Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Eric L. Robinson found himself docking in Okinawa in 1981. For the past two decades, Robinson, a Marine Corps veteran, has traveled back and forth between between Japan and the United States, gaining experiences and insights from each culture that he now shares with the readers of the blog Black Tokyo. Currently the sole writer for Black Tokyo, Robinson is dedicated to providing readers with news and information about Japan, much of it undiscussed elsewhere. Frequently controversial and invariably insightful, Robinson discusses in this interview with The Japan Times the experience of being black in Japan, the American military's role in the country, and things that make you go "hmm."
What is Black Tokyo all about? Why was it created?
What I do everyday is: (1) pass knowledge of my military, professional, civilian and educational experiences; and (2) help minorities discover another world. Black Tokyo was the avenue for me to do that. The site was actually created in January 1999 by Craig Hankerson and he let me come on as a moderator in 2001. I became webmaster in 2003, taking over ownership of the site in 2006. Craig was so busy at the time with what he was doing with his work, and I found myself spending more and more time on the site that I decided that I would love to own Black Tokyo and take it to a different level.
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