Occupation:
Writer, Advertising Copywriter and Translator
Time in Japan:
8 years
Where are you from?
London, England.
What brought you here?
I was a linguist and wanted to come to a country where I could make a career out of the
language. The candidates were Japan, China and Russia. Since I' weak and weedy and wanted
to live comfortably while studying, I came here.
What do you do here?
Firstly I write books - mostly books for foreigners studying Japanese. My first book was a
half-guidebook, half-language book for people who wanted to learn how really to do
business in Japanese, and my newest book "13 Secrets for Speaking Fluent
Japanese" is a collection of new techniques for learning to think and speak in
Japanese. Secondly, I work for various advertising agencies and design companies thinking
up names, slogans and "images" for new products. Then I also do some translation
and interpretation, such as for Festival UK '98. That included onstage interpreting for
people like Billy Connolly and Richard Attenborough. I also published an illustrated
children's guidebook for the London Science Museum Exhibition at Tokyo International
Forum. Oh yes, and I've got a bilingual book about the UK coming out next month.
What was the most difficult thing about writing your book?
Textbooks for learning Japanese have always been very boring-looking because there wasn't
enough of a market to justify spending much on design. "13 Secrets" is a real
big budget extravaganza with two manga, 120 illustrations, lots of charts - a really
fabulous layout. Logistically, putting it all together was pretty hard. Each chapter is
designed to improve the reader's Japanese suddenly, dramatically and miraculously, so the
content standard was high and a number of chapters were redone quite a few times.
What would be your advice to anyone studying Japanese?
I would tell them not to be stingy - buy books and take an intensive course. You need to
get into a frenzy of concentration for at least a year to make any progress. Japanese is
too hard just to pick up as you go along. Be prepared to use any means at all to
learn-watch TV, read comics, even write vocabulary on your arms and not wash it off until
you've remembered it.
What's the secret of your success?
I don't know about "success," but any achievement now is based on failing a
great deal. I've had loads of publishing proposals rejected, and when I quit my salaryman
job to start writing books, things were pretty grim for a couple of years.
What do you like about Japan most?
I like the competence and trustworthiness of the people. I also think the Japanese have
quite a British sense of humor.
What's your favorite area of Tokyo?
I like Tsukishima, the island full of high-rises and tiny old houses and fishing boats
just beyond Tsukiji. It reminds me of Hong Kong.
What's the weirdest thing you've ever seen or experienced in Japan?
Sleeping in a ryokan in Takaoka, the proprietress was so carried away by the excitement of
seeing a real live gaijin she ran in and leapt right on top of me. Unfortunately, she was
thirty years older than me.
If you could take one thing from Japan back to your country, what would it be?
My local dirty, run-down cinema where you can watch two films for a thousand yen.
What's your recipe for a happy and successful life in Japan?
Don't get into the obnoxious habit of comparing Japan unfavorably with an idealized memory
of your own country. Try to make real friends, not just "gaijin groupie-types."
Work hard, since that's what Japan's all about.
You can confine one person to eternity on the Chuo Line and give one a bottomless
credit account at Seibu. Who would they be?
Not being vindictive, I would try to find a trainspotting chikan who would at least have
fun on the train. As for the account at Seibu, I'd give it to anyone who looked interested
in shopping!
You can check out Giles' homepage
Giles Murray spoke with Maki Nibayashi.
Occupation:
LIFE IN JAPAN: