Dave Spector

As a child, Dave Spector appeared in American TV commercials, including one for the cereal manufacturer Kellogg Company.{{cite web |url= http://goethe.nikkei.co.jp/human/110721/index.html|title= Dave Spector|date= May 2011|work= Web Goethe|publisher= Nikkei Inc.|location= Japan|access-date= 26 July 2013 }} He says that he first became interested in all things Japanese in the fifth grade at elementary school when he made friends with an immigrant classmate from Japan, Michael Sugano.{{cite web |url= https://www.chicagotribune.com/1993/04/12/toykos-all-american-media-darling/|title= Toyko's All-american Media Darling|first= Merrill |last= Goozner|date= 12 April 1993|work= Chicago Tribune|publisher= |page= 2|access-date= 26 July 2013}} As a gesture of friendship, he tried to speak Japanese to him by saying "Where is the post office?" in Japanese. His friend was impressed and moved by that gesture and particularly praised Dave's Japanese pronunciation. He soon became interested in Japanese manga which his friend owned. As he desired to understand Japanese manga, he began taking Japanese lessons once a week at the Japanese school his friend attended every Sunday. He stated in his autobiography that he learned 50 new Japanese words every day, eventually becoming capable of comprehending serialized Japanese manga such as Obake no Q-tarō and Ashita no Joe. He later joined Japanese weekend classes with other Japanese children, eventually becoming the class president of the graduating class.{{citation needed|date=May 2016}} He astonished the Japanese-American community by winning the Chicago Japanese speech contest hosted by the Chicago Japanese community, the first person of non-Japanese descent to do so.{{citation needed|date=May 2016}} The title of his speech was "The Life and Suicide of Yukio Mishima".{{citation needed|date=May 2016}} Spector studied at Sophia University in Tokyo,{{cite web |url= http://sankei.jp.msn.com/life/news/121117/bdy12111707010001-n1.htm|script-title=ja:放送プロデューサー、デーブ・スペクターさん|trans-title= Broadcasting producer Dave Spector|date= 17 November 2012|work= MSN Sankei News|publisher= The Sankei Shimbun & Sankei Digital|location= Japan|language= Japanese|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130330030603/http://sankei.jp.msn.com/life/news/121117/bdy12111707010001-n1.htm|archive-date= 30 March 2013|access-date= 30 May 2016}} before returning to America a year later. After returning to Chicago, he enrolled at the Institute of Broadcast Arts.

Spector moved to Japan in 1983 to research exotic film clips from Japanese television to be used on the American TV show Ripley's Believe It or Not!. While this work continued until Ripley's Believe It or Not! ended in 1986, Spector became well known in Japan after becoming a regular guest on Fuji TV's lunchtime TV variety show Waratte Iitomo! in 1984, alongside other foreign personalities such as Canadian Kent Derricott, American Kent Gilbert, and Guinean {{Interlanguage link multi|Ousmane Sankhon|ja|3=オスマン・サンコン}}.{{cite web |url= http://www.japantoday.com/category/arts-culture/view/ousmane-sankhon-africas-most-famous-face-on-japanese-tv|first = Chris|last=Betros|title= Ousmane Sankhon: Africa's most famous face on Japanese TV|date= 12 September 2011|work= Japan Today|publisher=GPlusMedia Co., Ltd.|location= Japan |access-date= 26 July 2013}} He described his work at the time as "[d]oing things like the lowest Bozo, circus kind of stuff. But it doesn't bother me at all. A lot of times the foreigners on TV, models and what-not, are compared to pandas. They use that term here—pandas—because they're cuddly, you can go and have fun with them, and throw a marshmallow and that's about it. And you don't get involved any more deeper than that. But ... since I'm making half a million dollars a year, I'm very happy to be a panda." Due to his fluency in Japanese, he also developed career as a serious commentator on Anglo-American culture and events.{{cite news|url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2009/08/04/our-lives/spontaneous-japanese-tv-keeps-dave-spector-on-his-toes-2/ |title=Spontaneous Japanese TV keeps Dave Spector on his toes |newspaper=The Japan Times|access-date=16 August 2018}}{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/23/world/asia/unknown-in-america-david-spector-carves-out-niche-in-japan.html|title=American's Star Power Unrivaled in Japan |website=The New York Times |date=23 August 2014 |access-date=16 August 2018|last1=Fackler |first1=Martin }}{{cite web|url=http://kotaku.com/5800282/japans-most-famous-foreigner-can-see-the-funny-side-of-the-psn-attacks|title=Japan's Most Famous Foreigner Can See the Funny Side of the PSN Attacks |first=Brian |last=Ashcraft |website=Kotaku |date=10 May 2011 |access-date=16 August 2018}}{{cite news|url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/593c8956-b71c-11dd-8e01-0000779fd18c.html |title=Japan's Adopted Talking Heads|newspaper=Financial Times|access-date=16 August 2018}} He became a regular commentator on foreign news and established the Tokyo-based Spector Communications in 1988, which he used to obtain clippings or video grabs from foreign media to use for his commentary role. He is ranked as one of the most, and in some years the most, well-regarded commentator in Japan for all age groups according to Oricon survey.{{cite web|url=http://www.tokyograph.com/news/oricon-favorite-commentator/|title=Loading...|website=Tokyograph.com|access-date=16 August 2018}}{{cite web |url=http://www.shortshorts.org/2010/en/award/travel-juries.html |title=Short Shorts Film Festival & ASIA 2010|website=Shortshorts.org|access-date=16 August 2018}} In reference to his success in Japan, he stated that "I set a goal early on to be different from other gaijin tarento [foreign TV personalities] by trying to compete with Japanese rather than with other foreigners."

