The Dark Side of Teaching in Japan (ft. @PremierTwo) | Trash Taste #137
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- Hello everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Trash Taste podcast. I'm Joey and I'm with the boys as per usual. And with me, I have a guest, introduce yourself.

- My name is Peter and I am a former English teacher after 10 years of suffering for my trade. And I'm here to educate you guys on my final lesson about what it's like. - The final lesson. - This is it, this is the final lesson. - This is it, my lasting memories are being put to this recording of teaching English in Japan and all the shame that comes with it. - But you're not just a former English teacher in Japan, you're also a full-time Twitch streamer, aren't you Mr. Premier too? - Yes. - Well, I mean,

There are a lot of people who can claim to be full-time Twitch streamers. And I think that when I first started teaching, teaching is considered kind of the great shame of jobs in Japan. Wait, hold on. And then I became a Twitch streamer and I realized, no, there's low. So I am okay, but no, it is. Got him. Yeah, it's true. But no, teaching is an interesting profession, right? Of course, in most societies, it's high.

Highly respected. And then you take one look at someone like me and you realize, maybe not. But the thing is, I think a lot of people want to come to Japan and they need an opportunity to do so. And imagine, for example, you have no marketable skills or a theater degree. Good question.

- Really selling yourself out, Peter. - I'm not naming names. But if you did have those things, but you have a bachelor's, well then you've got an opportunity to come to be a teacher in Japan. - That's just Asia, right? It was the same thing in Thailand where you could be the most,

All you need is a bachelor's and then you can get any job you wanted. - And it could be any bachelor. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - Well, trust me, I know. In America, I had a theater degree, which is about, it's really good for waiting tables. You're a great waiter. - It's the tips. - You get tips well and that's, but,

when you come to Japan and you do teach, I think the expat community or the other people who are in Japan, they look down upon it pretty heavily. - Okay, so that's one thing I've wanted to ask straight up, all right? Because I think there's a lot of people who watch Trash Taste and just like Japan content in general, right? Who obviously they're like, "I wanna be able to go to Japan." And when they go do their research, they realize, okay, the easiest way is to become an English teacher in Japan, right? That's like the easiest gateway method, right? But like,

I think the general consensus of like English teachers in Japan being like, as you put it, like a shameful position or I guess history. I don't know. I personally haven't heard much about that. So obviously you have the experience of being in that position. None of us do. So why do you think that is the case? - Yeah, because I think we've met like a few English teachers who have lived in Japan, but I think you have one of the most interesting stories

out of like most out of like a lot of people we've met. And also you have like a lot of people we've brought on who have also lived in Japan. You've had the true expat experience. - Yeah, for sure. - You've lived in Japan for how long now? - Almost 11 years, 12 years now. - 12 years. - There's something like, time loses meaning after a certain point. I came here right after the Tohoku earthquake

Of 2011. Okay. So about two weeks, that was a while ago. But yeah, two hours. A while ago. It was a long time. I think though, to answer your question about why it's kind of disrespected. And I do want to be clear, as much as I'm joking around, teaching can be a good profession here. Yeah.

But the reason it's looked down upon is we have to deconstruct like what is a teacher and what is an English teacher as a foreigner. Okay. You're not going to be, you know, reading Socrates and explaining all of these cool Shakespearean stories. You are,

are hired as an entertainer and or clown. And you really have to, this isn't important. This is, you are the court jester and you have to imagine you're, you're not in a college setting, right? You're teaching potentially kids who are anywhere from the ages of zero all the way through high school. And if you're in elementary school or junior high, or especially, you know, uh,

the kind of a Kiowa special client, like additional education, special clown. You are, you get the big shoes and the red buttons and be ready to sing some songs and create some ridiculous lessons to make English fun and interactive. Okay. So I've,

I've heard about being an English teacher in Japan and a lot of like other Asian countries, but what does that actually entail? What responsibilities are on you and how much do you have to plan? - I imagine it's different based on what school and what. - Yeah. - What's like the typical like step-by-step process as a full-time English teacher? - Is there a typical? - Let's go with like,

The three different scenarios. I think this will help kind of simplify it. Sure. Let's start with the Eikaiwa. Okay. Which a lot of people who did not get into a school teach at an Eikaiwa. Yeah. Those are lessons that students come to anywhere from like two years old up to maybe elementary school. Hmm.

Those are usually planned out for you or you have some sort of reference from a book that some other expat wrote in 1977. And you're like, all right, so we're going to teach colors today. And it can be pretty brutal. Like a normal lesson would be something like this. And this is why I highly recommend you think very hard about being a teacher. You walk into the classroom and there's about 13 kids screaming, crying, sneezing, puking, whatever. And they're all shitting. They're all just...

playing with toys and stuff. And you give them like five or six minutes of toy time. And this is the hardest part. A lot of the times, this is one of the first times that parents are leaving their kids alone.

Right. So we encourage them. You tape up all the walls and you say like, just don't look through the window and the doors. Don't be visible because when the door shuts and I start, we need them to just be distracted and not think, where's my mom and where's my dad. Right, right. Yeah, yeah. That never works. Like 0%. So you'll close the door and you'll be like, all right. And there's like songs you go like, God, you're going to give me PTSD. You say like- I want to hear the song. You're lucky I can't stand up and do the full-

Clean up, clean up, everybody everywhere. Clean up, clean up, everybody do your share. So you have to... So you're about to say, everyone do your shit. Yeah, everyone clean up your shit. That, and then they realize...

my parents aren't here and the waterworks begin. It doesn't matter if it's the first lesson or the 10th. This is something that you have to grapple with. And you, you bought your, you know, strawberry Frappuccino with the $3 that you've made this year teaching. And you're just like,

I wish this was alcohol. And then it's just, you got to do this every single day, five or six days a week in perpetuity until you can escape that job. So this is obviously a Kiowa version. Yeah. So this is obviously like targeted towards, you know, like what average age? I would say anywhere from two to,

All the way until early middle school. And the middle schoolers are a bit... The classes are smaller. It's a bit more personal. You can just say like, what are you studying in school today? Let me help you. So those are kind of fun. But anywhere in the baby to... The baby range. Who's the babysitter? Yeah, babysitter. Oh, man. It is not... But it can be rewarding, of course. I'm saying that because I had two or three good memories. But it is fun to see kids and you help them learn like what those...

the color blue look like in English. All right. So what are the other, you said that was the first, that's the first one. Then the next is elementary school. So now you have to start wearing the suit and you have to start going to school and sitting with the morning meetings with the teachers. And there's a lot of differences from like America, like as a teacher, you'd walk up to the,

the principal, and you'd say like, oh, hey, gozaimasu. And he'd be like, and then you'd go sit down. And then now you're kind of in this world where you have an abundance of free time and you have no idea how to spend it because you don't have any money and you can study Japanese or you can, you know, look busy on the computer. But then the classes you have anywhere from three to five a day and it's like talking about the weather or you go in there and tell them about, you know,

numbers or emotions and then you repeat this for 65 years and then uh but then the final one is you get into junior and high school junior high school and high school yeah yeah those are considered i would say the best positions especially high school finally the kids have an opportunity to start explaining you know their experiences and their they can actually talk to you well let's not jump the gun

Some can, yes. Some can talk to you. But at least you can kind of extract some information that's not, you know, what train do you like? It's Dr. Yellow, the Shinkansen. Wow, that's amazing. Or your favorite color is blue. Okay. And how old are you? I'm seven. Thank you. Those are the basics. But then in high school, you really get an opportunity, like you said, to have conversations. If they choose to.

if they choose to or if they can, or if they, mostly if they choose to. - Yeah, right. So going back all the way before this, so what made you want to move to Japan in the first place? Because I assume you discovered teaching English because that was one of the most prevalent ways to like get to move to Japan, right?

It was. Um, well for me, I have a very unique history, I guess. It's very, it's very unusual. When I was 19, I was in college. Right. I had to think about that. Uh, and I was taking a Japanese lesson because I just had seen some Japanese movies I thought were cool. And I was like, Oh, you know, that sounds cool. Battle Royale was still really popular. And yeah, Kira Kurosawa films, my buddies and of course video games. Um,

So I took this Japanese class and I was completely failing it. I'm so bad. It's a theme throughout my English studies. But they said, the teacher said, hey, why...

We need somebody to be a host family because this person lost their original host family because of a disagreement or something. And I was thinking, damn, that would be so sick. I could like play street fighter with this dude and we can hang out all the time and I could learn Japanese. And I was like, I'll do that. That sounds cool. And it ended up being a girl who lived with my mother and I for like two or three years. And-

- Whoa, two or three years? - Well, that's long for a host family, right? - Yeah. - Like usually they don't last, it's like maybe what, three to six months? - I thought it was like a week or something. - A week? - No, no, I think on average it's like maybe three months. - I guess we're in that distance. I did it with like Irish kids.

And that was, we did that for like a week and that was too much. - I'm saying like, what are you? - I did not get along well with my Irish counterpart. - 'Cause Sydney did the same thing as well. She had a host, she was a host family as well. - Oh, right. - And she had the choice between her parents wanted to become a host family for someone abroad. And Sydney was going through her weeb phase. So she was like, pick someone Japanese.

It's like, I'm begging for your catalog. This one looks nice. This one, the Japanese one, please. Well, I'm thankful that she didn't have a catalog or I would have never come to Japan because I don't think she would have chose me. But my mom was, you know, my sister had just moved out. And so it was kind of cool because I was living in the basement like any normal American boy. And of course, and then she took like my sister's old room upstairs. And so...

We, I think it was a bit longer, even when I went to college in a different city, she stayed at the house and stuff. Wow. But she said, you know, your family's been so kind to me. Why don't I introduce you to my family and you visit Japan? So I was like 20, 21 and she lived in Yokohama, which is a really nice place to visit.

I loved it, man. It was such a transformative part of my life where I was like studying acting and I could read the tea leaves, so to speak. I was like- What year was this? This was 1964. No, I'm kidding. No, this was 2004 or 2005 or something like that. I was 10. This was so different for me. Wow.

Well, yes, it was. That was when Akihabara was still the electric city. See, that's what I'm talking about. Because when I went to Akihabara, it was insane. When I was growing up, Akihabara was a place of legend. Every video game magazines that EGM or Gameplayers or PSM, Tips and Tricks,

they would have a correspondent from Akihabara talking about the sites and the games and the arcades. This was so cool. There was like three maid cafes as opposed to now where there's 300 maid cafes. You went there and it was the hobby town. So anyway, I had a great experience and I said, you know, if acting doesn't work out...

I will, I will come to Japan someday again. So I visited two more times and then at 26, I finally got my college degree a little later than some would say. Um, but I, I made the move and that's where I started in Niigata, which on the West coast of Japan, but that's why I was interested in coming for sure. So did you go through the jet program like everyone else? I applied and, and,

That sounds lame. I made it to the interview phase, but I graduated in winter as opposed to spring or summer like most students. And their interviews are in late fall. So they said, you've made it to the interview phase, but it would take about nine more months to have... Oh, shit. So I was like, okay, I'll put that in my back pocket, but I'll check out newsletters or online sources. And if I can find...

- A opportunity, we'll see how it works. And mine was marketed as beautiful beach town in the Western coast of Japan. And I was like, let's fucking go. - What's your source? - It wasn't with Jet, this was with- - It was the Hart Corporation. - What the fuck is that? - We don't know yet. I think it may have not even been a real company, but they- - Just the dude and his bass. - Actually- - When you arrived, it was crazy, right? - Well, man, it was such a mess. So, you know,

I got hired the day before the earthquake. Oh shit. And so then the plane and the moving was pretty rapid from there. And so I was trying to contact this source, but not be, cause they were in, it was like kind of, it was an Ibaraki was where their head office was, which was kind of close enough to the earthquake. And I was messaging him. I was like,

do I, how do I, do I have a job? But don't answer me unless it's, you can, or. It's not about me. I just was trying to figure out what am I doing? And he was like, yes, come to Japan. And I was like, I don't have a visa or anything. He's like, we'll sort it later. And I was like. No way, let's go. So you were like, totally.

So when I got there, I was on a tourist visa and I showed up and I took a bus by myself to Ibadaki and it was still struggling from the earthquake. And we went into basically a basement and there was still manila folders and files all over the floor. And the guy was just, you know, the, the,

the definition of an expat who has been in the teaching game too long. He was just like, okay, everyone, you're going to, and I was like, you got that? And he's like, yeah. And I was like, okay, sure. And we had a two-day training. It was bad. It was really, we had two days of training. Most of it was centered around, this is a sad thing. It was, don't be inappropriate to the children, which is,

And I was like, yeah, I kind of figured that part out. - You're not gonna tell me bro. - I was like, - We needed a course for that? - What was the- - Well, it was like seven of the eight hours was examples of what not to do. - Like what kind of- - For example, don't show pornography.

I was like, okay. - Wow, thank you for telling me. - I was like, I had that one on my bingo. - Well, the Italian Senate could never. - Fuck. - They were like, all right, I'll delete the fucking spinal cord. - Sorry Italians, I guess you're out of there now. - I was like, well, three terabytes gone. There it went. The next one may surprise you. You're not supposed to date students. - Oh my God. - Wow. - Wow. - Didn't know that one. - And I was sitting there thinking,

What have I done? Just another guy just got up and left. He's like, I'm out. Did they show you a safety video for this? There was actually limited electricity even because they were doing energy. But I was thinking like... And I did ask... I was like, what is...

why are you telling us the most obvious information ever? And he was like, well, the previous people who were teaching, they all lost their contract because of a guy or girl. I don't know who it was, but like did something inappropriate. So the entire, and it wasn't that company.

