Word Hunters: Left, Right and Off-Center

James Crocker has been a Primary Teacher, Language Instructor, Director of Studies, Principal, Teacher Trainer, ESL Author, and Lecturer for over 30 years. He has worked in many countries, most recently Japan, at Kobe Women’s University. He has published ESL texts with Macmillan and Oxford University Press. In this episode we talk to James about his background and the various twists and turns his...

Hiroshi Okamoto has supported education and global learning across 45+ countries on five continents through the United Nations, JICA, and other organizations. With a diverse career as a dancer, actor, Michelin-starred restaurant chef, and global educator, he founded 3L-MIEL (Global Learning Center) in Kobe to promote international understanding through the five senses and help people Learn, Live,...

Richard Harrison was granted the title of Professor Emeritus at Kobe University in early 2025. He received his Ba. Hons (1st Class) in Japanese Studies (Japanese linguistics) from Sheffield University in 1988. He has since been teaching Japanese in the UK, Australia and Japan. He received an Master of Education (Technology) from Monash University in 1999, and has been teaching Applied Linguistics...

In this episode, Emma Rye shares stories from her childhood, school days, travel experiences, academic and career pursuits, and living and working in Columbia. Show notes for this episode can be found HERE .

Charles Browne was born in Boston in the United States but has lived and worked in Japan since 1985. He is a Professor of Applied Linguistics & TESOL and researches both Vocabulary and Reading, especially as they apply to online learning. He has more than 25 years of experience working as a teacher trainer, works with several boards of education, and has sat on several committees for the Japan...

John Adair is the head brewer and part owner of Sooke Brewing Company. In this talk, recorded on November 14, 2018 at the brewery, John talks about his background as a forest firefighter, his entry into homebrewing as a hobbyist, competing on the homebrewing circuit in Canada, and challenges of opening the brewery. He also shares his insights into the brewing scene on Vancouver Island and other pa...

Ixchell Reyes teaches English at the Defense Language Institute English Language Center at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas. DLIELC is the leader in English language training for the Department of Defense and builds security cooperation capability through English language training and cultural immersion. Reyes also cohosts the DIESOL Podcast, which focuses on developing innovation in ESOL. S...

Dr. Amihan April M. Alcazar is scholar from the Phillipines. She is currently the University President of Urdaneta City University, Pangasinan, and is the Co-Chair of the Internationalization National Review Committee of the Commission on Higher Education. In this episode, she talks about growing up in the Philippines, her educational background, her experiences studying and researching in Europe...

Chris Poel from Shiokaze BrewLab sat down for an interview with Brent and students in his Beer Industry Project at Konan University. Chris shares some stories from his early days in Japan as well as more recently, especially as related to the craft beer movement in Japan. Links to more information can be found in the show notes for episode #36 .

In this episode, we spoke to Laura Pollacco,  a freelance writer and photographer working in Tokyo, Japan.  Laura talks about her background growing up in the UK, her experience on the JET program, her work as an actor in the theatre, her journalism, and other topics. You can find out more here on her newly designed website  and show notes for the episode can be found HERE . 

In this episode, we catch up with Brent Warner, who is a professor of English as a Second Language at Irvine Valley College and is currently on a research sabbatical in Japan. His work focuses on building academic writing skills for multi-lingual learners and integrating technology in the learning process to help with language acquisition. He blends research-based pedagogy with cutting edge techno...

Stefan Thorgeirsson is an Icelandic actor and producer currently based in Sapporo, Japan. Stefan is a graduate of the Iceland University of the Arts with a BA in Acting degree. He also holds an Engineering degree from the University of Iceland. As an actor, Stefan has mostly worked in theatre in Iceland and Japan. In this episode, we talk with Stefan about his childhood, various overseas sojourns,...

We had the good fortune to sit with John Dix, legendary potter and long-time resident of Japan. In this episode, John graciously shares some experiences from his childhood and talks about his travels and career. Some of the topics covered in this Episode 32 are linked to in our show notes .

In this episode, Brent shares his experiences and adventures (and misadventures) about his trip to Iceland. He talks about his journey, his presentation at the conference, and other topics. 

In this episode, Brent speaks with Jökull, born and raised in Iceland. He talks about his background growing up in Iceland, including interesting insights about the Icelandic education system. He also talks about his passion--working in the theatre-- as well as his work as a tour guide in the capital, Reykjavik.  Show notes can be found on our BLOG .

Angus McGregor has lived and worked in Japan since 1990 and is currently based in Kyoto. He is an Associate Professor in the Department of Global Studies at Kyoto University of Foreign Studies and still works with students at Kyoto Gaidai Nishi High School where he taught for many years. Major features of his department are the teaching of global and social issues through English and involvement i...

Atsushi has the distinction of being our first repeater, as this is the second time he has been on the podcast. He is a university student and world traveler, aspiring journalist, and an one of the most interesting students we have met in Japan (see episode #10 for his background and early travel experience). In this episode, he talks about his recent travels to Turkey, where he visited the site o...

In this episode, we spoke to Amy Shapiro,  originally from New York, but a long-time expat in Japan.  Amy has been teaching in Japan for more than 30 years and is currently promoting Kobe through the Kobe Ambassador Program. She shares some interesting stories from her childhood and talks about her experiences of living and working in Japan. We hope you enjoy it. Show notes can be found HERE .

John Rucynski is an educator, writer, editor, cyclist, hiker and baseball enthusiast, not necessarily in that order. In this episode, John shares some stories about his background, world travels, teaching and writing/editing. He is currently an Associate Professor in the Center for Liberal Arts and Language Education at Okayama University, and his main research interest is the role of humor in for...

Gary Ross has been developing, programming, and designing online educational systems for over 15 years. He has taught at KIDI Parsons (the Japan affiliate of Parsons School of Design, NYC), and ran his own web design company. He is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Kanazawa University, where he is developing the online ESL program as well as being the former webma...

Rica Bradshaw is the founder and Managing Director of Core Eight, a real estate agency located in Kobe with luxury property listings throughout Japan. Through her work in Japan, Malaysia and the U.K. in fashion and as an apprentice to a Japanese landscape architect, she well understands the importance and impact of design on a space; how the spiritual elements in traditional Japanese design and cr...

Trevor Raichura is a university lecturer by day, and one of Kansai's biggest Hanshin Tigers fans by night. He hails from Canada but has been in Japan for nearly half his life. He lives in Nishinomiya, Japan with his wife and two sons. His obsession with the Tigers has drawn attention from local newspapers and television, and has helped establish him as one of the English-speaking experts on J...

Blue is an exchange student studying Japanese Konan University in Kobe. He is a student at the University of Hawaii and grew up in San Francisco. In this episode, he tells us about his background and his experiences living and studying in both Hawaii and Japan. 

In this episode, we spoke with Elaine Hodgson,  a teacher, teacher trainer, author of educational materials, and editor at Macmillan education. She has taught English for over 30 years in different public and private educational institutions in Brazil in the states of São Paulo, Ceará and the Federal District. She has also worked on training and development projects for public school teachers at t...

In the episode, I interview Brent about his annual fieldwork in the Phillipines. He has been taking a group of Konan University students to the Phillipines for more than a decade now. These trips are a part of an elective at Konan and the students get a chance to interact with local students and learn about the culture of the Phillipines. Brent details the educational objectives of this field trip...