Domo-arigato Mr. Roboto

I was born and raised in Japan.  My parents are 100% Japanese.  So, I am Japanese.

The first foreign country I landed was the Kingdom of Tonga, a small developing country in the South Pacific.  I lived and worked there for two years.  Tonga was too different from Japan, and the locals saw me as a guy from an industrialized country rather than as a Japanese guy.  On the other hand, Canada is close enough to see the difference between Canadians and Japanese, and Canadians usually see me as a Japanese guy.  Some things that I thought was normal seem uncommon for Canadians; they find it Japanese style.  It’s good and bad; even when I do something very me, many Canadians say “wow, Japanese do bla bla bla“.  No, I did it because I am me!  But it is kind of understandable.  Japanese people generally do things differently.  Dedication to the details is one example, and it can be found in product design.

RoboXero

By the way, I did not know how to pronounce “robot” <róHbαt> correctly, because one of the 80s icons, “Mr. Roboto“, goes as we Japanese say robotto.

October 14, 2012Permalink