James Roth

James Roth came to Japan a long time ago and would like to say that he fits right in, but knows better. He's long since realized that Westerners never fit in in Japan, and that's the beauty of the place. It's okay for him to be eccentric in Japan because the Japanese regard all Westerners as a little odd, if not outright insane; they are the sand that gums up their well-oiled machine. That role suits James just fine. But when he does tire of it, he gets out of the country, returning to the US to visit his family in Alabama, or going south, usually to Singapore, where his biggest decisions of the day are: "Where do I want to go swimming?" and "What do I want to eat?" (He likes to swim and eat.) He makes a living teaching English in Sendai, Japan, and is presently working on a mystery novel set in Tokyo during the American occupation.