Occupation:
Pension Owner
Time in Japan:
Fifteen years
What do you do here?
I run a pension in the mountains of Gunma.
Where are you from?
New Madrid, Missouri, in the US.
What brought you to Japan?
TWA dropped me off then went bankrupt - I had no return ticket. Actually, I came over in
the Air Force, got out and worked hotels and restaurants for the last twelve years, doing
time at the Hilton, Tokyo American Club and Roy' restaurants.
Are you planning to stay?
I'm not sure. I'd like to, but it depends on whether the pension stays busy or not.
Tell us about your daily schedule.
Up around 6:30am, chant daimoku, then begin around 7am to prepare a buffet
breakfast for guests. I then take them around or get them situated where they want to go.
I handle phone calls concerning reservations, and try to hide from the wife when she wants
me to make beds. Grab a much-needed beer around 3pm (hard job), chop some firewood, then
prepare my scrumptious American-style dinner from around 4pm. Finish dinner around 7pm and
poke fun at guests and talk till eleven-ish while sipping on some wine. Do some more
daimoku and crash around 12:30am or so.
Who rules your house: you or the two dogs?
The dogs at breakfast and supper time, me the rest of the day.
What do you like most about Japan?
My wife (she's beautiful), the mountains, and hot sake.
What do you dislike most about Japan?
The education system sucks, LDP rules and prices on my Black Angus sirloin from the US
went up again!
Do you organize your CDs alphabetically?
No way - I would never find them! They're arranged by type of music; Spanish first,
contemporary, slow rock, country then Sesame Street All-Time Favorites picking up the
rear.
What's the weirdest thing you've ever seen or experienced in Japan?
I've seen a lot of weird things, from grabbers on the train to people peeling the skins
off grapes and apples, but the weirdest of them all has been right here in my pension.
This place is an "American Home," a place to relax, read, get away from Tokyo.
Well, Japanese guests come and they don't know how to relax. They check in real late, eat
dinner real fast, ask to sing karaoke (which I don't have) and if different groups are
here, they won't speak to each other. After dinner they go straight to their rooms until
breakfast the next morning where they eat real fast and check out and are gone. When they
return, they do the same thing. Weird.
What do you sing in the shower?
Mostly country tunes, though during the holidays it was Jingle Bell Rock.
If you could take one thing back from Japan to your native country, what would it
be?
My wife. She's beautiful, as I stated before.
Where would you like to be when the big one hits?
Right here in my house. It has post and beam construction made from thick pine trees!
Where would you like to be on New Year's Eve of 1999?
Right here with my wife, dogs, some cool guests and some schnapps. Everyone else can hack
the traffic - it's gonna be bad!
Richard Hawkins spoke to Aeve Baldwin.
Occupation:
LIFE IN JAPAN: