Hello, my moniker is "Jack Amano", it's a play on the Japanese phrase, "Ama No Jaku" (天邪鬼) which roughly translates as "someone who does the opposite of what you expect"; Japanese culture is about expectations of duty and "normality" for the better good of the overall group of which a person is a part -- to call someone "ama no jaku" can be both playful and mean depending on the situation. On eBay, it's nothing more than a clever moniker for fun; the last name "Amano" (天野) is common enough in Japan, so I simply stuck "Jack" in front of it, to indicate my both my playful and American sides.
I'm an American living and working in Japan as a writer and translator. I've been here for some 7 years now. It's a wonderful country, and I enjoy being here. I married the love of my life, a Japanese woman from Niigata Prefecture, on April 1st, 2005. A union that brings me joy to no end.
As I have been in Japan for so long, I thought that sharing a bit of the cool culture I have found over the years, would bring a few of you a sense of being here. Japan, if you have never been here, is a fantastic place of non-stop rubbernecking. Even after living among the Japanese for so long, I never stop being amazed. I learn something new about the Japanese, myself and my home with each new day. It is my sincere hope that through my auctions, that you all will also connect with Japan.
Feel free to contact me through my email address with questions about auctions or Japan. Also, if you would like to learn about what it's really like to live in Japan, check out my LiveJournal: The Moped Ronin. It's work-friendly, though it doesn't pull any punches. I don't believe Japan to be a haven of complete goodness where nothing ever goes wrong, so I try to put everything into a framework of "humanity at work". We are all just human after all, for better or worse.
Take care!
Jack Amano
P.S. A Note on Shipping: Japan is an expensive country. Period. It's unfortunate that is it, but that's the way things are. Not only are product prices generally higher than most countries, so are shipping prices. I do my best to keep shipping costs as low as possible. The shipping prices you see listed in my auctions are not padded. They are the price it costs me to ship. If you have an honest concern about shipping from Japan, you can easily research the Japan Post website (in English) for their shipping rates. It is the same exact site I use when determining pricing. Thank you for understanding.
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