Rachel Rawlings was surprised when she ran into two famous Japanese comedians in the parking lot outside her local village office. The popular television stars, Shofukutei Tsurube and Kazuki Enari, were astonished, too. Why was a young Australian woman living in a fishing village in Kochi Prefecture?

They immediately decided to interview her for their NHK TV-series, "Kazoku ni Kanpai." After the popular program was aired on Nov. 23 last year, Rachel Rawlings' face was introduced to millions of Japanese TV viewers. For several weeks following her TV appearance, the Nakatosa village office received phone calls from people throughout Japan. There were even inquiries from local city offices in Shizuoka and Tochigi prefectures, asking how they, too, could have someone like Rawlings come and live in their community.

Rawlings, 24, is a Coordinator for International Relations at the village office of Nakatosa, which has a population of 10,000. Her job as a CIR requires her to have good Japanese-speaking skills. For the many TV viewers around Japan, the sight of the young blonde Australian speaking fluent Japanese as she guided the two comedians around her fishing village was memorable. For Rawlings, her new found fame is just one more experience that comes with her job.