JAPAN TOPICS VIDEO
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Robert Baldwin
Robert Baldwin is a Canadian citizen born in Kyoto and raised in Hiroshima. He is proficient in both Japanese and English, speaking both languages like a native. After moving to Canada in 1979, he completed his high school education at Caledonia Senior Secondary School in Terrace, British Columbia. After having spent some time working as a tour guide for Japanese tourists in Banff, Alberta, Robert returned to Japan in 1995.
Since then, Robert has worked primarily as a translator, while taking on jobs as an actor and television celebrity.
Q: Now that you are based here, what first attracted you to live in Japan?
A: First as a child, I spent a lot of time in Japan. And I made a lot of comparisons between Canada and Japan. Both countries have wonderful aspects. Canada has beautiful nature; mountains and animals. It’s a lovely place. But in Japan it’s the convenience. Anything you need is available here. I like both countries but for completely different reasons that basically are opposite sides of a coin.
However, as for staying in Japan, there was another factor; the people. Especially where I live, in Shitamachi, which is basically where average people used to live. You have the Yamanote, which is towards the mountains where rich people used to live. Where I live, if you’re in trouble, people around you go out of their way to help you. They don’t need to know you all that well. All that is required is, “OK you’re a neighbour. We can help you.” There’s still, to a certain extent, that frame of mind.
Q: Can you give me some examples?
A: There was a time when my wife and I went shopping or something like that, and we realized we were so close to the appointed time to go back home. And two of my kids came home, but the doors were locked and they were waiting outside. They didn’t have anywhere else to go. And one of our neighbours just invited them in. We didn’t know our neighbours well. We actually ignored them. Fact is, our neighbours at least tried to know the faces of one another. Our kids went into their house where they watched TV and had a little snack, and did their homework, and later on, we apologized to them for that. But just the fact that people are willing to do that, open their house to the children of strangers, was surprising and appreciated.
Another thing is a common story that you hear about, somebody getting lost and a Japanese person who knows how to get there, but doesn’t know how to explain in English, just walks with the person to the location they are looking for.
In Japan, people help you but they don’t necessarily feel satisfaction in helping. It’s second nature. It’s normal. Living in a place like that, if I trip and fall and hit my head and lose consciousness, some one will call me an ambulance. Somebody is going to go out of their way to help me. I want my children to be able to live life with that sort of perspective. I want my children to become people who are willing to help others without thinking too much about the fact that they are actually helping.
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