Fireside Chats, Episode 51: A Westerner in Japan

I gotta do a Museum Run next time I go to Japan. =)

Colin Moriarty

2 years is quite awhile so you have plenty of time to plan. For first time visitors I don’t think you should go any less than 7-10 days and even then you won’t see everything. Look into the rail lines in between cities and if hotels are too expensive, Airbnb is always an option. A lot have gone away due to new land laws, but you still should be able to find them in the big cities.

Oliver Jia

My parents live in Tokyo and I visited the Edo Museum 2 years ago with my dad. It covers the period of shogun rule and has a section dedicated to WW2. I found it fascinating that they had displays on the firebombing of Tokyo, the documents being signed to end the war, and General Douglas MacArthur's relationship with Japan after the war but there was zero mention of the atomic bombings. Absolutely nothing on the subject. No pictures, no text.

Brian Dewire

I'm planning on going to Japan to visit about 2 years from now. I would love any insight into how to plan my time and how much money to budget.

strawhatninja

Dan Carlin did a recent Hardcore History podcast about Japan leading up to WWII. He is just an armchair historian and he doesn’t speak Japanese, but he gives some interesting insight and opinions on the Japanese mindset of the 1930s and 40s.

Everyday Patrick

Thank you for listening! Glad you enjoyed it.

Colin Moriarty

I'd definitely like to have him back on in the future, to talk about other Asian topics (North Korea, particularly).

Colin Moriarty

He did a great job!

Colin Moriarty

You gotta go!

Colin Moriarty

<3

Colin Moriarty

Thank you so much for your support, and for your kind words. That really does mean a great deal to me.

Colin Moriarty

Super interesting perspective. =)

Colin Moriarty

That would make sense to me, as abstract an idea as it is.

Colin Moriarty

I'm glad to hear it. =)

Colin Moriarty

He did a great job. Thanks for listening!

Colin Moriarty

You really should.

Colin Moriarty

I'm hoping to get back to Japan later this year. First time since 2014. I wanna really do the touristy thing this time. My first two times, I really didn't have time to see too much.

Colin Moriarty

Holy shit. What a fantastic podcast. It was over before I even noticed could have listened to it all day. So fascinating. Great podcast Colin :). Shout out to Oliver fantastic guest :)

Ryan Hughes

This was a great episode! Oliver was extremely knowledgeable in discussing Japan as a country. I’ve always been very interested in Japanese history and politics but found it fairly impenetrable. Oliver giving a brief explanation of the ruling party in Japan helped clarify a lot for me. I hope he can be back on to discuss North Korea or even Manchuria! Semi-related Hardcore Histories Dan Carlin is currently doing a series on the Japanese invasion of Mongolia and China, and it’s great. Also the Book The Wind Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami has a character that was in the Kwantung Army and goes on some wild adventures in Manchuria and Russia.

Kevin Theal

Really interesting topic. Oliver was very knowledgeable

Tanner Brant

Oliver, you were such a fantastic guest! I absolutely loved this episode. Such a great insight into Japan and I wish to visit it one day. I would love to experience culture shock there!

Will Hahn

<3

Saulius Vekteris

Colin, I've enjoyed every episode of Fireside Chats, Knockback, Sacred Symbols, and Side Quest, but this episode ranks at the top. You're always genuine, but it's nice to hear your emotions really come out here. You doubt yourself often, but please know that you have so many fans out there, and I'm proud to say that I'm one of them. If I could have lunch with anyone in the world, I would choose to have lunch with you man. You keep your nasty mayo and I'll keep my delicious mustard haha. Anyways, just figured you'd like to hear that. You're the fuckin' man dude...please don't ever change.

Ryan Hart

Thanks for sharing your thoughts Oliver. Also live and work in Japan. Settled here with family and kids. To me it's nothing special. I find basic mannerisms and politeness lacking. No one holds the door open for their fellow man, people snort their noses rather than wiping them, cars dashing through red traffic lights, never stopping at pedestrian crossings to let you pass, selling porn in convenience stores next to childrens magazines, I could go on. In the UK these sort of things are unacceptable. So the hardest thing for me living here is not judging them by British standards. Yet I often do, and it often fails to stand up to my native expectations of what it means to be polite and decent to strangers. Still, I love hiking and as far as that is concerned, Japan is amazing :)

I dont know how true it is, but based on some youtube videos I've watched (Japanese guy) some Japanese are "grateful" (as much as one can be) for the bombings because it ended the war. The way this guy explained it, because of the culture, if not for the bombs, the Japanese people would have fought to the last man, basically annihilating their people.

