Jens Petersen has been working in real estate in Tokyo for over 13 years. He initially found interest in Japanese independent music. In recent years his interest has also branched out into the art world. We spoke about learning Japanese, finding an immersive environment, and job hunting at job fairs.

• Cornelius (Keigo Oyamada)
• Swedish university
  • Full-time focus on the language
  • “Stuffing the sausage full of knowledge”
  • Genki Japanese
  •  Flashcards
• Studying English and foreign languages in Sweden
  • Compulsory English
  • Optional second foreign language from 6th/7th grade
• Finding Japanese immersion through a shared interest
  • Importance of getting out of the exchange student community
  • University “circles”
  • Shibuya-kei
  • Escalator Records
  • Kaji Hideki
  • Warp Records, Aphex Twin
• Journalism work in Tokyo
  • JASRAC (Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers, and Publishers)
• Job hunting in Japan
  • Job fairs for bilinguals
  • Boston Career Forum
  • Job interviews
  • Japanese resumes
• Real estate and facilities management/occupancy planning in Japan
• Art in Japan
• Museums
  • Hara Museum
  • Kawamura Memorial DIC Museum of Art
  • Aomori Museum of Art
  • Mori Art Museum
• Galleries
  • Roppongi Hills
  • Warehouse TERRADA – Tennōzu Isle
  • Bakurochō
• Japanese art in Chicago
  • Gutai group (this is the art movement Daniel was referring to)
• Karaoke song
  • Tommy february6 (Tomoko Kawase)
  • The Brilliant Green

There is an official order to the 都道府県 (todōfuken, prefectures) in Japan. I share some thoughts about it and in Japanese discuss the importance of learning how to really devour (貪る, musaboru) your Japanese studies.

This is a nice post with a close look at the numbering. Here is the official website for the 全国地方公共団体コード. And I previously wrote about the alphabet in Japanese.

Molly Des Jardin is a language and computer nerd who came to study Japanese, and later book and media history of modern Japan. She quickly got sucked into both for the long term and enjoyed the ‘B-kyu’ adventures she got to have while working or studying in Fukuoka, Yokohama, and the least cool wards of Tokyo.

• “Inventing Saikaku: Collectors, Provenance, and the Social Creation of an Author“
• Japanese: The Spoken Language
  • University of Pittsburgh Japanese
  • No notes allowed
  • Middlebury Language Schools – Japanese
  • “Learning how to be wrong”
• 「  お聞きしたいんですが」 (I’d like to ask you a question…)
• 「パンになさいますか？」 (Would you like bread?)
• 「左様でございます」 (That is correct.)
• Learning written Japanese/how to read
  • Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies
  • Constant exposure and need to write at Middlebury
  • Remembering the Kanji, James Heisig
  • Adult learners of Japanese as a second language
• JET Program
  • Fukuoka
  • ESID (Every Situation is Different)
  • Application process
• Reading
  • Woman on the Other Shore, Kakuta Mitsuyo
  • 夢十夜, Natsume Sōseki
• Meiji-era Writing
  • Most-read Meiji writing during the Meiji era: Ozaki Kōyō
  • Language in flux
  • Morohashi’s 大漢和辞典
  • “If you can get 15-20% of any novel, you’re doing great.”
  • 変態仮名 (Hentaigana)
  • Higuchi Ichiyō
  • Mori Ōgai
  • 言文一致 (Genbun itchi)
    • Molly recommends the book “Language and the Modern State: The Reform of Written Japanese” by Nanette Gottlieb for more on the topic.
  • Futabatei Shimei, 浮雲 (Ukigumo)
  • Yamada Bimyō
• 全集 (Zenshū “Complete Works”)
  • Orthography choices during reprinting
  • 一葉全集 (link to the Ichiyō Zenshū at the National Diet Library)
  • Osakabe Yoshio’s 村上春樹全作品リスト Part 1 and Part 2
  • National Diet Library
  • Ihara Saikaku
  • Museum of Modern Japanese Literature
  • University of Tokyo Library System
• 廃墟 (Haikyo “ruins”)
  • Not mentioned in the podcast, but Molly recommend this link for detailed background on the haikyo boom.
  • ムック (Mook)
  • B級
  • 団地 (danchi)
  • Gunkanjima
  • Junkudo bookstore in Ikebukuro
  • ワンダーJAPAN
    • Check out lists/galleries of back issues here and here.
  • 土木フォトグラフィ (Doboku Photography) (Not mentioned in the pod, but recommended Instagram account from Daniel for infrastructure.)

Courtesy of Molly, this is a photo of Ozaki Kōyō’s four-volume 紅葉集 (Kōyōshū), pub. Shun’yōdō (春陽堂) 1909 and how one who access the original text (in its original binding!).

What’s something that surprised you about Japan that was completely ordinary? For me it was the access to swimming pools. Living in Japan changed my relationship with swimming for the better. And in Japanese, I talk about 趣味 (shumi, hobbies/interests) and their role in Japanese study.

Mike Grant is the co-founder of Devil Craft brewing and has been operating in Tokyo for 10 years as of this year. Devil Craft has four locations in the Tokyo area. See Craft Beer Professional’s interview with Mike here.

