Life After JET After JET

Living to another country can be a source of inspiration. And you could meet kindred spirits that make you feel like you belong. My guest, Luke Cuerden, talks about finding a welcoming creative community and how much that has inspired him creatively and professionally. We also talk about the music scene in Tokyo, and what jazz and metal have in common.

- Connect with Luke on IG: https://www.instagram.com/harroruke/
- Check out Red Dragon Blues on YT: www.youtube.com/@reddragonblues7231

Oh the places you’ll go. Dr Seuss's poem nicely describes the post-JET life of my guest, Sam Baldwin - journalist, start-up techie and author. A desire to live the outdoor mountain life led him to living and working in Slovenia in a 300-yo cabin. He chronicles his journey and love for his adopted country in his upcoming book, Dormice and Moonshine: Falling for Slovenia. Sam's description of this overlooked corner of Europe is very evocative - anyone want to do a trip?

Footnotes:
- Sam's portfolio site: sambaldwin.me (https://www.sambaldwin.me/)

Music for the episode is Snow Drift by HoliznaCCO, from the album Winter LoFi, with a public domain license and sourced from freemusicarchive.org

The After JET podcast is generously supported by the Council of local authorities for International relations or CLAIR, but is otherwise an independent personal project by me, Eden Law. All views and opinions expressed on this podcast are the personal opinions of podcast participants and are not the official views of any organisation that participants are part of, connected with, or work for.

Many of us go through several restarts and pivots. For Natalie Hamilton, it's been a full circle going back to teaching and finding her passion and purpose (including time to publish a textbook on kanji). Join us for a discussion on what that's like, and why finding purpose is an ever-changing destination.

Footnotes:
Natalie's book on kanji can be found at: https://thekanjicode.com/the-kanji-code-study-guide/
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Music for this episode is A Journey by Kevin Hartnell, from the Free Music Archive, under license type CC BY-SA.

The After JET podcast is generously supported by CLAIR, the Council of Local Authorities for International Relations, but is otherwise an independent personal project. All views expressed on this podcast are the independent opinions of podcast participants and do not represent any organisation that participants are connected with or work for.

Along with anime and J-pop, the Japanese game industry is another influential export of the country. My guest, Catherine (Cat) Dinh now works at Ubisoft Osaka, and we talk about the industry, work practices and a valuable trait that a non-Japanese worker can bring to a Japanese workplace.

In Japan, given how available alcoholic beverages are, everyone on JET has at least one grog-related tale. My guest Colin Johnston has turned his practical experiences into a career in the distilling and brewing sector. Join us for a fascinating and educational look into the movement that is the craft beer industry, and what makes its beer, well, so crafty.

Fun fact: Colin's also a stage actor - hence his reference to his acting skills in our discussion.

Music for this episode is Drink Beer (Till the Day That I Die) by Dazie Mae. Sourced from freemusicarchive.org with license type CC BY-NC-SA.

It may come as a surprise to some of you that Osaka is actively promoting itself as a queer-friendly holiday destination. But that is the line of work that Jonathan Lucas is in - helping to create an inclusive place that welcomes all visitors, not just on gender or sexuality.

In this discussion, we talk about his work, and expand it to discuss in general the state of LGBT discourse in Japan. And disclaimer: neither of us are experts in this field, so apologies in advance for any mistakes.

Links:
If you want to hear more about what Osaka Tourism's queer travel work, check out Jon's interview with Digital Tourism Think Tank: https://lnkd.in/eWbCykrm

Music for this episode is Something Elated by Broke for Free, sourced from Free Music Archive.org and licensed under a Attribution 3.0 United States License.

The After JET podcast is generously supported by CLAIR, the Council of Local Authorities for International Relations, but is otherwise an independent personal project. All views expressed on this podcast are the independent opinions of podcast participants and do not represent any organisation that participants are connected with or work for.