Jason Stafford

I enjoyed this episode a lot 👍🏽

Edwin Garcia

Thank you for your kind words! I’ve done a couple of podcasts before, but nothing on this scale. My throat wasn’t the best and I was dealing with some jet lag, but I’m glad it turned out better than expected ha.

Oliver Jia

Oliver, if you read this, you did a fantastic fucking job on this episode. This was super informative, fun to listen to, and I don't know if you've ever done a podcast before, but you carried yourself extremely well. And god damn, dude, you're 20? You're fuckin killing it. Great show, guys.

Ian (616Entertainment)

Great Episode Colin and Oliver. I always thought it would be a great experience to travel to Japan. Might just have to one day.

Jonathan Broussard

I have to disagree with the social networking part since Twitter and Instagram are huge over there. They’ve begun to slowly broaden their immigration system for a variety of reasons, but it’s a gradual process that I don’t think will ever be like what Europe is currently doing.

Oliver Jia

Japan doesn’t have the same history of slavery or Jim Crow as we do in America, so inherently there’s no backdrop of racism towards black people over white people per se. Individuals will have different experiences, but the majority of Japanese seem to lump in African-Americans with other Americans in my experience. People from African countries though are increasing in Japan and many of them speak Japanese very well since they come from educated backgrounds. In fact there are plenty of famous black celebrities on Japanese television. Overall, I would say that there are probably more negative stereotypes towards other Asians from Japanese than towards Westerners.

Oliver Jia

Setting aside the white supremacist stuff, I find Japan fascinating as a case study in how different they are than us. They essentially don't allow immigration, we have tons. They use very little social networking apps, we use a ton. Their population is in decline, ours is not because of immigration. They are more unified, we are a polarized mess (with no end in sight). I would be wary of making broad conclusions from any of this, but it seems like it can inform (as long as it doesn't inform you that we should be an all white nation :) ). FWIW, my brother lived there for years, and my sister-in-law is from Japan, and she seems to think it is a country in decline.

CTE

Visited Japan to train MMA back in 2015. Being African American, I was pretty worried actually that I would not be very well liked. I spent the weeks before the trip googling and youtubing every custom I could to avoid committing any social faux pas in hopes of not standing out any more than I feared I would (i have a genuine anxiety about being noticed in public idk why). and I have to say I didn't feel any sort of animosity that you can become keenly sensitive to if you're a person of color in the states. There were instances where elderly people would not sit next to me on the subway, but from I understand that's more of a dislike towards foreigners in general and not poc? maybe it was both, people who have spent more time there, or are more educated, please let me know the history in that regard, but I was very surprised by how helpful and welcome i felt. one night, after practice, I was walking back to my air bnb and clearly looked lost, and a girl no older than 16 saw me constantly shifting my squints between my phone and the street signs and legit walked with me fore about 15 minutes until i got a point i recognized. It was so generous I think about it whenever I see anyone look remotely lost, like i have to pay it forward. I'm curious to read everyone's experiences on here who have been. hoping they're all as positive as mine. Also, if you want to train in Tokyo, Tribe Tokyo MMA was incredible.

Toren R. (KESA)

I’m 29 and I’ve lived in Tokyo for the past 6.5 years. This was an interesting listen. For anyone interested in how Japan views their place in WWII (and the aftermath), I recommend visiting Yūshūkan (遊就館) in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It’s basically a war memorial museum. Very detailed, but very one-sided. Display overviews and descriptions have select English translations as well, so even tourists can understand a bit of the Japanese perspective. I will also mention my wife is Korean. Her grandmother as well was fluent in Japanese, due solely to the Japanese occupation of Korea before and during WWII. From what I see, many Koreans here have not forgiven Japan, mostly because leaders and citizens (generally) refuse to admit and apologize for their wrongs.

Everyday Patrick

I gotta get back at least one more time, and get out of Tokyo.

Colin Moriarty

You're very welcome. Enjoy the show!

Colin Moriarty

It's a wonderful country. Enjoy!

Colin Moriarty

Cannot wait for this episode. Been to Japan twice, and plan on many times in future.

Will Curry

Hello from a fellow pittsburgher! Great interview, man

Fred Bence

Thank you for having me on Colin! It was a pleasure talking about Japan. Apologies to listeners for my scratchy voice since I was battling a sore throat and I’m a naturally fast talker!

Oliver Jia

Super excited for this. I've worked for several Japanese companies and always had a great respect for them. It's only gotten worse over the years. I'm pretty sure I'm a "weeaboo", but I just appreciate their culture of honor, humility, and being non-confrontational. I know they're not perfect, but I really do appreciate their culture. Thanks for this, Colin. <3

Jason Stafford

Oh nice! Living and working there for a few years has always been a dream of mine. Looking forward to this episode!

Ryan Harvey