Living Japan

Hello Everyone!

We are trying to start 2017 with the right foot and working hard to have a new episode for you every two weeks. Since Motoi had to travel abroad for work, we decided to record a new Nerd Talk episodes, because without her, Edgar and Brent are not cool, just a couple of Nerds! Haha! Our favorite nerds talk about the announcement by the Olympic committee of the new Ambassadors for the Tokyo 2020 Games. Brent and Edgar give their thoughts about them.

Join the discussion, let us know what you think. Do you think these characters represent the spirit of Japan and the Olympic Games? Who would you have chosen?

Hello everyone!! Happy New Year!

We start the podcast for 2017 with a very interesting episode. First, we talk a little bit about Brent’s trip with his family to the US for the Holidays, how easy and difficult it was to travel with a child from Japan and coming back, as well as some funny stories about the little differences of everyday life little things between both countries. Later on we move on to our first news story of the year: during 2016 the amount of people in Japan with STDs increased and as a consequence the government is planning to increases awareness about this type of illnesses. This opens the talk to discuss a little bit about sex education in Japan and std awareness.

Join the discussion! Let us know what you think in the comments.

Today Dr. Michael Dziesinski, a visiting scholar from the University of Hawaii, joins us to talk about a social phenomenon of Japan: Hikikomori. Today, they are many different portrayals of Hikikomori on mass media and popular culture, but… are they really as they are showcased?  What is hikikomori? How do hikikomori people behave? Is it only a problem of Japan? Join us as Dr. Dziesinski answer to these and many more questions drawing some light over this issue.

If you want to know more, please don’t forget to leave your questions on the comments or you can follow Dr. Dziesinski’s vlog and Twitter:

Blog: http://towakudai.blogs.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MDziesinski

Hello Everyone!!! We are back with a new episode! On today’s show we talk about the latest Ghost in the Shell trailer (sorry for repeating the topic for the third time), and later on we talk about the criticism that a Japanese news outlet received due their bad translation of a protest of Lady Gaga against Trump, the conversation moved towards the result of the American elections, how Japanese people perceived them and the possible consequences of implementing or not the TPP over the Japanese economy.

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Hello everyone!!! We are back with a new episode! This week Motoi, Brent and Edgar discuss about the sudden appearance of a sinkhole in Fukuoka, the possible movement of Tsukiji market and their main topic, an incident that happened in a sushi restaurant in which they where serving great amounts of wasabi to foreign costumers, making it almost impossible to enjoy the food. Is this just an honest mistake or one more incident of casual discrimination in Japan? Are Japanese people aware of what discrimination means?

A delayed train stopped Motoi for joining Brent and Edgar at the studio, so the guys decided to use this time to do another Nerd Talk Episode, talking about the new trailer of Ghost in the Shell, the most recent announcement of Nintendo, a little bit of Pokemon Go losing its hype and finally they discuss the case of a fan who has threaten an idol online.

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