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It is hard to be an individual in Japan.

It is very difficult to work in another language, and it is also very challenging.

My life was very Japanese.

I'm just very obsessed with Japanese stuff in general.

I think the biggest difficulty is that when I'm here in America, there's a necessity of using English, so I really have a great sense of really wanting to learn, but unfortunately when I head back to Japan, the necessity vanishes and so does my enthusiasm about learning.

Increasingly, corporate executives who don't speak Japanese are coming into Japan. Unlike their predecessors, they expect their employees to be able to communicate in English.

The Japanese are great at inventing complex systems of rules, and not so great at explaining those rules to foreign visitors.

Well it is sometimes difficult to act in another language.

It is impossible to remain indifferent to Japanese culture. It is a different civilisation where all you have learnt must be forgotten. It is a great intellectual challenge and a gorgeous sensual experience.

The problem is that it is difficult to translate.