What is it Like Living in Japan as an American? My Experience Living in Japan for 7 Years

Are you ready to enjoy the ramblings of an American who went to Japanese Language School, Japanese University, and is not working in Japan as a translator and international marketing consultant? Well, humble brags aside, here I go. Here I am, sitting at 12:30am, working out in my head exactly what I even want to

These 8 Things Are What Make Japanese so Difficult to Learn

This social context can be seen pretty clearly in Japan’s senpai-kohai or “superior and subordinate” relationships. In January of 2015 I moved to Osaka, Japan to enroll in a Japanese language school. Like many others, I assumed diving into the deep end with complete Japanese immersion would be the thing that would push me to

Why is Japan called Japan? ‘Nippon’ vs. ‘Nihon’ and more on why Japan is called what it is.

The many things Japan is and was called. From Wakoku to both Nippon and Nihon, “The Land of the Rising Sun”, Japan, and more, Japan has been referred to by many different names throughout the course of history. But…why? How can the name “Japan” be related to something as different as “Wakoku” or “Nippon?” You

Is Japanese University ‘Easy?’ My Experience Studying in Japan and the US Compared

I am a part of what just may be a very exclusive group of people on this planet. I had the pleasure of studying at both a Japanese and American university. Well, technically I studied at an American college, but that’s besides the point. I had lived the university life in both countries as a

My Experience With the Covid-19 Pandemic in Japan.

As of January 2022, it’s hard to believe that this all started almost 2 years ago. Actually, it had already started 2 years ago. Actually, it was already there even well before that. Maybe it hadn’t relentlessly bombarded our collective consciousness in quite the same way, but it was already there. Japan was in fact

Is There Stand-Up Comedy in Japan? My Experience Living in Japan’s Capital of Comedy

I think there’s this preconception people have that there is only slapstick comedy in Japan. Perhaps it’s the infamy of “Japanese game shows” (Japanese game shows actually aren’t really a thing, but I’ll go more into this another time), and the language barrier, but…is there really no stand-up comedy in Japan? It’s all human tetris

Some of my Crazy Experiences Moving in Japan, and How You Can Make Moving in Japan Easier.

Of all of the experiences of living in Japan as a foreigner, the process of finding a new apartment and moving is infamously loaded with roadblocks and problems that…often don’t have any simple solution. That being said, through the process of trial and error through 3 major moves in the country (one of them being

What Does Senpai Really Mean? My Experiences Working in Japan, and Some Thoughts on Why People in Japan Work so Much Overtime

So…what does senpai really mean in Japanese? I’m sure you know the Japanese word “senpai” (先輩) because of the countless”notice me senpai” meme’s, but did you know there’s something called a kohai (後輩) too? So, what is a senpai, and what is a kohai? Well, it depends on who’s talking…literally! Both the words senpai and

My Thoughts on Tokyo vs. Osaka and My Experience Living in Both Cities

If you’ve lived in Japan, you know how fierce the Tokyo vs. Osaka debate can get between both cities. Well, I have experience myself living in both cities, so I thought I would write a short post on some of the little things that really stand out to me personally when comparing my time spent

Japan has Ghost Towns? Here’s What’s Really Going On

A bit about my background living in Japan’s biggest cities, as well as a suburb in Japan. Hi. My name is Evan. I moved to Osaka, Japan in early 2015 to study at a Japanese language school, eventually moving on to studying at Kwansei Gakuin University from 2016 to 2020. Now I’m working in Tokyo.