Amy Chavez arrived in Japan from America in 1993, fresh out of graduate school. After a few years enjoying the city life, she began a search for the "real Japan" and found it on Shiraishi (population 430), a tiny island in the Seto Inland Sea. For ten years she lectured at a Japanese university before becoming a full-time writer. For over 20 years she has penned a column for The Japan Times covering issues central to island life such as tourism, the environment, aging and depopulation. She and her Australian husband have been renovating their Japanese home on Shiraishi for the past 17 years, the amount of time it takes some species of cicada to reach maturity. Chavez is the author of several books, including Amy's Guide to Best Behavior in Japan: Do it Right and Be Polite. She has a B.A. in creative writing from Miami University, Oxford, and an M.A. in technical writing.