Journal of Japan Journeys

My name is Sean Heller, and I first visited Japan in April of 2002.  I came back regularly for work and fell in love with Japan fast, exploring Yokohama and Kamakura during my first forays in Japan.  I was able to explore new and old Japan on these excursions.  In 2011, I decided to make Japan my forever home, moving my family from San Diego.  I now live in Yokosuka and continue to work with the US Navy.

Hello listeners! My name is Yusi, I’m originally from Beijing, China. I moved to Kamakura, Japan when I was nine years old following my parents, and it’s been more than 20 years for me to live in this country now. I met Paul at University back in 2010 as his student in an English class. Later, I went to the UK to do my master’s degree, and France for an internship. I also have a dream to run my own business in India. But I find Japan as my home for living, working, and now studying again (to do my PhD). This episode starts with a reminiscence of my childhood life at Japanese schools. Where do I fit? After struggling with some weird (very strict!) Japanese rules, I got accustomed to and found this country very comfortable to live in. Thank you, Paul, for your sharp questions and deep observation as well as your patience which helped me to trace back the path I have come as a little foreigner who was thrown into the Japanese society.

My name is Kola Olagboyega. I am a Nigerian by birth, British by nationality and “Japanese” by the virtue of all the country has offered me since I came to Japan about 15 years ago. I am a university professor and an unapologetic agnostic. Teaching is my passion, consciousness my creed, compassion my dogma (UT TIBI SIC ALTERI). I hope you enjoy this podcast about my “journeys” in Japan. It has been a great pleasure making this podcast with Paul, who, has  demonstrated an ingenuous ability to conduct seamless interviews. He has provided service without any stint.   (Why, thank you! - Paul)  

My guest for Episode 2 is the amazing and charismatic Tifa!  I will let her introduce herself: "My name is Tifa, I'm a Southern belle from North Carolina. I'm from the area that makes it a swing state, where we believe in hospitality, good food, and a run in with the wrong feller can have ya walking off with a lot less pride and a bloody nose. I'm the girl that you'd never expect to meet in NC. I was the only black, gothic, atheist living in a 100 mile radius of the sweet tea loving -bible belt state and was ready for change. I'd always been a dream chaser and I figured I'd waited long enough. I said goodbye to my home and to my people. I walked away from everything I knew, my family, the country of "opportunity", and found myself in a world I never expected to find. Following the scent of my dreams, I landed in Asia where Japan took me in and loved me kinder than any nation had ever loved me before. I stripped off my ego, stepped off the ledge of fear, let go.... And got sucked into the warmth of the Land of the Rising Sun. I hope you enjoy my story." 

This week's guest on the Journal of Japan Journey's podcast is Roehl Sybing, who is an Assistant Professor at Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan. He has been a teacher in Japan and the United States since 2004, with over 13 years of experiencing living and working in Japan.