Episode 86: Sibyl Kane (lawyer), Christopher Key (engineer), and Elisa Ovalles (student) share their personal stories of how they were affected by Japan’s COVID-19 travel ban.
Episode 85 – Getting to Know the Organizers of Black Lives Matter Tokyo
Episode 85: Sierra Todd and Jaime Smith are organizers of the Black Lives Matter Tokyo Peaceful March. On June 14, 2020, Sierra and Jaime—along with the rest of their team—put on Tokyo’s largest Black Lives Matter event, which drew more than 3,000 attendees. In this episode, we discuss the follow topics:
- How Black Lives Matter Tokyo started
- Preparing for the peaceful march
- Post-march reflections (challenges and lessons learned)
- Sierra and Jaime’s backgrounds
- Being Black and Queer
Episode 76 – Me Too, With You
Episode 76: Sachiko Ishikawa is a project manager in the video game industry. She is also an intersectional feminist, who speaks out about issues concerning women in society. In this episode, we chat with Sachiko about a monthly protest in Japan called the Flower Demo. She shares her own personal experience of sexual assault and explains three conditions of sexual consent. [Episode length: 52 minutes]
Join the next Flower Demo in Tokyo on Tuesday evening, February 11 at Tokyo Station. Click here to learn about more event locations in Japan.
[Read more…]Episode 75 – Yakuzen: Food is Medicine
Episode 75: Kayoko Hirano is a certified obesity prevention health coach and founder of YakuZen Therapy. After returning to Japan from New York, where she held a corporate job for 6 years, Kayoko experienced weight fluctuation for years; that led her to develop her own weight loss protocol. She then deepened her knowledge at the Japan Obesity Prevention Society Institute.
In this episode, we chat with Kayoko about the concept of yakuzen (food therapy), misconceptions about Japanese food, and her childhood interest in the English language, which inspired her to experience life outside of Japan. [Episode length: 56 minutes]
**Farewell Shockolate Buddha**
This is the last episode recorded with Raw Urban Mobile Podcast original co-host Shockolate Buddha. The podcast will also have a location change after two years of recording inside the mobile man cave. Stay locked in for more informative and entertaining conversations with locals in Japan, including occasional guest co-hosts.
[Read more…]Episode 73 – 2019 Wrap-Up: Community in Tokyo
Episode 73: We celebrate our podcast anniversaries with our pod brothers Mega and Late of the Mega Late Show. At the heart of both podcasts is a focus on the international community in the Greater Tokyo Area. In the last episode of 2019, we recap this year’s highlights and recognize many of the awesome guests we featured on our respective podcasts. Learn about some of the talented folks in entertainment and music production, plus leaders in technology, marketing/advertising, and environmental activism.
[Read more…]Episode 71 – The Voncujovi Brothers: What is Vodu?
Episode 71 (Part 2 of 2): This episode is a continuation from Episode 70 featuring Ghanaian-Japanese brothers, Sena and Pele Voncujovi. In this episode, Sena (a Vodu priest) and Pele (a Vodu practitioner) give us insights into the West African spiritual and herbal practice of Vodu (also spelled Voodoo or Vodun).
The influence of Christianity and Islam in the African continent has long been apparent. Subsequently, Vodu has been demonized globally. Many Ghanaians and other West Africans have denounced it as “satanic” and there are fewer and fewer priests and practitioners today. Through their social media platform “ReVodution”, Sena and Pele’s mission is to destigmatize Vodu and restore a lost pride among Africans. [Episode length: 36 minutes]
[Read more…]Episode 70 – The Voncujovi Brothers: Black on Both Sides
Episode 70 (Part 1 of 2): Sena and Pele Voncujovi are Ghanaian-Japanese brothers, who relocated to Japan from their home country of Ghana. Sena is a Career Development Coordinator at Ashinaga and Pele is a Marketing Analyst at Rakuten Mobile. Both Sena and Pele, along with Oulimata Gueye, are co-founders of the group and community event called Jaspora. Jaspora aims to facilitate networking, learning and collaborating among people of the African diaspora (as well as their allies) with the purpose of accelerating contributions to the development of Africa.
In this episode, we chat with Sena and Pele about their educational background, biracial identity, and cultural experiences in both Ghana and Japan. Stay tuned for part 2 of this conversation (Episode 71) next Tuesday!
[Read more…]Episode 69 – MyMizu: Japan’s First Free Water Refill App
Episode 69: Robin Lewis and Mariko McTier are co-founders of MyMizu, Japan’s first free water refill app. In this episode, we chat with Robin and Mariko about Japan’s excessive use of PET bottles and learn how the MyMizu app is one simple step to help tackle a major environmental issue for Japan and many other countries.
[Read more…]Episode 68 – Supporting Foreign Entrepreneurs in Japan
Episode 68: Miho Tanaka is a former public relations manager, who recently established her own company Startup Japan. Startup Japan’s mission is to support foreign entrepreneurs with starting businesses in Japan. In this episode, Miho tells us what you should consider before starting your own business in Japan. We talk about different types of visas, legal advice, company bank accounts, and picking a location (city) to start your own company.
[Read more…]Episode 65 – Coercion
Episode 65: Ocean Evers-Peete, also known by his music artist name, Dot.Kai, returns to the podcast to share a personal story about dealing with police and Japan’s legal system. Ocean takes us through the details of what was suppose to be a fun night out with friends, but turned into a horrific year-long drama which includes being interrogated. He also shares a few lessons learned from this bad experience, which can be helpful for foreigners visiting and living in Japan.
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