“I’m Japanese but my mom got remarried to an Australian, so my last name changed to Smith. I also have a younger brother who’s half Japanese, half Australian. We all moved to Australia, where I spent the next 4-5 years. That was an important part of my life. It shaped me to who I amContinue reading
“I will always be a minority in every country I go to. I’m Punjabi but I was born and raised in Birmingham, England. My parents are both from East Africa, grandparents all from India. If I go to India, I’m a Brit. In the UK, I’m British Indian or British Asian. In Japan, I’m aContinue reading
“I had to go through a lot of disappointment, a lot “no’s”, before getting to where I am in my music career in Japan. I came here after college and it was a total culture shock (even though I used to stay here as a kid since my dad was in the military). I gotContinue reading You Got This
“When I arrived at graduate school in Japan, the first thing that greeted me were two cards on my desk saying, ‘Don’t kill yourself’ and ‘Don’t sexually harass people.’ Then I found out I didn’t actually have a scholarship. So that was a very stressful period. Good thing I was able to manage another scholarshipContinue reading Brain Drain
***日本語訳は下をご覧ください*** “I don’t feel like I’ve had the kind of experience that everyone thinks you’ll have when you come to Japan or Tokyo. I think everyone imagines that I am going out and living this crazy life, dressing up in kimono or meeting loads of people. Actually, my seven years in Japan have been reallyContinue reading Otherness
