Japan By River Cruise

Little message from Ollie to say that he's heading to Japan as part of his stand-up comedy tour. Tickets are available with a big JBRC discount if you use the promo code JBRC. 

https://tickets.olliehorn.com/tokyo - Friday May 5th @ Good Heavens
https://tickets.olliehorn.com/fukuoka - Saturday May 6th @ Shimokitazawa

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Tickets now on sale for Brighton Fringe previews and Edinburgh Fringe 2023 too!

https://tickets.olliehorn.com/brighton - End of May
https://tickets.olliehorn.com/edinburgh - All of August

Check Ollie's instagram for more information about his London dates and other touring. 

Links to tickets! Get your tickets ASAP for guaranteed entry!
https://peatix.com/group/12083451/events

We did it! The second half of all of the news that came out of Japan in 2022. All of it. And we don't get side tracked or distracted by other chats. 

Part one of a (potential?) two-part run down of every single news story that came out of Japan in 2022.

Joe McReynolds is co-author of a new book about how flexible micro-spaces create the spontaneity and vitality of Tokyo, and how so much the city is built on the often very niche dreams and passions of its citizens, and also slash-fan-fiction.

Cruises to deal with inflation and heat stroke.

Topics discussed on this episode include:

• What to remember about your successes or failures on the JLPT
• Bobby's continuing BBQ tribulations and the experience of working together as husband and wife
• The challenges of mass producing sauce
• Ollie's latest stand-up adventures and how things are finally looking up for him a bit
• Ollie's thoughts on therapy and clarity
• Gratitude for your continued patience and support
• Joe's book Emergent Tokyo: Designing the Spontaneous City
• How different zoning restrictions create kind of spaces/businesses that we're used to seeing in Japanese cities
• Japan's narrow, dingy, alleyways and how they became a vibrant part of city life
• The sheer massive NUMBER of drinking/dining establishments and how they're sustainable
• Barriers for opening restaurants in the states and UK, as opposed to Japan
• The difference between what people WANT to do, and what laws make it possible for people to do
• Weird business operations hours with Shimokitazawa as a test case
• Running a business versus doing something you enjoy with your life/time
• Which district of Tokyo does Joe find fascinating and what does the district teach us about the creation of real physical pockets of subculture
• How countries choose to restrict or not restrict people's creative endeavours
• Why Joe's background in National Security Analysis helped him tackle this topic
• How the cityscape of Tokyo is built out of people's dreams and allows for self-exploration
• The control that landlords/land-owners wield over the tone/vibe of the city and local economy
• How concern with property value affects possibility
• Bobby's experience with selling products out of his home kitchen and getting the permissions to do that/open a restaurant
• How much do we trust strangers with our (food) safety?
• Japanese reactions to food poisoning outbreaks when they happen and Japanese reactive policy in general
• Cultural essentialism?? Shokunin, Otaku, and Bukatsu

Get access to the extras by supporting the podcast. Become a member at http://buymeacoffee.com.

Extras this time include conversations about:

• The Robot Restaurant
• Chinese Militarism and Security Policy
• AND SO MUCH MORE

Have something you'd like to say? Send us a fax at japanbyrivercruise.com

or Tweet to us at @jbrcpod

Get a free therapy session
Take the first step to a happier you by trying Better Help. Free first session if you use our link: https://jbrc.link/better-help. 

Social Media Links:

Joe McReynold's Twitter | Emergent Tokyo: Designing the Spontaneous City

Ollie Horn: Twitter | Instagram

Bobby Judo: Twitter | Instagram | YouTube

Other things to click on

Some are affiliate links because we're sell-outs

• We record remotely using Squadcast and the podcast is hosted on Transistor. 
• Bobby uses the Samson Go Mic and Ollie uses the AT2005USB mic

Joe Biden's Straight Talk Express comes to Asia! WaPo Bureau Chief Michelle Ye Hee Lee joins us to talk about what Biden took away from his time in Japan. If he's anything like most Americans, we're betting that list includes a Hello Kitty T-shirt and a fake sword.

Ferris Wheel and Kintsugi River boats!

Topics discussed on this episode include:

• How much we POTENTIALLY appreciate Elon Musk
• Bobby's BBQ shop gets even closer to completion
• Ollie rails against the propertied class
• Bobby's kids make relationship milestones
• Ollie at the Brighton Fringe
• The highs and lows of performing live comedy
• Why did that couple excuse themselves from Ollie's show mid-performance?
• Therapy and catharsis and the overlap between joke writing and self-analysis
• Metaphors about the wrong kinds of transportation
• Gratitude for our wonderful listeners
• Michelle's experience covering Biden's Asian Tour
• Michelle being super professional in the face of very silly questions
• IPEF: DON'T CALL IT A COME BACK
• How does Japan feel about the US walking out of TPP
• All things politics around Biden's Asia Trip
• North Korean Covid: What do we know?
• Japan opened for limited group tours, limited group tours open for Corona-infection

Get access to the extras by supporting the podcast. Become a member at http://buymeacoffee.com.

Extras this time include conversations about:

• How the pandemic turned Michelle's long-distance relationship into a long-distance marriage
• Bobby and Ollie's advice for surviving long-distance
• What it's like when you, as a journalist, become the focus of a piece of journalism
• How does Guam see its relationship with the mainland US/feel about mainland current events?
• US current events 😭
• Ukranian "evacuees" and the unprecedented nature of Japan's willingness to let them in

  And LOT's more great content!

