I came here seven years ago completely open, without a return date and without knowing exactly what I was going to do. I had no obligations in Canada and it just felt like the right time for me to come. I' had a really strong attraction to Japan since I was quite young, but when I first arrived here I didn't know why I felt like that?I think I do now and I think it's tied to taiko (Japanese drumming) because when I discovered that, I experienced a passion that was stronger and more intense than anything I had felt before. It was like I already knew taiko, that I had done it before in some other time, in some other place. It was a weird experience. In my first ever lesson my teacher asked me how many years I'd been studying and when I told him it was my first time, he just said "impossible".

Originally I had wanted to live in Hokkaido because I love the wilderness, but I got a job here in Tokyo which turned out to be great and has kept me here ever since. And you know, living in Tokyo isn't so bad; as a city it's a pretty fascinating place, what with the architecture and the way that they've managed to, in many ways I think, create a pretty livable place for such a huge number of people...way too many for the land mass anyway.

I really love living here. For a lot of people, the first year and a bit is really up and down, but I was fascinated with the place?everyday was newness and excitement for me. I used to go out on my mountain bike in my neighborhood and it was amazing the things I saw; there'd be something interesting happening around every corner.

It's really difficult to say what my favorite part of Japan is. I think that from an outdoors perspective Japan is a magnificent country; it's really beautiful. I've been all over and I guess I have different favorite places at different times of the year. In the fall, for example, hiking in Shiraumedake, in the northern part of the Northern Alps, is amazing. You walk along this very narrow path and there's a sheer cliff on one side and nothing over the edge on the other side. Below you is the Kurobe Dam which is a turquoise color and at peak weekend, when the fall colors are at their best, every step is more beautiful than the one before. It's one of my favorite hikes anywhere in the world.

I think the worst thing about living here is the lack of environmental consciousness or care that people have for their country. When I first came here, I'd go hiking in the mountains and no matter how high I was there'd be garbage everywhere. I couldn't believe it. I know that it's not just in Japan that this happens, but there doesn't seem to be any awareness about it here. It makes me very angry and upset.

Of course there have been some embarrassing moments over the years. Once, when I was staying in this really expensive ryokan with a friend, I went for an onsen?I had been to the same one the day before so I thought I knew it was the women's one?and I was sitting there in this huge bath by myself when suddenly I hear a noise and see these huge bodies coming in?and I mean huge, like sumo wrestlers?and I'm thinking "these aren't women". And then I see one of them taking off their kimono and I was right. I was petrified that at any moment these huge men were going to walk into the bath area and see little old me sitting there, so I shouted out "Sumimasen! Sumimasen! Chotto matte kudasai!" And they sort of looked around and put their kimonos on and went out. So I quickly got dressed, turned every shade of purple and red and ran out. I was told later that because that onsen was bigger than the other one in the ryokan, they rotated it between men's and women's. But, of course, no-one had told me that.

My dream is to go back to Canada and build a center for Wanderlust and have a taiko school there and pursue my love for music. But I'm in no hurry to leave. There's still so much for me to learn.

Cathy Bernatt spoke to Richard James.