Just Japan Podcast

In Episode 82 of the Just Japan Podcast, host Kevin O'Shea chats with Canadian expat Patrick Kwan about playing ice hockey in Japan. Patrick started playing hockey at the age of 6 in Victoria, British Columbia. When he moved to Japan several years ago as a member of the JET Program he made sure to bring his hockey bag filled with equipment with him. He has been playing ice hockey here ever since....

In Episode 81 of the Just Japan Podcast, host Kevin O'Shea talks to a panel of Japan-based podcasters about "Everything Japan"! Returning guests and friends of the show sit down to chat about a variety of topics. Kat and Jenny from he Kimochi Uncensored Podcast as well as Jim and Tomoko from the Mully's Place Podcast answer Just Japan Podcast listener questions in an epic "Podcaster Party!" A weal...

In Episode 80 of the Just Japan Podcast, host Kevin O'Shea talks to Benjamin Falck, Chris Hainge and Paul Speed of the Kyoto Brewing Company.  Find out how one of Japan's newest craft breweries got started as well as about the craft beer scene in Japan. Once upon a time beer fans in Japan were limited to rather bland options produced by  major breweries, but luckily that is changing. Ben, Chris an...

In Episode 80 of the Just Japan Podcast, host Kevin O'Shea talks to Benjamin Falck, Chris Hainge and Paul Speed of the Kyoto Brewing Company.  Find out how one of Japan's newest craft breweries got started as well as about the craft beer scene in Japan. Once upon a time beer fans in Japan were limited to rather bland options produced by  major breweries, but luckily that is changing. Ben, Chris an...

In Episode 79 of the Just Japan Podcast, host Kevin O'Shea speaks with a panel of returning guests about their views on Japan. Hikosaemon of YouTube fame, video blogger KansaiPj as well as writer, Liam Carriagan chat with Kevin about a variety of topics generated by the Just Japan Podcast listeners. Is it true that typical Japanese salarymen don't have time for their familes? How does health care...

In Episode 78 of the Just Japan Podcast, host Kevin O'Shea talks to Percival Constantine, an American living in Japan about being a Wedding Celebrant. Sometimes refered to as "fake priests", there are companies in Japan that hire "Western looking" men to act as mock priests at weddings for Japanese couples. This is a trend that is becoming more popular in recent years in Japan. Have that "foreign...

In Episode 77 of the Just Japan Podcast, host Kevin O'Shea chats with David Staggs. David, a cohost of the Mully's Place Podcast is a long-term American expat who lives and works in Shizuoka Prefecture in Japan. David came to Japan more than 20 years ago and worked as an eikaiwa (language school) teacher. David's career in English Education has now evolved an he not only runs his own school, but w...

In this special bonus episode of the Just Japan Podcast, host Kevin flies solo. In Episode 76, he talks about summer in Japan. What do people do to beat the heat during the long and humid Japanese summer? Kevin answers some listener questions about Japan during the hot season and talks about some of the positive aspects of summer such as fireworks, summer festivals, yukatas and more.  Shownotes/We...

In Episode 75 of the Just Japan Podcast, host Kevin O'Shea talks to Jonathan Cooper, an Australian living and working in Japan. Jonathan is an avid salt water fisherman and sea kayaker. He talks about how you can get started fishing in Japan as well as his own fishing and kayaking adventures. Jonathan has lived in several parts of Japan and now spends most of his time fishing around the islands of...

In Episode 74 of the Just Japan Podcast, host Kevin O'Shea talks to Robby Jones, an American living and working in Japan about Judo. Robby began training in America while in universiaty and continued his Judo training in Chiba and Iwate here in Japan. He talks about the culture surrounding Judo in Japan as well as the differences one can expect between training in America versus training in Japan....

In Episode 73 of the Just Japan Podcast, host Kevin O'Shea talks about typhoons in Japan. Some of this episode was actually recorded outside during Typhoon Nangka which hit parts of Japan earlier this week. Kevin also chats with long-term expat and friend of the show, Pee Jay about living in Japan during typhoon season. If you plan to live in Japan at some point, you will have to deal with typhoon...

In Episode 72 of the Just Japan Podcast, host Kevin O'Shea interviews comic artist Grace Mineta. Grace is a writer, cartoonist and video blogger living in Japan. She hails from the United States and has self-published three books of her cartoons and has the extremely popular YouTube channel "Texan in Tokyo" where she makes videos about life in Japan with her husband Ryosuke.  We talk about why she...

