I was born at Seventh Day Adventist Hospital in Rangoon. I was probably the only Caucasian in the maternity ward, and for years I did not realise I was Caucasian. As an adult, in part because I discovered I was not identifying as Caucasian, I began to not identify as male, heterosexual, American, etc. Not that I'm not those things, but I often find those mindsets counterproductive.
Just before I was conceived in Rangoon the government changed hands. When I was three, and my family had spent five years in Rangoon, we were scheduled to return to America, but the church asked my father to stay in Rangoon. The Burmese government had instructed all non-Asian missionaries to leave, so we left.
I was raised in Rochester, New York. I say raised, because growing up is something I try to do every day. Language and teaching are brainwashing. Learning is something we do for ourselves.
Summers I taught water skiing at a camp in Maine. After college I bought an old motorcycle and drove west to work at Alta, Utah for a season. I then worked in the Bay area, studied Swedish while working in a factory in rural Sweden, and worked as a ski guide in Austria. Next I was a migrant labourer in Spain, a water skiing instructor on an idyllic island in Greece, and a motorcycle courier in London. Also in England, I taught slalom water skiing with the world's #2. I sailed a 1920s Grand Banks schooner around the Caribbean, and then, like my mother's father, became an attorney.
I began studying Japanese just before law school. During law school I lived in Ishinomaki on the JET Programme. I studied a semester of law school in Japanese and English in Tokyo, and interned at a think tank in Tokyo. My Japanese name, Masahisa Minamoto, appears on my Japan driver's license. My Japanese is a bit too natural, and may cause discomfort.
I practiced in New York City until a Japanese game software company brought me to Los Angeles. Japan’s largest law firm moved me to Tokyo. After four years in Tokyo an international transactions boutique moved me to Osaka. In 2017 I was deported for whistleblowing.
Besides gender, racial and orientation bias, I try to overcome what I’ve labeled temporalism. Oftentimes we look back at our societies and project our inadequacies onto our ancestors. Whether with women’s or racial emancipation, we tell ourselves we’ve progressed. The truth is we’re not that different.
One thing Japan taught me is, more than our best imaginings or worst nightmares, we are products of our environment. Also, I try to speak English, not American, but even when I’m trying to speak American I’m pompous.
After 20 years in Asia, visiting 48 states, working in six, and working in 10 nations, I live in Boulder, Colorado. Like most, I took the spirituality of my birthplace, Buddhism. I meditate several times a day. May you be happy and well.