It was a different, and then they got hired. So my contract was only for three months. So we were the replacements and I guess they were very eager not to have something happen. - Any problems. - But I was like, okay, well what about the actual like teaching part? Do I don't have any experience? Do I need any of that? And he's like, you'll be fine.

I was like, how many schools do I have? Like, just like, is it a high school? He's like, you have seven. And I was like, what? That's what I said. And I was like, what does that mean? He's like, you have five elementary schools and two junior high schools. And I was like, but there's only like five days in a working week. And he was like, oh, that's right. You're going to go like, you're going to switch schools at lunchtime and you'll have to do these things. This was a very exciting phase. And so then after those two days. What the fuck?

Where you learn... Very exciting. This is terrifying. Well, yeah, it was. But you know, you were in it. I'm in Japan. I was like, I don't have a phone. I don't have a carrier. I didn't have a phone for my first four months. Was it weird being totally disconnected from your home? Yeah, it was. And it was tough because you're coming from something like... My entire...

Life's possessions in like two or three suitcases. And imagine, you know, you weebs with your toys and your pillows and your... Whatever the fuck you weebs carry. Whatever you guys have. I don't know. Clothing. And then you have to consolidate all of that down into two suitcases, right? Yeah. Yeah.

Oh, well then that's not as cool as it made it sound. It was mainly PCs. I didn't have a computer. I didn't have anything. The iPhone 3S had just come out to put this in perspective. There are probably some kids watching this that are like, the what? The what? Yeah, I know. It's so bad and I'm so old. It's cool though, but they gave me a car and they put a washing machine in the back and they said, just drive like eight hours that way. And I was like, what do you mean? Wait, wait, wait. They gave you a car?

- You had to have a car? - Yeah, yeah, I had to have a car 'cause my classes were, you know, Joetsu where I was staying is not a walkable- - I mean, once you're outside of Tokyo, you need a car. - I know, but like- - And they just told you to- - Where did this car come from? Don't you need a lot of documents? - I'm sure you do need them, but-

- So I just found a car on the side of the road. I keyed it. - He's like, "Go, go, go." - He's like, "Go, get it now." - You found this company through Google, right? - It was actually a thing- - More like Craigslist or some shit like that. - That's the name. No, I'm kidding. It was actually similar. It was called Ohio Sensei.

And it was like a monthly newsletter that they would send out that had listings of opportunities. 95% of them were, if you're in Japan, here is what... Oh, right, right, right. But there was like one that was like, we'll hire anyone. And I was like, that's me. I can do that.

So I don't have any experience driving in Japan. I don't even totally familiar with all of the rules. - Not to mention it's the wrong side. - It's on the left side, right? - The wrong side. - Did you have a driver's license? - I did. I was a pizza delivery man in the United States. So I'm no stranger to- - But did you have an international license? - Wait a minute.

No, I'm kidding. I did. I had a... For Americans, those only last a year and then you can't... Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's everyone, yeah. Oh, is that right? Okay. After that, do you guys have to take the test? We don't have to take a test for the UK, but...

- In Japan, they- - In the US you have to be- - Yeah, we gotta do the whole thing. - In Japan, if you move here, 'cause you're a resident, for the first year you're allowed to use an international driving license, and then after that you're not allowed to use it, 'cause you're a resident. - So you either have to get a Japanese driver's license, or you have to convert your current license wherever the country is to a Japanese one. - Okay.

I had that piece of paper. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then I drove west or wherever it was, and then I finally, after about 11 or 12 hours of driving... I hit the coastline. I hit the coastline, and then I had to go south because I overshot it. But, like, I got there, and it was kind of crazy because there were six other teachers with me. Mm-hmm.

And we were meeting in like literally a basement. And it even kind of reminds me of like a cinematic thing with like the swinging lamp. And it was like very low light. And like, you'd see people's faces for like two seconds. Like a mafia film. It was. And people are smoking in there. And I was late.

And they were like, you know, so our final guest. And I'm like, oh. It's literally like a movie. It really was. And so we were looking at this giant map of Niigata. And everybody had a color code that signified where we were. And I was like, it's like Reservoir Dogs. I'm like Mr. Pink or something. I was like, I don't see my things anywhere. And they're like, no, you have to do that because you've already driven here. And I was like, okay.

And then we unfurled the map like three squares and I was over in the mountains. And it was like the most kind of isolated part of this. - The elementary school had 31 students total.

So it had one first grader. It had like five or six second graders. Some non-Biotti shit. Yeah, and I was like, hi, I'm your English teacher. And it was, to my great surprise though, I started at the junior high school. And I get there and they had a grand welcoming for me. And I've mentioned this story before on my streams or things. But I walk out into this theater or this auditorium or gym or whatever. And there's like the brass band playing. Yeah.

All eight of them. And it's like, you know, there's like a kid hitting the cymbals. And then there's like the teachers and everyone's clapping. And there was this one kid by like the wings of the stage. He was like looking for someone and they were like, hit it, hit it. And he like yanked it down. Nothing happened. And he like did it again. And it unfurled this ginormous poster that said, welcome Petter.

I was like, given my recent training, there will be no petting. I was like, Petter. And I was like, oh man, that's not my name, but I'll go with it. Oh my God. Just roll with it. I guess I'm Petter now. Petter's here, let's go. And so I was like, all right, this is going to be interesting. And you know, some of the things, if you're thinking about being a teacher, you need to realize is you have like a school lunch, which is made by like a nutritionist and you might get like,

fish heads or, you know, really healthy things. A balanced diet. Yeah. A balanced diet. And you get like a carton of milk. You don't get a separate lunch from like the teachers. So it's, it's, it's very, and you got to eat with the kids a lot of the time. Yeah. You go to different classes and you're like sitting in and you're like,

okay, I'm too fat for this shit. And you're like, hey kids, how you doing? And you're like, and you don't know how to use chopsticks maybe or, you know, there's a lot of things you don't know. You're really thrown in the deep end. Culture differences, yeah. And so for me, I had to do a lot of farming and agriculture work

Because you're in the mountains? Because I'm in the mountains. So I had to teach them like the names of animals they may slaughter or raise, I guess, or animal husbandry or like equipment or, you know, and then they were like, well, it's time for you to go out to the fields and plant some rice or, you know.

We're going to do hard backbreaking labor. What? It's actually shocking the amount of like schools that still do that to this day. In the mountains, they still do that. What kind of stuff were you doing? So for the Undokai, which is the sports festival, we planted our own rice so that by the harvest time, we could enjoy our,

the fruits of our labor. - I guess that's kind of cool. - It's kind of cool. - That's cool. - It's also because like a lot of these like kids that grow up in these kinds of environments, they end up working in farms anyway, or they go to like high schools that are like agriculture based, like colleges that are agriculture based. So they're just like, well, let's implant this knowledge into them while they're young. 'Cause they're probably gonna end up in that occupation anyway. - And the English teacher who's there by accident.

Learn our culture. Do our work. Well, it was tough because I showed up in like a suit and I remember, you know, I'm like, hey, what's up? And it's brutally hot. It's not a beach town. This is not a resort. It's the most humid city on planet Earth, I swear. And I was like, they're like, today we're going to run around this giant, you know, like two or three kilometer field that was like their harvesting field. But every morning the students and teachers all do three laps to like promote, I don't know, health, you know,

And I was like, I'm wearing like, you know, a suit. And he was like, the principal, really nice guy. He was like, oh, and he was like, I think I have some old soccer shorts. And he got me some umbros. And umbros are like what I remember from like eight years old, which are like these sequenced soccer shorts. And I am not...

the same size of a thin Japanese man. And I put those things on and it was like the tightest, like shorts. I barely got my thigh through, you know, and now I'm like, and so I'm running with a necktie. Did you look like a pedo? Yeah. Hey, who's that new teacher? And so I'm like running in like dress shoes and umbros and a suit or a shirt with a tie. And I'm like, okay, I've made a terrible mistake. But,

These parts I actually enjoyed. These kids had a real charming quality to them. They were very innocent. They were very intelligent. And they actually taught me a lot of things. But I needed to quickly learn that I am not a teacher. I am not here to promote a lot of the concepts that you would learn as an English student in your schools. I'm here to provide the one thing. And I think a lot of English teachers who come here make this mistake. You've

You got to remind yourself, what is the one thing that a native English speaker has that Japanese teachers do not and that you can feel and know the language, right? Yeah. So you can make it interactive. You can make it fun. And it doesn't have to be about grammar and vocabulary and writing stuff. It can be. Yeah. Yeah. So that's... I think a lot of people come here with the expectation of, oh, well, you know, I'll be a teacher. No, you will not. You will be planting rice in gym shorts or you will be...

welcomed with banners that say Petter or you know driving to new places but I think it has gotten better the last 10 years certainly since when I showed up. I really hope so. It's become a lot more mainstream that's for sure. It certainly has but even then I'd say English teaching was a

a massive industry, even probably bigger than it is now due to some changes that they've made with the way Aikai was work. So do you want me to continue this? - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - Super fast. - I'm so sorry. - I've never heard of the entire process from beginning to end. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - Well, the three months ended

And I ended up working inside of an Itoyokado for a new startup business. It's a giant supermarket, which has clothing stores. It has shoe stores, toy departments. It's like a mall. It's like the Walmart, basically. But they're all unique stores, though. They all have their own little stuff. So this guy who had helped me be a liaison with the first company I came with, he thought I had some real potential. Oh, my God.

Potential in what? Teaching. Like, like I, I guess if I, you know, self deprecating aside, I think I'm a pretty okay communicator and I, I can motivate so well. So you got potential. So he was like, I want to start a new company with just you as the main teacher. You're the only teacher. And we're going to set up in this, this supermarket mall place. And I was like, okay. And, uh,

I'm getting a massive increase in my salary. And I was like, that sounds great. And he found me an apartment. I had to give the car back. So it had to be within walking distance. This is still in, this is still in, you got him. And, but winter's approaching. I did not know that. And you got to leads the nation in snowfall every year. Oh yeah. It's insane. Before we get to this point, what,

what did you do about accommodation prior to this? Did they give you a place? - They did. - Okay, okay. - And they almost every single corporation will give you a place to stay. - 'Cause from what it sounds like, it just sounds like you hit the ground running. You like landed and the next few days you were- - It's like you're living here now. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - It really was. And I mean, to reiterate again,

No cell phone, there's no, I have no PC. I don't speak the language, certainly. - Was there ever a point where you were like, I think I made a mistake here? - Almost every day, but. - This episode is sponsored by ExpressVPN. Going online without ExpressVPN is like not having a case on your phone.

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I always find something new in Japan to enjoy or that I like about Japan. Absolutely. And I knew when I went back to America my first time during this career, I thought I miss home as in Japan. And I was like, yeah, that's where I live now. So, yeah, there was a lot of trials. I was dead broke for about seven years of my life. Like could not – you'd have to choice of like the month of October like –

go out and have fun with my friends once or eat. I'll go out with my friends and just make it work. So like, it was the finances, especially can be really tight in Tokyo, Yokohama, and they don't pay a lot. So anyway, yeah. So anyway, it starts snowing a lot. I'm working in this supermarket mall place. And I realized this guy has actually no business sense at all. And we have no curriculum. We have no...

but I show up every day at this place and I'm the only guy there. And I didn't know this, in these malls, all of the shop owners stand outside when the,

when it, right when it opens and you all say like welcome in Japanese. And I think the word for that is irashimase. - Irashimase, yeah. - Yeah, it's kind of cool. I was going out there every morning and I was going, irashimase. And I was negating that. I was like, you're not welcome here. 'Cause I didn't hear it right. And like irashimase. - Yeah. - I added like a- - Oh, irashimase. - I was like- - You're not welcome. - Don't come to my shop. I don't care. And then finally this guy who sold Italian clothes next to me. I never saw a single purchase there, but.

He was like, he wrote a message and he was like, you are foolish. You keep saying you're not welcome. I think he was saying I made a mistake, but I was like, you are foolish. I was like, that's fine. You fool. I was like, yes, I am. And so...

What ended up happening, a long story short, this business crumbled almost immediately. - Did you get paid at all? - I did, but there was real, oh, I should mention, they did finally get me a work visa on my second month working. So I worked illegally for about nine weeks.

and then they finally got me the thing. - That sounds like it was, they kind of dragged you here, didn't tell you anything. - It was a mess. - Yeah, that sounds like they did you no good. - It's almost like they were hoping you would quit after the first couple of months, right? - No, I mean, it just sounded like they were needlessly risking, 'cause it wouldn't harm them if you got reported. - No, certainly not. - Oh, true, true. - Well, I give them some benefit of the doubt given that yes, they were unorganized, certainly, but

There was the big earthquake and maybe that slowed down some of the, I don't know. That's what I hope happens. It could be. So this guy went out of business. Well, so we ended up selling this and sometimes Japanese businesses get kind of creative with how they sell programs and things. And we had like a point system where like you could buy 33 million points and each lesson you could choose to spend 12,000 of them for 50. And I was like, this makes no sense to me. But he wanted people to buy lessons in bulk.

so that we would pocket a lot of initial money. And then he lost it all in Pachinko like every day. So, oh yes, he did. If I needed to find him for something, I didn't have to go far to the local Pachinko place. And he was like, we were- - How did he even get this money to get off the ground? - I think they gave him a fairly sizable loan to do this. - Or they wanted out the Pachinko. - Or he wanted out the Pachinko. - I can't believe, I could not imagine going

Just to be like, where's my boss? Oh, he's gambling all my wage away. Well, that and we still didn't have the right formula for like, what am I teaching exactly? Like, I don't know what's happening. But I made the best of it that I could. And his brother, who spoke about 35 words of English, helped write some of the AB dialogues. And those made...

