John Rucynski is a long-term resident of Japan who is currently associate professor in the Center for Liberal Arts & Language Education at Okayama University. He has co-written three textbooks focused on Japanese culture for English language courses at the university level in Japan. His past works as an editor include two volumes on the role of humor in foreign language acquisition and intercultural communicative competence. His personal passions for Japan include exploring the country by bike and on foot, eating good yakitori, watching sumo, and cheering for his local baseball team, the Hanshin Tigers. In this interview with John, we primarily focus on his most recent book, A Passion for Japan, within which he chronicles his experiences with The Ship For World Youth Program. 

RELATED LINKS: 

• A Passion for Japan
• Bridging the Humor Barrier: Humor Competency Training in English Language Teaching
• Surprising Japan!
• Surprising Japan!2 
• Working in Japan (Video Interviews) 
• John's bio at Okayama University
• The Ship For World Youth Program

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THE MUSIC: The intro was my own original mashup of Fist of the North Star, a few anime sound bites, some kabuki, a cheap recording of my son’s Buzz Lightyear toy, and “Dubstep" from BenSound. The outro was "The Great American Melting Pot" from Schoolhouse Rock. 

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