Welcome to my site. As you probably can guess, my name is David Hurley. After graduating from the University of York, with a 2:1 (hons) degree in Politics and English Literature in 1985, I spent several years teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) in England, Italy, Germany and Japan.
In 1997 I returned to York to study a master’s degree in English Renaissance literature, concentrating on the works of Francis Bacon and how they were influenced by Machiavelli, the role of Renaissance magic and Renaissance theories of the imagination.
I returned to Japan in 1999 and work as a freelance English language teacher.
In Japan I used to play quite a lot of mahjong, specifically, a 3-player variant of Riichi Mahjong which I was introduced to when I first came to Hiroshima in 1990. I eventually got around to writing the rules for 3 player mahjong in English.
Nowadays, I play riichi mahjong, and taught a “mahjong in English” class at a “kenko mahjong club” in Hiroshima called Furin (Windchimes).
I used to sell mahjong sets and other Japanese games on a now defunct blog called Japanese-Games-Shop.
As my interest in online business developed I started researching and blogging about Internet marketing. I have run a couple of online business blogs. In January 2017 I launched a new blog, Top5Programs.com – for home-based online affiliate marketers.
Apart from that, I play a lot of chess on Gameknot.com and in 2015 I launched EasyChessTips.com – a chess blog with the aim of offering basic chess tips in easy-to-understand blog posts.
DavidHurleyInJapan.com is here to help me to keep tabs on myself and my various activities, but of course, visitors are also welcome to contribute comments and feedback as well.
So with that, I hope you enjoy browsing this site.
David Hurley
Hiroshima,
Japan
Last Update: February 2021