- Absolutely no sense. - Maybe dialogue is a conversation. - It's a conversation between two characters and it'd be like, "Hello." And he'd be like, "Die." And I'd be like, "What?" I was like, "I don't think that's where we should start 'cause this is at a grocery store." - What to do when you run into a murderer on a standard day in Ohio. - I know that there is,

and there are different things, but I'd never heard of lessons, English lessons given out in a mall. - No, we were pretty much the pioneers of this one. Well, to be fair, at Ito Yokado, sometimes you can find an eikaiwa that's kind of closed off a bit for children, but we had marketed ours for an adult. So I was done teaching kids.

I've played too much dodgeball and soccer and it's been, you know, I was like, I want to try. And planning rice. And planning rice. You actually wanted to teach English. That's what I thought. Yeah. And then, so his AB dialogues and he always defended them by saying, they're almost shiroi. I'd be like, so the scene would be like, we're packing for a trip to America. Yeah. And I'd say like,

honey, where's my underwear? And she'd be like, you ate it? And I'd be like, this doesn't make sense. Like none of it, this is not even like a real conversation. Average American conversation. And so I was like, we need to rewrite these to be like, you know, what's the flight number? Did you confirm the passport stuff? Or let's go through like useful. And we had a lot of...

discussions about this while he was just gambling pachinko. And needless to say, it kind of became this finger, he wasn't moving his feet to renew my visa. And this now gets into pretty scary territory where he's like, I'll recontract you for another year, but you know, we're not making enough money. You're gonna have to take a huge cut in salary. And I was like, you've been, we hired like these other people to help. Like, cause you know, we, I needed somebody in the classroom who spoke Japanese to help. Yeah.

If I was like, this is what I want to tell you. And he would miss their payments for like four months. And they were Japanese, really sweet Japanese women. And you're just thinking, this is not working. So I, I,

had very little money left. I packed up and I visited a friend in Tokyo and I had two days to find a job before I had to go back. And I went through various places and I found an Akiwa, which I had not taught at before other than my own failed business venture where, you know, I was the prodigy of English teaching. And we found this one and I thought this is perfect because the emphasis was English through drama.

And I thought, that's perfect, I can do that. That was the biggest mistake of my entire life. That was the worst job I've ever had. And I gotta say, if again- - So you just rock up to this place and you're like, I want a job. - Well, I was begging, but it was something like that. I remember, you know, I talked to the guy and I said, listen, I've gotta get this place. I don't have a place to live.

I'm out of money. I'm out of time. I can start any, just, I have to get out of this. And he was like, it's okay, mate. It's all right. Calm down. And I, I remember he looked at me right in the face and he was like, you're going to be a good teacher and it's going to be all right.

welcome home. And I said like, Oh, thank you so much, mister. You're so kind. And now he's like, time to die. You know, it's overwork. So anyway, that was the hardest one because you teach, I had this class called joy land and joy land was four hours and it was two year olds and one and a half year olds. And you eat lunch with them. You, you,

sing songs, you do things. And it's the hours are from like 11 a.m. or 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. But there's breaks in like the middle or, you know, this is the Akiwa lifestyle. So you have to be ready to be paid very little and be always on call. And the materials are there for you. But it's it's a really stressful situation. And I think that was the unhealthiest I've ever been. It was a really tough job. And after about a year of that, I I

I couldn't hack it. I just couldn't do it. And I was like, all right, I got an opportunity to teach at a high school. And that was when I started to really change my outlook of why I think teaching is a good job in this country. If you take it seriously and you can find ways to make it entertaining, but also start adding in a lot more educational elements. Yeah. Then you can start saying like, yeah, you know what?

I can teach English. I'm actually knowledgeable. I've studied this. And then by the end of my career, I switched to a private high school in Tokyo with a guaranteed like pension with like a bonuses and like I could work there forever. And that's very, very rare in this country. So I think-

to make this whole thing make sense. If you really want to be in Japan, it's not bad to be an English teacher. It's yeah, people are gonna make fun of you. Yeah, you're gonna feel like this is not what I thought it was. - Okay, wait, do people make fun of you? - Yeah, of course. Well, okay. - I haven't heard of that though. - I haven't heard of that part. - I guess the only place I've ever heard of it or seen it is when people try to, I suppose,

You know, people who have moved here and have managed to move here without going through the common teaching route, I think there's some kind of like superiority complex where it's like, I did it not in the way that everyone else did. I did it in my own way. I used my own skills to get here. Like I didn't just...

apply to this English thing. - I'm not like everyone else. - It's like that in everything, right? - Yeah, for sure. - The norm, they want to feel like they're better. So I think that's where it comes from. - Well, I mean, it has a bad reputation because the salary is so low. - What is like the average salary? - So on an A Kiowa, I mean, okay, wait, let's see. This has been a while. So this is 10 years ago where I started. My first month stuff was about

Jukumon, so about $1,900 a month. But I was in the countryside. It's in yen though, right? It's in yen. Well, you know, it changes depending on the year. So like, let's just say 100 yen is a dollar for the sake of argument. So about $1,900. Yeah, so about $1,900 a month. And that was actually pretty good for that area, you know, and I was doing all right and I could live. I'm sure the cost of living was a lot lower. So I think my rent was $400 and I had like a three LDK. It was like a tatami room. I had like a,

like a bathroom I live in poverty I feel like now like this table is bigger than my apartment now so like it's you know it was really spacious and it was really nice but um

Then when you move to the Eikaiwa, it was about $2,300 a month, which in Tokyo, Yokohama, it gets pretty tough. Oh, yeah. Especially when you have municipal tax in this country. And your rent is very high. The rent was $900 a month for me. Now it's with a discount. And I'm...

And you also have to pay things like health insurance. And there's a lot of stuff that you're not aware of. Then I took a pay cut to teach at high school. And I worked at Interac, which is a very famous placement company for schools, not a Kiowas. And that one paid about... And then, of course, income tax as well. So you don't take home 23. That was about $2,200 a month. And it was...

Man, there were times, seriously, where I had to eat just eggs and rice for like six weeks. Jeez. Because, and you need to know this one thing. If you do work at those schools, they will take out 60% in August because there's no classes. So you get prorated pay. So whatever 60% of $2,200 was...

you're looking at like a paycheck that's eight or $700. - Wait, just August or more? - No, there's more actually. So that's the biggest one though. - August is the summer holidays. - What the fuck, they can do that? - They do that, yes. And then you have in December and January, there's like 75 to 80% pay.

Then you have it again in March because the end of school year. This is something that is the hardest part because some months you'll feel good and then the holidays come around and everyone wants to go out and have a beer or celebrate. But the August payment is two months later. So it's right on that October 1st pay. You get $700. And you're like, this isn't even going to pay the rent. No, it doesn't. And luckily, you know, if you're responsible, you'll have no problems. Yeah.

If you're responsible. If you're responsible. It was pretty tough. Now to kind of give the other side where I worked at the private high school, I made really, really decent money. Not even close to what I would consider a teacher should make of that effort of like how much you're there. But that one was closer to in a yearly sum, 35 to 45,000 a year.

Okay. Which is, that's a very respect. And I had an opportunity to keep growing that each year I stayed. So that's pretty good then. Yeah. That's, I would say just being honest, it's probably one or 2% of people can get those opportunities. It's called a direct hire. So you cut out the middleman and you get. Directly like from the school. Yeah. Right. Right. So those are very hard to get, but those are, those are very rewarding and the kids can be, it's a,

The last thing you got to remember though is Japanese work culture, man. It's horrible. It's the worst. It's the worst. Yeah. You will be there sometimes six days a week, if not seven, you will do things outside of the scope of your contract routinely. Yeah. And you are expected to go and socialize with coworkers and be a part of these things.

whether it's today we're going to proctor tests for eight hours. And in Japan, that means you do not move. You do not speak. You cannot check your phone. And if a student knocks like their pencil off the table of their desk, they can't even pick it up. You have to go and be like, here you are.

You can't speak though. You just ominously throw it down in their face. So these happen like six or seven times a year with testing. So those are like weeks of your life where you're sitting and just thinking and there's nothing worse than being left alone with your thoughts on like a beautiful day. Yeah. So I've never thought about that. Yeah. Cause like I, I can remember taking tests.

in like school and stuff. I can't remember what my teachers were doing. - Well, they would hire examiners. - Oh really? - They were like third parties people. 'Cause obviously the teachers are teaching still during exams. So they can't oversee the exams. - Oh. - Oh, see we have like a whole testing block. So it'd be like, all right, it's finals or university entrance examination kind of pre-test. So all the teachers have no classes, but we take a buddy system and you'd sit there for, stand there for 90 minutes and just,

make sure no one's cheating and it's like man this is brutal and those things are like today we're having a Setsumeikai which is like an informational day because we got to recruit students so everyone down to the arena so we can set up 475 chairs manually you know like setting these things and pulling them out of the thing and then

you do all this stuff like waiting and in Japan you're like, you say that like 4,000 times, like come this way. And then if you don't know where the fuck the entrance is, it's not just the entrance. You guide them along. Like 18 people are pointing you to like a straight line and you're like, okay. And they always put the, you know, they put me out front cause I got a winning smile and I'm like, Hey, welcome. And the parents are just like walking by and you're like, okay. Um, but,

those outside of the teaching stuff is a major part of your work and you'll sit in meetings legitimately for six or seven hours and you have no idea what's being talked about and I'll lean over to like an English teacher I'm like what are we talking about and she's like

they're discussing sock colors. And I'm like, what? We've been here for three hours. I was like, purple, blue, white. And they're just like, no, this is a very important discussion. So we, it's those things amplified times a hundred. - What are they like trying to figure out the fucking hexadecimal? - So the shift would be hard anyway, having to do it. And on top of that, you have hours upon hours of time where you just feel like your time is being wasted and-

- Unbelievably so. - Yeah, 'cause like I interned at a Japanese tech company during college for like three months in Tokyo, like in Shibuya. And those three months were more than enough time for me to be like, I do not wanna be part of this cycle. 'Cause it was exactly the same. Like I had, when I was employed, like I had like a set list of things that was my job, like day-to-day basis, right? It's like, you know, I did like website design and like SEO design and stuff like that.

But 90% of the day was shit that I had A, no expertise in or B, I had no knowledge in. So I was like forced to like sit with like these clients for this company. And they're talking about some kind of fucking higher end business shit. And I'm just sitting there being like,

- Do you want me to like take notes? And they're like, no, no, no, no, just be here. I'm like, why am I here? I could have finished my job today by now if I didn't have this meeting. So it's like, no, no, you have to be here though. It's company policy. I'm like, is it? 'Cause I'm not fucking doing anything. - And that is the reality. - It's horrible. - It's also, he speaks Japanese. So yeah, I'm just sitting there and it's like,

I have, I hate when people say I have ADHD, right? But I like literally have it. Like, yeah. I was like the first kid who had it and the treatments, like when we were kids, I remember my mom took me to like this ADHD specialist. Pioneer of ADHD. I seriously was.

they were like they put you in all these different pills which my mom I think was like I'll just take those you don't need them and I was like those are uppers aren't they and I'm like okay but they gave me these headphones that were like giant like 1970s cans and I had to listen to whales communicating for like three hours a night to try to calm your mind and I was like I thought that was just like a

meme no I am the meme so I am that's me we did that we had a hell of I don't think I'm stable I think I don't think it helped I was like eight or nine and so I was a kid and so like I had some real real issues uh

but my mom was very patient. But like, you know, the ADHD part of me, when you're sitting in a room for seven hours and you can't read a book, you can't, you can't, you just have to sit there. So it did, that actually helped me with more than the whales did because you really learn to be totally patient with like the opportunity. But,

I do feel bad. I want to say one thing really quick about teaching because I've totally shit on it for like 30 minutes. Right. Teaching can be really fun. It's in the classroom is I think with high school, especially it can be really satisfying and very rewarding. And you get to see some kids make like genuine progress. And I like preparing my own lessons. I like doing that stuff. Yeah. Um, though I did it for probably nine years too long, but I still think if that's the job that gets you into a country you want to be in, um,

whether it's Japan or somewhere else, I would, I would take it still. I have no regrets over those experiences that I have a lot. I'm leaving out all the funny stories, but like, I mean, you have a treasure. Those, those experiences are definitely, they've helped me in so many different ways, but yeah, my advice would be find another outside the school's income, something to supplement it, something like, um, private lessons. Or if you have some other skills, you join a hobby that pays somehow, um,

That will help you enjoy your life in Japan more than the working 75 hours a week part of it. But yeah, those are all very different experiences, but they're all very... It was... It's pretty shit on by everybody. Most people, if you ask them, like, what do you do in Japan? They'll be like, um...

I teach English, but I also, I teach yoga once every three months. You're like, that's awesome. But, you know, we kind of meme it up a bit to each other. It's kind of like, you know, we're like, ah, another day teaching English. You know, it's tough. Yeah.

- That's what I think. I think it's pretty, pretty marked. - So how did you go like, how did you go in terms of your process of like planning lessons and stuff like that? Did you just like make it up on the fly? - You probably had to like follow a curriculum. - Basic plan, right? Do you have a curriculum or something to follow? - So it,

depending on the school, but I'll give you like two or three examples. Sometimes the curriculum is 100% either faxed to you from the company, like today's colors, you know, and it'll be like, this is the layout, this is the intro, this is the middle, or you'll have a giant book that has a, this is the sequence of lessons we're teaching this year. Today's lesson is this. And then the other ones, that's step one. That's usually like an Akiwa or elementary school.

