Caroline Pover

March 4, 2013

Caroline Pover

Alexandra Press, publisher and author

By

Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on March 2013

Caroline Pover has spent most of her time in Japan helping foreign women. As the founder of Alexandra Press she’s brought us Being A Broad in Japan: Everything a Western Woman Needs to Survive and Thrive (the magazine, website and book) and is the former publisher of The Tokyo Weekender. Now, Pover is doing a solid for the fellas with her new book Love With A Western Woman: A Guide for Japanese Men. She stresses it’s not just for J-guys wanting to hook up with foreign gals (though that’s who her insights are aimed at)—there’s a lot for Western men and Japanese women to learn as well. We caught up with Pover between one of her regular jaunts up north where she is helping out in Oshika-hanto, Tohoku.

If Japanese men learn only one thing from reading your new book, what should it be?

To have more confidence in their own abilities to be wonderful partners, friends, and lovers of women of any nationality, including their own.

What is the biggest myth that J-men believe about Western women?

That Western women aren’t interested in them.

What can Western guys learn from the book?

Well my husband tells me that the sex instructions are spot on and that all men could learn a few things from reading them.

What about Japanese women?

I genuinely hope that Japanese women, who feel they have given up on the men of their own culture, are encouraged by the lovely stories that Western women share throughout the book about their positive experiences with Japanese men.

How long did it take you to write?

Six days. It was a wonderfully fun book to write—it just poured out of me. It helped that I was in an amazing location, Saipan, and completely immersed in the book. Although, I was distracted on the day I wrote the “Sex” chapter. A group of rather lovely young Japanese men were playing volleyball on the beach near me—shirtless.

What’s the most surprising thing you learned from writing LWAWW?

That I may have a gift for writing instructions on how to have great sex! Seriously though, nothing surprised me. I went into the project with a completely open mind—I had no preconceptions about Japanese men myself, and this allowed me to write from an objective perspective.

What is your favorite quote in the book?

Oh, there are a few! This one still makes me giggle: “We went out a couple of times. I would have thought of them as dates, but he brought his mother along.” And this is quite cute: “We had only hugged beforehand, and hadn’t even kissed or held hands. I was starting to think he had lost interest in me and was too nice to tell me that he didn’t want to see me anymore. Then, to test him out, I invited myself over to his place and suddenly he tells me he loves me… and we were doing it a minute after that.”

Do you have any upcoming speaking engagements in or near Tokyo?

I’m in Tohoku for two months at the moment, so nothing until April when I am giving talks to the Tokyo Mothers’ Group and the Foreign Women Lawyers’ Association (April 10), Foreign Executive Women (April 11), and Amity Yokohama (April 13). The first two are about my activities in Tohoku and the latter two are about Love With a Western Woman—I’ll be signing copies there.

What are you doing up in Tohoku?

I spend extended periods of time in what is left of a tiny fishing village on the Oshika peninsula doing various things to help out. I raise money in the UK and Tokyo and then come here where I create projects with that money. On this trip I have set up a free shop with items donated from Tokyo, organized the local junior high school’s uniforms which have been paid for by Kspace, brought almost 100 sakura saplings from Tochigi, provided working outfits for the wakame fishermen and women, and more. I post updates on Facebook and through my blog the whole time I am here and try to keep Oshika (and Tohoku in general) in people’s minds.