KoreKara Podcast

In this week of the KoreKara Podcast, we have a conversation with Matt from the Matt Vs. Japan Youtube Channel and co-founder of the Mass Immersion Approach.  On his channel he mostly talks about different techniques to learn languages, but in this episode we’re going to be trying to learn more about who he is as a person. With mattvsjapan, we talk about why he hasn’t moved to Japan yet, his love/hate relationship with Japan and Japanese, his ambitions for his YouTube channel and potentially Japanese media, as well as funny stories from when he was still going to college and studying Japanese. We’re going to be splitting the podcasts into two parts, so make sure to like, subscribe, and hit the notification bell to catch Part 2 of the podcast. In Part 1 we talk a lot about Japan, Japanese, Japanese People, and his efforts in studying languages, whereas in Part 2 we talk a lot about the Mass Immersion Approach and where he wants to take with his company and team. Hope you guys enjoy the podcast!  We start off the episode by first talking about why he has decided to live in Oregon for the past couple of years, given the fact that he's dedicated such a huge amount of time of his life towards Japanese. Although he's studied abroad in Gunma Prefecture briefly when he first started learning Japanese, he spent the majority of his time learning Japanese in Oregon. We learn about how hobbies like meditation and his families have kept in Oregon, although he does intend to move to Japan at some point if it weren't for Corona. Matt shares more about his personal life, including stories of how he met his Japanese girlfriend and whether or not that dating a Japanese person has improved his Japanese at all.  We hear more about his stories while he was in college, such as whether or not he's ever flexed on other gaijin, useless Anki cards that he's made in the past, and whether or not there are still things he feels like he wants to master within Japanese. As some of you may know from some of Matt's other videos, he often goes up to Japanese people that he sees on the street so that he can practice Japanese. Matt shares some funny stories of some encounters with Japanese people, and stories of mistaking people for being Japanese as well.  Looking back on his time at Portland State University, although he didn't graduate, he still found some of the classes useful, although most of the Japanese classes were not particularly challenging. He intended on studying abroad at Meiji University, but decided not to in a sort of realization that he was dedicating his life to something that he didn't feel that strongly about anymore at that point in time.  In the next episode, we learn more about who Matt Vs. Japan is as a persona and learn more about his development as a person. Matt shares his vision for what the Mass Immersion Approach is going to be and also his trials and tribulations in running a business for the first time. Make sure to subscribe and hit the notification bell to get the next episode!  Mass Immersion Approach: https://massimmersionapproach.com Matt vs. Japan Youtube Channel: https://youtube.com/mattvsjapan Matt's Twitter: https://www.youtube.com/mattvsjapan Glossary: 【全米で住みやすい街】 Best places to live in America まめちしき【豆知識】Trivia Facts ぼさつ【菩薩】 Bodhisattva (Meditation Term) 【バイキング】Buffet きゅうじたい【旧字体】WWII Kanji ちゅうにびょう【中二病】2nd year of junior high sickness あくたがわりゅうのすけしょう 【芥川龍之介賞】Akutagawa Prize ひまつ【飛沫】Droplet  ひまつかんせん【飛沫感染】Droplet Infection はんどう【反動】Reaction 【きっかけ】Impetus, catalyst Books/Authors Mentioned: ノルウェイの森 - 春樹村上 (Norwegian Wood - Murakami Haruki) 火花 - 又吉 直樹 (Hibana - Matayo Shinaoki) Jay Rubin - Japanese - English Translator

