This week, Jeff and Trevor tumble down a matcha ice cream–soaked rabbit hole of Japan news, global oddities, and nonsense that somehow connects (like conspiracy yarn on a corkboard… but stickier, and with more Strong Zero).Man Marries AI ChatbotAsahi reports that we’ve officially crossed into sci-fi territory: a man in Japan has tied the knot with an AI chatbot. What does this mean for love, tech, and the future of human relationships?👉 Read more7-11 Japan Rolls Out RobotsFrom stocking shelves to cleaning floors, robots are increasingly taking over tasks in convenience stores. Is this the beginning of our robot overlord era—or just another reason to avoid the register guy who judges your midnight Strong Zero runs?👉 Details via SoraNews24Tangent Topics & ShenanigansOsaka demo: Watch hereJapan gives town to Africa: Yes, this is [*not] real“This is a pen”: Japan's leading Coronavirus transmission theorySoraNews does AI gags: Sato performs an ippatsu-gei devised by AIBullzone Chiemi: Career WomanSassySisters: Subscribe to Jeff's daughters' new YT channel hereEnjoying the Show?Please consider supporting us—every little bit helps keep the podcast going. And be sure to join the conversation on X (formerly Twitter) @DeepinJapanPod and Facebook. For all inquiries, you can reach us at deep.in.japan.podcast@gmail.com.Outro Music:薬物をやろう (by Jeff on Suno)Yoroshiku and rockets. 🚀

Anne Crescini returns to the podcast to open up about one of the most personal and difficult parts of her life in Japan: raising children caught between cultures. Anne and her husband are both American, but their kids were born and raised in Japan. On the surface, they were “fully Western,” yet in the classroom and in society, they were constantly marked as different. That tension led to deep identity struggles, feelings of isolation, and even 不登校 (school refusal).In this candid conversation, Anne shares what it’s like for her daughter to grow up wanting to “just be invisible,” the stigma attached to looking like a foreigner/outsider, and the toll of always being seen as “other.” We also explore the broader issues of belonging, identity, and how children navigate growing up between worlds.Related Articles: 娘が不登校、「教育者の子なのに」 言語学者が打ち明けた動揺と転機 (The Asahi Shimbun). Naturalized linguist in Japan laments recent political trend to blame foreigners (The Mainichi Shimbun) Enjoying the Show? Please consider supporting us—every little bit helps keep the podcast going. And be sure to join the conversation on X (formerly Twitter) @DeepinJapanPod and Facebook. For all inquiries, you can reach us at deep.in.japan.podcast@gmail.com.Outro Music: 消せない光.  Zelda's Lofi KingdomYoroshiku and rockets. 🚀

Originally aired in February 2024, this episode features Anne Crescini, an American-born linguist who had recently acquired Japanese nationality. Anne shares the story of what it meant to become a naturalized Japanese citizen, the identity shifts that came with it, and the unexpected backlash she faced on Twitter. From love of country to questions of belonging, nationalism, and social media outrage, Anne opens up about the personal cost—and deeper meaning—of “turning Japanese.”Enjoying the Show? — Please consider supporting us—every little bit helps keep the podcast going. And be sure to join the conversation on X (formerly Twitter) @DeepinJapanPod and Facebook. For all inquiries, you can reach us at deep.in.japan.podcast@gmail.com.Yoroshiku and rockets. 🚀

In this episode of Deep in Japan, I sit down with Marshal Hughes, author of Rural Reflections: What 11 Years in Provincial Japan Taught Me. His book offers a vivid and heartfelt portrait of rural Japanese life, capturing the charm, the challenges, and the cultural surprises of teaching and living in communities far from the neon glow of Tokyo. Our conversation goes beyond the pages of his book, as Marshal shares insights from his 35 years in Japan, reflecting on his early days as an adventurous international English teacher, the cultural differences that were sometimes charming, puzzling, or deeply challenging, the joys and struggles of rural community life in places most tourists never see, the ways his time in Japan shaped his identity, relationships, and sense of belonging, and what writing Rural Reflections taught him about memory, change, and the power of storytelling. More than just a book talk, this episode is a meditation on cultural exchange, human connection, and what it means to make a life in a place that is both foreign and, over time, deeply familiar. Enjoying the Show? Please consider supporting us—every little bit helps keep the podcast going. And be sure to join the conversation on X (formerly Twitter) @DeepinJapanPod and Facebook. For all inquiries, you can reach us at deep.in.japan.podcast@gmail.com.And don't forget to support EVISBEATS, who supplied the musical outro: “いい時間”. Thanks for listening, fellow travelers of the ear. Yoroshiku and rockets. 🚀

⚠️ Trigger Warning: This episode will almost certainly offend you. If you possess even a shred of conventional morality or a functioning conscience, for the sake of your own health and sanity, you may want to skip it. This week, Jeff and Trevor plunge headfirst into the neon abyss of the Goon Cave, armed with nothing but questionable translations, half-finished cocktails, and a deep suspicion of gacha machines. We explore a ヤンキーソング about a man’s doomed life choices, speculate on whether bamboo spears are the ultimate anti-geriatric-robbery tool, and marvel at the inexplicable fact that the world’s oldest manga has been reincarnated as… a bra. Yes, a bra.Somewhere between sake capsules that dispense like Pokémon and the unstoppable meme-force known as 自己防衛おじさん, we also attempt the cultural crime of translating Gen Z slang about gooning and edging into Japanese. It’s high art, low content, and entirely unsafe for public consumption. In other words: just another day in the Happy Hour multiverse.The Sweet Sauce: (Song) "Let's do bad things to our bodies" からだに悪いこと【オリジナル曲】男の人生を唄ったヤンキーソング 作詞作曲 なかのよしのり(Vid) Old man teaches you how to make bamboo spears to defend against foreign home invadors / 竹槍で【高齢者】をねらう【強盗】を防ぐ方法 など4つ、を紹介します 80才 【老後の田舎暮らし】World’s oldest manga is now a bra thanks to Japanese lingerie maker’s art history series【Photos】Gacha capsule sake shop opening in Tokyo to serve up randomized rice wine and liqueurs(Vid) 自己防衛おじさん (Self-Defense Ojisan) (BGM) Ambient & Experimental, jazzpiano Vinyl Mix in Watanabe Manufacturing Co.,Ltd/DJ Asano(Song) Gooners Paradise (Trevor's SUNO)Enjoying the Show? Please consider supporting us—every little bit helps keep the podcast going. And be sure to join the conversation on X (formerly Twitter) @DeepinJapanPod and Facebook. For all inquiries, you can reach us at deep.in.japan.podcast@gmail.com.Thanks for listening, fellow travelers of the ear. Yoroshiku and rockets. 🚀