[display_podcast] 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 […]
By Donald Ash | Japanese Cuisine
When you think of Japanese cuisine what food comes to mind? For many people, it’s sushi. What is sushi exactly? Sushi in its most basic form is a usually* cut of raw, hopefully fresh, fish laid on a small bed vinegared rice. Sushi can also be a small cut of raw fish wrapped into a […]
During my winter vacation while I was fighting a high fever and a serious chest cold, I watched the movie Hotaru no Haka. Several coworkers and quite a few students mentioned that Hotaru no Haka was a sad cartoon. I listened, but thought to myself “It’s just a cartoon, how bad could it be?” So […]
By Donnie
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By Donald Ash | Articles
ULTIMATE TRANSFERWISE VIDEO REVIEW TRANSCRIPT TRANSFERWISE VIDEO REVIEW – INTROAre you frustrated with sending money home from Japan?Rick: NOooooooHhooohoMorty: (crying hysterically)Well, there is a fix for that. Today, let’s take a look at it. A very useful money remittance service called TransferWise. In today’s review, let’s completely pick TransferWise apart. We’ll talk about what it […]
It 3:41am, I can’t sleep and this time it’s not because of aftershocks or jet lag. Truth be told I’ve been uneasy all evening. I just don’t think they’re going to be able to cool the reactors in-time to prevent a radioactive crisis. This is just my opinion of course, I’m not trying to add […]
By Donald Ash | Articles
Saturday February 26th, 2011 Portofino Italian Restaurant So today, it finally became real to me, in front of about 80 adult students who showed up to Marisa Sensei’s and my farewell party…I’m really leaving. We had a nice dinner at the Portofino Italian restaurant and I had a chance to walk around to each and […]
By Donald Ash | Japanese Video Games
I don’t know how it was in your state, or in your country but in ‘Jawja’ (Georgia) back in the early 90’s EVERY major mall had an arcade? American arcade games were as much a craze as they were a social gathering. You’d walk in on a Friday night or a Saturday/Sunday afternoon and see gamers […]
Despite my salary being significantly lower than what it was, one of the perks to teaching at a Japanese public school, as opposed to an eikaiwa, is that I get to have a summer vacation. From today, I have a month to myself. This is the time to do some much needed reading and sleeping, […]
TEN JAPANESE MONOGATARI (物語) YOU SHOULD KNOW *The term Monogatari can mean legend, tale or story. There are days when I feel like I’m starting to learn more about Japanese culture and then there are others when I feel like “Donald, what the hell have you been doing for the last three years?!?” Today, I […]
I’m a Glee fan. So I try to make sure I find ways to keep up with the show. In one of the episodes I watched recently. One of the main characters, Rachel, gets her nose broken while dancing. Her doctor suggests possibly getting a nose job, and the whole episode deals with people and […]
By Donald Ash | Japanese Culture
Woohoo! It’s 2014 baby! If you haven’t celebrated New Year’s in your time zone yet, please let me be the first to travel back in time to wish you the best New Year ever! Being in Japan often means celebrating the differences between cultures. One major difference between Japanese and American culture, among others, is […]
Hey everybody, I’m SO excited today because I’m headed to the movies to check out one of the new releases from home. What movie is it…drumroll please…tatatata tatatata tatatata tatatata (that’s the sound of the drums) CAPTAIN AMERICA!! Huh? When did it come out in America? In July?!? Jesus Herman Christ*. It still behooves me […]
By Donald Ash | Articles
Blue Yeti USB Mic Video Review – TRANSCRIPT Yeti USB Mic Review Transcript AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE – Yes this post does contain affiliate links. When you buy through these links on Amazon, I do earn a commission, but I only recommend things that I have personally vetted. [Japanese]Hey, hey. Before we kick off today’s video, please don’t […]
By Donnie | Foreigners In Japan
ROCKIN’ IN JAPAN with Nikolas Faraguna 1.Tell us a yourself, Nik. Where are you from? Nelson, BC, Canada 2.Where did you go to school? Music college in Nelson 3.What brought you to Japan? Tokyo has always fascinated me… my Japanese friends in Canada said there would probably be a lot of opportunity in Tokyo for […]
By Donald Ash | Articles
Ultimate italki Video Review TranscriptThe true test of how good your Japanese really is, is whether or not you can speak it. And to be honest, that’s the part that I struggle with the most, doing the whole self study thing. Today, let’s review a popular online language learning platform that gives you that chance […]
By Donald Ash | Learn Japanese
Learning Japanese can be as fun as it is difficult or frustrating – especially if you’re learning on your own. Luckily, there are some extremely effective Japanese learning apps that can save you some headaches when you decide to strap in and go down this Japanese learning rabbit hole. If you’ve been studying Japanese […]
Ah, teaching in Japan, one of the most fulfilling experiences you could ask for. The sun shines everyday, even on rainy days the sun shines just on my school. Birds chirps in English, the children are always 200% genki and merry, parents of your students greet you with fresh fruits in the morning, and you […]
Have you ever been to Kamakura before? I have been only one time and it’s definitely one of my favorite memories of Japan. I went during Obon (the week-long vacation in the summer) of 2009. Because of my friend Abasa, I was able to make a new friend out of the trip, Rei…who served as […]
Last Sunday I went to the Minami Shinjuku Building in Shinjuku, Japan, in the heart of Tokyo. I heard that there was a free HIV testing center in Tokyo, and I was curious to know exactly where to go get them done. It’s not just hearsay, there actually is a free testing center on the […]