Have something you'd like to say? Send us a fax at japanbyrivercruise.com

or Tweet to us at @jbrcpod

Content Links:
Michelle Ye Hee Lee at the Washington Post

Social Media Links:

Michelle Ye He Lee: Twitter | Asian American Journalist Association | Instagram

Ollie Horn: Twitter | Instagram

Bobby Judo: Twitter | Instagram | YouTube

Other things to click on

Some are affiliate links because we're sell-outs

• We record remotely using Squadcast and the podcast is hosted on Transistor. 
• Bobby uses the Samson Go Mic and Ollie uses the AT2005USB mic

Japan Scholar Oleg Benesch joins us to to talk about the past, present, and future of Japanese castles,
and break down the debates around them, proving that when it comes to historical Japanese strongholds, things aren't always black and shiro.

Bobby and Ollie mourn the loss of some of their river cruise sponsors, and play catch up.

Topics discussed on this episode include:

• Our new, hopefully temporary show format
• Ukraine, Covid, North Korea, #japantravelban and other topics we're really trying to avoid
• Bobby's move to Karatsu, his girls' preschool graduation, and how being rich requires HAVING money
• Ollie's comedy career, his time in Barcelona, and the value of performing comedy (and podcasting) in a world that's falling apart
• ISSUING REFUNDS
• ALL THINGS CASTLES w/Oleg Benesch. Where did they come from? Why? What happened to them? Why? 
  What's going to happen to them? WHY?

Get access to the extras by supporting the podcast for less than $1 an episode. Become a member at http://buymeacoffee.com. 

Have something you'd like to say? Send us a fax at japanbyrivercruise.com

or Tweet to us at @jbrcpod

Content Links:
Oleg's books:
Japan's Castles: Citadels of Modernity in War and Peace
Inventing the Way of the Samurai: Nationalism, Internationalism, and Bushido in Modern Japan (The Past and Present Book Series)

Social Media Links:

Oleg Benesch: Twitter | Homepage 

Ollie Horn: Twitter | Instagram

Bobby Judo: Twitter | Instagram | YouTube

Other things to click on

Some are affiliate links because we're sell-outs

• We record remotely using Squadcast and the podcast is hosted on Transistor. 
• Bobby uses the Samson Go Mic and Ollie uses the AT2005USB mic

Author of Japan's Aging Peace, Tom Le, stops in to talk about Japan's security concerns and help us think about an important hypothetical question. Ok, Japan, you CAN have a military. NOW WHAT?

Ollie's river cruise recommendation is actually in Ukraine this week, but don't worry, if you wait long enough, it'll come to you.

Bobby learned a little bit about haiku so he thinks he's better than you.

Topics discussed on this episode range from:

• What you can expect from Disney's Japan exclusive content programming
• A brief look at the crypto crash: is it a big deal?
• Bobby's home renovations gone wrong
• Why DO people buy crypto?
• Tom's thoughts on whether or not the aging population is going to lead to the end of Japan
• Lots of thanks for new members and coffee buyers!
• An explanation of how we've improved access to the extras, which makes it an EVEN BETTER TIME FOR YOU TO JOIN AS A MONTHLY MEMBER AND GET ACCESS TO LITERALLY DAYS OF AMAZING BONUS CONTENT from our wonderful guests
• Why is North Korea being so active in the opening days of 2022?
• What does North Korea want?
• How seriously we take Mobile, Alabama
• Is what North Korea doing... normal?
• Why it might be even scarier BECAUSE we all know North Korea couldn't win in a war
• Might makes right in the Nuclear Club and why they didn't really have to go to all that trouble to get a meeting with Trump
• Japan's right wing wants to amend the constitution to allow for a military. We talk about why that doesn't matter.
• What the public thinks about remilitarizing
• A comparison of the robustness of the democracies of the US and Japan
• Ok, Japan, you can have a military. NOW WHAT?
• How the current social, political, and economic situation in Japan constrains attempts to remilitarize
• Can Japan make up for a lack of boots on the ground with technology?
• The importance of the presence of America
• Nuclear weapons, pacing ourselves as we end civilization
• Is war good for the economy? If it was in America, why wouldn't it be good for Japan?
• Financial priorities. War or social security?
• Who does the JSDF try to recruit and how?
• What is modern Japanese security policy most concerned with?
• What will life in Japan look like in 30 years and how can we heed the warnings evidenced in Tom's book.
• How Japan might be ahead of the curve
• Why Tom thinks characterizing Japan as unwelcoming to foreigners is unfair to large swaths of Japan, and who in Japan isn't being represented by the government's choices

As always, we highly recommend this week's extras, in which you can find:

• EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT YASUKUNI JINJA: WHAT'S UP WITH THAT PLACE
• What the Japanese government SHOULD be paying attention to in terms of keeping its population secure
• The role of religion in Japan's past militarism, and what it means that politics is currently divorced from religion
• How the fallout from Japan's imperialism and World War II taught Japan and its neighbors in East Asia very different lessons about the effects of militarism

Get access to the extras by supporting the podcast for less than $1 an episode. Become a member at http://buymeacoffee.com. 

Have something you'd like to say? Send us a fax at japanbyrivercruise.com

or Tweet to us at @jbrcpod

Social Media Links:

Tom Le: Twitter | Tom's Research | Japan's Aging Peace

Ollie Horn: Twitter | Instagram

Bobby Judo: Twitter | Instagram | YouTube

Other things to click on

Some are affiliate links because we're sell-outs

• We record remotely using Squadcast and the podcast is hosted on Transistor. 
• Bobby uses the Samson Go Mic and Ollie uses the AT2005USB mic