Dave Spector (Japanese: デーブ・スペクター, Hepburn: Dēbu Supekutā)[1] is an American gaijin tarento, television producer, author, and actor based in Japan.

Originally from Chicago, he moved to Japan in 1983 after visiting as a producer with the American television program Ripley's Believe It or Not!.

[4] As a child, Dave Spector appeared in American TV commercials, including one for the cereal manufacturer Kellogg Company.

[5] He says that he first became interested in all things Japanese in the fifth grade at elementary school when he made friends with an immigrant classmate from Japan, Michael Sugano.

[citation needed] Spector studied at Sophia University in Tokyo,[4] before returning to America a year later.

[6] Spector moved to Japan in 1983 to research exotic film clips from Japanese television to be used on the American TV show Ripley's Believe It or Not!.