known Japanese bands. It has a variety of ways to search- by genre, city, label, or band name, and contains descriptions and histories of each band/label/city/genre, plus discographies, so I think it's pretty useful. It also has club and record shop info for some cities. Other people seem to agree about its usefulness. I was checking my server stats the other day, and it seems that in May of 2004, almost 2000 people visited my site, from over 12 countries, including Belize, Malta, Portugal, and Brazil of all places?! So I am happy. If you're interested in it, please check it out at www.japanesemusicarchive.com and help me grow the site. Contributors are always welcome.

Have your early to mid 20s been like you imagined? Why or why not?
When I was 20, I never imagined that I would be living and working in a foreign country at 25. And when I was 24, I never imagined I would be going to NYC to study at Columbia, so I am pretty happy. I took the US State Dept.'s Foreign Officer Exam in April, so if I pass, who knows in what country I will end up living in. Things seem to be changing and evolving in my life pretty quickly, and sometimes I feel like I barely in control of these changes. Just along for the ride.

Which was the best year, for you, of the aforementioned early to mid 20s? Why?
Definitely this last year. My prick roommate moved out last year, leaving me with a huge house all to myself. My Japanese has improved also, and I really feel at home in Japan. This last year in Japan has been the most rewarding and fun year of my life to date. I went to Amami Island (a small tropical island in Japan), Okinawa, South Korea, France. I also made a lot of good friends this last year. I cannot describe in words how wonderful this last year has been in the space provided here. You will all have to wait for my best-selling tell-all memoirs, and read for yourself about my torrid love affairs, exotic travels, and near-death encounters. Until then....

Ideally, what will your life look like on New Year's Day 2005?
With my MA in hand from Columbia, I will be entering the US State Dept., working in some exotic locale, as assistant to the ambassador.

2: the not-heavy part
Describe a good night out...
Dinner and coffee, bowling, a movie??? Is that too passe?

And a good night in the apartment...
Playing guitar or relaxing with a girlfriend.

Current favorite food and, if possible, dish?
Summer is great in Japan for one reason – fruit! Grapes the size of oranges, oranges the size of grapes, watermelon like you've never tasted, Asian pears, lychee, persimmons... so good. I have been making a lot of temaki sushi (hand-rolled sushi) recently, plus gyoza and harumaki (Chinese steamed dumplings and Vietnamese spring rolls).... yummy yummy.

What have you been listening to?
I was listening to a lot of Japanese indie rock and pop when I was making my site. But recently it's been a lot of Death Cab for Cutie, plus Postal Service, Metric, Mama Studio, Halkali. Good bless www.epitonic.com and MAGNET. They have introduced me to a ton of great new music.

Was hast you been reading?
Gandhi, An Autobiography (really great). Before that, Wind-up Bird Chronicles by Murakami.

What have you been watching on TV?
A lot of Japanese baseball (does that sound weird?)... I never liked sports, particularly baseball, but now I find myself watching a lot of baseball on TV. Am I secretly longing to prove my American-ness???

Seen any movies lately? What did you think?
Don't watch too many movies recently. I watched 28Days. I also saw Zattou-ichi in the theaters. I don't know the American title. It was a Beat Takeshi movie, a remake of a samurai flick about this blind samurai. Good stuff. I used to watch movies all the time in the US, but at like $20 a movie, it sort of dampens your desire to watch movies in a theater.

3: the cocktail party
So you’re having a cocktail party: list five A-list guests, other than Jesus, me and your friends...
You want a real party? Here we go. Picture this my friends: George Bush and Donald "Rummy" Rumsfield, plus Michael Moore, toss in some musicians I actually want to talk to – Robert Pollard and the guy from DCFC.

What drinks will you serve?
A keg of Iron City.

What will be on the stereo?
Massive Attack or Deerhoof. Tough choice.

Conversation topics will include…
(Wow!) War, death, peace, love, girls.

How will the evening end?
Arm wrestling will evolve into a deadly street fight, while Bush is passed out near the keg. Michael Moore can get it all on film. Cut! That's a rap.