It's pretty simplified and straightforward. Yeah. Second one is like, I would say the middle school area where you have, or early high school, like first year students, you work very closely with an English teacher who is their Japanese primary, the Japanese teacher who teaches English. Does that make sense? Yeah. Okay. Sorry. Then they will say, you know, I'm really, I've taught them this grammar point, but I'm having trouble making an activity so that we could reuse it or like make it fun. So then you're like, okay. Yeah.

Well, let me see what I got. Let me put on the clown shoes real quick. I was like, I've got that ready to go. And it's like Superman, but you just have the buttons that are just the same things. And I start putting on the makeup. Those are, yeah, the common ones are like a bingo or a jeopardy or some sort of interactive dialogue or, you know. And then when you get into high school, one of my favorite things was I actually, well, if I must admit it,

I made my own textbook. Thank you. And it never got published, but I got to use it in the class that I taught. But for me, it was the perfect opportunity because they said, we've created a class just for you. We want you to teach these students everything.

We're leaving it open-ended to you, but I need you to write up a detailed yearly outline. What is your pedagogy? What are you going to try to bring to them? What are the midterms? What are the finals? How is it being schooled? All that stuff. And I really used my previous six years of teaching, and it was really kind of nice to be able to put all of those ideas into one single...

And so as you get more experience, and I think if you take it seriously, you have a lot more control over how you want those lessons to go. But sometimes you can tell immediately you get in there and you're like, Oh, I got the best game ever. We're going to play this cool rock scissors paper game. And like 10 minutes later, you're like, this shit's horrible. And no one's having fun. And you look at the clock and you're like, that wasn't even 10 minutes. I was three. I got 47 more minutes. And then you're like, all right, clean up, clean up everybody everywhere. And you just, uh, it,

that part. This shit always works. So you learn a lot about, which I think has helped me in acting definitely,

that degree was useful. Yeah. You know, being agile or being able to think on your feet and improvising, improvising is a massive one. And it's kind of cool. You get this, you talk to teachers who've done it for a while. You get this internal clock where you, you don't even need to see the thing anymore. Like on the wall, you already know that that's, that game has already been long enough. Yeah. So let's, let's wrap it up and go to this other thing. And if I need to add or detract some time, you can do it. It's awesome. It's a really fun feeling being, you know, the, your own little star of a classroom. It's fun. Yeah.

- Hell yeah. - Yep, that's how you make a lesson. - Yeah, I gotta ask because like, you know, we've seen, we see like high school movies and everything like that. And in America there's normally like some delinquents and stuff like that. I gotta know because like my image of Japanese school kids is that they're very well behaved and stuff like that. Is that true or not?

- I would say 97% of students are very well behaved. If not too behaved where you're like, it's so hard to- - Show some character. - It's like, hello, is there anyone in there? - Yeah, and so, but then you, I did teach at a school once that was a delinquent level school where they had been- - Delinquent level school? - Yeah, so if you don't- - The school that all the delinquents conglomerate. - Yeah, and so one kid could have, you know, had a, you know,

violent past. The other kid could just be really shy. And then these two girls could just be like, I just need to, I dropped out. But like, you got to teach some. And those are the ones where it's really awkward. You're like, today's lessons is, and then somebody in the back would be like, titties. And you're like, nope, that's not today's lesson. He's like, ball sack. And you're like, no, that's not on there either. Do you want to try again? He's just like, titty ball sack. And I'm like, are you a student? You look 31. He'll be like, oh, ball sack.

And then he'll like leave or something. You're like, okay, those you do get kids. Like I remember one, I, we had a group photo and I felt so bad for this co-teacher. She's quite young and she was like 24, 25. And we taught this course and all of them were sports course. So they were like really into all of the things that, uh, you know, a hot blooded young man will be into. And, and, you know, uh,

That's not great to be in that scenario with this poor young teacher. And we took a group photo and right at the last second, three of the baseball boys dropped their pants and they're just like in their whitey tighties just posing. And this is like for the school. And I'm like, we can't have that. Let's try taking that again. And then six kids took their pants off. And I was like, all right, that's, I'm getting fired. They're like, how was your English lesson? I was like, well, we stripped. And then kids were swinging their, you know,

Those kids are very rare, but I think once they learn a bad word, oh man, or they'll be, they'll say like, and I'll be like, yeah. He's like, and I'm like, what's that word? And it's boobs. And I'll be like, I've never heard that. And he's like, and I was like, no, I've eaten the, he's like, and he

And you're like, I never heard that. And then they'll just keep digging it deeper and to get a reaction. So you could say to yourself, I sound like YouTube comments. Yeah. Well, those kids are there. They're, they're memorable, but,

It's pretty rare, because I'd say most kids are extremely well-behaved. But you do get some characters who want to learn about the different words they've seen on an American TV show, or they watch this podcast, or they've learned some new words. Yeah, that part can be tough. But in high school, at the private one, you've got to be pretty straight-laced. Yeah, for sure. One complaint I often hear...

or Japanese teachers, well, not Japanese, foreigners teaching English in Japan, is that it often feels like you're very repulsive

- You're almost always made to feel that like, oh, we're waiting for you to leave so we can get the next person in. Like there's almost a sense of you're not valued as like a member of the team in a sense. I don't know if I'm capturing that quite well. - You're definitely the, are we recording this? - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - I thought you were just privately. - We didn't stop recording by the way. - That's okay. So, you know,

You're definitely not a core part of the team. In fact, a lot of the times they'll sit the foreigner group into their own little square, if not in a different room completely. Jesus Christ. And then that's actually better actually than being a part of the group sometimes because then you have shared tasks. But the thing you mentioned is I think the turnover rate is so high for teachers in Japan that,

the real teachers don't want to get a chance to get to know you, attached, or figure out your methods. It's just, hey man, you just got to do it. And another thing is, it's actually a rule in Japan that every six or seven years, all of the teachers must rotate out of the school.

So you can't... Yeah, this is a real thing. So you'll be... Is there a reason why? I think it's to encourage not resting on your laurels or... Wait, every teacher? Every teacher. So you'll go and teach with a guy like, you know, Mr. Ishikawa or something. And he'll be like, two years...

In two years, he's gone. Like that's it. But then another teacher was there for like five more. So you, you kind of get used to that or a teacher will come back and he'll be like, ah, not squishy. It's very nostalgic. I used to work here 14 years ago. And you're like, wow. Okay. So they get sent to different schools. And sometimes that's,

literally a horrific change because you can go from like a really great school that has model students to a delinquent school or to a tech school or those are not bad schools but I mean like you could be used to something that can be very stressful and the same is for the foreign teachers we um

Unless it's a private school, you can be hired there forever, which is my last job. But the other ones, you get used to the shuffle. And it's a terrible dread when you go to the meetings and you're like, what's my assignment this year? Or on the Akiwa, you might have... When I was an Akiwa teacher for the drama one, I had about five different locations. Like all...

all around Japan. I'd be like Yoyogi, which is in Tokyo. And I'd be like in Kamioka, which is the opposite end of Yokohama. Or you have like a different day, you'd go to a different studio. At the beginning of the year, you'd get your new assignment and it'd be like six new places that may or may not be anywhere close to your home.

- They have Gatchified. - They do reimburse. - Gatchified teachers as well now. - They've Gatchified it all, man. - What the fuck? - It's like, all right, this year, please give me the S. - Yeah, I'm gonna- - Every time I think there's something Japan can't Gatchify, they prove me wrong, baby. - That's it. - Gotcha occupations. - Yeah. - Fucking hell. - Yeah, I got that. I never got an S by the way. I got a lot of S. - I'd heard of a few cases where someone had been

given their location where they were gonna teach in Japan. And it was so remote or shit that they just didn't enjoy it and they just left. - Like Niigata. - Well, Niigata is one of the better ones, honestly. - Well, I mean, yeah. - 'Cause you could be really remote. Like boats or something. - I had a friend who taught in the middle of the mountains in Mie. - Oh man. - And that's like really fucking middle of the mountains.

middle of nowhere. - And people would just leave. They wouldn't say anything. They would just, "I'll go back to Turkey, I'm getting the flight back. I'm not doing this." - Yeah, it's especially, you know, jets notoriously, a jet is a government sponsored program. I think it's called like the Japanese exchange teaching program or something like that. - Yeah.

have great money and great benefits and a lot of holiday time. And that's, if you do want to come and teach, I highly recommend that's the first option, right? They guarantee you some money. But the thing is, it's the great gotcha of our day. You have very little agency in where you are placed. So you pass the interview and they ask you, was there any

particular location you'd like to teach at. And everyone says Tokyo. That actually, I've heard, eliminates a lot of the people. Oh, really? Because for a long time, Jets were not in Tokyo until just about four or five years ago. They finally opened it back up. But if you say like Osaka, Tokyo, Yokohama, they'll be like,

We don't want you because they can probably suss out that you're here for an anime pop-up convention or like another activity or something that's... You're focused on that. You're not here to experience the real Japan. So that's a quick way. But yeah, you'll get people who...

I met Jets when I was in Niigata, and they would just be like, I don't know what I'm doing here. I've been here three years, and it's so much snow, but I like snowboarding now. And you're like, okay. But you're right. You could get sent to Ehime, which is a beautiful place, but it's nowhere near. It's a different island. It's not very eventful. That's very true. People will just, that's how I got my job. No, mine was because of the...

Yeah. The other one. Yeah, the other one. The other one, the Prince Andrew stuff. I don't think I can say that, but yeah. I probably can't say that, but that's why we got kicked out, or they got kicked out, but like, it was not uncommon. We were okay, but like the previous people. Yeah, the previous people. Those, there were a lot of times where someone would like, just be like, they just ghosted. Even at my private school, right when COVID hit,

this guy, this Texan was like, I'm out. And he left in the dead of night with his wife. Damn. Like one of the last flights out of Tokyo. And we have like a full, he's a teacher. And so they were like, oh, you have a new, you have six more lessons this year. And I'm like, well, do I get six more times pay? Or is that, how does that work? Are we giving up his, his, no, we're not. Okay. Well, he just literally just left. He just left. And I think he was a little bit concerned.

with the upcoming year of like what his responsibilities were. He was probably happy in the job itself. And I think he was like, you know what? I'm not going to be here for this COVID thing. I don't know the deal. I don't know. And then he just gone. And he messaged me. He called me and he was like, what's up, man? It was like maybe 930 at night for me. And I was like, dude, where are you at? Are you at like a studio? What's that? He's like, that's the sun. I'm at home in Texas. And I was like, what? What?

And I was like, the, the cornea virus is like Corona. I didn't know. I had no idea. I had no idea yet. It was still like, we didn't know what was going on yet. And I was like, that shit's still out. And he was like, yeah, I left man. And if you want that TV, you gave me, I left the door unlocked. And I was like, what? You live like you just, it's, you just, you left the furniture and everything.

So yeah, that does happen. - Jesus Christ. - Yeah. - Well, 'cause it's a big problem, right? I suppose you can, there's nothing essentially stopping you from just upping and leaving. - Oh yeah, Japanese people, you hear about Japanese people doing it all the time. Where they just wanna escape, they're like sick of their work or whatever and they just, it's called yoniye in Japanese, but it's like, it's literally just escaping at night and just fucking leaving everything behind, just out.

- Man. - And just going somewhere, whether it's in Japan or a different country, just changing your life. - Man, I'd be like, but I feel like the PS5 though, I put it out. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - It doesn't fit in the backpack. - I feel like, I don't know where this resolve comes from in people. I suppose the job is that soul crushing that you get that. - Sometimes you just wake up one day and you're like, - You're like, fuck it. - I'm done. - Yeah, fuck it. - I'm just like, I need a change.

- That's crazy. - Sometimes you just need to like escape. - And that's one of the reasons why like in this day and age, like the process of like renting an apartment or a house or whatever it is, is so strict because they've had so many instances of tenants just fucking up

up and leaving. And then that causes all sorts of problems to not just like the building, but also like the insurance company, all that kind of stuff. So that's why, that's one of the few reasons why like, it's so hard to get an apartment here because they're like, we got to give you this apartment, but you better not fucking run away. Yeah. And it's, it's kind of sad that that's like a measure that they have to take. It's a, it's a stark reality when you enter the world of education. Yeah.

Or just buying a home. Or just Japanese workforce. I think out of anyone I've ever met, you've had the most interesting side quests in Japan. The stories you've told me. I've mentioned you need to supplement your income. I mean, you can surely tell some of the stories. If this was in a movie, some of the stuff that you got up to in Japan, everyone would be like, this is the stupidest movie ever made.

It would be. It would be the stupidest movie ever made. This doesn't make any sense. Why would anyone do this? I mean, I've had so many random jobs. My first one that I can remember doing, I worked for NHK for a while. That was kind of cool. How did that all come about? So...

I found an advertisement or someone told me that they, you know, there's an open call and it's a show where they have like eight to 10 foreigners and they're all from different countries. And they say like, today's theme is something Japanese. It could be like bentos. And then they send three of the foreigners out on location somewhere and they experience a different kind of bento. Maybe this is the most expensive one. Maybe this is the most beautiful one. Right.

And then we talk about like, bentos in America, dude, would never work because there's no burgers. But like, it was tough because you had to represent the entire nation. Right. Of America. That's overwhelming power. And so I get to say all the opinions and then be like, well, if they're right or wrong, it doesn't matter. But you had to be very careful. You just say things like,

As far as I know, bone in is best. And then you'd have like, I'm just saying as an example, as an example. Tell me how you really feel. Bone in is best. Hey, that's what I'm talking about. Finally, someone on the podcast that agrees with me. I just can't believe it took this long. But yes, that's all of America's opinion. Don't worry. On behalf of me.

