Name: Charles E. McJilton

Age: 50

Nationality: Citizen of the world

Occupation: Founder of Second Harvest Japan

Likes: Good conversation

Dislikes: The annual pruning of trees in Tokyo

1. What first brought you to Japan? The USS Towers (DDG9) in 1984. I sailed up Tokyo Bay on a cold day in December with Mount Fuji in the background.

2. What¡¯s keeping you here? A once-in-a-lifetime chance to pioneer a new field.

3. Who in Japan do you most admire? Jack Bayles, for being an unsung humanitarian.

4. Where do you go to escape Tokyo? Home. I have a river 50 meters away and mountains right in front of me.

5. What¡¯s your favorite Japanese word or phrase? ¤·¤¢¤ï¤» (shiawase, or happiness). Sounds nice, no?

6. What¡¯s your favorite phrase in any language? Wakong/aiyah. My wife says it all the time. (We have yet to work out what this means?!? ¡ª Eds.)

7. What¡¯s the most exciting/outrageous thing you have ever done? Ran 257 km through Tohoku in four days in March 2012.

8. What¡¯s the strangest request you¡¯ve ever been asked to do in Japan? Having dogs participate in a wedding I was performing.

9. If you could invite anyone from history to dinner, who would it be? Inventor Nikola Tesla. I¡¯d like to know what papers were lost in the fire?

10. What is your comfort place to eat in Japan? Sushi at Kappazushi. It¡¯s the K-Mart of sushi in Japan.

11. What¡¯s the funniest thing you have ever seen in Japan? Watching my 72-year-old neighbor use scissors he pulled from his vest to cut up pizza at an Italian restaurant. Next was seeing my 3-year-old¡¯s eyes become saucers when she watched him do that.

12. Celebrity you have always wanted to meet in Japan? Peter Barakan. I love to listen to him speak in Japanese. That man can rock . . .

13. Name three uses of a stapler without staples. A bike stop; a starting block for a race; a peace stick.

14. What confuses you about Japan? When Japan says it loves nature but then cements rivers and prunes back trees so they resemble poodles on a stick. Stop attempting to control nature already.

15. What do you think about while standing on the train? Finally, peace and quiet . . .

16. How would you find a needle in a haystack? Look for it.

17. If someone wrote a biography about you, what do you think the title should be? ¡°My God He Tried a Lot of Things.¡±

18. Who would win a fight between a lion and tiger? (To Jim) I¡¯m a food banker, not a zoologist.

19. What do you want to be when you grow up? You mean I am not grown up? (Cue awkward silence ¡ª Eds.)

20. Do you have any words of advice for young people? Buy plastic . . .