Occupation:
Counseling Psychologist
Time in Japan:
39 years
What do you do? I' a practicing counseling psychologist. Basically, I use biofeedback to help with
psychological and psychosomatic problems. Biofeedback is a method of analyzing stress
levels by listening in on the body's signals. It could be your heartbeat, muscle tension,
skin temperature, but these are all things that can signal high levels of stress. Most of
my work is in the educational field: helping people cope with exam pressures, helping them
improve their life in some ways, helping them earn more money. But sometimes I get medical
referrals. I was recently referred a 16-year-old girl by her surgeon prior to an operation
to insert a pacemaker. He thought her heart problem might be psychosomatic. It turned out
that it was. After eight sessions she needed no operation.
What brought you here? I came over here in 1959 with the United Seaman's Service as a psychologist,
counseling people who were on the boats bringing merchandise to Japan. Being away from
their families for so long, they sometimes had some psychological difficulties. It was a
bit of a problem sometimes because when Japanese people asked me what I did, well, there
are two kinds of seaman and in 1959 the first sperm bank was opened in Los Angeles. I
suspect that some Japanese people went home, looked in their dictionaries and wondered
what I was up to.
What was Japan like in 1959? Beautiful. When I say beautiful, imagine a dollar being worth JY360. Imagine having a
Chinese meal for JY150. A bowl of soba for JY50. A ride on the subway from Shibuya to
Asakusa for about JY20. It was so cheap to live here. As for the landscape, well, for one
thing, there were many more wooden houses around. Also, when I bought this place in
Shibuya about 32 years ago, there was a gravel road in front of it, which is difficult to
imagine now. There was only one tall building in the whole area. It was a very different
place.
What do you like most about living in Japan? I like the convenience. The food. It's an exciting place to live. Essentially, I've
stayed so long because I like the Japanese people so much. Obviously if we moved to
America we would have much more comfortable surroundings, but that wouldn't compensate for
the people.
Is there anything that you dislike about living here? Yes. The pollution. The noise. The things that I admired about Japanese youth have
gone away. The discipline has gone. The politeness. This "live for oneself"
attitude has become very prevalent. I guess that's internationally so, though.
Do you have a favorite place to eat and drink in Tokyo? There are so many. My wife is very adventurous when it comes to food. She reads quite
a lot and when she finds a place she thinks sounds good, we always go and try it out.
We've found a lot of places like that. Just a few days ago we went to a Spanish restaurant
in Aoyama called Tesoro. We'd walked past it maybe a hundred times before eventually going
in. It turned out to be very good.
What's the strangest thing you've ever seen in Japan? We lived in Jiyugaoka for a while, and on the Toyoko line one time we saw a guy get on
wearing shoes but no socks, and a long raincoat when it wasn't raining. When the train
pulled into Naka Meguro he stood up, opened his coat and flashed these three teenage girls
sitting opposite. Then he slipped out the doors just as they were closing. His timing was
perfect. It was amazing.
You're stuck on the Yamanote line for eternity. You can take one book, one CD and one
luxury item. What would they be? The book would probably be by Tom Clancy. The CD would be a collection of "oldies
but goodies" from the '50s, which would include the Everly Brothers, Elvis Presley
and Frank Sinatra. The luxury item? My wife.
If you could take one item back to your home country from Japan, what would it be? No question. A computer. Next to my wife I love my computer more than anything. She
sometimes complains that I bang it more than her.
What are your plans for the future? To find a money tree so that I can offer a free counseling service. I think I'll
probably stay in Japan but I feel that I could live pretty much anywhere now. I'm happy
here; it's a great place to live.
Dr. Allen Robinson can be contacted by phone at 3407-5696, or by fax at 3498-0858.
Occupation:
LIFE IN JAPAN: