Exceptional people

Every foreigner you find happily living in Japan is an exceptional person. Not everyone is likable, but they are definitely out of the ordinary.
Living abroad requires a sense of adventure, a willingness to learn, and either a flexible open mind, or a seriously strong sense of self. Most gaijin living here are also intelligent–dummies need not apply for international assignments. Anyone who comes to Japan without those attributes seems to find their way home as quickly as possible.
Because everyone is interesting, I find myself surrounded by a cast of characters ready-made to populate a comedy: the glamour queen; the frantic freelancer; the party animal; the downtrodden sensei; the struggling artist; an insane business owner; the boy next door; some privileged expats; and the Japanophile.
So when you read in the credits of my first feature, “the characters in this film are fictional and do not represent any person living or dead,” please know that it’s only partly truthful…