Unpacking Japan

Meet Jake, an international school principal living in Japan. He sits down to talk to us about the reality of teaching in Japan, including what people should expect, what companies do, and how to actually build a career teaching here.. -- 0:00 Intro 0:50 Meet Jake 5:11 First time in Japan 12:15 First experience as a teacher 20:44 A career in teaching English 27:38 The reality of being an ALT 36:51...

Meet Priyanka, an Indian-Japanese entrepreneur who sits down to talk to us about her life growing up as a hafu in Japan. She tells us about being the only hafu in Japanese school, winning Miss World Japan in 2016, her time on reality TV show Love is Blind Japan, and her work as a model and entrepreneur. -- 0:00 Intro 0:50 Meet Priyanka 4:46 Moving to California 12:22 Moving back to Japan 14:14 Bul...

Meet Nancy Singleton Hachisu, a cookbook author living on a rural farm in Saitama. She sits down to talk to us about coming to Japan, discovering the beautiful simplicty of Japanese farm food, and writing her cookbooks on Japanese home cooking. -- 0:00 Intro 0:45 Meet Nancy 5:32 Coming to Japan 11:09 Impressions of the food 17:12 Moving to a farm 23:05 Homeschooling and edible schoolyard 32:24 Wri...

Meet Lauren Rose Kocher, an entrepreneur and CEO of multiple businesses in Tokyo. She sits down to talk to us about her journey to Japan, working in the Japanese music industry before leaving to start her own business, and inheriting businesses from her late husband. -- 0:00 Intro 0:45 Meet Lauren 4:30 Teaching English in Japan 8:58 Entering the music industry 15:09 What the music industry is like...

Meet Ameya, an Indian director born and raised in Tokyo. She sits down to talk to us about growing up in Japan, her entry into the Tokyo art scene, and her work as a film director. -- 0:45 Meet Ameya 1:20 Growing up Indian in Tokyo 11:37 Realizing how society views you 14:50 Joining the creative industry 19:18 Stepping behind the camera 23:04 Making connections 28:03 Becoming a filmmaker 37:14 Sho...

Meet Richard, a professor of Noh and Asian performing arts at Musashino University in Tokyo, as well as the founder and director of Theatre Nohgaku. He sits down to talk to us about the art and history of Noh, common misconceptions that foreigners and Japanese people have, and his own journey to the Noh world in Japan. -- 0:00 Intro 0:46 Meet Richard 6:56 What is Noh? 11:42 The yooooooooo 17:24 No...

Meet Matcha Samurai, a Japanese creator known for his infectious laugh. He sits down to talk to us about his identity as someone from Kochi, his life abroad in London, and being a creator with the role of assumed Japanese culture expert. A big thank you to our colleagues from ZenMarket for sponsoring this episode. Interesting in buying anything from Japan? Find out more here: https://go.zenmarket....

Meet Harald Naess, a trumpeter for the Kyoto Symphony Orchestra. He sits down to talk to us about moving to Japan, learning Japanese while finding a common language in German, and the differences in work ethic and performance in Japan. -- 0:00 Intro 0:45 Meet Harald 4:14 First music study 6:35 Arriving in Japan 10:00 Differences playing in Japan 14:05 Japanese approach to music 18:39 First perform...

Meet Sylvia Manchester, a self-titled Natural Born Diva working as an entertainer and drag bar host in Tokyo. She sits down to talk to us about her studies abroad, interest in queer literature, coming out, and the birth of the Sylvia Manchester character. A big thank you to our colleagues from ZenMarket for sponsoring this episode. Interesting in buying anything from Japan? Find out more here: htt...

Meet Will, a host and content creator for Japan Gay Guide in Tokyo. He tells us about how his love for the band Perfume brought him to Japan, what being gay in Japan is like, and his work in LGBT tourism with Japan Gay Guide. -- 0:00 Intro 0:46 Meet Will 5:30 Arriving in Kagoshima 10:35 Coming back to Japan 17:49 Being gay in Japan vs. Sydney 25:45 What is Japan Gay Guide? 28:40 Japan as a safe ha...

Meet Lawson, a British creator who first came to Japan living in Kobe and Nishinomiya, where he quickly picked up the Kansai dialect. Now living in Tokyo, he's become known for his fluent dialect as a foreigner. A big thank you to our colleagues from ZenMarket for sponsoring this episode. Interesting in buying anything from Japan? Find out more here: https://go.zenmarket.jp/unpackingjapan -- 0...

Meet Genoa, a content creator with a very unique life that brought him to Japan. He sits down to talk to us about growing up in a cult, before leaving and eventually coming to Okinawa as an exchange student in high school, and his current life preparing for studying at language school and going viral sharing his experiences in Japan. A big thank you to our colleagues from ZenMarket for sponsoring...

