Writing under the "nom de blog" Japan Observer, Chicago-born Tobias Harris dissects Japan's ever-eventful political scene on his Web site www.observingjapan.com. The 25-year-old Harris recently completed an internship year as a foreign-policy adviser to Democratic Party of Japan Diet member Keiichiro Asao, giving him an inside perspective that has helped make his blog a must-read for followers of Japanese politics. Currently back in the United States, Harris intends to continue feeding his readers with erudite commentary on the latest events this side of the Pacific.
What prompted you to begin blogging?
I started Observing Japan the day I returned to Japan last October (2006). I'd arrived to begin work as a political secretary, and it seemed like a good way to record my observations. My timing was fortuitous: I began the blog two weeks into the Abe era, after the North Korean nuclear test set off another crisis in Northeast Asia. Apart from a slow period in the first half of January, it's been pretty much nonstop.