About Me — Shawn Swinger

History teacher, writer, living in Japan.

My husky and me under a full moon on Halloween. Sums up who I am.

Hello all!

Thank you for taking the time to visit this little section about me.

I write about my broad range of interests, which usually boil down to

• Japan (places, people, society)
• Time I’ve spent in other countries
• History-Philosophy

I was a hardcore Christian missionary in my 20’s, traveling all over the world trying to convert people. My views on God have drastically changed since then, but this time of my life taught me a lot about different ways of life as I lived in 15 countries.

Though I grew up in California, I’ve been living in Japan since 2012. Yikes it goes by fast. I started life here as an English teacher but quickly found a better job teaching History and Philosophy at a private high school in Kyoto, which I have been doing since 2015.

I have both my Bachelor’s and my Master’s in History, with a focus on Japan and Russia. I also speak Japanese fairly fluently and love venturing out into the wilds of this beautiful country to get to know people.

I live with my wife and our teenage Husky, who is at the same time both psychotic and full of love. Currently I’m pursuing a full time career in…