• “Learning by ear” + Six months of classroom Japanese after an initial stint in Japan
  • Practicing and “playing around” by imitating accents in English
• Being able to take criticism of both language skills and brewing skills
• AQ Bevolution – Albert Kuwano
• Learning how to homebrew
  • Experimentation
  • Online recipes
  • Homebrew books
• Developing a familiarity with malt
• Licensing for brewers
  • Previous experience or apprenticeship at current brewery
  • 6-9 month process for licensure
  • Brewing system must be on-site and ready to go; license goes with the physical location
  • Recipes must be submitted one day in advance
  • All equipment must be registered; limits mobile canning
• Homebrewing in Japan
  • No political motivation to change the current laws; no constituency
  • Japan = fermentation mecca
• State of the craft beer market in Japan
  • Daniel’s 2016 article on Japanese craft beer
  • 400+ breweries in Japan
  • Lots of breweries that are 50-500 liters in size that are in the industry to brew beer rather than to make omiyage
  • Demographics are working against craft beer
  • Tanakaya in Mejiro
  • Chuhai’s place in the Japanese market
  • Barrel-aging and mixed culture brewing
  • Yeast in Japan
  • Brewing conferences, collaborations, and associations
• Breaking into the craft beer market in Japan
  • Pink Boots Society

The Katakana Fallacy is the mistaken belief that katakana are more difficult to learn than hiragana (and maybe even kanji?!). A closer look at what drives this believe helps explain why Japanese is, in fact, the easiest language in the world. And in Japanese, I talk about linguistic crutches and how to avoid them.

I’ve been writing about the ideas behind the Katakana Fallacy since this post in 2008. And this is the Anki deck of katakana words that I mentioned might be helpful.

Mercedez Clewis is a Japanese to English localization editor and proofreader as well as a pop culture writer and critic with websites like, Anime Feminist, But Why Tho, and the Anime News Network. She also has previous worked with Siliconera, which is where she got her start with Japanese to English translation. After earning her Bachelor’s and Master’s in History, she taught on the JET Program in Fukushima Prefecture for four years and is currently in the process of returning to Japan. See her website here.

• Japanese Classes
  • University of Missouri-St. Louis
  • Intensive language program at Washington University
• Japanese Festival – Missouri Botanical Garden
• JET Program and first time in Japan
  • Fukushima Prefecture
  • Going to a Japanese hospital
• Teaching on JET
  • Empathizing with students
  • Socializing with teachers at 忘年会 (bōnenkai, year-end party)
  • Elementary school vs junior high vs senior high
  • Criss cross
  • Holiday lessons
  • “You get out of JET what you put into it”
• Improving as a teacher
  • TEFL Certification
  • Prefectural conferences
• JET salaries
  • Small pay raises added
  • Rural vs urban savings rates
• JET application advice
  • “Be earnest”
  • “Be humble”
  • Becoming part of the community, being open
• JETs of African Descent
  • The importance of having a diverse community for support while on JET
• Writing and translation/localization work
  • Jenni Lada, Siliconera
  • The power in being able to say yes or no to a new project
  • Being humble, being open to help
  • Maisy Hatchard, Boardgame translation
  • Blogging about life in Japan
  • Anime Feminist
• Fandom
  • ヨコハマ買い出し紀行 (Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō)
  • Pokemon
• How do you find new manga to read?
  • Recommendations from Twitter
  • Following new releases in translation
  • Taking a chance on a new manga
• Karaoke songs
  • Plastic Love, Takeuchi Mariya

かもしれない (kamoshirenai, may/might) has subtle nuances, and it can be easy to overuse. I talk about a time when I did, and how many years later that mistake allowed me to become an advice columnist very briefly. And in Japanese, I go into my unfortunate history with 食中毒 (shokuchūdoku, food poisoning) in Japan.

Brian Epstein is a patent attorney with Modal Law who has been working with Japanese clients and patent attorneys for his 14-year career. He started his own practice in 2019 and plans to visit Japan again shortly after the borders reopen.

• Japanese in law school
  • Conversation sessions with classmates
  • Conversations with trainees from Japan – Japanese for Busy People
• International law
• First time to Japan and initial interest in the country
  • “Pure Invention: How Japan’s Pop Culture Conquered the World,” Matt Alt
• Advice for law school for anyone interested in working with Japan
  • Common law vs. civil law
  • “Race, Racism, and American Law” by Derrick Bell
  • Taxation
  • “De novo” in patent review at PTAB
  • Paul Butler at Georgetown Law
• Patent work
  • “If you can do patent law, you do do patent law”
• Working with Japanese clients at a law firm
• Starting a law firm
• Marketing work during the pandemic
  • Modal Law YouTube channel
  • Ex parte prosecution
• Japanese emails
  • “To email in Japanese, take a layer cake of etiquette and stuff it with meaning”
  • Japanese cultural consultants
• Go-to Japanese karaoke song
  • “Shiki no uta,” Nujabes
  • “Plastic Love,” Mariya Takeuchi
• Modal Law
  • Twitter
  • YouTube