Charles Breer has spent more than 14 years of his life in Japan during more than three separate stays, including twice as a child with his parents, who were diplomats assigned to the US Embassy in Tokyo.  Charles was born south of Tokyo and attended Japanese nursery school and kindergarten in Tokyo and Sapporo.  His two sisters were also born during their parent’s first tour in Japan from 1960-1968.

Although Japanese was Charles’ first language, his present journey with Japanese started with Beginning Japanese at the American School in Japan, where he attended 7^th through 10^th grades.  Japanese language study continued in college in the US, after which Charles moved back to Tokyo to join Fuji Bank (now part of Mizuho Financial Group), as the first American staff member working in headquarters.  During his four years at Fuji Bank, Charles became proficient in Japanese business culture and likely reached his peak Japanese language skills, after which he moved back to the US.

Charles has made a 30+ career in the airline industry, starting with Northwest Airlines in 1992 in various positions that frequently took him to Japan.  Following Northwest’s merger with Delta Air Lines in 2009, Charles spent 4-5 years each at US Airways and Alaska Airlines and has worked at Minnesota-based Sun Country Airlines since 2019.

One aspect of Charles’ life that was instilled at an early age in Japan is his deep and abiding interest in railways.  It all began when his mother rode the Yokosuka Line enroute to the hospital where I was born and a few years later when she would take me to the Sapporo railway station to look at steam locomotives.  In the early years of the Shinkansen, I would also go with my mother to see my father off on business trips with Tokyo Station platform tickets.  Charles’ daily commute to the American School during junior high school involved four different trains with three connections each day.

His passion for Japanese railways continues to be one of the main ways Charles stays current with Japan and the Japanese language.  He has subscribed to Tetsudo (Railway) Journal for over 40 years and he takes full advantage of the Japan Rail Pass on trips to Japan.

In his spare time, Charles enjoys long-distance cycling and travel by rail.  Charles lives with his wife Holly in St, Paul.