I wouldn't know. I worked at the NHK. So it was that kind of job was cool because they gave you, you know, a couple hundred bucks a month and you get to be on TV. And since I was a theater background, it did keep me connected with like, oh, this is exciting. This is performing, performing, entertaining. I didn't hang my hat on it thinking like I've made it, you know, but like it was a cool thing. And then I got to be an extra in a movie in Japan, which was awesome. It was called Vancouver no Asahi.

And it was a baseball movie. The Sunrise of Vancouver? The Sunrise of Vancouver. And it was set in like 1920. And I went to the costume thing. Because we went out to some field in the middle of God knows where, Saitama or something. And they were like, Peter Davis? And I was like, Macy? And they were like, okay. I was like, all right, that'll work. And then he was like, ugh.

uh, I was like the last guy. And they were like, well, we have like a medium and you're more of an L. And I was like, oh, so like the jacket like didn't fit. And I, it like scrunched on, I look like homeless. And I, so I was like, no, I'll give my character like a,

you know, like some backstory. I'll give him like a name. And I, and his name was Chester Flint. It was cool name. But, um, and then I, I, it was, you know, I was getting into it and I decided all of my scenes took place at like a bar. So I, I just always made sure that anytime they said action, I was like the lowest one on the table, kind of like barely dislike drinking as much as, and if ever there was food placed in front of me, Chester always needed like a little bit of, cause he didn't know his next meal was coming. Um,

So I had like the best night ever for like two days. I got to eat and drink for free. It wasn't beer. It was like just flavored water, but I went all in on that character. And I thought, you know, I think I've got a real career here. No, I did not. But like, that was still cool because I got money for it. Yeah. Hell yeah. And right as I was coming back from that, I had, I had booked with an agency somehow and,

And they said, we have this audition for you to be a model for a furniture company called Okamura. Okay. And that's a legit furniture company. I was like, yeah, sounds cool, man.

And I go there. And again, just like the baseball film, they had the wrong name. They were like, are you the cameraman? And I was like, no, I don't have any equipment. And they're like, bet, fuck it. You're in. And it was me and about 35 French models who were like 6'2 and jacked. Like I'm talking perfect.

perfect bodies. And I was like, all right, this is so bad. I'm, this is so awkward. And we had a group audition and I was like the last guy in this. There was four of us in our group. It was three French guys and me. And we had to go up to like the top where the Okamura, you know, sales department,

presidents were waiting. And I remember the French guy didn't hold the door open for me. It kind of like slammed into my foot and then I put, and then I knocked over this plant and this dirt went everywhere. And I was like, I'm so sorry. And they're like, it's okay. And I was like, I'm starting to feel nervous. I'm starting to feel like,

I don't think I look right for this job. I feel like it's all bad. And we sit on these stools and they said, you know, just introduce yourself. And the French guys were like in perfect Japanese. They were just like saying like, I've been modeling for six years. I've worked with, you know, Gucci and Prada and all these things. And then they get to me and I'm like, hi, I was, I like hamburgers and baseball. And I was in a movie recently called, it's not out yet, but then they were like, okay, this guy and the, you know, the sales staff is kind of watching me and taking a note and they're like, what?

Why is he here? And I was like, okay, just you got this, man. Just keep being funny. Keep being you. And they were like, now we just want to see you guys talk to each other. And you can have like a moment where we're just seeing you guys move naturally through the thing. And I was like, okay. So I turned to talk to the guy. And he immediately starts talking to like his French buddies. Like just the three of them. And I was like...

I took French a little bit. And then they kind of just totally ignored me. And I turned back and I was looking at the sales staff and I was like, I'm sorry, man. I don't think I'm actually supposed to be here. And he was like, you said you like baseball. And I was like, yes, I do. He was like, what team do you like? And I was like, the Yakult Swallows are kind of a fun team because they've got the umbrellas. He was like, that's my favorite team. And so we started talking.

And I ended up getting the job to be a model for Okamoto. Hell yeah. So I was so excited. I was like, fuck you guys. They must have gone back to Gucci and Prada with their... I can't believe we missed Okamoto. Anyway, back to Louis Vuitton. Yeah, yeah. The thing was, we had to take a Shinkansen from Osaka. It was my first time taking a Shinkansen. I was so nervous. I could not even sleep the night before. I was just like... Of what?

I mean, look, I thought you had a train. I was like, damn, it's the train. No, no, no. But like, I was so nervous about this opportunity because it paid a fair amount of money. And I was like, oh my God, this is, why am I modeling? I was like, what possible reason would they, and I go there and it,

It's like this really beautiful woman and like this really handsome guy. And then I'm there as well. And they were like, your clothes were over here. And it was like this really tight yellow polo that was kind of see-through. And you could see like, you know, like my belly button. And I was like feeling like, oh, fuck, this is so awkward. And I walk out there with like my chinos and shirt. And they're like, we might need to do some changing of the shirts. And I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah, it's fine though. And they were like, eh.

is that how you like your hair? And I was like, uh, I don't know. You know, like, so I realized in almost every scene that I was in, I was either at the back and they always instructed me that like, I couldn't get the fax machine to work or I'm walking past like a window with like dropping folders. And so all of my character was like, Oh, Kamura hires,

idiots too. And I was like, well, do I have like a cool part where I'm like at the office chair and I'm like, I have like a cigar and I'm doing like a business deal and they're like, no, no, no, that's these guys. You're going to be like serving coffee or you spilled it on yourself. And I was like, damn, this is fun. I had to take that and I parlayed that into a job where I was a model, second modeling gig where this one was for a punching bag. So...

You can buy that at Don Quixote. It was, I still have a- Like the blow up ones? Yeah, that one. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, okay. Yeah, I was on that one and I'm like- Wait, you're on the box? Yeah, it's great. Oh, shit. Yeah, I'll bring it here and you guys can put that on the floor. Oh, yeah. Yeah, at the very bottom. But so like that one was cool because they brought this girl from like the Ukraine and she was like absolutely the most beautiful person I've ever seen. And she was like, I have 200 jobs in three days. Let's make it quick. And I was like-

I was like, wow, this is so sick. I'm like a real deal. And they were like, all right, so you're going to be like, you know, holding her back. She's like aggressively punching this bag. And she felt really uncomfortable. Like, not because of me, I hope.

She's like, don't touch me. You know what I'm like? No, but they said, she's really not getting the look. Can you go in there and just gesticulate like your, her job so she can see what it looks. And I was like, yeah, that's fine. So I got to do like two jobs for once. And then when we finally got it, I got to say the final product, she looks great. I look great.

Really stupid. But they combed my hair like super to the side. I need to see this bitch anyway. Yeah, it's like four different images on the box. And my students would find it at Don Quixote. And they'd be like, Pito Sensei? And I was like, no, no, Zenzin Shigao. I don't know that man. I'm Petter.

I don't know who Peter is. I don't know who Peter is. It's the Peta we've been talking so much about. It was tough. And then in addition to that, I got into some voice acting work where I worked for a cult here in Japan where I did the voices...

- I've heard this story, but we should probably hash it out. We should start from the beginning. - How did this opportunity come around? - Well, this was actually one of the first opportunities I had was because when in Niigata, I met a member of that church and they said, "You have such a lovely voice." And I was like,

And I was like, yeah, that's pretty cool. And they were like, you know, you should do work for our El Cantare or whatever. And I was like, what? I was like, no, I haven't had that on the menu yet. I was like, what's that? And they were like, no, no, no. They were like, no, no, no, that's the great one. I was like, oh, okay, I misheard you. Like, you know. And so I came to Tokyo and it was like when I was a young man. And, well, I was 31. Right.

I bet I was young, apparently. But, you know, in my experiences in the country... Thank you for giving that. That makes me feel so much better. Sorry, I had to clarify that. But, like, we go in there and...

I go into this gilded building. It's this 18-story massive place. They have them all around Japan. And I go in there, and they were like, yeah, welcome. And I swear to God, I'm not making this up. The girl who was like the receptionist must have been 21, 22, 23, really young, really attractive. And she had the Sazae-san dog as a big stuffed animal hugged to her chest. Yeah.

And she was like, welcome. And she'd say like, can you say welcome? And then she would like talk as the dog to me. And I was like, all right, let's go. And so I was like, which one do I reply to? - Do I talk to the dog or you? - I was like, hi, hi. And so they were like, all right, well, we gotta go up to the top floor and we have your script ready and stuff. And I said, okay.

we go to the top and, um, the script had way too many English mistakes. Like it was, it was incomprehensible. Like it didn't even make any sense. So they said, all right, well, we'll wheel out the YouTube videos of his speeches and then you can just read that along. But you know, like him. And I said, okay, well set it up for me. What's the deal? And they were like, all right, do you know like who Jesus is? And I was like, yes. All right.

I am aware. I've heard the name before. And they were like, all right, imagine that you can hear Jesus talking to you. I was like, okay. I went to Catholic school for a year. I know what that's like. They're like, and Santa. And I was like, hmm.

I was like, that's a very different voice. And then they were like, and you have like the prophet Muhammad or you have El Cantare, which I guess is another being or Buddha or any, she listed like nine or 10 different deities. Yeah. And, and she said, when you hear their voices, which is what our leader hears, you have to imbue that in English.

So you had to do like nine different voices? I had to feel nine different voices. And channel them out in the world. And I'm not trying to be disrespectful, of course, to any religion, if that's obvious. But this is what I was told. And I was like, okay, this is really hard because I am unfamiliar with some of the ones we're mentioning. And I was like, do I just...

Just they're like, you're fine. Just, you know, so they wheel out the TV. I'm looking at it and I'm like, okay, let's go. And it was, I sat there and I said, well, you know what? Just give it kind of a general stage voice. And I was like, okay, start. I was like, the heavens have spoken and we can delete and recover all universes. And they're like, it's not a question. I was like, no, I know. I was just reading that. And I was like, all right, can I try that again? And they were like, yeah, but

we really couldn't hear, you know, the voices. And I was like, well, I was like, was there any one in particular was like Santa that I was missing? And so I was like, all right. So,

So we do take two and they were like, just give it more. And I was like, all right, all right. So I was like, you know, the heavens have spoken and the deletion of universes is not. And they were like, stop, it's still not feeling it. And I was like, all right, well, I learned one thing in theater school. It's way easier to tell someone to do, uh,

less than it is to encourage people to do more. Also good for teaching advice. You know, it's, it start them off as big as you can and say, that's amazing. Let's keep most of it, scale it back. So I went full dynasty warriors, like three with it. I was like, I was like, if they want to hear the voices, I'll go with whatever the most ridiculous. And I was like, you know, I was like, I'll move this a little bit. I was like, the girl was like,

I was like, the deletion and creation. And then they were like, that's great. We did that shit for two hours. I had the best time of my life. I was like, that's great. And so, uh, but then, and I'm not making this up. I wish I was. They,

right around the two hour mark, these like eight or nine dudes came in fully like robed up with the gilded robes on the top. And I swear on all of the voices that they, on one of the pillows, they had a gilded dagger, this golden dagger, and they were carrying it to the front for like a sermon of some sort. And she's like, our session's done. And I was like, okay, am I walking out of here alive or what's going on? And then they tried to like recruit me into the, if they,

you know, they thought I had the voice. And so they said, we could, if you want to come back and do it again, you need to be a member of them. The group. And I was like, yeah. Oh,

I'd love to, but I'm hearing some disagreements. So I'm gonna, I'll get back to you on that. And they were like, here's a Matsuya meal ticket. Enjoy your day. In addition to the money I was paid. - Okay, I was gonna ask, is that what they paid you? - No, they did give me, I was like, oh nice. - A beef bowl coupon. - I was like, nice, a beef bowl. - I didn't even know they had coupons. - They do, surprisingly. Well, they did when I did that. Or maybe it's only for select people. - For religious cults.

So we, I had that opportunity and I mean, that's such a long story. I kind of detract, I got derailed on my own, but like, yeah. So then you kind of have those opportunities come up every once in a while. And I've always been of the mind to like take them fully. And if you get some extra money out of it, it's, it's cool. And then of course, you know, that,

me being in all these weird places and having all these weird experiences kind of helped me be ready to do things, I think, where I transitioned out of teaching. So that was a, it was a long nine years and there was other weird modeling jobs and there was other weird kind of like, oh- - So you got into this whole rabbit hole of just modeling then from this one- - Or just like odd jobs. - Or just odd jobs. - The oddest jobs. - Some of the bad ones that you can still find on YouTube. It's like, I had to do, I was like a, I was like,

English textbook that they use all over Southeast Asia and Japan and people will see me on like what I do now and streaming and they'll say like I just saw you in my class today and I'm like hello Cajo which notebook is yours the blue one or the light blue one and she'll be like the blue one I'm like they're both blue Whose notebooks are these? They don't have names Sorry, that's mine

Which one is yours, Kaho? The blue one is. Both are blue. And then it's like, I was like, well, I wish I could have that one back. Or I'm like, welcome to Sunshine Pizza. What's today's offer going to be? But, you know, those are there. But I think if you ask my friends, in addition to Japan...

Among my friends group, I had so many random jobs in America that from like from the ages of 18 to, you know, moving was just an endless cycle of like its own Netflix series. So, yeah, it was weird. Is it just because you say yes to like everything?

