Lauren Shannon is both a director and the front-of-house manager of Fujimamas, the highly successful restaurant bar and cafe in Jingumae, central Tokyo. An American citizen, she is also the vice chair of Democrats Abroad.
Right now, she says in mid-September, responsibilities are running hand in hand. While staying 100 percent on the job, making sure Fujimamas runs like clockwork, she is committed heart and soul to making sure as many Americans as possible in Japan cast their votes for Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic Party candidate in the forthcoming U.S. presidential election. "We have to get Bush out. He's one of the reasons I'm still here, rather than going home."
Home was -- still is -- Philadelphia, the "city of love and founder of democracy," where she grew up in a Welsh-German family. You can tell she is from the East Coast: Spinning with quiet efficiency, she talks at breakneck speed while expecting the world to keep up with such remarkable energy.