Category: Travel

Related to traveling throughout different parts of the United States and the rest of the world.

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Episode 84 – Konechikatto Chatto

Join Terrance and Christopher for a conversational reconnect as Terrance braves the wintry tundra of Connecticut for a long overdue in-person recording from our two hosts. Get some insight on what residency in Tokyo feels like after many years and the challenges that returning to the United States presents after many years in Asia.

Special bonus: If you listen long enough, you may even get to hear the resurrected segments from podcasts of long ago and be treating to a special guest appearance.

So get ready for live and uncut, long and unfiltered discussion. Enjoy!

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Episode 82 – Takao-san

Join Terrance and Christopher with dualing audio as they journey to the summit of Mount Takao, a small mountain just west of Tokyo.

This sound-seeing (sound scene) tour includes some lively discussion on Japanese films, accents, future nature sabbaticals, and disaster scenarios. What more could you ask for?

View of Mt Fuji from Top of Mount Takao

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Episode 80 – Todd Always Stands His Ground

It’s Finding Japan’s 80th show! Terrance is joined in celebration with his friend and veteran Japan raconteur Todd Rucynski. Todd’s been in Japan for a long time has done everything from the good ol’ gaijin mainstay of teaching English to owning video stores (wuh?) to appearing on Japanese TV. They sat down at his secret office on a secret university campus to talk about what got him to Japan and some adventures since arriving more than 20 years ago. Note: The conversation was pretty long and Todd and Terrance could’ve kept going, so we’re sure there will be more, whether you all want it or not.

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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!

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Episode 69 – Fuji Yoshida Fire Festival

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Recently, Linda, Fred, Terrance and I made the trek up to the base of Mount Fuji to see the Fuji Yoshida Fire Festival. This festival marks the closing of the hiking trails for Fuji-san. The carrying of the mikoshi through town along with the noise is said to try to appease the goddess of Mt. Fuji so that the mountain will not erupt. Fires are lit from the center of the city all the way to Sengen-Jinja in order to impress the goddess.

You can read more about the Fuji Yoshida Fire Festival by reading on other sites. You can see the festival by watching this video. Enjoy!

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Episode 64 – Final Episode

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Well, its that time. Time again for another, and final, Finding Japan episode by yours truly. It took a while but in this episode, I say goodbye to Japan and all of the fun times that we had. At nearly two hours long, this episode highlights some of my favorite parts of Japan by revisiting clips from prior episodes. Come revisit the podcast with me as we tour through the experiences I had, things I learned, and people I have met.

But rather than give a long-winded overview of the episode, just listen in and enjoy. Details about the future are also enclosed.

Thanks again to all of my friends, all of the listeners and contributors to the podcast, everyone who guided me and helped my find my way through the land of the rising sun. This was truly an amazing life experience and I will never forget it.

Finding Japan has been archived at archive.org for posterity. This site will cease to exist at some point in the future though I will do my best to maintain the feed. Check archive.org for all of the episodes, including prologues to the podcast.

Thank you all.

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Traveling Home

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I took a jet plane home this past Wednesday (first time on a 747 actually) and am now writing this post from the couch at my parents home in New Hampshire. It’s been nice to finally fly home and I am so tired-out I can barely stand it.

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I did manage to take a picture of my last meal in Japan though at the airport. I will send some updates along when I finish up the final episode, just as soon as my jet lag subsides. Talk to you all very soon.

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Episode 61 – All Sound Tour

Drummers in Shinjuku

You asked for it, you got it. Straight from my (old) studio to your ears. This episode is 100% sound tour. Put on a pair of nice headphones and sit back to relax to the sounds of the Japan. The following sounds have been recorded during the last year or so and have been collected for your listening enjoyment.

Show Notes:

  • Short Intro
  • Clip1: 2007-05-31 Riding the Yurakuchou Line
  • Clip2: 2007-09-19 Ariake TOC Building 7-11 Guy with Music
  • Clip3: 2007-06-01 Crows at Waseda University
  • Clip4: 2007-10-08 Watching Aural Expression Class Video
  • Clip5: 2008-01-18 Singing Lame SMAP Songs in Class
  • Clip6: 2007-07-07 Watching Tokyo Bousaikan (Disaster Preparedness Center) Smoke Video
  • Clip7: 2007-07-15 Awesome French Elevator Music at Doutour Coffee
  • Clip8: 2007-12-16 Chilling at a Club in Kobe Talking about Cats with Awesome Funk Music in the Background (Guest Appearance: Terrance from Kobe Beef)
  • Clip9: 2007-12-16 Kobe Planetarium Presentation
  • Clip10: 2008-04-05 Tokyo Giants Game
  • Clip11: 2007-09-20 Sumo Tournament Match
  • Clip12: 2007-08-08 Inside the Shinkanesen (Accelerating with Train Announcements)
  • Clip13: 2008-04-07 Kanamara Matsuri (a.k.a. Kawasaki Penis Festival)
  • Clip14: 2008-04-06 Crazy Sounding Cement Mixer
  • Clip15: 2008-02-10 Cacophonous Sounds in Iidabashi (with commentary)
  • Clip16: 2007-07-28 Drumming in a Small Park in Shinjuku

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Episode 50 – Back in Japan

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I’m back in Japan finally. After a wonderfully great time with my family and friends, I’m back to the grind here in Tokyo. A quick update of my travels and some brief impressions after leaving and then returning to this country. Enjoy!
Show Notes:

  • Arrived back in Japan
    • Been up for 22 and 1/2 hours
    • New toys from Christmas
  • Continental Airlines entertainment systems
  • Getting Into Tokyo – Narita Express vs. Keisei Skyliner
  • My occluded view of Mount Fuji
  • Impressions on leaving Japan
  • Impressions on coming back to Japan

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