Hello From Nihon

After twitter revealed how oppressive Japanese companies can be to it's female Japanese employees, Ako and I sit down to go over several ways women are discriminated against in Japanese culture both inside and outside of the office. Did you know in many Japanese companies women are expected to come to the office 40 minutes earlier in the morning so that they can prepare tea for their male counterparts? There are many forms of power harassment in Japan, we will go over a few of them for you.

If you thought the US was strict when it comes to drug enforcement then you need to check out what Japan does to it's celebrities who take illegal substances. Poor Erika Sawajiri was arrested on Saturday 11/9/19 for possession of MDMA. She was a very popular and young Japanese actress who starred in many Japanese movies and TV shows. She 'had' a role in the upcoming NHK historical drama, she was to play the wife of famed Shogun Nobunaga. 

Ako and I just got done watching Netflix's Terrace house 'Back in Tokyo' Episode 23. I have mixed feeling on how Hana treated Emika towards the end of the episode, I also wonder how much alcohol had a hand in her cruelty.  I think Ryo finally made his choice in who he will pursue, and poor Ruka is once again left out in the cold. Just another day in Tokyo, Japan.    

Ako and I recently saw all four episodes of Netflix's Queer Eye In Japan and we loved it. However, Queer Eye In Japan messed up on certain cultural things but they played it off as if nothing happened. In today's episode we break down all of the Japanese cultural situations they encountered and the Japanese people they helped a long the way. 

Recently a Japanese company's mandate of not allowing women to wear glasses in the work place is making the rounds on Japan twitter. We discuss how Ako experienced this first hand. On top of that we talk about our experiences with Kabuki, Rakugo (Comedy) and Japanese puppet theater. 

This is by far my favorite episode of Terrace House Back In Tokyo to date, simply because things are moving so fast for so many of the characters all at once. You got heart break, betrayal, dreams fulfilled and new chapters starting, everything you want in a new episode of Terrace House. Emika is creating problems and Haruka is leaving love on the wayside.  

Ako and her parents love musicals, they absolutely love them. Unfortunately, a Japanese production company has set out to remake the musical 'Hairspray' with a full on Japanese ensemble cast which doesn't make any sense. Hairspray is about racial integration and the civil rights movement of the late 50s. How in the world will this make sense if the whole cast is Japanese.

This week Ako and I get into it with Terrace House's episode 21 'Too Shy Girl'. In this episode all of the ladies of the house name who they are romantically interested in. On top of that, we get to see Hana work her pro-wrestling game. Make sure you watch it before you listen to this episode.

We briefly touched upon Japanese Kyabakura lounge bars in the last 'Hello from Nihon' episode, and this one, we go a little bit more in depth to find out why Japanese men and women are willing to pay so much for the company of the opposite sex without the need for physical intimacy.   

In this episode we go over what the Japanese media does when a celebrity or a talent is publicly disgraced or accused of misbehaving. In a recent case, famed comedian and celebrity Tokui Yoshimi (Terrace House Commentator) was caught cheating on his taxes and now he is being systematically removed from Japanese TV.