Spector is married to {{Nihongo|Kyoko Spector|京子スペクター|Kyōko Supekutā}}, a native of Chiba Prefecture, whom he met in the U.S.{{cite web |url= http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/otona/tamatebako/12/overseas/20120507-OYT8T00402.htm|archive-url= https://archive.today/20130726051548/http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/otona/tamatebako/12/overseas/20120507-OYT8T00402.htm|url-status= dead|archive-date= 26 July 2013|script-title=ja:シカゴで夫が教えてくれた旅の流儀…京子スペクターさん|trans-title= Kyoko Spector - Travel style she learned from her husband in Chicago|date= 9 May 2012|work= Yomiuri Online|publisher= The Yomiuri Shimbun|location= Japan|language= Japanese|access-date= 26 July 2013}}

• Nihon Igai Zenbu Chinbotsu (2006){{cite web |url= http://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/person.aspx?person_id=35631|script-title=ja:デーブ・スペクター|trans-title= Dave Spector|date= |work= Kinenote|publisher=Kinema-Junposha.Co.Ltd |location= Japan|language= Japanese|access-date= 26 July 2013}}
• {{Interlanguage link multi|Handsome Suit|ja|3=ハンサムスーツ}} (2008)
• One Missed Call (2008)

• Waratte Iitomo! (Fuji TV, 1984 – ?){{cite web |url= http://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/artist/460843/profile/history/|script-title=ja:オリコン芸能人事典|trans-title=Oricon Talent Directory|date= 25 August 2010|work= Oricon Style|publisher=Oricon Inc.|location= Japan|language= Japanese|access-date= 26 July 2013}}
• Tokudane! (Fuji TV, 1999 – present)
• {{Nihongo|Wide! Scramble|ワイド!スクランブル}} (NTV, July 2001 – present)
• {{Nihongo|Sunday Japon|サンデージャポン}} (TBS, October 2002 – present)
• {{Nihongo|Jōhō Live Miyaneya|情報ライブ ミヤネ屋}} (NTV, April 2008 – present)
• J-Melo (NHK World){{cite web|url=http://www.nhk.or.jp/j-melo/nhkworld/english/team|title=TEAM J-MELO - J-MELO - TV - NHK WORLD - English|website=Nhk.or.jp|access-date=16 August 2018}}

• {{Nihongo||これはジョークのご本です|Kore wa Jōku no Gohon desu|This Is a Joke Book}} (Shueisha, June 1986, {{ISBN|978-4086108546}})
• {{Nihongo||日本人は英語が得意―話せないと思い込んでいるあなたへ|Nihonjin wa Eigo ga Tokui - Hanasenai to Omoikondeiru Anata e|}} (Goma Shobo, September 1986, {{ISBN|978-4341013967}})
• {{Nihongo||デーブ・スペクターのアメリカ大ギモン|Dēbu Supekutā no Amerika Daigimon}} (Heibonsha, November 1986, {{ISBN|978-4582610116}})
• {{Nihongo||文明退化の音がする|Bunmeitaika no Oto ga suru|}} (Shinchosha, April 1987, {{ISBN|978-4103656012}})
• {{Nihongo||英語で外人を笑わせる法|Eigo de Gaijin o Warawaseru Hō|How to Make Foreigners Laugh in English}} (Shinchosha, December 1988, {{ISBN|978-4108015012}})
• {{Nihongo||全米スナック芸大会―道具・練習いらずで、大ウケ・大モテ|Amerikan Sunakku Geitaikai|}} (Goma Shobo, December 1988, {{ISBN|978-4341030728}})
• {{Nihongo||デーブ・スペクターの東京裁判|Dēbu Supekutā no Tōkyō Saiban|Dave Spector's Tokyo Trials}} (Nesco, October 1989, {{ISBN|978-4890367771}})
• {{Nihongo||英語は"ナガシマ流"でいけ|Eigo wa "Nagashima-ryū" de Ike|Nagashima-style English Is Fine}} (Goma Shobo, November 1997, {{ISBN|978-4341018054}})
• {{Nihongo||僕はこうして日本語を覚えた|Boku wa kō shite Nihongo o oboeta|This Is How I Learned Japanese}} (Dobunshoin, September 1998, {{ISBN|978-4810375404}})
• {{Nihongo||いつも心にクールギャグを|Itsumo Kokoro ni Kūru Gyaggu o}} (Gentosha, June 2011, {{ISBN|978-4344020047}})

His wife, Kyoko, wrote the following book about him:

• {{Nihongo|How to Make Dave Spector|デーブ・スペクターの作り方|Dēbu Supekutā no Tsukurikata}} (Tokyo Shoseki, July 2013, {{ISBN|978-4487807222}})

{{Reflist}}

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• {{Official website|http://www.spector.co.jp|Spector Communications official website}}

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Category:1954 births

Category:American expatriates in Japan

Category:American television personalities

Category:Expatriate television personalities in Japan

Category:Living people

Category:Television personalities from Chicago

Category:Sophia University alumni