Yeah. Cause I feel like you do. Yeah. I think, um, yeah, I'll say yes. There was three French guys upstairs. I was like, are those the normal guests? And you're like, I can't make it. And I'm like, I'll fill in. But, uh, I think for me, I got this really cool advice as a young actor and,

I think the hardest thing to acquire is unique experiences. And I think a lot of people fall into routines and I, I do too, but I am always keeping an ear open or, you know, some kind of opportunity, no matter what, if I can get a unique experience out of that, then I think it's worth doing. Oh, absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. That's good for acting. That's just good life advice.

- Sometimes I will make a bad decision. I know it's a bad decision. I'm like, oh, the story will be good though. It will be a good, it will be a fun story to tell. - That's the best. - Yeah, it gets something out of it. - Yeah, and I mean, I think that a lot of people have told me I've had a very colorful life and a lot of interesting experiences, but I think a lot of those are, yeah. But those opportunities do come to a lot of people. I think it's just, it's easier to just be like,

"Ah, nah, I don't want to do that." - Yeah, for sure. - 'Cause even if it seems like kind of trivial and like not important at the time, most of the times you think about that, you know, five, 10 years later and you're like, "Fuck, I should have done that." - I should have done that El Cantare voice, damn it. - Well, the problem is you don't know what crazy stuff you're missing. - Exactly. - You might not have been El Cantare. - And for two hours,

- You heard the voices of every relationship. - It makes you think about all the weird stuff that's happened in Japan that we'll never get to hear about 'cause nobody's documenting or talking about it. - Yeah, exactly. - It's a really wild ride and I wouldn't trade it for a thing, honestly. I think even though those years were very hard, but yeah.

finally at the ancient age of 39, I've been able to see it through those tough parts. But I'm glad it was in Japan. I really do love it here. - Yeah. And then obviously now you're Twitch streaming full time, right? That's your- - Much to my family's great shame. No, my mom loves it. - I think my parents feel the same. - If you thought teaching was bad, no. But I think Twitch is, or streaming or YouTube or what any of you guys have done, podcasting. - It just seems like,

- Every time I taught you, it was like streaming was like made for you. - Oh yeah, definitely. - With all the experiences you have and like your background and everything, it's just, you know, you can shine the way you want to really. - Well, I appreciate that. - It also seems that you have a very interest. I like when you talk to me about it 'cause I find that, 'cause you weren't raised online. - Well, actually before you guys, you know, I was raised like on the base of the internet.

of the internet. Like the beginning of AOL Instant Messenger and Abom's World and You're the Man Now Dog and things that don't exist anymore that were memes way before we had words for memes. But then I took a nine year break when it really blew up because from 2011 was the total earthquake. I didn't even have a PC for eight years. So I missed, of course you see it on the phone and stuff, but when YouTube really became a career in the late 2000s,

And it kind of opened these opportunities on Twitch like 2010, 2011. I was on the sidelines on that. And you guys have such knowledge of it. But the things that we had back then are still...

We dial up and net zero. And if you had DSL in your apartment blocks or your houses, everyone would just come over to your house to use the internet. Oh, yeah. It was the Wild West back then. This one's cool, though. Yeah, it was actually a lot more fun, I think. How did you find out about Twitch then? So it's actually really interesting because... No, it's not. I don't know why I gave that. Like, I...

I have no idea why I said that. It's an interesting story. I just lied. I straight up lied. That's straight up false. It is a story. I had been into watching like Justin TV and stuff for Evo and fighting game tournaments. And then Twitch came about when I had started teaching at a high school and I started watching a ridiculous amount of Hearthstone during the initial blow up of like Twitch. And I started getting into all of that stuff.

And then I started streaming myself a little bit. I bought a PlayStation Eye camera and I tried and I,

- I was like, yeah, I'm not feeling this at all. Like it was, I wasn't ready for that opportunity yet. - I've never seen somebody stream using the built-in like streaming tools. However, I've seen one person do it. - I've tried it once. - I've seen one person do it who had a substantial viewership. - Really? - You know who it was? - No. - It was like Hitomi. - Hitomi Tanaka. - The porn star. - The Japanese porn star? - Yeah, she was playing.

If you don't know her, you might know her. - You will know her. - You probably don't know you know her. But yeah, I remember she still streams on Twitch now. She just plays Fortnite. - Wow. - With the built-in PlayStation. - Seriously? Holy shit. - No commentary, nothing. It's just her playing Fortnite. And I guess people are just like, I could imagine.

- It was tough. I remember Overwatch had just come out, right? And I was playing that on the built-in streaming. - 2016, doesn't that feel crazy that you just came out? - Fucking hell. - Don't say that. - Don't say that. - Anyway, I was streaming that and I was playing as Hanzo and I was kind of like- - Fucking Hanzo, man. - Well, hey, just at that time. - At least he's not a Genji man. - Day one of playing. I was just feeling it out.

I'm a Zenyatta main, really, the cool dude with the robots. I don't play Overwatch. It's a shitty game. Anyway, but I was... Anyway, I was doing this thing, and I hit some dude with the headshot. And you know, everyone's first stream, I was like, good shot. And this guy somehow took the time to use the built-in PlayStation thing, and he was like, you are shit. And I was like...

I was like, what's up, man? Are you, hello? And then he never replied. And I was like, oh, maybe that was the one and done. You know, that was it. But like, it didn't feel right. It didn't feel fun. It didn't have the things. I didn't have the tools available to make it what I wanted, what I'd seen. So I was like, all right, I'm done with this. And it wasn't until, you know, COVID that I got back into it. But yeah, it is a very interesting platform for people like me because it caters to what I grew up with, I think the most, which I'm still what I would consider a,

a dying breed on Twitch, which is really centered on games. And now I'm not saying that's not popular, of course, but I think that what Twitch and YouTube streaming has done so well is there's these people innovating on it and doing bigger and more interesting and like actual events, right? Yeah. But,

I've always just wanted to recreate a kind of game nights with my buddies when we used to play Halo 16 player when I was in high school and Twitch does it was the best it was it was the best of times having LAN parties and LAN parties oh

- It was something that unless you were there, you- - I'm very jealous. I never got to experience like LAN parties. - I used to have Civ II LAN parties back in like, it all scores so fucking fun. - None of my friends games like all the place.

Yeah. Man, it was like, cause those days you, I didn't even have an Xbox, right? But I had a big enough basement so that everybody could come over. You could bring their Xboxes. People, we'd bring three TVs. So people would have to move there. And this is not flat screens. These are not things. These are these big ass 27 inch monsters. Yeah. And we'd throw those in the back and you'd bring, I had my own controller. Cause you know, there was, there wasn't even wireless controllers yet. You just had like a wrapped up thing. Yeah. And we would, we would all bring over, uh,

Everybody had to bring over two cases of soda. That was the rule. Two cases of soda. That is the payment. Every Midwest kid has a refrigerator in the garage as well. So we would have 250, 260 cans in there.

And then we'd have the four TVs, two in one room and then two in my bedroom. And they would all be connected with four feet and it'd be eight on eight or whatever you were playing. Yo, we would start at like seven, seven 30 and stop 12 hours later. My mom would go to work on Saturdays and I cannot believe she let us do this every Friday for about 18 months. That just sounds like literally the best Friday. It was great. It was, but yeah,

you know, a large, when online gaming came out, we all thought this is it. This is going to be great. We can have game night anytime. It's not the same. And, um, the novelty wore off pretty quick because part of it's just being in a room and experiencing something exciting. And, uh, Twitch is as close as I've ever felt because of the interactive nature of it and the, the reactions. And, uh,

though I could probably do a better job of taking the channel in a different direction. I love my game nights and I love doing those things. And luckily there's enough people who still like that stuff. Yeah, I mean, you say it's a dying breed, but I think, you know, there's a massive market of people who just want that like kind of simple, as you said, like game night feel, right? Yeah.

Whether it's built on nostalgia or just the fact that like, it's like, some people don't go to Twitch to like see these like extravagant events. They just want someone to hang out with. - Yeah, that's a really good point. Yeah.

- Yeah, I mean like a lot of Twitch is just, you know, being online a lot and just kind of like being there to fill in the gap. - Just hanging out. - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's like kind of like a friendship simulator. - Just being present. - Yeah, being present. - Yeah, being present. - A lot of Twitch is just, hey, just show up. - Yeah. - There is a nice element though for me personally where I worked as a radio DJ in America and I did theater for a long time and stuff.

and teaching to an extent, you do have that element of performance time where you get to make some jokes and you get to, you get to, it's your show and you get to say things and see if they hit or they did not. And that to me is what keeps it fresh. And I am so thankful and humbled that anybody even bothers to click that. So I,

- It's a very exciting thing to do. - I don't know, man. I tuned into your Jump King stream and that was one of the funniest streams I've ever watched in my life. - I've never seen someone who is playing a rage game where they're meant to rage and just come out of it so positively. I'm like, how the fuck do you do it? - You are in so many ways the most positive dude I've met in my life.

like you fall down five screens and you're like that's that's okay let's do it again that's no oddball on you know halo with 16 people that you want to kill you and like it's it's i've been through some of those fires but yeah to me i realized early on i remember on one of my early streaming days i was playing like a spider-man game and i i it was the miles morales one and i didn't think

I think the game was, it was good, but it was too much of the same for me. And I was like, you know, I had like eight people in there and stuff. And I remember this guy was like, I was kind of talking shit on the game saying like, well, you know, I think they've already, I've already felt like I've done this. Same city, same things. And this guy was like, I never talk in this chat, but I was so excited to see this game and I was so excited to see you play it. And you've just been so negative. And I thought to myself, well...

Thanks for watching the stream. We're ending now. But like that actually resonated because I have a choice, right? How I approach these things. And I could be upset and I could be negative, but I think that it's more fun to find the positive stuff in my, in my experience. Yeah. British cogs in my brain. I totally get it, but I totally get it. That, that,

that really, I was like, you're right. I have a choice of what kind of content that I want to provide. Yeah. So I'll just keep, I'll just keep doing, and I mean, I do get angry occasionally, but like, it's usually about my forehead size or something. Oh, you know, they'll still make fun of, um, the,

my physical appearance, but not in a bad way, but like, I was an Okamura furniture, you know. - Were you a model? - You should have seen the French guys I beat. - I'm talking to Alcante right now. - I've heard a lot of things that I'm not gonna repeat to you. - Santa Claus talk. - Yeah, sometimes, 'cause you know, we've been on the internet for a long time. We have had a fair share of like mean comments, everything like that. So we're like,

to a lot of it, but sometimes you just get that one comment. I don't know, maybe it's just like the wrong day. - The one thing you're worried about. - The one thing you were really, really worried about or insecure about. And it's happened to me like live on Twitch and it's the worst when it happens live on Twitch. 'Cause you kind of like, you go from instantly, yeah, let's fucking do this stream to like,

I just wanna like end the stream right now. And I don't know how to like mask that fact. - Yeah, for sure. - 'Cause with a YouTube comment, you're like, fuck it. I'm gonna be pissed for like an hour, go have like a nice meal or something. I'm gonna try and forget it. And then you wake up tomorrow like, all right, let's do it. But on stream you're like, fuck it, I'm still on.

So on camera man. Like smile through the pain, smile through the pain baby, come on you can do this. - A lot of times in your stream you're like, fuck, I just, for something, whatever reason made you feel like shit. Maybe you got a message that wasn't good from someone. It was like, by the way, your house is burning down. You know what I mean? Like occasionally you, that's why I tend to try and not check my phone. 'Cause sometimes you'll get a bad news or something. Something will get canceled that you were looking forward to. And you're like, well shit, my mood's kind of ruined. And now I gotta keep streaming for two more hours at least.

I have to keep streaming for a movie length and I'm not happy. Yeah. It's tough. I'm pretty lucky, I think. Most people in this community I've had has been so amazing and supportive. So I think like-

I will get those things, but usually I'm like, they're right. I do need to exercise. That's a good point. So I'll take that. - I think when you use it as like a vehicle to kind of add humor to the stream, it does add a lot of elements and it does make you kind of like almost indestructible in a sense to insults. 'Cause it's like, all right, well, if you're gonna make an insult and I'm able to play it off and make it add to the content, well then it's like, what can you do really? If someone really wants to, for some reason upset you. I don't know why they would,

I know it's a weird thing, but you know, you put yourself out there and it's part of the territory that does come with it. You get all the feedback, good and bad. It can be very rewarding. Instantaneously. Instantaneously. And that's what Twitch does. And I think that that kind of field makes it

So exciting for me. But I did have, can I ask one question really quick? Cause I know that you guys do get this one criticism occasionally that sometimes on the anime podcast, if there's not, we don't talk about anime, right? Sometimes. Is that a criticism? Not at all. I love it. I've enjoyed it. I just wanted to, I'm curious how,

I know how anime started in America, but I want to know how you, what was your guys' like first exposure to anime? Cause I, I'm sure you've told it before, but I just haven't heard it personally. And I want to see how that compares with like 1997, 98 and the,

the horrors of what you would have had to go through by liking anime when it started. - I know, I mean like, I would say, 'cause I've heard stories about people who got into anime in like your era where it's kind of like- - Your era. - Your era. - It's like the Joel- - I can finally say that 'cause normally everyone, I look at like other content creators and I'm just like, you don't know the pain.

we went down there. - For me it was like, it was part one out of three Espanol subtitle on YouTube. - Yeah. - On YouTube? - It was on YouTube. - Yeah, people would like upload rips of it. - It would upload, 'cause back then they had a 10 minute limit. So they would upload parts of the anime into threes, 'cause it was obviously 24 minutes. - Really? - Yeah. - And you can get a whole anime series just uploaded on YouTube. - Unless it was like you find part one, but you can't find part two, but there's part three. - There's part three. - Yeah, that would happen a lot.

