I grew up here in Sacramento. It’s a small island people like to say is situated between the snow in the east and the beach in the west. Like all islanders, I felt the itch for the mainland, so I joined the Navy when I turned 19. I found what I was looking for in Japan, where I was stationed for the next four years. I taught English there for a year and a half as a civilian when I was discharged, but I knew I couldn’t stay for long. Tokyo seemed to have a glass ceiling for people who had no college education; and since I couldn’t make drinks and wasn’t persuasive enough to be a bouncer, I had no choice. Flew back to Sacramento to go to college in 2002. I did temp work when I could find it, and lived off GI Bill benefits and the patience of my wife when I couldn’t. It took longer than I thought, but I finally finished my degree in 2008. But I always planned to go back to Japan. Just one more year and I’ll be there again, although I think I say that every year. I can almost taste the comforting haze of Tokyo smog.