Many a young international resident of Tokyo sooner or later finds his way to Tokyo International Players. Jamie McInnes' way was through going to see a performance. He followed on by auditioning for the next production. "Then I became involved," he said. He brought to TIP a professional edge of his own, acquired when in America, amongst other activities, he managed and developed several arts organizations. For its part, TIP recognized in Jamie not only his skill as an actor and director, but also the additional value of his training and experience in financial affairs. Jamie is now vice president of the volunteer organization TIP.
Born in Texas, Jamie has an American mother and a British father who was a graduate of Harvard University. Jamie was a small child when his father was appointed professor in the University of Manchester and took the family to England. When his father gave up academia in favor of business, the family moved to Kuwait. Jamie spent much of his boyhood there, remembering it now as "an interesting place to live." He was barely 10 when the family returned to the U.S. to make their home in a Boston suburb.
As his father had done, Jamie graduated from Harvard. At each step in his education he has made the grade in schools of the highest repute. "Originally I wanted to be an actor," he said. "At high school, though, I was interested in biochemistry, and took my degree in biochemical sciences. I soon found out that the laboratory was not for me. I decided to research international relations, and went over to Scotland to take my master's degree at the University of St. Andrews." He was 22 in 1989 when he made his first visit to Japan.