Email Interviews | The Japan Guy

Email Interviews

A Different Perspective on Life in Japan
featuring Illya Anderson

August 21, 2011
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A Different Perspective on Life in Japan featuring Illya Anderson

  Hi everybody, we have a special guest by the name of Illya Anderson. I met Illya very early on during my stay in Japan. My sister, Erica, introduced me to Illya via email, and said that he’d be a cool guy to talk to if I had Japan questions. She was right. Illya is really knowledgeable about what life is like as a foreigner in Japan, and consider him a good friend. I wanted to interview Illya because his path is a little different than the teacher route that many foreigners opt to take. I wanted to do this interview to show that there are foreigners doing other noteworthy things besides teaching. If...

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A Japan Guy Email Interview:
Japanese Taiko
featuring Isaku Kageyama

August 11, 2011
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A Japan Guy Email Interview: Japanese Taiko featuring Isaku Kageyama

Okay, so you’re probably wondering how I met Isaku. Truth be told, I met Isaku on Twitter, visited his site, and thought “Ths is one of the most intense taiko photos I’ve ever seen in my life!” I really enjoy watching taiko, though I’ve never played for real (except for the video game taiko at the Japanese arcades (it’s really fun)). When I came to Japan, taiko is one of the arts that I really wanted to see, along with the shamisen. It’s one of the things that really stands out in my mind about Japanese culture & it’s just so freakin’ cool to look at. I reached out to Isaku, because I...

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A Japan Guy Email Interview with Abasa Philips: The Importance of Learning Japanese

April 22, 2011
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A Japan Guy Email Interview with Abasa Philips: The Importance of Learning Japanese

Greetings Japan Guy readers! I’ve got a special treat for you today. I just finished up an email interview with my friend and long-term Japan resident, Abasa Phillips. I wanted to talk with Abasa because he’s been living in Japan for more than seven years now and has been studying the language for far longer. I enjoy talking about teaching, but I want to start branching out a bit. He is one of the first foreigners I ran into (that wasn’t a teacher) that really schooled me on what life can be like for a foreigner in Japan. Well, actually can’t say I ran into Abasa. I trained with a cousin of his back...

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The Japan Guy Takes Some Questions

November 15, 2010
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The Japan Guy Takes Some Questions

I just finished up an email interview with Josh K. of York Tech College in South Carolina, U.S.A. and thought that some of his questions were really good ones. I think these answers might be useful for those of you thinking about teaching in Japan. ENJOY!! -Where do you live? I am currently living in Tsukuba, Japan also know as “Science City” because of the number of researchers and science research facilities in the area. Tsukuba is located in Ibaraki, one Japan’s eastern prefectures. -Where did you do to College? I attended Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A -How long did you attend? I attended college for about four-and-a-half years. From August of 1998...

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Teaching English in Japan

October 18, 2010
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Teaching English in Japan

When I was in elementary school, I remember having this long-term substitute teacher who I thought was simply amazing. When one of my regular teachers had to take a longer-than-normal leave of absence, Mrs. V filled in for her. As a fifth-grade, 11-year-old boy, part of the appeal was that I thought Mrs. V was beautiful. This was incentive enough for me to be model student: 200% well-behaved in her class and be as helpful to her as I could possibly be. Even then, I was a sucker for a pretty face. When she left, as all substitutes do, I was a bit sad, because you rarely ever see substitute teachers a second time....

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