Unpacking Japan

Produced by ZenStudio
  • 4.7 (19)
  • Society & Culture
  • Updated Weekly

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. 3h ago

    How did anime get so popular overseas, when Japanese companies did not care?

    Meet Roland Kelts, an author known for his book Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded the U.S. He sits down to talk to us about the anime industry and the spread of Japanese pop culture overseas, as well as his work on the upcoming documentary Tezuka: God of Manga. -- 0:00 Intro 0:50 Meet Roland 4:29 Building a stronger connection to Japan 8:55 Joining the JET Programme to write about Japan 15:20 Living alone in Japan 24:04 Leaving Japan to build a career 29:43 Writing Japanamerica 36:40 Studying Tezuka and anime 40:22 How otaku brought anime overseas 45:34 The 4Kids incident 47:49 Has the anime industry changed over 20 years? 55:58 The Tezuka documentary 1:00:14 Why Tezuka was so influential 1:03:27 How Tezuka came to be 1:06:44 Challenges of producing a documentary 1:11:08 Looking back 1:21:39 The power of pop culture 1:26:03 The world viewed from Japan -- Follow Roland: https://www.instagram.com/rolandkelts/ https://x.com/rolandkelts https://www.japanamericabook.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/

  2. 4d ago

    Japanese teacher's secret to communication, with ⁨@NihongoDekita⁩

    Meet Sayaka, a Japanese teacher known for her work on her channel Nihongo Dekita. She sits down to talk to us about her own journey to English fluency, discovering a passion for teaching language, and how she built her brand and Japanese school online. -- 0:00 Intro 0:50 How Sayaka learned English 10:26 Studying teaching abroad 22:52 Work for company hiring immigrants in Japan 27:54 Starting her own teaching company 30:53 Growth on social media 38:41 Hiring her own teachers 40:37 How to make online lessons succeed 49:05 Should you learn by watching TV? 52:29 How to get fluent in a language 57:02 Learning vocabulary 1:04:54 Looking back -- Follow Sayaka: https://nihongodekita.com/ @NihongoDekita https://www.instagram.com/nihongodekita/ https://www.facebook.com/nihongodekita/ https://www.tiktok.com/@nihongodekita 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/

  3. 6d ago

    Sitting down with the U.S.'s first manga professor

    Meet Kofi Bazell-Smith, the United States' first manga professor. He sits down to talk to us about the rules, form, and history of manga, his work in teaching and cultural relations, as well as his own projects as an artist. --0:00 Intro0:50 Start in martial arts5:16 Deciding to take manga seriously10:30 Studying with a manga professor13:38 The rules of manga19:13 How this experienced changed him22:50 Manga as an academic art form26:48 Manga can be anything29:28 How Tezuka brought filmmaking to manga34:20 Becoming the manga professor37:52 Manga as a cross-cultural art form43:34 Is there a market for foreign manga?49:36 Kofi's manga53:39 Publishing manga57:28 Working with Japanese manga schools1:01:54 Exhibiting manga in an art gallery1:06:13 Kofi's work in US-Japan cultural relations--Follow Kofi:https://www.kofimanga.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/

  4. Aug 14

    Why are so many Tokyo apartments not foreigner friendly?

    Meet Sandul, a real estate agent in Tokyo. He sits down to talk to us about the reality of renting, the difficulties of renting as a foreigner or student, and how to settle in as a new resident in Japan. -- 0:00 Intro 0:50 Meet Sandul 1:27 Scholarship in Japan 10:00 Sri Lankan student association 14:27 First job in Japan 21:47 Start in content creation 25:27 Japanese house tour videos 31:29 Why do people let you film their house? 34:30 Start in real estate industry 38:20 Foreigner friendly apartments? 42:54 Biggest surprises in real estate 47:07 What makes a good property? 49:24 How long it takes to rent 54:06 Where Sandul lives 57:05 Sandul's favorite stories 1:04:50 What people should know about his interviewees -- Follow Sandul: https://www.instagram.com/sandulvinsuka/ https://www.instagram.com/vinsuka.fromtokyo/ https://www.instagram.com/japanhometours/ 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/

