Walking with my girlfriend along the congested streets of Shinjuku, my phone started filling up with messages. I glanced down to read the screen and noticed it was from an American couple I met several months ago in Tokyo. My friend smiled when I told her who it was, knowing they spent a weekend with me. I decided I'd reply later and continue with our day. "They must miss your magic touch," she said to me. I laughed cover...

As a poor Filipina working in Japan, I didn't have many allies I could count on. The Japanese are polite people but are suspicious and cautious around those from the outside world. Japan, was an isolated island nation for thousands of years, and not that long ago opened up to civilizations beyond its beautiful shores. I understood this going into the situation I was putting myself in. That I'd be an island drifting among...