In this episode of the KoreKara Podcast, we are joined by Max, who has been working for a Japanese Company in America. If you're interested in working for a Japanese company, but are unsure how to land such an opportunity, this episode will be especially valuable. Max talks about how regardless of your Japanese level, you can find a position at a Japanese company. Just not through the conventional job hunting methods everyone is used to. About Max:   Max grew up in a small town in America where it was unheard of to travel to another country. However, he always wanted to at least experience or learn something different about another culture, regardless if it was traveling or not. He found his golden opportunity once he got into college where there was a requirement to take a foreign language course. He did some research into his school and found out that they have a partnership program with a university near Tokyo, Japan. Thus, he decided that he was going to learn Japanese.    After initially struggling with the language classes, Max took extra time to study and catch up to the curve. This experience led him to start to liking the language and become more interested in it. Making friends with a lot of the Japanese transfer students at his school helped as well. Sooner or later, the more Max interacted with the Japanese language, the more he wanted to take the opportunity to actually visit Japan through a study abroad. After never traveling to a foreign country before, Max made the decision to study abroad in Japan.   Touching down in Japan was a completely different experience for Max. After spending all his life surrounded by American culture, he was immediately faced with an entirely different society with contrasting values. But, instead of giving in to the culture shock, he embraced the differences and learned new things about Japan and of himself. He met many great people, including his host family who treated him like their own son. After having an amazing experience living in Japan, Max knew that he wanted to incorporate Japan in his life moving forward.   Once he came back to America, he realized the real difficulties in making Japan a part of his future. For people in his position with a beginner to intermediate level in Japanese, he found himself in a tough spot. Looking at others in similar positions, he saw that there are not many options with many people teaching through JET or just making Japan a part of their past. But after going through the job hunting process and understanding where Japanese companies actually hire from, he realized he was going about it all wrong. After putting it all together, Max got interview after interview from Japanese companies, and had his pick as to where he wanted to start his working journey

In this Episode of the KoreKara Podcast, we are joined by Anna, a Japanese Salary Woman,  who walks us through what it's like to work in an American/Foreign (Gaishikei) company in Japan as well as the current situation with COVID-19 there. Prior to working in Japan, Anna studied abroad in Australia and the United States, where she picked up and learned English. Despite having a challenging job, Anna is more motivated than ever to to continue learning and become even better than she already is. About Anna: Before becoming the salary woman she is today, Anna was born and raised in Japan and grew up in a city close to Tokyo. She was always interested in living in foreign countries and learning the English language, but she never got a great opportunity to explore that interest in Japan. Mandatory English classes in Japan were tough since not many students were actually able to develop strong communication skills throughout Middle School and High School. But towards the end of high school, Anna finally got her chance to chase her interests. Anna's high school offered multiple study abroad programs to different countries, but the only problem was that you needed to have a certain level of English for countries such as the United States. Thus, Anna decided to study abroad in Australia for one year, where the English requirement was lower. Despite seeing drastic improvement in her English, Anna faced some difficult times in Australia. She was bombarded with culture shock after culture shock during her first time out of the country alone. Although she enjoyed the experience overall, she decided that she would rather attend a university in Japan in the future. Unfortunately, when it came time for the rigorous testing period for college entrance exams, Anna wasn't able to get into the universities she desired. Thus, she was left with two options. One was to become a Rounin (浪人) student which means to spend another year studying to take the entrance exam again the next year. Or the other option was to go and study abroad. Instead of wasting a year, Anna decided to study up on her English at a Juku (Cram School) to apply for colleges abroad. After getting a good score on the TOEFL (Exam), Anna was accepted into a 4 year college in the United States. Her second time around studying abroad was a lot easier as she didn't experience many big culture shocks. However one aspect that proved to be tough was making friends with American students due to the difference in level of English. Despite getting into a school in the United States as an international student, Anna had her sights set higher to transfer to an even better school. By her junior year, she was able to achieve this goal and transfer to an even better school in the US. But, the next challenge came creeping in quickly. When it came to applying for jobs in the United States, Anna found it very difficult since in the US, you need to have a specialized degree to get most jobs. This differs from the philosophy in Japan, where you don't need any experience in the field to actually get the job. The positions Anna was interested in looked for qualifications that she didn't have. This left a few options, but the most viable option was to join a foreign company in Japan (or Gaishikei), which she did. But that too came with its own challenges, especially in Japan. After starting her job and becoming a salary woman in a foreign company (Gaishikei), she got her first taste of the working adult life. Despite quickly getting used to working long hours, everything changed when Japan was hit by COVID-19.

