Back in the early 00s, before widespread broadband made wrestling from the other side of the planet a far less rare commodity, I found myself lucky enough to live near a Japanese mall that had a video rental store.
And the other was, of course, Japanese professional wrestling.Īs a teenager I fell in love with Japanese wrestling hard, from the physical battles of New Japan to the flashy early days of NOAH’s green mat (which of course lead into discovering the wrestlers’ All Japan 90s heyday) to the punk-rock-meets-lucha vibe of Toryumon Japan.
One of them was Japanese music, specifically indie rock.
Like many, I had a thoroughly embarrassing-in-hindsight anime phase, but I discovered a few other interests that would last a lot longer. As I got older, I developed Japanese pop culture interests as well. Something about Japanese architecture always caught my eye while other children dreamed of whatever it is normal American children dream of, visions of cherry blossoms and enormous Shinto shrines danced in my head. The two of them would go on long trips, bringing back all sorts of pictures and souvenirs from their journeys. Since I was a little kid, I’ve always wanted to go to Japan.