Who is Oscar Shinozuka?

• Born in Delaware, USA

• Pursued a career as a professional soccer player

• Graduated from Lehigh University with a B.A. in Asian Studies

• Moved to Japan in 2019

• Started writing seriously in 2020

• Currently lives in Kobe, Japan, and works full-time at an unagi restaurant

I started playing soccer at eight years old and decided to pursue it professionally around the age of twelve. With a lot of hard work I found myself being ranked in the top 100 players in the country, and thought that my dream of becoming a pro player were within my reach. Unfortunately, after getting scouted to Lehigh University’s Men’s Soccer Team, I managed to get injured for four consecutive years and ultimately chose to give up on that dream. Although I played for 15 years—training and games pretty much everyday—it took only minutes to give it up.

It was at this point that I realized that I really didn’t have as much interest in playing soccer professionally as I thought I had. Through a series of deep conversations with myself, I uncovered the reason behind my desire to do it professionally. I’ve always wanted to live in Japan since I was just a small kid.

Also, it has been a dream of mine to one day write a crime fiction novel. I figured that for starters, as someone who has been called a below-average writer by my writing teachers throughout my school years - and rightfully so, I should read as much crime fiction as I can get my hands on. This blog is me documenting my progression as I attempt to write my own novel.