mr partner versus mr William

I was recently asked to do an interview for a Japanese magazine.  You can read the interview in the current issue of “mr partner”.  It is available in major bookstores in Japan, such as Junkudo in Ikebukero.  It is a magazine about the UK, written in Japanese.

I am not sure why the magazine is called “mr partner”.  I hope that they don’t mind me saying so, but the name sounds a bit more like a dating magazine than a magazine about the UK.  When they asked me to talk about myself, and also to provide some photos, I wondered if I would get some proposals of marriage in reply!  Sadly none have arrived so far.

They asked me to recommend a place in the UK to visit, and I recommended Orkney.  The Orkney Islands are off the north coast of Scotland.  One of the great places to visit there is Skara Brae, a Stone Age settlement.  They also have two whiskey distilleries – Highland Park and Scapa.  And there is a magnificent diving site where you can see the wrecks of many ships from the German First World War navy.  And my mum comes from Orkney.  So it must be nice.

Perhaps there is a dating magazine with a similarly odd name.  Has anyone seen a magazine called “Shakespeare’s country” or “The A to Z of Britain”, in which there is nothing but pictures of handsome British men looking for Japanese wives, or cute British girls looking for Japanese husbands?  If so, they can swap names with mr partner.

In the meantime, take a look at mr partner to read the rest of the interview.  And note that marriage proposals are not being considered at this time!
 

Vocabulary:

a proposal – a plan or suggestion; an invitation to marry

a settlement – a group of houses or places where people live

a distillery – a place where whiskey is made

a wreck – the remains of a ship after it has been severely damaged or sunk

odd - strange