One evening in early October, our interview with Wayne Leung, a CG designer (Computer Graphic designer) from Vancouver DC, took place at a stylish café in Shibuya, Tokyo.
Born and brought up in Vancouver in Canada, Wayne Leung, the 35 years old Chinese refers to himself as Canadian more than Chinese, speaking fluent English than Cantonese. "Vancouver is a great city for outdoor activities. There are many places where you can play sports and is overall a very relaxing city, which is completely opposite from Tokyo." Vancouver will always be his hometown but he thought it was time for a change in scenery. This sparked the idea for him to work in the crazy city of Tokyo, a mecca of videogames, design and pop culture.
When first searching for jobs, Leung quickly found out that without any knowledge of the Japanese language it was a very difficult task. He then decided to search for jobs in San Francisco, Hawaii and New York. One company in Tokyo replied and asked him if he was able to fly out to Tokyo for an interview. He thought to himself, "This would be a great experience," and then booked the next convenient flight.
Even though he didn't speak any Japanese, Leung believes that his graphic design ability mixed with his experience in game development is what caught the company's eye. "In the studio environment, we get past the language barrier with our passion for game development and design. Some of the more technical terms are universal in game development which helps a great deal." He says with a big grin on his face, "I'm very fortunate that I got the job!!"
Leung currently works at iNiS as a CG designer. At the studio, iNiS has created games for publishers such as Nintendo and Microsoft, specializing in games of the music genre such as Elite Beat Agents, Gitaroo Man and Ouendan 1&2. Leung truly enjoys his line of work because the projects are always changing, facing new creative challenges both technical and artistic. His dream is to start a designer toy and clothing line company.
One thing that was quite different for him from the first day he stepped into the studio was the Radio Taisou routine. "I couldn't stop laughing when I first had to do the Radio Taisou (kind of Aerobics) every morning." It was very shocking for him, because Radio Taisou does not exist in Canada and he had never seen or heard anything about it being done in offices. However, Leung thinks that when people work on computers every day, it is actually good for them to do some movement stretching in before they start the day. He laughs, "I will never forget the Radio Taisou routine."
During his first days in Tokyo, the city was extremely overwhelming. "My head was spinning. I had no idea what hit me," he remembers. However, Leung noticed that even if he didn't understand any Japanese, there were many English signs so that he never really had any struggle getting around Tokyo. For the first six months, he says he went everywhere in Tokyo to explore whatever guide books recommended. Now that he knows Tokyo a little better, so he would love to travel around other areas in Japan outside of Tokyo.
Leung explains that he never really had any bad experiences here in Tokyo, apart from searching for an apartment. He thinks one of the most difficult tasks for foreigners in Tokyo is renting a good apartment. In his former apartment, he was asked politely to move out because they wanted to renovate the building. He then needed to find an apartment again in a very short time. Now living in Yutenji, Leung is really happy since his apartment manager speaks fluent English.
He likes to spend his free time by going to concerts and art galleries, playing darts and exploring. One of his favourite places to be in Tokyo is Shibuya. "Shibuya has lots of energy and has a good combination of energy, music, design, urban lifestyle and toys."
Since moving to Tokyo, he began to notice that his drinking habit has changed. Back home in Vancouver he rarely drank alcohol. Leung says "I would be drunk after a couple of beers." But now in Tokyo, he can handle a lot more alcohol and actually enjoys it. He thinks this may be because his friends in Tokyo love drinking and always have parties. He also added, "There are far more trendy bars and venues in Tokyo, including Darts bars which do not exist in Vancouver. Having a drink and playing a few games of darts is a great way to unwind after work."
After talking with Leung, most of the people would imagine that he loves everything here in Tokyo so obviously he would say Sushi or Tonkatsu for his favourite food but......he answered with a big smile, "I especially love hamburgers here in Tokyo! They are so delicious. Some of the best I have ever tasted!"
Leung is still searching for his future plan since he has only been in Tokyo for a year. However, he says he would be quite happy to settle down in Tokyo until retirement. "After that I would want to go back to Vancouver to have a slower and more relaxed lifestyle."
URL: www.deviouslabs.net
