Bird, a native of Hokkaido, Japan, attended Fuji Women's University in Sapporo and earned a B.A. in English. She taught English to children in Japan before receiving an M.A. from UCLA in folklore and mythology in 1982.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Learning to drive in L.A. traffic. Stick shift, too!
What is your favorite type of music or musical group?
Mozart, Schubert and the Beatles.
If you hadn't chosen your current occupation, what would you have become?
A ceramicist living in the mountains not too far from a big city, so I could come down to civilization and splurge from time to time.
What phrases do you most overuse?
"Facto-dismal," something I came up with, and something I try not to be.
(With permission by UCLA Today)
Mariko Bird can be contacted for further elucidation on "facto-dismal" at bird@international.ucla.edu. While online, visit the virtual Center for Japanese Studies.
Published: Tuesday, April 2, 2002