You just have to just kind of be like, I just want to get through this anime, so I'm going to skip half of this episode and then it's a crucial detail. - That's so crazy. - I mean, yeah, a lot of people my age, they go into anime through like "Tunami" and "Adelswim." That was like a like "Dragon Ball Z," "Gundam Wing,"

Try Gun Cowboy Bebop, they were a huge push in terms of exposing people to anime. And then the internet era came on. And that's when people started discovering shows like Naruto and Bleach and One Piece. And that got a whole load of other people into anime as well who discovered anime through the internet basically. - But you paid the social price back when the day when you had to go to the video store or something like that or Toonami.

- What do you mean? - The social price, like when there was like- - Liking anime. - Liking anime? - Yeah, like it was- - Oh no, I was a close anime fan.

He's smart. He didn't tell me. Yeah. I see in America, like you mentioned, Toonami was the big one. So like 98, 99, 2000. And I remember they showed some of Dragon Ball Z. And I remember my friends ordered tapes, like VHS. They paid like, we saved up all of our money. And I was like, I'm not going to contribute because I think this shit's too dorky still. But I want to support you guys. I'll pay like the postage. And they got like, they ordered it from Japan. And it was like 28, 29 different VHS tapes or whatever. And I was like,

The worst quality. Like you could not eat. And there was no subtitles. We were just watching the cartoons. And I was like. You're watching the pixels fly around. Yeah, I was like, this is lame. And I remember I was like, nah, I'm going to pivot here. I'm not doing the Dragon Ball thing. I went to a family video we had in Kansas City. And they had like, the anime section was kind of off.

by itself. And I was like, no, this looks cool. And I mentioned on a video I did with you, Ninja Scroll was the first thing that I'd seen. That came out in like 93. Ninja Scroll is fucking cool. It's fucking awesome. So I was like, wow, this is amazing. So then I got into like Record of Lotus War and Neon Genesis. And I remember the dude was like, the guy working there was like, hey man, I know you've been like checking out a lot of the anime stuff. You get like two video games and like one anime. But,

I got something to blow your mind, dude. And I was like, let's fucking go. And he was like, all right. Normally, someone your age can't actually go over there. So I'll just sneak it into your bag, dude. And I was like, let's go. And then I...

Now this was unfortunate because I thought we were gonna watch something kind of like, I don't know, like "Vampire Hunter D" or whatever. And my mom was like, "What are you watching? I like cartoons." And I was like, "Yeah, check it out." This shit was called like "Shin Angel" and it was like hardcore hentai. And then my mom was like- - I'm ashamed to say that I know "Shin Angel" actually. - That shit started with like pornography, like starts with some vivid dream he's having. And I was like,

I think this is just the previous mom. I was like, this shit's weird. Was your mom sitting there the whole time? She was like, oh dear, this isn't Disney. And I was like, no, I was like, this is just some weird, I don't know what they do over, you know, I don't know what's going on, but like the regular one, the guy promised me it's cool. And she was like, okay. And I was like, but you don't have to watch. You can leave now.

And then it starts with like a slice of life school thing. And then it's like this dude trying to like- - Were there subtitles or no? - There was. - This one had subtitles. - This one had subs. - Well, this one was the VHS from the store. The ones we ordered were from a guy

recording of Japan. Oh, yeah. Like international. We waited like two months during the summer to get a box of tapes that also had like different Japanese programs and commercials. Right, right, yeah. But Shin Angel didn't have any of that. And I was like, and so we made it about four minutes through that thing. And I hastily, I turned it off and she was like, I think he gave you the wrong one. And I was like, yes, he did. That guy is in big trouble. I was like, you go away and I'm going to make sure this tape goes right back to him. Right now.

tomorrow morning. And then I hid that tape in my couch for like two years. I was like, I'm never giving that back because I don't want to, I was like, one, it's kind of cool, but two, I don't want to be the guy to be bringing back Shen Angel to like family video. And I'm like, damn. So,

- So for me, that was the end of my anime. I was like, that's enough. I'm going back to games. This is what we do. - Was it like, so like how popular was anime like at your era? Was it like looked down upon? Were people like bullied? - Looked down upon?

- It was the single worst thing you could do to your social standing. - Good, good. I just wanted to confirm. - D&D nerds were like, "Dude, that is too much." - You remind me of a story that I had in university.

So we're having like a boys night in university. - Guys, wanna watch a Shoe Nation? - Shoe Nation? - We're having boys night, we're at the pub, we had a few drinks and we had like, you know, kind of like a boys chat. And the question got, someone posed the question, what's the most thing you've been ashamed about jacking off to? Everyone's like silent for a bit. And then one of my mate just goes, I jacked off to anime porn once and everyone went,

- Oh fuck, you actually did that? And here's me like silently sipping on a pint being like, I'm not gonna say anything man. I'm not gonna say anything. - You're like today? - You did that? - You're like yeah. - Oh, that's disgusting man. You did that?

Well, the line was blurred back then because anime and nudity went hand in hand, right? Because there was some cool shit that I remember reading like Gunsmith Cats. Do you guys know this? Yeah, yeah, yeah. That was like a cool thing to read because the stories were really interesting. But it also...

always towed the line of decency compared to like what everyone else was into. And it wasn't really until you, Japan became kind of cool again, like around battle Royale, you know, when that started pushing things off in video games, but like anime, not even until college,

was that shit allowed? Like, if you liked anime, you're also complicit with liking hentai. Yeah. Well, I mean, especially because like during like the, like especially like around the time when you were getting into it, like around the ninja. Well, I never got into it. I want to make that clear. After that time,

- No, it's cool now. - I'm still out. - It's a new generation of media. - It's cool now. - Talk about liking hentai. - Around the Ninja scroll era, like the early nineties, that was when the nineties OVA boom was around. That was during the time where the anime industry was like,

no holds barred, like nothing was off limits. So like you always had these shows that were just like, okay, yeah, it's just a simple story of kids going to school. That's a lot of tits. And it's like, and there was no sign of that shit either. And it just came like out of nowhere. - Well, it was totally rampant because there was some really cool anime, like even like Street Fighter II or the King of Fighters or Fatal Fury animes. Like those are really cool. Like they were just these one shot kind of like two hour things.

but you still have Chun-Li taking a shower. And you're like, that would never fly on a Capcom franchise today. I was like, it's such a weird... You had to...

either hide it or or you know be that guy who's like yes i like anime and everyone's like dork and then you're just like that's cool man you were the nerd that the nerds would make fun of yeah you would be it's a tough one but i do think it's neat because now i have seen it come full circle like now it's like you don't like anime you're a loser kids have it so fucking easy today man but it

- I can't believe for not liking it. - It's not fair, man. - Like you don't like Demon Slayer? Okay. - Or it's kind of like a thing where it's like, you've only watched Naruto, you fucking normie. It's like, bro. - Well, there you have it. I guess I'm glad I dodged that particular bullet. 'Cause I was all in on gaming. That was all I cared about and stuff. But yeah, it was a death nail in social. And imagine talking to any kind of dating opportunity

0%. Wait, have you heard of Ninja Score? You remind me of a ninja from the forest. The way you stealthily move through math class.

I almost went further with that joke and then I stopped. But like that was the, it was too much, it was just too much. But yeah, I'm glad that I didn't know about the YouTube 10 minute every like, you could watch the whole thing, the whole series of whatever. - If you were lucky. - I just remember that I realized like up until I was a teenager, I pretty much never watched a full series of anything.

because it was always scattered on TV, right? You would never get to watch it in the parts or in the order it was intended. And I kind of had this revelation when I was like, oh my God, this is so much better when I can watch it in order and all of it.

This is amazing. I kind of like went on this like insane watching spree where I didn't play any video games, even though I was addicted to video games. I would just spend all day watching like box series online 'cause I was just like, oh my God, you can watch things in order. - Wow. - And for free online. - That's kind of a cool, I mean, I'm glad that that happened. - 'Cause like my parents, the only DVDs they would ever buy was of the movies and stuff. So I only ever got to watch movies in completion. TV shows I often never got to see where they went ever. - Yeah, same here because when, you know, in the era of TV,

- I couldn't really afford DVDs or anything like that. - DVDs were way too expensive. - Especially box sets, holy fuck man. - TV ones were like 10 pounds for like two episodes. - I mean, they're still fucking expensive to this day. - Anime is absurdly expensive. - So you watch what you got on TV and that didn't necessarily mean if you missed the week, then you just had to like deal with the fact that you missed the week, you know? And I think that's why, you know, back when I was growing up, I think that's why Pokemon was so popular 'cause,

has a storyline, but you can jump in most episodes. - I thought there was so much filler back then. 'Cause you know, you probably missed 10 episodes. - Yeah. I fear that for me though, that ship has sailed. I feel I,

- I've tried to get into it because I know that you guys are, you've talked about it a lot. And I know that a lot of the people who I interact with now who like Japan are interested in it. - Shit angel, like, or traumatized you. - That was so bad. - One VHS, like, I'm out of my fucking life. - Whatever happened to it, the copy?

I actually think that somewhere in Missouri, if you lift up a certain panel on the ceiling, you'll find the actual porn VHS that my friend spliced together from like Cinemax or whatever. And he distributed it out to all the buddies back when we were 13 or something. And that shenanigans VHS. Wait, one of your friends spliced a porn video and distributed it? You don't know the struggle at all. I don't.

I remember back in the day, you would, yeah, so Cinemax or Skinemax is what we called it, or HBO, none of us had subscriptions to this because it was expensive. But if you did, they would, there was like, he would make it look nice. Like the video would start and it would be like Orion Films, which had nothing to do with like the porn stuff, but he'd use like, he'd record that part from like a movie. And then he'd be like, oh, what are we getting today? This is going to be exciting. And then that was the only porn you had for a year. That was it.

Or if you, I remember when I was a kid and I got a computer, I got like, you know, this, this thing and it had a printer and I, I, I was like, oh man, I can get like a picture of like Carmen Electra naked or something. And I was like, print. And then it would be like, mm,

I'd be like, oh, in three hours, this shit's gonna be a blessing. And then it would get like, it'd be like the sun, you know, and you see like a blue sky and then you'd keep going and you're like, ooh, it's getting there. And then it'd be like Elmo from Sesame Street. You're like, what the fuck? I didn't, that's not what I downloaded. And then it's like, not what you got. And now you've used like 22% of your ink from the, and that was really expensive. Your mom's gonna kill you. Well, you know, I...

- Boys will be boys. But like, and then we had the whole era of Kazaa and LimeWire, which is- - That's how I found Shin Angel actually. - Well, well, you could have just asked me for my- - I remember trying to like download like a episode of something and I was like, this is a- - Was it called Shin Angel? You were like, yeah.

- Naruto? - It was always "Shin Angel" or "Bible Black." That was the only two choices. - It was specifically "Shin Angel" episode two. And it was only episode two that was available online. Why? I have no idea why. - Was that the one with the girl who was jumping off the roof? - Yeah. - That's the one I watched. - That was the one, yo, that's it. - That's why when you started describing it, I was like, this is bringing back a core memory I've completely forgotten. - I was never...

I was never old enough or intelligent enough to figure out how to use the computer at the period when LymanWire was around. My brother was, my brother was. And I remember my brother getting absolutely murdered by my parents 'cause he downloaded just the most, so many viruses. - Oh yeah. - To the PC to the point where it was basically unusable. I just remember just my dad just screaming at my brother and me being like, "What's going on? Why is Hillary Clinton

Why is Bill Clinton talking? Yeah, it's Bill Clinton. Every time you'd get, you'd search for something oddly specific. For example, big boobied woman threesome. Yeah.

- Random one. And then you'd get, you'd wait like two days. - Yeah. - Because it has to be seated for other people. And then you'd hit play and it'd show Bill Clinton go, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman." - That is legit the best troll of internet history. - Before Rickroll. - Rickroll before Rickrolls. - So you'd be like, damn. - Whoever was the first guy who came up with that, literally the best troll in internet history. - What a mess. - What a legend. - It was awful. And so I remember reformatting your PC was a regular,

thing, you'd have a friend who knows how to do it. And we'd be like, I heard Windows 98 version 2 is way better than Windows XP. And we'd be like, let's fucking do that then. Let's get a cracked version of this and then we'll do that. And it was like...

