Interviews

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 Interview:
“Developing Your Talents While Living Abroad”-featuring Robb Johnston

June 9, 2011
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A Japan Guy Interview: “Developing Your Talents While Living Abroad”-featuring Robb Johnston

Today’s interview is one that I recorded a while back, but really struggled to get the sound right. So I apologize in advance for any sound issues. I interviewed Robb Johnston of Rockford, Michigan. Robby was a former AEON teacher and co-worker and literally one of the first friends I made when coming to Japan. During my early times in Japan, Robb showed me the ropes: from learning to use my Japanese Rice cooker to drilling me on hiragana and katakana, to being a big part of my support system here in Japan. I won’t go into all of the details about what Robby is up to these days (otherwise there will be no...

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A Japan Guy Interview: “Life in Japan” Featuring Tony Du (Part 3)

May 9, 2011
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A Japan Guy Interview: “Life in Japan” Featuring Tony Du (Part 3)

Here is the third and final part of my interview with Tony Du. With any of these videos if you have questions for Tony please feel free to leave them in the comments section of either post. ENJOY!

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A Japan Guy Interview: “Life in Japan” featuring Tony Du (Parts 1 & 2)

May 8, 2011
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A Japan Guy Interview: “Life in Japan” featuring Tony Du (Parts 1 & 2)

I had another opportunity to interview another expat that I know and respect, Tony Du. Tony has been an expat in Japan for more than five years now and I figure what better way to get another view on life in Japan than by asking someone who’s been here longer than I have. I think it’s also interesting to hear what Tony says about being an Asian-American in Japan. Tony was at one time an AEON teacher as well, working in Tsukuba just like me. He has a lot of experiences to share, and I hope you enjoy the interview. If you have any questions for Tony, please leave them in the comments sections...

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A Japan Guy Interview: Life in Japan, featuring Gareth Jones

May 1, 2011
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A Japan Guy Interview: Life in Japan, featuring Gareth Jones

I did an interview with my good friend Gareth Jones a little while back to get someone another take on what life in Japan is like. Because he’s been in Japan for nearly the exact same amount of time as I have, and because I worked with him for nearly three years, I figured Gareth would be a perfect person to share his thoughts and ideas with you. As much as I love writing and posting everyday, it’s good to hear another side from time to time. I hope to do more of these interviews to make the Japan Guy even more useful for more people. Having a guest here on my blog, might...

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A Japan Guy Interview: My Japan Experience featuring Mad TV’s Erica Ash

January 17, 2011
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A Japan Guy Interview: My Japan Experience featuring Mad TV’s Erica Ash

This is a three-part interview that I did with my SUPER-TALENTED, elder sister, Erica Ash. I won’t talk to much about the details of the interview because I really want you to take a look, but needless to say Erica’s interview was true to form, you’re going to get some down-to-earth, knitty-gritty info about what life in Japan was like for her. PART ONE PART TWO PART THREE In the interview Erica mentions several things that she’s been doing since she moved back to the U.S: one project is the broadway play “Baby It’s You” if you’re in New York and want to catch a show, and the other is her comedic blog, www.thedeviledangel.com....

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A Japan Guy Interview: Preparing to Move to Japan featuring Amanda Taylor

January 11, 2011
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A Japan Guy Interview: Preparing to Move to Japan featuring Amanda Taylor

I recently conducted an interview with Amanda Taylor of whoa-im-in-japan.com. I got word that she would be moving to Japan on January 10th, 2011. The tenth is a special day for me, because that’s the exact same date that I moved Japan (I came January 10th, 2008). Amanda’s training is actually happening around the same time that mine did. She’s been commenting on some of the posts here at the Japan Guy, so I thought it would be a good idea to interview her and get someone else’s perspective on that rush, that excitement you feel when you’re moving to Japan. I really enjoyed talking with Amanda not only because she seemed like a...

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