Made in Japan-- Conversations with Meljo Catalan

For the first time (and definitely not the last), I’m going to bring you in my field of work which is one of the most common entry jobs in Japan; English teaching.  Most foreigners have often used the occupation as a steppingstone to vault their way into pursuing their interests in what Japan has to offer. However there are still a handful of us educators in Japan that found this career as our cal...

Closing out April with another music related guest,  join me in chatting with an old buddy I met through the Tokyo club nightlife.  Phil (or as he's known by his witty nom de guerre, DJ Phil So Good) and I talk about the our own heyday experiences of the Tokyo club scene and his rising as a regular DJ spinning "House Party" at some of the major venues in the city.   Along with his partner, Mark th...

On this episode, join me as we scratch the surface of the Tokyo indie rock scene.  I sat down with Kento for a blitzkrieg-paced bop of an episode.  I dove deep into his musical inspirations, his experience living and  bringing anarchy in the uk and finally coming full circle back to the Tokyo Indie underground.   Kento's come-as-you-are demeanor reflects his musical journey which is still growing....

It's time to get personal.  Huy was one of my first roommates and oldest friends in Japan.  Even though he doesn't live in Japan, this country is still his home away from home.  His story is no less different with people I know entering an international marriage with a Japanese partner yet he brings a wealth of knowledge for those who are getting ready to take that leap.  As a husband, father and...

On a rainy day, I sloshed my way through the sidewalk puddles up to the Nakameguro Taproom to share a pint with Bryan yet I had no intentions about learning the intricacies of how to brew a good batch of beer.  If you are a beer lover, live in Japan and never drunk Baird Beer, now's the time to catch up with the rest of us.  Bryan along with his wife, Sayuri have been spearheading the Japan craft...

In the southwestern part of metropolitan Tokyo lies an area considered the Japanese version of Silicon Valley. “Gotanda valley”, as it’s called within the local tech community, is the home of Avelio Systems as well as many other startups working with AI, apps, and the latest type of computer tech. Here you can see a map of the valley and Avelio Systems office is near the bottom: https://prtimes.jp...

Continuing my interview with Ki from episode 5, we head straight towards his other passion; Wing Chun martial arts. And we cannot discuss the discipline and philosophy that is Wing Chun unless we give praise to the legendary Bruce Lee, his writings and his contributions to the film industry and its celebrities. As I warned in the previous episode, there's a lot of talk of The Dragon and also a bit...

For my next guest we dive into the life of Ki Innis whom I consider a polymath; a modern day warrior poet.  His larger-than-life personality and story is what attracted me to interview him (as well as  him being what I consider to be part of "the old guard" in Tokyo).  We'd dived so deep into his childhood from growing up in New York to sharing our love and appreciation for Bruce Lee.  Sidenote:  ...

To kickoff 2019, I invited the lovely and adventurous duo of Jessica Korteman and Hai Huynh for coffee and a chat. They are freelance travel bloggers now based in Tokyo. You can read and see their captivating photos of their trips to over 50 countries and 6 continents on their travel blog,  Notesofnomads.com Alongside, they work with Instagram Japan ( @instagramjapan ) as Instameet managers for Ja...

Streamlining towards 2019, Japanese people usually celebrate the New Year with a sense of calmness and reflection.  The intentions of starting anew with vigor and individual improvement; like hitting the reset button within their souls.  I figured Kuna would be the logical choice to chat with.  She is a Yoga instructor as well as the studio director of the Gold's Gym in the Minamiaoyama branch ( w...

Today I had a quality chat with Motohiro Kishi, a US-born Japanese commercial airline pilot for Japan Airlines. I invited him on to my show because truly how often have you ever heard of a podcast episode with a Boeing 777 pilot?! It’s not every day that we get a chance to hear what life’s like as a commercial airline pilot as well as someone who works in one of the most arduous and controversial...

Welcome to my first episode of my podcast! My first guest is Natsuki Yasuda, a young entrepreneur who's worked at Rakuten, a global Japanese e-commerce rival to Amazon, but then he went rogue to co-found his own consulting firm and build his own travel guide/tour package website of his homeland, Hokkaido prefecture in Northern Japan, treasurefurano.com Activities such as dogsledding with Siberian...