Who I am, where I’m from

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     My name is Rob, I am the resident of my home/workplace which I randomly named "the other house". My line of ancestors are all Japanese. I was born in the United States, where I grew up for good deal of my adolescent years. Which made me a natural bilingual/bicultural.... well, at least "on paper."

 

    In late summer of 2016, I decided to move into the rural countryside of Japan after my 10 year pursuit of learning Japanese culture as a  “salary-man”. However, as I was born and raised outside of Japan and being away from my root culture, it had always been a life-long journey to “understand” the Japanese culture... to complete my bilingual/bicultural-ness. Now it is even sort of become an never-ending obsession. 

 

  As I am not the most detailed person like many Japanese are, my main focus is not about "knowing"  all the facts about Japanese culture, but rather “understanding” the real essence of it. (resemblance to Lee's "Don't think, feel"  or Yoda's "Feel the force" vibe) As perceived by many, because of the nature of the Japanese culture to demand for high levels of both intricacy and subtlety, there may be no end to this experience (as it holds true for all other cultures).

 

  To continue my pursuit moved to the Izu Peninsula in Shizuoka prefecture because I thought it was the perfect location: Only few hours away from the Tokyo metropolis and yet filled with nature, with balance of well kept local Japanese tradition with twists of new influence coming in from all over the world. Now I want to invite all of you to join me with my learning experience.