I just moved back from Osaka, Japan to beautiful SoCal. Three years in Japan were awesome, depressing, strenuous, soul stirring all rolled into one... a growing up period for me. I'm now back at my father's shop and the difference is night and day. When I left I was constantly arguing with my pops. Adversity changes people, causes them to develop confidence... and rightfully so. I busted my ass in Japan. And although that may not exactly translate into dollars and cents, I believe that the respect I earned, the projects I'm willing to take on, and my aspirations are all directly affected by this experience. You wanna find out how good you really are move... move somewhere devoid of the familiar. The only resource is yourself and the things you know you can do. You'll find out just how tough you are.
FYI I married in 2005 in Japan. I joke around about my wife, since I got married in Japan, I say "I brought home a souvenir!" In truth I met her here in LA in 2002. Remember the movie "Last Samurai"( a butcher of the Japanese culture)... well she was in between jobs, and she ended up being a staffer on the set. Long-story-short, a good friend of mine was working on that set as well, and they all flew to LA for final production.
Two years later she tells me she's coming to study at UCLA. Come to find out she's on her own dime! That is a unique quality amongst Japanese women. SOOO many Japanese women come to study on their parents money. Much respect hunnie.
Jackson Hole!
We also have a new addition to our family Kiyone Sierra Tsuchida. We chose the name Kiyone because of Miwako's (my wife)hometown of Kyoto. Kiyo is the first character of Kyoto + One means sound. If your computer has Japanese capability it looks like this: 京音。Sierra the Spanish word for Mountain, comes from Miwako and my love of snow and snowsports... dunno maybe she'll be a pro snowboarder... hey one can wish, can't they.