That's why when you say I didn't grow up with the internet era, I feel like I, you know, that was the beginning of the internet. - Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. - I think what separates that in my mind, 'cause when I was growing up, it was sort of like this, where it was like, there was this moment when you were done with the computer and you logged off. - Oh yeah.

that was it, you're out. Whereas now it's like, you are always online. And so in my mind, that's where like the notable switches is like when it was more accessible in your phone and every app was on there. And now it suddenly became where you used to have to log on to MSN or log onto these chat rooms

to try and chat. Now it's like, oh, you can reach me anytime. - Yeah. - That's where I felt like the internet became what it is today. And before that was kind of the wild west where it was like, hey, if you're online, we chatted. If you weren't, whatever. - Yeah, like AOL instant messenger was the big one. And it even had like the door opening sound when you'd have a list of all the contacts, like you said. And it'd be like- - You would just message them. - Well, they usually had an away message up or it'd be like, they wouldn't be on the online list. So what you hear that,

and then you'd be like, oh, who was that that just logged in? Oh, cool. And then you'd talk to them for two or three hours. But then they'd be like, I got to go and be like, and you're like, well, okay. And you could customize the sounds and yeah, man, that was some fun stuff. But I think that we're in a nice place now where now there's a platform for everybody to do what any

anything and everything that they've ever wanted. So that's pretty cool. - Good or bad. - Good or bad. - There's a good points and there's bad points. We connected all the time. I mean, I feel like now there was a big separation between what you did online and what you did

outside of the internet. And now that wall is just getting like thinner and thinner every year. - Dude, Serial Experiments Lane said that shit like 20 years ago and they were right. - They were fucking right. - They were fucking right. - What can I say? - But I did bring one small thing just so, and we're gonna put it at the very bottom of all this mess. It's not a shenanigal toy, I swear. - Oh, God damn it. - I couldn't get it. This is my hat I'll wear in a second, I guess. But I feel like the real anime

that never gets talked about is my guys from Ninja Turtles. I'm going to leave that down near the bottom so that there's some American representation. - We have LeBron James over there. - LeBron James. - Another representation. - Yeah, look, we have LeBron right there. - LeBron James. - All right, give that back to me. We'll put that near the bottom, near that banana thing. - Oh, look, he can kick. - He can kick. He can kick LeBron out of here. - Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop. - But yeah, that's then,

That's a cool toy. Mike Wazowski. I saw that, but I was like, that's, that's Pixar. It's not anime or it's not animation. Cartoons are different. You know, like those. So there you go. So I felt like you need something because I don't understand any of what's happening here. And on,

Honestly, this is giving me severe- - Would you like to know? Would you like to know? - What does this invoke? - Ah, besides the thing I watched with my mother. This looks like, see, this looks like some Naruto shit. I don't know that. She looks like the hidden ninja's like, "Welcome to the inn and I'll serve you up a pork dinner tonight or whatever they need." - You poor naive child. - And then you've got the-

the one in the middle with the spear, that's like some hardcore, you know, demon slayer shit. - That's a sword actually, or a dusting. - Oh, it's a katana. - Yes, it is. - That's like the nodachi, it's like the big one. - Yeah, man. - Let me tell you about fate, Pete. - Oh, that's fate. That's where they have a god. - No, this is not fate. - It's not fate. - You'd be surprised, that first one is also fate. - This is fate. - Oh, God. - Wait, this is fate? - This is fate. - Oh, fuck. - Yeah, that other one is also fate. - Yeah, you just picked up two fake answers. - Wait, well, wait. Fate, Grand Order of the Marshals or whatever, it's like...

- You could have stopped at Grand Ole. - You were halfway there. What's the full name again? - Fate Grand Ole.

- Grand Order, XR2, this time it's serious. But like, I know because it's a regular person and then they'll have like Athena or some historical person like Abraham Lincoln or some shit. - Then they're like a cute anime girl, right? - Yeah, they would- - I didn't know that. - They would turn on them like historical. - Yeah, like King Arthur is like a hot chick. - Oh wait. - You see that character over there? - This one. - That's King Arthur. - That's King Arthur. - I thought that was, I thought that,

She's not the girl who knows King Arthur? No, she is King Arthur. She is King Arthur. Can I speak to your manager? Can I speak to the man of the house? Is this like Genghis Khan or something? That's Goku. Okay, that's Goku. All right. Well, so, you know, I'm not familiar with all of it, but like,

And the one I do like, because I do have a dark history with Hokuto no Ken and Pachinko. That's the best one. Dude, I love Pachinko. I am all in. I've won so much money playing Pachinko. It's not even funny. When I first came to visit- Did you learn from the guy who did- No, I was better. It was the host family. I came on New Year's and the dad, or it was her uncle, he said like, here's some-

The New Year's otoshinama? Yeah, the New Year's money, right? The New Year's money. I was like, I'm 22. And he's like, it's cool, man, because it's usually for kids. And he took me to pachinko. And I was playing some Kurohige Pom Pom pirate shit. And it's like the shirts. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And I won like $800. Jeez. Wow. I felt so bad because I kept winning and they kept losing money, but they couldn't leave because my chain bonus was out of control. So they're just sitting there next to me. They're like, have you lost yet? And I'm like, no, man, it keeps saying Dokkan. I don't know what's going on. What does Dokkan mean? It's like exploding. Oh, yeah. Well, and so I won all this money and I was,

I was able to get a PlayStation 3 that was like the white version that had just come out. Because you could trade your balls for an item or for like...

pieces of plastic that somehow someone next door really wants to buy. Right. And then you'll be like, I'll trade you this piece of plastic for like $200. She's like, okay. And that's because it's illegal to gamble. Yeah, the loophole is crazy. So I was able to buy everyone like dinner. Yeah. And I was like, when I come back to Japan, I'm playing pachinko again. And I started playing Hokuto no Ken. And I had no fucking clue who was...

Good or bad. I thought Raul or whatever, I thought he was like the best dude ever because he was so strong. He is the best dude ever. He is. And I hated that Joggy guy, but I love seeing him because he's the easiest to win off of. And like, I knew of Joggy. I knew every single element of these games and I've played every Hokuto no Ken machine that's ever come out. And Kyujin no Hoshi, it's a baseball manga from like,

- The 8-0 period. I can't say it right. But those two games, I still yearly go on my pilgrimage with like 200 bucks and I either break even or I rake in some cash. - Wait, wait, so have you actually watched or RedHawked on again?

I know this story. He knows. I know the songs. I know. I know. You know, you are shocked. You know, you are shocked. Welcome to this crazy. I know. I know all that shit. And I know. And I used to make mistakes because when Ken would show up on the screen, if he was doing something, he'd go like, yeah, I didn't know what that meant, but it sounded cold blooded. So I'd say that's like teachers in my way.

And that means like, get the fuck out of my way. Get the fuck out of the way. And they would be like, is he was it? And I'd be like, okay. Which is like, remove yourself. And sometimes I remember I was like teaching. This is why you shouldn't learn Japanese from anime. This was the worst example though, because I was teaching at the first school. I was teaching these elementary school kids. Oh man, it's so bad. This is so bad. And these kids were like seven or eight and we were playing dodgeball.

And I had to be on like the loser kid team. And I was like, I'm not going to lose to a bunch of, and this one kid kept talking shit from across the arena. And I was like, okay, okay, okay. All right. And every time he threw it, I would like, you know, catch the ball and I'd be like, you're out. And then he was like, and I was like, now, wait a minute. I'm a teacher's son. You know, I was like, so I, I felt really bad. I didn't throw it hard that hard, but I threw it and I

And he ducked and I hit another kid in the face who was not looking. And I remember we kept playing and then I finally got the kid out and I was like, Kiero. It's like, disappear. It's like, you will never be reincarnated. It's like your body is...

It's gone forever. And I remember I was, and then the kid was like, he thought that was really funny. So he, we know, I thought we connected and I felt bad for the kid. I bought him like an ice cream or something. I was like, I'm sorry kid. He was fine. But then the, the gym teacher came back and he, he looked very flustered and he wrote on like a little post-it note. He must've been like scribbling, looking it up. He was like, these are children. Please don't throw hard. I was like, I'm so sorry. But I was like, he was calling me baka. What do you want me to do about that shit? I was like, but you got it man. You got it.

I fucking got him. All these, you know. That was a sick throw, right? That was my second week in Japan. And so I'd already been going through some phases where kids like the concho phase was very popular where they do this thing to teachers. Yeah, yeah. That was really popular in the countryside. So like I said. Had to make our own fun out there. You may think you're teaching, but overall you're more of an ambassador and you're almost like a student with,

the kids in a lot of the times. You play the same games, you eat the same lunches and you hear the same jokes. And obviously I learned very quickly, don't use Hokuto no Ken phrases. - It would have been absolutely legendary if you had like caught the ball and you'd be like, "Oh my, I'm almost in there." - Yeah, I'm so glad I didn't say that. I'm so glad. I think Kiyoto's pretty bad though.

- Luckily the kid took it as a joke. - You gotta use . - I think I actually learned that from like an RPG game. 'Cause I always, I'm a subtitle dub, I'm not dub guy, right? - Sub guy. - Yeah, sub guy. But yeah, it was pretty enlightening. And I must say the other nine and a half, 10 years, I was a very good person. I didn't take it out throwing dodge balls at kids.

The other nine or 10 years. You didn't eviscerate any children? Hey, man, you can only take so much physical abuse before you're like, look, okay, all right, we're all playing. All right, but I get to play too. You know, you're pretty big. You were stronger than me. All right? So, but yeah, it was a good experience. And it's kind of funny, the kid who I said that to and some of those, that class wrote me a letter like three years ago saying that they had finished like junior high school or something and that they missed college.

They missed Peter Sensei or whatever. So that meant a lot. That one class. That school, yeah. Do you remember that one teacher that said cute? Yeah, maybe. Sorry, I don't know. But, man,

- Well, better than the other guys who got kicked out. - Dexter kid and told the other one to go. - Good kids, good kids, good experiences. But yeah, that's Hokuto no Ken. I do know Kenshiro. So like, hey wait, is that the butler guy pouring drinks? Is that you? - Well, that's not me, but that was- - That's you. - I mean, a lot of girls believed it for a while. - Oh yeah, it's the character I did a lot of impersonations of on YouTube. - And is that Snow White on the other side?

- That's a One Piece. - That's One Piece. - That is One Piece. - Yeah, it's not the One Piece. It's a character from One Piece. - No, I know, I know. - Snow White. - From the angle I saw it, it looked,

- That's Nico Robin. - That's Nico Robin, yeah. - She's a navigator or something, right? Okay. - She's an archeologist. - She's an archeologist, whatever. - What a bunch of nerds. - Actually, she's the archeologist. - You've seen Akira, right? - Yeah, well you've seen like Ava and Akira. - Oh shit, yeah, this is awesome. What the fuck is that?

The boxer Joe guy? Nope. That's gone from Hunter x Hunter. Oh dear. This is just a mess. Yeah, this is a bit illicit, I think. We can't show that, I think, direct close-ups. I know this because it's a video game, so Nier is cool. Nier is cool. And I feel like anime, here's the thing I'll say, and why I grew up reading comic books, right? Comic books are cool and they have some awesome stories, but reading Slam Dunk when I was in Niigata for like, because of

I had nothing to do. I was like crying at the end of that story. It's the only manga I've ever really read. One of the best anime of all time. Oh, absolutely. So good. And I think what I really respect about manga and anime is they're not afraid to take risks with their characters that American comics are. Like, they'll kill people. They will do tragic stories. And most importantly, their stories, except for One Piece, end tragically.

You know what I mean? Like, Hey, one piece is ending. The fact that you have these cool stories, it's not like Spider-Man's back for issue 1,267. Yeah. And so are all the characters who've died and been around.

I like that they have these single moments. - There's consequences. - There's consequences. - I love how you say that they end when you read the one manga, but you know where that's actually ended. - Well he wrote Vagabond too, right? - Yeah, that hasn't ended. - That's not ended. - He also wrote Real as well, which is the wheelchair basketball. That hasn't ended either.

- Well, all right, I take all the back. - He's only finished slam dunk. - Well, I think there are other stories. Like I bet fate grand designs or whatever ended, right? It's done. - No. - Is King Arthur still slam fools? - It's like 15 versions of King Arthur. - There's 15 versions of King Arthur now. - We're not gonna get into that. - That's a rabbit hole. - I'm fine. And it's wasted on me. I don't wanna hear the voices of King Arthur, but like, yeah.

- We have a lot of voices if you start playing Fate. - Yeah. - Too many. - It is fascinating. - Way more than you heard when you were doing your voice acting. - Hey, you have no idea what gods I was listening to. No, you're right. You're right, you're right. - Santa Claus. - Santa Claus. - Santa and Fate? - Yeah, I mean, that's cool. - See, wait, what? - Kinda. - Kinda. - What the fuck? - Kinda. - Is Santa in Fate? - He's kinda. - See, I'm reading Fate. - Depends on like-

- It depends on which version. - Well, I think it's something maybe I'll leave to the experts then and I'll stick with my teaching and stuff. - Well, we'd love to keep chatting with you Peter, but like you just have like a wealth of stories. Like this is like, for those of you who are like tuning into people for the first time,

tiny fucking corner of the stories that Pete has. - It's like a drop in the bucket. - Oh, dude, totally. - And if you wanna hear more stories, check out his streams. - Yeah, check out, yeah. - Where can they find you, Pete? - No, you know, it doesn't matter. I just wanna say thank you. - Twitch.tv. - No, no, no. - Twitch.tv/premier2. Go check him out. - Thanks, but I just wanna say it was really awesome being a part of this and sharing these stories with you guys and like,

- It was very humbling, thank you. I had to relive some of the most insane experiences of my life again. And I hope that chapter is closed. Thank you guys so much for letting me be here. - Yeah, absolutely. - Thank you very much. And again, guys, please go check out Pius. I know he's not gonna do it, but we'll do a full round. Link's in the description. Check him out, he's fucking awesome. But hey, look at all these patrons though. You see all these patrons on screen? - Yeah. - Wow. - Everywhere, look at them. Who's your favorite? - Not that one, the one right down there, right after. - Who do you think is seeing Shin Angel?

Which one of these have seen Shen? Which one hasn't seen Shen Angel? Probably all of them. I know the Patreons. I've seen this community. I know. But no, that is pretty epic. And maybe I should join as well, this Patreon community. If not a Shen Angel veteran, I have wisdom to provide. Well, I'll tell you exactly what you can do at patreon.com slash trashtaste. Also follow us on Twitter. Send us your memes on the subreddit. And if you hate our face, listen to us on Spotify. But yeah, thank you, Pete, for coming. Let's go. That was fun. Thank you, guys. Thank you. That was a lot of fun.

- You're welcome back anytime man. - Thank you so much. - And hopefully you guys enjoyed it. We'll see you next week. - Bye.