Regular visitors to the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan at Yurakucho, Tokyo, are familiar with the tall young New Zealander there who speaks impressively fluent Japanese. Wayne Hunter joined the club's staff three years ago, and moved through several positions to become media liaison manager. He says that at the club he found at sense of direction.
That was something new for him. As a younger man he said he had no aim in life. "I had no intention of leaving New Zealand. Until 1989 I didn't even have a passport," he said.
As a small child Wayne lived in a small town, Te Kuiti. He attended a primary school that had a high percentage of Maori students. Interestingly, he thinks that the Maori language he was familiar with then facilitated his learning of Japanese later on. He noticed similarities with Japanese in pronunciation and some of the writing.