Dad Club Japan

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A solo episode this time around with Duncan speaking to a very special and highly anticipated guest and our second 'non-Dad' voice on the podcast. 

The two of them discuss growing up in Japan as a child of mixed heritage or so called 'hafu,' the benefits and challenges of being a member of this still relatively exclusive club and thoughts on a big future challenge they both have coming up later this year. 

Hope you enjoy this special episode and as always thanks for listening. 

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Duncan and Joel reconnect after a 2 month absence to discuss new plans and goals for 2025.

Joel admits to having a goal of creating videos for Youtube for a whole year (gulp!).

Duncan is laser-focused on his move back to the UK in April with his kids.

Joel shares how he persuaded his mother-in-law to be in a video.

Duncan recounts the story of being an 'analog anchor' among a party of digital nomads at large music event on Nokonoshima.

Happy new year, faithful listeners!
Glad to have you join us again!
Peace

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This episode features our friend, Lance.  He joins us in the record room to discuss his past 2 years sailing the Pacific coast from Canada to Columbia and plenty of blue sea in between.

Lance left behind the socially tumultuous climate in Canada two years ago with his bicultural daughter (Japanese-Canadian) and his wife.  He had little experience sailing a boat, and learned everything about sailing from YouTube videos.

He recounts some of his experiences here in this episode and looks toward a future with more sailing and possibly a return to Japan.

You can check out some of his adventures here:

https://www.youtube.com/@sailingdiscoverypassage  

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Duncan and Joel sit down with Alex - finally! - to discuss some of the biggest changes in his life that have happened in Japan, and as a result of being in Japan.  

Coming from Queensland, Australia, Alex knew little about Japan.

Since coming to Japan though, he has become a husband, a father, a teacher, a homeowner, and a business owner.

Grab a rum and coke and sit down for some laughs on this episode.

Alex is a funny guy, and theres no shortage of laughs here!

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Our guest this episode is Evan.

He came well prepared to discuss the changes in his life and the adjustments he has made after moving from Japan to the UK and back to Japan again.

A Scottish father of two teenagers, Evan's first commitment was always to his family.  As a Dad who cherished his time with his family, he devoted his time and energy to the noble cause of raising his children.

But that commitment may have come at the expense of creating his own identity and exploring his Self.

While his identity as a father never wavered, his own personal identity changed along with some major changes in his marriage.

Happy to be back in Japan, Evan's time away allowed some realizations about his own life and fatherhood that he shares in this stimulating and enlightening episode.   

Plus, Evan also brought along an AI generated Dad Club Japan them song which we share here for you.  Stay tuned until the end to hear the uninterrupted version.  We are sure you'll like it as much as we did!

As always, we are happy to hear from you, valued listener! 

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This episode is different.
We did not edit this episode.  It is in its original, unaltered form.
It is so different in fact, that it actually ends abruptly.
OK, so we ran out of battery power on our recorder, but it was nearing the end anyway.
So don't be alarmed by the sudden finish.  Sometimes, things are just out of our control, which is something else we touch on in this episode.
Joel will be away from Fukuoka for much of August, so Joel and Duncan will join forces again for another episode in September.
However, Duncan will look to complete an episode with another fellow father in Fukuoka.  Hope to have that for you next time, along with some overdue episodes from Duncans chat with another Dad.
Enjoy your summer, stay cool, and keep listening!
We'll be here for you!
Cheers.
 

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The first guest of 2024 on the Dad Club Japan podcast is Adrian.

Living in Cambodia with his Japanese wife and 3 year old daughter, he runs a charity that provides quality teaching materials to native Cambodian teachers. 

In this episode,  Duncan and Joel grill Adrian about his charity; how it started, its aims, as well as learning about Adrians own future in Japan once his daughter reaches elementary school age.  

Adrian's road to fatherhood by way of IVF was complicated but ultimately successful and he dives into that topic as well.

Finally, we hear Adrians perspective on Japan, as someone who will set down roots here sooner or later.  But for now, he is a frequent visitor.

You can find out more about his work in Cambodia at the website:

https://tuktukcharity.org/

As always, thank you for listening.

Please leave us a rating!

We look forward to hearing from you on instagram!

 

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Duncan and Joel discuss a Dads get - together (piss up) where they find out they've reached real listeners and have actually helped them!

Further promises are made to connect with Dads on Instagram at Dad Club Japan.  We aim to connect with fathers here in Japan and everywhere!  

As Dads we all share some similarities and discussing those things which we find challenging can be therapeutic.

Let's face it.  We are not the most needy of groups out there in society, but we do experience the ups and downs in life.  Who else, if not other dads, know what we're going through?

So have a listen and join the conversation, we would love to hear from you.

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Joel poses a question to Duncan in this episode:

What are your values? 

Joel tries to explain what he defines as 'values', and gives an example of what one of his values is.  He then admits that although his value is defined, he has found recently that he is not living out his value in the way he intended.

Duncan admits there is confusion in this current generation about what we should value and who we should be valuing.

Food for thought.

Do you know your own values?

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Duncan discusses his experience back in the UK during the Christmas/New Years holidays. Although a mostly positive experience, aware that he did a brilliant job at keeping everyone happy but he expresses some regret at not being in the moment, and talking more in depth with his family members.

Joel raises the issue of discipline, punishment and reward in relation to his sons being addicted to video games.  Facing challenges in having his sons listen to him, he has resorted to taking away their beloved Nintendo Switch.

This episode explores discipline for children in Japan.  Both Duncan and Joel recount how they were disciplined during their own childhoods and seek answers for a new way to restrict and reward their own kids.

Finally, we discuss how to find and connect with Duncan and Joel: through the Dad Club Japan instagram account, where we will be posting weekly in an effort to reach out to our listeners and to hear their perspectives.

Hope to hear from you!