Please excuse the episode’s long intro; I’ve been up to things and I talk about them. This one gets heated in the best possible way as Stefhen and I discuss Black/African identity vis a vis Japan and what it means to live a biracial/multicultural life and so on. Stefhen’s done some cool things, so check out these links to his book and one-man play: Black Passenger Yellow Cabs Doodu Boy

Tim Andersen is back to talk more startup in Japan. We get the update on what happened to his startup project Musby. Spoiler, it didn’t go as planned. However, it’s all good. Tim has no quit and continues to apply lessons learned as a project manager at Edocode. If you didn’t get a chance to catch the original Musby talk, here it is.

Excited to have my akogare (we talk about this word) Terri MacMillian on the show. We talk about her music management experience (Pizzicato Five?!), life in Japan in general, her favorite actor (super cool), and of course we get a touch ornery about Black Lives Matter.

A quick primer on ways to say Black Lives Matter in Japanese. [Kokujin no inochi wa taisetu] – Black Lives Matter (are important with no implied too) [Kokujin no inochi koso taisetu] – It is Black Lives that Matter, Black Lives Matter! (Indeed!), more so than others [Kokujin no inochi mo taisetu] – Black Lives Matter (too), closest to English in implication, and nuance Note: I am an advanced speaker, but Japanese is not my first language. Constructive feedback welcome.

This time its the racial sexually amped duo of Bedtime Eyes and Almost Transparent Blue.

Another quick episode for these Corona times… the 1962 classic novel The Woman in the Dunes .

A quick episode for these Corona times… the 1960 classic film The Naked Island.

Join Terrance and Christopher for a conversational reconnect as Terrance braves the wintry tundra of Connecticut for a long overdue in-person recording from our two hosts. Get some insight on what residency in Tokyo feels like after many years and the challenges that returning to the United States presents after many years in Asia. Special bonus: If you listen long enough, you may even get to hear the resurrected segments from podcasts of long ago and be treating to a special guest...

It’s been a long time in the making, but we’re finally reviewing one of Japan’s most famous novels: Kawabata Yasunari’s, “Snow Country”. As one of Terrance’s absolute favorite books and only recently read by Christopher, we discuss the finer points of the novel, its context, and what we make of the imagery and plot.

Join Terrance and Christopher with dualing audio as they journey to the summit of Mount Takao, a small mountain just west of Tokyo. This sound-seeing (sound scene) tour includes some lively discussion on Japanese films, accents, future nature sabbaticals, and disaster scenarios. What more could you ask for?

On this episode I sit down with a Kobe friend, Tim Andersen to talk about his startup Musby. We catch up a little and go over our common background of being halfies growing up in Japan. And we talk Musby’s goal of bringing language learning together with other interests. I think it really is a great idea and can’t wait to see what it develops into. Find out more at Musby

It’s Finding Japan’s 80th show! I’m joined in celebration with my friend and veteran Japan raconteur Todd Rucynski. Todd’s been in Japan for a long time has done everything from the good ol’ gaijin mainstay of teaching English to owning video stores (wuh?) to appearing on Japanese TV. We sat down at his secret office on a secret university campus to talk about what got him to Japan and some adventures since arriving more than 20 years ago. Note: The conversation was pretty long and Todd and I...

It’s been awhile but I’m excited about this episode. My guest is the always hungry, always charismatic Shaka Haynes. Shaka works with me at the world famous fruit shop. More importantly, he’s making moves in the world of entertainment bringing his experience producing and promoting artists to the Japan scene. We talk about how he “found Japan” and his current experiences and future plans. Plus, we take an interesting detour and Shaka makes his case for why Boston is the most American of cities.

This is a very personal and special episode in which I talk about my experiences in the Japanese slammer. Many of you may know what happened but just to make things clear, the matter is settled, I’m ok, I don’t have a record, and technically it was detention, not imprisonment. I caused a lot of people I care for great worry for the couple of days my whereabouts were unknown and I am very grateful for their love and efforts in making sure I was ok. Chris Rock has a joke from his brilliant...

It’s been awhile but the Godfather of Finding Japan, Chris, is back in the land! Chris and Terrance have teamed up to continue bringing our discoveries and observations of this sometimes mystifying, almost always interesting country. In this episode we get you caught up with what’s been going on with our lives, as well as where we plan on taking the show.

My co-host on today’s show is the Artistic Mr. Mertens. Craig and I talk about the Oscars, do a bit of a detour into the LGBT situation in Japan and in general, and most importantly pimp his current art exhibition Ladies First. If you’re in the Osaka area check out Ladies First at Cafe Absinthe: http://www.absinthe-jp.com/cafe-absinthe/news/578 And pick up Craig’s artistic wares at Society6: http://society6.com/CraigMertens/Ladies-First-Exhibition-Poster_Print#1=45 P.S. Sorry if my...

Another day, another episode. This time it’s a laid back interview over wine and cheese with Brian J. at Freestyle in Shibuya. Brian’s had a few adventures around the world and we talk about how came he from Italy to the US and then to Japan and how music shaped his journey.

Finally, a long-awaited (probably only by the host himself) interview episode. My inaugural interview guest is Tom Schmid, licensed attorney and linguistic advisor at the United Nations Asia and Far East Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders (UNAFEI). Whoof… that’s a mouthful. Still doesn’t change the fact that Tom is an awesome guy and was a great interview. We talked about his crime preventing shenanigans, a bit about lawyering, and of course life in Japan. We...

Here we go! Finally another episode of the most inconsistent relaunch in podcast history. But it’s all good as I talk about the documentary Hafu and read a poem to honor Mandela’s passing without properly explaining why I’m reading said poem. It was the poem that gave him strength while he was imprisoned. Takes two seconds to explain and yet somehow I start reading the poem with only a half-assed explanation and melodramatic classical music as BGM. It’s all good.

Yes, a new episode of Finding Japan is finally here. It’s a bit rough around the edges and I’m still developing where I want to take the show so bear with me. On this ep I have my good friend David on as co-host and we discuss a variety of things about Japan, mostly in comparison with with his home country Australia.

Hello, Finding Japan listeners! The show will go on. Host emeritus Christopher has passed the show on to Terrance and everyone’s favorite bovine personality T-Bone Taro from the former Kobe Beef Show (if you have no idea who T-Bone is just nod for now). In this episode I introduce myself a little, talk about future plans for the show, and Christopher and I do some catching up and chit chat about things in general, Japan, and FJ. Enjoy!