Feb 27, 2023
Casting Your Net: Discover More about Japan with Podcasts
So, you find yourself in Japan, and you want to immerse yourself in the culture, but you’ve got three fundamental problems: you can’t speak the language well enough to flick on the TV and plop down in front of the various variety shows (believe me, you’re not missing out there); you aren’t into manga or anime, which make up most of the accessible aspects of Japan’s pop culture; you’re too busy to waste your time sifting through the abundant poorly-written blogs and uninformed opinion pieces that are rampant on the internet (present company excluded, I hope).
But fear not, because podcasting has hit Japan and done so in a big way. Of course, like all areas of the podcast world, there is an absolute pile of tosh out there, but we at More than Relo have got your back and have put together a list of some of the best, covering a range of subjects so that you can really get to grips with this amazing country!
History of Japan
If you want to know a culture’s present, the best thing to do is delve into its past, and the History of Japan Podcast is a real deep dive. Scholar and expert in Japan and China, Isaac Meyer, has been podding about Japan for more than a decade, and there are close to 500 episodes to catch up on.
Taking in all aspects of history – from the pre-history era to more modern events – is about as all-encompassing as it gets. The sound quality of some of the early records is a bit patchy, but everything is so well-researched and mind-bogglingly insightful that it is easy to forgive it. Top recommendation.
Website: isaacmeyer.net
Japan Times Deep Dive / English News from NHK World Radio Japan
Okay, that’s the past covered, but what about more modern goings on? Well, English News from NHK World Radio Japan brings you daily 15-minute updates on what’s happening around the country directly from Japan’s public broadcaster. Unfortunately, it’s not on Spotify, but Deep Dive from Japan Times is. The Times is one of the oldest sources of English language information about Japan, and Deep Dive is a weekly podcast that delves past the headlines to uncover what is trending in Japan right now.
Website: japantimes.co.jp
Website: podcasts.apple.com
The Konnichiwa Podcast
So far, so deep, but what if you want something more lighthearted? In Konnichiwa Podcast (A.K.A Konipo), American Dan, Japanese Yurie, and Dutch My discuss irreverent aspects of Japanese culture and current developments in the country. It is a bilingual podcast, flitting back and forth between English and Japanese, that covers topics ranging from the latest news stories to life in Japan, to the history of ramen, to the horror of sushi terrorism. Warm and friendly, the threesome lives up to their YouTube channel’s ‘Cafe‘ name.
Website: konipo.com
Abroad in Japan
In this podcast spinoff from his viral YouTube channel, Brit Chris Broad (geddit?) discusses Japan’s strange and wacky aspects with Britain’s best-known Japanophile, Pete Donaldson (soccer fans may know him as the mental one from The Football Ramble podcast). Broadcast every Wednesday, often with an ironic eyebrow raised, Chris brings you awkward traveling stories, insider travel tips, and tales of eating insanely large gyoza and every item on Sushiro’s menu.
Website: abroadinjapan.com
The Evaporated: Gone with the Gods
What would you do if someone you knew just vanished? Some 80,000 people disappear in Japan every year, and this nine-part podcast series explores the hows and whys of this strange phenomenon. Led by investigative journalist Jake Adelstein (if you know the name, it’s because you may have read the acclaimed memoir of his time on the crime beat for the Yomiuri Shimbun. Tokyo Vice, or seen the HBO series based on it), the Gone With the Gods scour Japan’s seedy underbelly uncovering yakuza threats, North Korean spies, and people who can no longer cope with society—absolutely gripping stuff!
Website: podcasts.apple.com
Uncanny Japan
From Gods to yokai. Uncanny Japan explores Japan’s bizarre legends, unfamiliar folktales, odd superstitions, and all those obscure aspects of the culture that you would not – nay, could not – otherwise have come across. Theresa Matsuura came to Japan in 1990 for university and has immersed herself in all that is strange and fascinating in the country’s folklore. Have you ever wondered why temple statues wear red bibs, what a toilet God is, or how to avoid bloodthirsty cow demons? Well, uncanny Japan is the best way to find out.
Website: uncannyjapan.com
Image: by Patrick Breitenbach via flickr.com [CC BY 2.0]
Image via: https://isaacmeyer.net/the-history-of-japan-podcast/
Image via: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/podcast_category/deep-dive/
Image via: Konnichiwa Podcast (With permission)
Image via: https://www.abroadinjapan.com/category-podcasts
Image via: https://uncannyjapan.com/
Bert Wishart editor
Novelist, copywriter and graduate from the most prestigious university in Sunderland, Bert whiles away his precious time on this Earth by writing about popular culture, travel, food and pretty much anything else that is likely to win him the Pulitzer he desperately craves.
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