I moved to Kurohime in northern Nagano Prefecture in 1980, and three years later I bought some land here and built the first house I had ever personally owned. That was made possible by the Nikka Whisky Distilling Co., for whom I did my very first Japanese television commercial back then. What a cushy job that was: drinking whisky, being taken to northern India and Nepal for some of the filming — and getting paid for it!