Did you spend any time in Japan when researching the book?

Nope. Wanted to but the Japan I was writing about no longer existed -- it was either bombed or burned, or had been Americanized. I did make the sacrifice of going to San Fran and Oahu for research. Learned that newspaper archives are invaluable if you want to get the tastes and tangs of a city and an era.

...I did make the sacrifice of going to San Fran and Oahu for research...

I have always been impressed with how you suffer for your art. Oh, the sacrifices you've made for all of us.

Nope. Wanted to but the Japan I was writing about no longer existed -- it was either bombed or burned, or had been Americanized. I did make the sacrifice of going to San Fran and Oahu for research. Learned that newspaper archives are invaluable if you want to get the tastes and tangs of a city and an era.

Wow. That makes the book all the more impressive to me then. One thing I thought you represented very well was the westernization of Tokyo. What is funny is that when I was there (1999-2001) there was still a big, I guess clash would be the word, of the older Japanese who want traditional Japanese to survive and the younger Japanese who are becoming more and more westernized due to the influence of all the western pop culture. I lived in northern Japan, Sendai was the closest big city so I was more in a rural area that hadn't been influenced as much as Tokyo or any of the other big cities, so you could see the difference easier I guess.