  5. Aug 11

    The reality of being an actor in Japan

    Meet Christiane, an actress based in Tokyo. She sits down to talk to us about her work in theatre in improv, performing for Japanese vs. English audiences, and her roles in projects like Death Stranding and Godzilla. -- 0:00 Intro 0:50 Meet Christiane 5:42 Coming to Japan 12:52 Start in acting 16:09 Start in improv 25:29 Performing improv in Tokyo 37:19 Role in Shin Godzilla 46:10 Being scouted for Death Stranding 49:45 Performing motion capture 56:40 Looking back 1:01:04 Support group for female actors in Tokyo 1:09:28 The magic of theatre -- Follow Christiane: https://www.christianebrew.com/ https://www.instagram.com/christianebrew/ 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/

  6. Aug 7

    The ACTUAL challenges of renovating akiya in Japan

    Today we sit down again with Anton Wormann, an akiya renovation specialist and content creator based in Japan. He sits down to talk to us about his renovation projects, the legal regulations about renovations in Japan, the failure and abandonment of his Chiba farm project, and the lessons he's learned along the way. -- 0:00 Intro 0:49 Meet Anton 1:38 First commercial project 7:41 Documenting the work 9:43 The Chiba farmhouse 13:26 The dream waterfall house 16:05 Chiba farmhouse failure 21:38 Lessons learned 25:22 What you should know about akiya 30:45 How to buy akiya responsibly 33:52 How the tax system creates akiya 36:38 Tokyo's anti-renovation legislation 40:18 Anton's Japandi company 43:16 Getting a real estate license 48:56 Renovating the waterfall house 1:01:34 How much did it cost? 1:06:00 Next steps 1:09:39 The power of social media 1:13:04 Looking back -- Follow Anton: @ANTONINJAPAN https://www.instagram.com/anton.injapan https://www.tiktok.com/@antoninjapan https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100091063962376 - https://www.antoninjapan.com https://www.japandihouses.com https://www.japandirealestate.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/

  7. Jul 31

    What Japanese comedy school is REALLY like

    Meet Dan Wilson, a Tokyo-based comedian performing manzai and stand up between America and Japan. He sits down to talk to us about going to comedy school and finding a manzai partner, signing to and leaving an agency, and the ins and outs of the Japanese comedy world. -- 0:00 Intro 0:50 Meet Dan 2:09 Growing up half Japanese in America 8:05 Discovering Japanese comedy 16:02 Going to comedy school 25:09 Getting signed 27:48 Manzai is a marriage 33:48 Being funny as a non-native 40:55 The reality of comedy agencies 45:56 Social media & Japanese comedy 53:54 Going independent 1:01:48 Performing in English vs. Japanese 1:12:01 Looking back 1:15:35 How to do dirty comedy well -- Follow Dan: https://www.instagram.com/danielywilson https://www.tiktok.com/@danielywilson @Badonkadonk_official @SUPERGREATTIMETOKYO 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/

  8. Jul 28

    How Hori Benny became Japan's best anime tattoo artist

    Meet Hori Benny, a tattoo artist and owner of Invasion Club tattoo studio in Japan. He sits down to talk to us about the history and changing culture of Japanese tattoos, his own grueling apprenticeship, the challenges of running a tattoo business in Japan, and his own anime-inspired "otattoo" style.--0:00 Intro0:50 Meet Hori Benny7:14 JET Programme in Kagoshima14:21 Introduction to tattoo culture20:31 Tattoo apprenticeship in Osaka32:12 First time tattooing someone35:26 What makes a good tattoo44:22 Opening Invasion Club studio46:24 History of Japanese tattoos50:27 Japanese police vs. tattooers56:25 Otattoo style1:03:33 Benny's tattoo philosophy1:10:55 Taking on an apprentice1:14:32 Expanding to Tokyo1:22:23 Looking back1:26:40 What's next--Follow Hori Benny:https://horibenny.com/https://invasion.club/https://www.instagram.com/horibenny/Follow us:https://unpacking.jp/https://www.instagram.com/unpacking_japanhttps://www.tiktok.com/@unpackingjapanhttps://www.facebook.com/unpackingjapanhttps://www.youtube.com/@unpackingjapanshortshttps://www.x.com/unpacking_japanhttps://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/unpackingjapanSubscribe 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/

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4.7
out of 5
19 Ratings

About

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

Information

  • Creator
    Produced by ZenStudio
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    243
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Produced by ZenStudio
  • Show Website
    Unpacking Japan

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