Occupation:
Writer, Tokyo bureau chief,
Billboard Magazine
Time in Japan:
Thirteen years
Where are you from
and what do you do? I' from Vancouver in Canada and I have the title of bureau chief for Billboard
magazine, the international news weekly of music, video and home entertainment, based in
New York. I'm responsible for covering the Japanese music industry which, folks, is the
world's second biggest, 17% of the global market. So, regardless of what you think of
Japanese pop music, it's a very important part of the international music industry.
What brought you here in the first place?
A big airplane. Gosh, I'm so humorous. I worked in the UK between 1983 and 1985; any
British person who reads this will roll their eyes, but I worked for the Windsor, Slough,
Ascot and Eton Express. God help me, yes I did. The reason I went there in the first place
was that I was an anglophile, basically, but after two years I wasn't making much money
and I didn't fancy spending ten more years waiting to crawl up to Fleet
Street—or down, depending on your point of view. I'd always been interested in
the Far East, so I just thought this would be a good part of the world to come to and work
as a writer. I arrived and two weeks later, I'd got a job on The Japan Times. Since then,
I've worked myself up from nothing to a state of extreme poverty, as Groucho Marx said.
Are you planning to stay?
Yes, I'll be here for the foreseeable future. I mean, I've got a wife, kid.
What do you like about Japan most? As a one-word answer? Onsen. But I think it's important
to make a distinction between Japan and Tokyo. If you mean why do I live in Tokyo, it's
because it's endlessly stimulating. If I were doing a different job, perhaps I wouldn't
like it as much. But working as a writer I get to meet a very interesting cross-section of
people every week whom I would never get to meet in my home town of Vancouver, which is a
fairly provincial place.
What do you dislike about Japan most?
Insularity. Narrow-mindedness. Conservatism, with a small c. A lot of the same things that
apply to Britain, actually. Let's face it, they're both small island nations which
formerly had empires, where the people like gardening and tea.
What's the weirdest thing you've ever seen or experienced in Japan? Oh man. I've seen a
few. Last year, when I was walking through Kabuki-cho, I saw a man dressed in some sort of
bizarre bondage outfit being led through the streets on a leash by a dominatrix. Not
something you see every day.
If you could take one thing back to your native country what would it be?
Cuisine is an obvious answer, but it's really back to the hot springs. I mean, where I
come from, British Columbia on the Pacific Rim, you know, it's a volcanic area, but
Canadians do not know how to make a proper hot spring. I don't lie awake at night worrying
about this, but it is one of the most civilized things about Japan.
Do you have a favorite place to eat or drink in Tokyo?
No, I go to lots of different places. I do like Brasserie Bernard in Iidabashi because it
has a garden. I like the Raj Mahal in Shibuya and I like Uoshin in Shimokitazawa.
Where do you want to be when the big one hits? Under the table in the arms of my wife.
You have to spend the rest of your life trapped on the Yamanote line. You're allowed to
take one book, one CD and one luxury item. What would they be?The book?
The collected works of Shakespeare. That's easy. The luxury would have to be an endless
supply of Dom Perignon champagne. As for the CD... I was going to say Closer by Joy
Division, but if I'm alone, that wouldn't be a good idea. Seeing as I'm on the Yamanote
line, I'll say Blood on the Tracks by Bob Dylan.
Steve McClure is the author of Nippon Pop, a study of Japanese pop music, due to be
published by Tuttle at the end of May.
Occupation:
LIFE IN JAPAN: