Background
Peter Barakan was born and raised in London by a Jewish father of Polish ancestry and an Anglo-Burmese mother.
Peter Barakan was born and raised in London by a Jewish father of Polish ancestry and an Anglo-Burmese mother.
He also hosts the series Begin Japanology and Japanology Plus on Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai World, which introduces various aspects of Japanese culture. After attending SOAS, University of London, Barakan entered the music industry as a clerk, and in 1974 moved to Japan to continue his career. He wrote lyrics and handled international marketing for the Japanese band Yellow Magic Orchestra.
He hosted the Turner Broadcasting System program Columbia Broadcasting System Document beginning in October 1988, a Japanese edition of 60 Minutes.
He hosted the 3-hour Barakan Morning on InterFM radio as late as 2011. During the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, Barakan was prevented from playing a nuclear protest song, because it could ""create fuhyo higai, which means "damage from rumors."" In 2012, Barakan led a United Nations sponsored multi-city mayoral panel discussion on community rebuilding following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.