Episode 79 – Three Moves Ahead with Shaka Haynes

It’s been awhile but we’re excited about this episode. Terrance’s guest is the always hungry, always charismatic Shaka Haynes. Shaka works with Terrance at the world famous fruit shop. More importantly, he’s making moves in the world of entertainment bringing his experience producing and promoting artists to the Japan scene. They talk about how he “found Japan” and his current experiences and future plans. Plus, they take an interesting detour and Shaka makes his case for why Boston is the most American of cities.

Episode 78 – I Ain’t Ever Been To Jail

This is a very personal and special episode in which Terrance talks about his experiences in the Japanese slammer. Many of you may know what happened but just to make things clear, the matter is settled, he’s ok, he doesn’t have a record, and technically it was detention, not imprisonment.

Chris Rock has a joke about low expectation boasting. “I ain’t ever been to jail.” “You ain’t supposed to go to jail, you low expectation having…” Sadly, he can no longer laugh at this joke. He’s been to jail and here is the story.

Episode 77 – The Finding Continues

It’s been awhile but the Godfather of Finding Japan, Chris, is back in the land! Chris and Terrance have teamed up to continue bringing our discoveries and observations of this sometimes mystifying, almost always interesting country. In this episode we get you caught up with what’s been going on with our lives, as well as where we plan on taking the show.

Episode 76 – Artistic Mr. Mertens and His Ladies

The co-host on today’s show is the Artistic Mr. Mertens. Craig and Terrance talk about the Oscars, do a bit of a detour into the LGBT situation in Japan and in general, and most importantly pimp his current art exhibition Ladies First.

If you’re in the Osaka area check out Ladies First at Cafe Absinthe:
http://www.absinthe-jp.com/cafe-absinthe/news/578

And pick up Craig’s artistic wares at Society6:
http://society6.com/CraigMertens/Ladies-First-Exhibition-Poster_Print#1=45

P.S. Sorry if the sound levels are a bit high and we hope
we don’t blowout your eardrums – every episode is a learning experience f^_^;

Episode 75 – DJ Brian J Bringin’ It Chilled Out at Freestyle

Another day, another episode. This time it’s a laid back interview over wine and cheese with Brian J. at Freestyle in Shibuya. Brian’s had a few adventures around the world and we talk about how came he from Italy to the US and then to Japan and how music shaped his journey.

Episode 74 – Caped Crime Preventer Tom Schmid

Finally, a long-awaited (probably only by the host himself) interview episode. My inaugural interview guest is Tom Schmid, licensed attorney and linguistic advisor at the United Nations Asia and Far East Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders (UNAFEI). Whoof… that’s a mouthful. Still doesn’t change the fact that Tom is an awesome guy and was a great interview. We talked about his crime preventing shenanigans, a bit about lawyering, and of course life in Japan. We were at the Aldegate pub in Shibuya so there’s a bit of background din and I’d set the gain on the mic a bit low but fortunately Tom has a strong voice and comes through clear. At about an hour and ten minutes it’s a bit long but I think you’ll enjoy the talk. I sure did.

Episode 73 – Ha! F U Hafu

Here we go! Finally another episode of the most inconsistent relaunch in podcast history. But it’s all good as I talk about the documentary Hafu and read a poem to honor Mandela’s passing without properly explaining why I’m reading said poem. It was the poem that gave him strength while he was imprisoned. Takes two seconds to explain and yet somehow I start reading the poem with only a half-assed explanation and melodramatic classical music as BGM.

It’s all good.

Episode 72 – Don’t Call It a Kaerizaki

Yes, a new episode of Finding Japan is finally here. It’s a bit rough around the edges and I’m still developing where I want to take the show so bear with me. On this ep I have my good friend David on as co-host and we discuss a variety of things about Japan, mostly in comparison with with his home country Australia.

Episode 71 – Prelude: Passing of the T-Bone

Hello, Finding Japan listeners! The show will go on. Host emeritus Christopher has passed the show on to Terrance and everyone’s favorite bovine personality T-Bone Taro from the former Kobe Beef Show (if you have no idea who T-Bone is just nod for now).

In this episode I introduce myself a little, talk about future plans for the show, and Christopher and I do some catching up and chit chat about things in general, Japan, and FJ. Enjoy!

Episode 70 – Fred and Terrance Visit Tokyo

Before Fred and Terrance left Tokyo, we managed a round-table wrap-up of the weekend’s activities. Though the weekend did not go as planned, we still had a great time and summed up the weekend’s adventures along with Fred’s thoughts on Japan after returning after 5 years for a visit.

Listen below!