In this episode of the KoreKara Podcast, Eric and Raza talk about the perception of Japanese technology in the west, starting with the advent of the high-speed rail or Shinkansen. The conversation quickly derails into an entire episode discussing the minute details of the Japanese washlet and the fascination with the technology. Eric and Raza talk about different innovations of Japanese Toilets and discuss optimizations like you've never seen them before. In western culture, Japanese Technology is often seen as high-tech or more advanced than other countries, in part due to the influence that Japan has had over western media and innovations. Companies such as Toyota, Sony and Panasonic have brought a lot of innovation to western countries in the 90s and 2000s, but have sort of stagnated in innovation compared to the high-tech software companies that you might find in Silicon Valley. It appears that the tendency for Japanese companies is to continue to use products that work, and innovate vertically. There is less demand for creating new markets or innovating like the way that the west has in the past several decades. However, there are still certain aspects of Japanese technology that the west still fail to catch up to, namely the Shinkansen or High-Speed Rail. California has had projects for numerous of years to develop a High-Speed Rail, connecting major cities like Los Angeles to San Francisco. Such a system would benefit the life of millions who travel frequently between thoes two tech hubs. Many countries in Asia have recruited the engineers from Japan to build similar technology, or simply have reverse engineered the same technology. Countries like Taiwan have had a growing High-Speed Rail system for over a decade. Another aspect that the west has not adopted as of yet is the advent of an advanced washlet in every household. In Japan, almost everywhere that you look you will find these highly advanced electric-powered toilets, which featured warmed seats and a built in bidet. This technology not only improves the user experience of someone using the toilet, it also improves efficiency and cleanliness. It is a mystery as to why the west has not chosen to adopt this technology into their culture, but we speculate the reason as to cultural barriers. We continue to discuss the innovations of the Japanese Toilet and different ways that it could be innovated even further, such as with more voice commands, analytics, recognition, or even activities for you to do while you are using the toilet. Lastly, we compare the entire concept of public toilets in Japan versus public toilets in America. The collective mindset of the average Japanese person to be conscientious of things that you use in public is what keeps the average public toilet in Japan so clean and welcoming to use, whereas the toilets you might find in a public restroom in the United States may not be the same.

Welcome back to another episode of the KoreKara Podcast. In this episode, we speak to John, a veteran English Teacher in Japan who has been living there since initially coming over as a study abroad student. However, it hasn't been all fun and games for John since coming back to Japan as a worker. He has had to face the reality of living in Japan alongside the weight of a culture that shuns individuality.  About John:  Splitting time growing up in Chicago and Phoenix, Arizona, John had spent most of his life in the United States. He was always curious in exploring new countries and cultures, but never got the chance to live elsewhere. It wasn't until his senior year of university where he finally had the opportunity to live in a different country which came in the shape of a study abroad program to Japan.  Living in a new country for the first time didn't come easy for John. After spending his entire life somewhere else, it was a little bit overwhelming having to adjust to numerous cultural differences. Especially, when the country he was in spoke a completely different language. However, all these obstacles didn't stop him. Instead, he took it upon himself as motivation to improve his language skills and explore this new country. With his comedic personality and sincere attitude, he quickly made more and more friends and enjoyed the most out of each day. Slowly but surely, this completely foreign place started to feel a little bit more like home. But, this idea of a home away from home solidified when he met the love of his life. It was at that moment, he knew he was coming back to Japan. No matter what it took. His return back to Japan, however, was a different story. With limited job opportunities to come back, John took up a position as an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) at an elementary school (through a dispatch company). This proved to be one of the most difficult experiences he faced, as he had to deal with Japanese societal pressures, Japanese working culture, poor treatment from dispatch companies, alongside many other issues all at the same time. However, he was able to persevere with the help and support of his now wife, and becoming an even stronger person out of it. Despite still having to deal with the many realities of living in Japan as a foreigner, John has a positive outlook moving forward and is excited to pursue new opportunities with the vast amount of experience under his belt.    

Jack, an incoming JET, shares his stories of studying abroad in Hokkaido and how that led to his decision to teach English in Japan. Listen to Jack's Japanese Journey, his plans and hopes for JET, and his stories of living in Japan! 

In this Episode we dive into the concept of the Japanese Onsen from a western perspective. We share funny stories of the cultural shock we experienced, the first times we went to an Onsen, and the things you should look out for if you're thinking of going to one too. 

Continue our conversation with Dorian in hearing what he's learned from living in Japan, how he's adapted to different situations, and how you can make the most of your time in Japan, too. If you haven't checked out Part 1 yet, make sure you listen to that episode first! 

Thinking about becoming an ALT? In this episode we follow Dorian's journey into Japan and his decision to become an ALT. Make sure you tune in next week for Part 2 where we go deep into all the ups and downs of being an english teacher in Japan!  

Interested in the sights and wonders of beautiful Japan? Join us as we demystify some of Japan's famous travel destinations and share our strange experiences with them. Everything you thought you knew about Japan is soon going to change.