In Episode 71 of the Just Japan Podcast, host Kevin O'Shea talks with expats Andrew Higgins (HigginsInJapan on YouTube) and Jim Mullins (Mully's Place Podcast) about their experiences with dentists here in Japan. Many describe the "dental care experience" here in Japan as quite a bit different than in other countries. You'll hear all about how it can be a great experience and how it might be a lit...

In Episode 70 of the Just Japan Podcast, Kevin chats with returning guest Victor Gonzalez. Victor was on epiode 24 where he talked about climbing Mt. Fuji from Sea to Summit. In this episode Victor talks about "Japanistas.com" a Japan travel and lifestyle site. He recently made the transition out the education industry and works as a writer and the editor of Japanistas.com. He also talks about how...

In Episode 69 of the Just Japan Podcast, host Kevin O'Shea talks to Dr. Alex Fraser. Alex is an Australian researcher who works at a university in the northern island of Hokkaido. Alex hails from the southern Australian island of Tazmania and specializes in studying Antarctic ice. Kevin and Alex discuss how he first became interested in Japan and the path that lead him here.  They talk about his r...

In Episode 68 of the Just Japan Podcast, host Kevin O'Shea talks to returning guest Brian Waters about putting down permanent roots here in Japan. Brian, an American living and working in Japan has made the decision to live in Japan long-term with his family. They have recently built a house and are now settling in. Kevin and Brian talk about his new house, education in Japan and raising a family...

In Episode 67 of the Just Japan Podcast, host Kevin O'Shea speaks with an old friend from his days teaching in South Korea. Kevin Tarpey is an elementary school teacher from America who is about to embark on a remarkable journey for an important cause. An avid outdoorsman, Kevin lost both of his parents to cancer. In their memory Kevin plans to take on one of the most incredible physical challenge...

In Episode 66 of the Just Japan Podcast host Kevin O'Shea talks about having surgery in Japan. This can be a frightening experience no matter where you are let alone in a foreign country. Kevin talks about his recent as well as about health care/insurance and dealing with the language barrier in the Japanese health care system. What's it like to go "under the knife" in Japan? In this week's "Mail...

In Episode 65 of the Just Japan Podcast, host Kevin O'Shea talks to Steven Lefever and Kendall Wiliams, two independent filmmakers based in Tokyo. Both Steven and Kendall have a fascinating background in arts and film and are doing some very creative work in Tokyo. They talk about what it takes to get involved in the arts scene in Japan and how to start an indie film project. They talk about their...

In Episode 64 of the Just Japan Podcast, host Kevin O'Shea chats with Clinton and Shaun, the cohosts of the 2 Player Select Podcast. Hailing from Canada and Australia, Clinton and Shaun live in Japan and host a weekly podcast that fouses on life in Japan as well as gaming. They talk to Kevin about why they came to Japan, living here and their back grounds in gaming. They also discuss what motivate...

In Episode 63, host Kevin O'Shea talks to Michael Gillan Peckitt about being disabled in Japan.  Michael, a Briton who has been living and working as a univeristy professor in Osaka for several years has Cerebral Palsy. He discusses how he is treated in Japan as a "gaijin" and as a person who is disabled. He also talks about the differences between the way he is treated in Japan versus his home ba...

In Episode 62 of the Just Japan Podcast, host Kevin O'Shea talks to the Jenny and Kathryn, the cohosts of the Kimochi Uncensored Podcast. They discuss life in Japan, creating online content and why they decided to start their podcast. Kevin also answers listener questions in the Just Japan Podcast mailbag section.  He talks about dangerous wildlife in Japan, school fees, teaching and living in Jap...

In Episode 4 of the Tech Japan Podcast, host Kevin O'Shea talks about the latest tech stories coming out of Japan.  JR Central's new Mag Lev train sets a new world record traveling 603 km/h, a mysterious drone is found on the roof of Prime Minister Abe's offices in Tokyo and Samsung is rebranding its Galaxy series of phones in Japan.  Remember to get a slice of life and culture in Japan with Kevin...

In Episode 61 of the Just Japan Podcast, host Kevin O'Shea talks to Greg Lane, cofounder of the site TokyoCheapo.com. Tokyo Cheapo busts the myth that everything about visiting or living in Tokyo is expensive. Learn about the humble beginnings of this useful and diverse travel and lifestyle website. Greg also explains how it has grown into the popular and successful site it is today. Where can you...

In Episode 60 of the Just Japan Podcast, host Kevin O'Shea chats with returning guest Jim Mullins (aka Mully), cohost of the Mully's Place Podcast about video blogging and podcasting in Japan. What does it take to start a YouTube channel or a podcast? Kevin talks about the recent 2015 Osaka YouTube Hanami Party, missing a week of the podcast and how he'll promote your podcast if you want to start...