Unpacking Japan

Produced by ZenStudio

Unpacking Japan explores Japanese arts, culture, and business through the lives of foreigners who have made this amazing country their home. While we’ve all seen vlogs and movies showing Japan from a pop culture perspective, Unpacking Japan tells the stories that get left by the wayside—the immigrants, the entrepreneurs, and the artists. Tune in every week for an authentic, inspiring conversation with someone who’s carved out their own, unique place in this beautiful country. Host: Tobias Bieker Production: A. Magdych Editing: L. Nicholas, J. Sketchley Social: J. Sketchley Design: M. Koga

  1. 2日前

    From salaryman to drag bar: a conversation with Japan's biggest diva

    Meet Sylvia Manchester, a self-titled Natural Born Diva working as an entertainer and drag bar host in Tokyo. She sits down to talk to us about her studies abroad, interest in queer literature, coming out, and the birth of the Sylvia Manchester character.A big thank you to our colleagues from ZenMarket for sponsoring this episode. Interesting in buying anything from Japan? Find out more here:https://go.zenmarket.jp/unpackingjapan -- 0:00 Intro 1:07 Meet Sylvia Manchester 6:35 First interest in drag 7:54 Being gay in Tokyo vs. Britain 12:10 Starting drag in Japan 14:02 Queer literature and gay identity 22:08 Start in drag bar 24:54 Being closeted in a Japanese office 27:37 Becoming a professional drag queen 32:16 Golden Gai 35:45 Interest in Chanson 41:30 Birth of Sylvia Manchester 43:29 Busking in Tokyo 47:15 Finding a place in the Tokyo drag community 50:00 Translating Chanson to Japanese 51:43 What Golden Gai is like 58:32 Balancing drag and normal personas 1:00:36 The Sylvia Manchester queendom 1:03:40 Sylvia's literature reviews -- Follow us: https://unpacking.jp/ https://www.instagram.com/unpacking_japan https://www.tiktok.com/@unpackingjapan https://www.facebook.com/unpackingjapan https://www.youtube.com/@unpackingjapanshorts https://www.x.com/unpacking_japan https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/unpackingjapan Subscribe for more in-depth discussions about life in Japan! Interested in working at a global e-commerce company in Osaka? Our parent company ZenGroup is hiring! To learn more, check out https://careers.zen.group/en/

    1時間12分
  2. 6月5日

    The British comedian who became an honorary Kansai Japanese

    Meet Lawson, a British creator who first came to Japan living in Kobe and Nishinomiya, where he quickly picked up the Kansai dialect. Now living in Tokyo, he's become known for his fluent dialect as a foreigner. A big thank you to our colleagues from ZenMarket for sponsoring this episode. Interesting in buying anything from Japan? Find out more here: https://go.zenmarket.jp/unpackingjapan -- 0:00 Intro 1:07 Meet Lawson 4:36 Learning Japanese 7:41 Studying Japanese in university 10:19 Coming to Japan 16:11 Becoming a salaryman 25:18 Origin of name Honmani Lawson 29:51 Move to comedy videos 36:39 How Japanese comedy works 41:42 Reacting to videos as a foreigner 43:22 Learning Japanese comedy 48:08 Does this interfere with your job? 52:14 How comedy changed his life in Japan 54:30 Looking back 58:31 Impact of his platform -- Follow Lawson: @honmanilawson https://www.instagram.com/honmanilawson/ https://www.tiktok.com/@honmanilawson https://honmanilawson.com/ Follow us: https://unpacking.jp/ https://www.instagram.com/unpacking_japan https://www.tiktok.com/@unpackingjapan https://www.facebook.com/unpackingjapan https://www.youtube.com/@unpackingjapanshorts https://www.x.com/unpacking_japan https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/unpackingjapan Subscribe for more in-depth discussions about life in Japan! Interested in working at a global e-commerce company in Osaka? Our parent company ZenGroup is hiring! To learn more, check out https://careers.zen.group/en/

