City Experts |
Andrew Bender
City Expert
Andrew has always been one of those people who wrote while he traveled, and he’s been getting paid for both since the late 1990s. He first went to Japan in the go-go 1980s with virtually no knowledge of the language or culture, but stints in the financial and entertainment industries in both Tokyo and Los Angeles have made him an avid Japanophile. He’s since mastered the Japanese language well enough to lecture in it and appear in Japanese commercials. More importantly, he’s also mastered the use of chopsticks and taking off his shoes when entering a home.
Andrew is clearly eager to share his passion for new cultures with others, which he does through escorting tour groups to Japan (including for the Smithsonian Institution), as well as consulting with Japanese businesses on management in a crosscultural environment.
His writing has appeared in publications as diverse as Forbes, Travel + Leisure, and the Los Angeles Times (where he was the restaurant critic for the dearly departed Westside Weekly section), as well as the Japan and Tokyo guide books for Lonely Planet Publications. Other books for Lonely Planet include Amsterdam, and Cape Cod, Nantucket, and Martha’s Vineyard. Currently, he splits his time between Los Angeles and New York. Find out more at www.andrewbender.com.
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Photographer |
Kevin Greene
Photographer
Kevin Greene spent most of his childhood in St. Louis and northern Arizona. During college he studied Japanese History at the University of Kansas. For the last three years he has been living in the mountains of Nagano, Japan working for the JET Programme. Often filling his free time with freelance photo, video, and graphic/web design work, he also enjoys snowboarding in the winter and cycling during the spring and summer.
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Photographer |
Cisco Montano
Photographer
Cisco graduated from Concordia University in Montreal, Canada. He decided to teach English in Asia for six months until "I find myself." Well, five years have come and gone, and he's lived in three different countries. Guess what? He still hasn't found himself, but he's got some great leads. He figures he'll have it all sorted out soon ("Yeah, right!" he says). He got into photography while he was living in Korea and has been hooked since. He probably should have picked a cheaper hobby, but hey, he loves it.
Superhero: He always digs the superheroes who live the double life--Joe regular by day, and super dude by night. So Spider Man, Batman, and Superman.
Fave food: He loves Food, all Food, Anything that has to do with food.
Preferred escapes: He loves Vietnam--go there soon before it turns into another Thailand. And Jasper in Alberta, Canada. He truly thinks that it's one of the most beautiful places on earth.
Cisco's website
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Photographer |
Rob Bright
Photographer
Rob Bright is currently a freelance photographer residing in Tokyo village, Japan. When he's not being blinded and deafened by the bright lights and loud music eminating from Pachinko palours - or getting beaten up by young school kids at work - he can be found in the gym trying to get the ideal body or in the pub trying to get the ideal beer belly.
A graduate from the University of Liverpool in Computing and Psychology, he shunned the offers of office work and 9 - 5 jobs to do something rewarding and help others grow. His hobbies of snowboarding, travelling and food led him to Japan and has been here ever since.
Superhero: Wolverine - come on he would sooo easily beat anyone, and lets be honest, those claws!
Favourite Food: Roast beef dinner with all the trimmings followed by a 3 hour sleep!
Preferred escapes: the bottom of a bottle, or if feeling adventurous, strapped to a plank of wood and chucking himself down a mountain of snow or Nikko.
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