Meet Gia, a Korean born creator who grew up in Tokyo. She sits down to talk to us about her very multicultural and multilingual life in Japan, from international school to Waseda University.--0:00 Intro0:45 Meet Gia5:17 Internation school in Tokyo9:25 Applying to Waseda12:39 Growing up in a foreign bubble16:28 Student life at Waseda20:07 Studying at Waseda22:43 International school vs. university...

Meet Bernd Kestler, a German knitter living in Japan. He sits down to talk to us about moving to Japan in the 80s, his love for knitting, and exactly how he's established this unconventional career in Japan. -- 0:00 Intro 0:45 Meet Bernd 7:08 First interest in knitting 12:32 Knitting in Japan 14:55 Knitting full-time 16:54 Knitting in Japan vs. Germany 22:27 Understanding knitting designs 24:0...

Meet James Farrer, Professor of Sociology and Global Studies at Sophia University. He sits down to talk to us his sociology study in China and Shanghai, before moving to Tokyo and finding his own community by studying the third spaces that exist in the restaurants around train stations. -- 0:00 Intro 0:44 Meet James 3:32 Shanghai in the 90s 8:27 Studies at Fudan University 12:18 Coming to Japan 15...

Meet Kristine aka Kfel, a Filipino Canadian content creator based in Tokyo completing what she calls "magical girl sidequests." She sits down to talk to us about her interest and subsequent internship in Japan, her journey to fluency, going viral on TikTok, and becoming a magical girl -- 0:00 Intro 0:45 Meet Kristine 7:07 Internship in Japan 18:47 Start in content creation 20:58 Getting...

Meet River, a correspondent for the New York Times based in Japan. She sits down to talk to us about Japan's current political and economic climate, the life of a journalist in Japan, and the role of a journalist in the age of social media.--0:00 Intro0:45 Meet River4:40 Deciding to stay in Japan9:05 Being a journalist in the Trump presidency12:18 Start at WSJ and Bloomberg16:11 Being unbiased...

Meet Paula, English localization lead at Square Enix in Japan. She sits down to talk to us about how she broke into the localization industry, misconceptions about game translation, what it was like to work on titles like Final Fantasy and Secret of Mana, and how she got the chance to sing for Final Fantasy XIV.--0:00 Intro0:45 Meet Paula2:11 Teaching on the JET Programme9:45 Start in localization...

Meet Avril Haye-Matsui, a professor at Aichi Prefectural University in Nagoya. She sits down to talk to us about the reality of being black in Japan, raising mixed black children here, how people treat black people can vary depending on what country you're from, and --0:00 Intro0:45 Meet Avril3:36 Arriving on the JET Program9:16 Staying and moving to academia14:57 Research on identity in Japan...

Meet David Kornhauser, Director of Global Communications at Kyoto University. He sits down to talk with us about how Japanese universities are becoming more international, his work in science communication, and the proliferation of nobel prizes from Kyoto University.--0:00 Intro0:45 Meet David3:15 Rediscovering Japanese roots9:46 International bubble universities12:41 PR for Tokyo Electric Power17...

Meet Dr. Harriet Ocharo, an applied AI researcher from Kenya working in Tokyo. She sits down to talk to us about coming to Japan on the MEXT scholarship, moving to Tokyo to work in the tech industry, and her experiences as a single mother here in Japan. --0:00 Intro0:45 Meet Harriet4:55 Why Japan?8:13 MEXT scholarship10:25 Arriving at a Japanese university20:17 Cultural surprises27:02 Move to Toky...

Meet David, a writer based in Japan, who sits down to talk with us about the origins of Western fashion and culture in Japan. He tells us about how Western fashions are brought over, common misconceptions people have, and how Japanese culture actually develops over time.--0:00 Intro0:46 Meet David5:04 Moving to Japan12:35 Unpacking the myth of Japanese culture23:02 Interest in fashion25:56 Evoluti...

Meet Yumechi, a fashion creator living in Tokyo and working for the brand ACDC RAG. She sits down to talk to us about the birth of fashion subcultures, how trends change over time, and her work in the Japanese fashion subculture world.--0:00 Intro0:44 Meet Yumechi2:47 Interest in j-fashion9:56 Finding a community through fashion13:06 Gyaru and lolita today15:02 What makes j-fashion trends so inter...

Meet Shala, a singer, dancer, and musician who was born in Nagoya and grew up in London. She sits down to talk to us about her career across the 2 countries, and her identity as a biracial and bicultural artist.--0:00 Intro0:44 Meet Shala4:03 Interest in music6:54 Interest in dancing11:09 Growing up mixed in London13:16 Moving back to Japan15:48 Dance career in London25:53 How being Asian affected...

Meet PiNKII, an artist producing what she calls "domme-pop," and former jpop idol. She sits down to talk to us about her first interest in idol culture, moving to Japan with the help of an unscrupulous man, and how she left that all behind to become the artist she is today.--0:00 Intro0:44 Meet PiNKII4:33 First coming to Japan8:11 Posting her own idol dance videos11:56 Getting "disc...