    1時間5分
  3. 6月2日

    Genoa's very unique journey to Japan

    Meet Genoa, a content creator with a very unique life that brought him to Japan. He sits down to talk to us about growing up in a cult, before leaving and eventually coming to Okinawa as an exchange student in high school, and his current life preparing for studying at language school and going viral sharing his experiences in Japan. A big thank you to our colleagues from ZenMarket for sponsoring this episode. Interesting in buying anything from Japan? Find out more here: https://go.zenmarket.jp/unpackingjapan -- 0:00 Intro 1:07 Growing up in a cult 5:07 Reactions to cult story 9:55 Interest in Japan study abroad 13:02 Arriving in Okinawa 17:26 Life in Okinawa 21:14 Japanese high school 25:43 Comparisons to American school 33:42 Going viral 41:28 Thoughts on social media career 48:02 Genoa's view on "Japan" content 51:21 Consulting Japanese on his comedy 53:09 Working with brands 56:04 Language school in Japan -- Follow Genoa: https://www.instagram.com/genoaorion/ https://www.tiktok.com/@genoaorion @genoaorion Follow us: https://unpacking.jp/ https://www.instagram.com/unpacking_japan https://www.tiktok.com/@unpackingjapan https://www.facebook.com/unpackingjapan https://www.youtube.com/@unpackingjapanshorts https://www.x.com/unpacking_japan https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/unpackingjapan Subscribe for more in-depth discussions about life in Japan! Interested in working at a global e-commerce company in Osaka? Our parent company ZenGroup is hiring! To learn more, check out https://careers.zen.group/en/

    1時間2分
  4. 5月26日

    Sitting down with Japan's most unconventional influencer

    Meet Bernd Kestler, a German knitter living in Japan. He sits down to talk to us about moving to Japan in the 80s, his love for knitting, and exactly how he's established this unconventional career in Japan. -- 0:00 Intro 0:45 Meet Bernd 7:08 First interest in knitting 12:32 Knitting in Japan 14:55 Knitting full-time 16:54 Knitting in Japan vs. Germany 22:27 Understanding knitting designs 24:03 Japanese knitting designs 28:33 Guiness record blanket for Tohoku 37:07 First knitting book 42:29 Japanese yarn 44:28 How the book affected his career 46:51 Translating knitting concepts to Japanese 49:36 Collaboration with Komeda Coffee 54:10 Knitting creative projects 58:55 Japanese color palettes 1:01:30 Those spiky things on the table 1:08:51 Looking back 1:16:29 Knitting innovation -- Follow Bernd: http://berndkestler.com/ ⁨@BerndKestler⁩ https://www.instagram.com/berndkestler/ https://www.facebook.com/bernd.kestler/ https://linktr.ee/berndkestler Follow us: https://unpacking.jp/ https://www.instagram.com/unpacking_japan https://www.tiktok.com/@unpackingjapan https://www.facebook.com/unpackingjapan https://www.youtube.com/@unpackingjapanshorts https://www.x.com/unpacking_japan https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/unpackingjapan Subscribe for more in-depth discussions about life in Japan! Interested in working at a global e-commerce company in Osaka? Our parent company ZenGroup is hiring! To learn more, check out https://careers.zen.group/en/

    1時間20分
  5. 5月22日

    How Tokyo breeds third spaces

    Meet James Farrer, Professor of Sociology and Global Studies at Sophia University. He sits down to talk to us his sociology study in China and Shanghai, before moving to Tokyo and finding his own community by studying the third spaces that exist in the restaurants around train stations. -- 0:00 Intro 0:44 Meet James 3:32 Shanghai in the 90s 8:27 Studies at Fudan University 12:18 Coming to Japan 15:34 Finding community in Tokyo 18:14 The reality of Midnight Diner 21:20 Experiences as an outsider 28:42 Differences in Tokyo neighborhoods 33:53 Street food in Japan? 37:02 James's NHK program 41:42 Differences between Tokyo and Shanghai 46:23 Foreigner-run restaurants 50:50 Challenges telling stories on TV 55:10 Kabukicho nightlife 59:30 How comparable are Tokyo and Shanghai really? 1:02:36 Have you found your place in Tokyo? 1:09:24 The paradoxical freedom of big cities -- Follow James: https://www.nishiogiology.org/ https://www.instagram.com/japanfoodresearch/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesfarrer/ Follow us: https://unpacking.jp/ https://www.instagram.com/unpacking_japan https://www.tiktok.com/@unpackingjapan https://www.facebook.com/unpackingjapan https://www.youtube.com/@unpackingjapanshorts https://www.x.com/unpacking_japan https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/unpackingjapan Subscribe for more in-depth discussions about life in Japan! Interested in working at a global e-commerce company in Osaka? Our parent company ZenGroup is hiring! To learn more, check out https://careers.zen.group/en/

    1時間13分
4.8
5段階評価中
23件の評価

番組について

Unpacking Japan explores Japanese arts, culture, and business through the lives of foreigners who have made this amazing country their home. While we’ve all seen vlogs and movies showing Japan from a pop culture perspective, Unpacking Japan tells the stories that get left by the wayside—the immigrants, the entrepreneurs, and the artists. Tune in every week for an authentic, inspiring conversation with someone who’s carved out their own, unique place in this beautiful country. Host: Tobias Bieker Production: A. Magdych Editing: L. Nicholas, J. Sketchley Social: J. Sketchley Design: M. Koga

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