Making Friends Abroad: Samurai Running

I have been in Japan for 5 years and in Asia since 2002. During my time here, I've met a lot of really amazing people, but I have to admit, it has been difficult to meet fellow foreigners who share my enjoyment of running.  I know they are out there. I see foreign runners from time to time, but I don't feel comfortable stopping them while in mid-run.

I have had the good fortune of meeting some Japanese runners in my time here, but of course would like to met more. I often feel uncomfortable approaching local runners due to the fact that my Japanese language skills aren't very strong.

Last year, my friend Scott Brown, an elite masters runner based in Sakai, a suburb of Osaka suggested forming a running club. He suggested the name "Samurai Runners" and it would be a great way for foreign runners in this part of Japan to network, exchange advice and information about races as well as to socialize. A foreigner running club could give like-minded runners the chance to go for runs together an maybe even organize informal running events. The idea of local Japanese runners joining makes it an even more fun concept.

Earlier this morning I created the "Samurai Runners - Kobe" Facebook Page. Scott is making one for the Osaka area. Hopefully in time, this group can grown into a fun social group.

If you are in the Kansai area or anywhere else in Japan, you are MORE than welcome to join by "Liking" the page. I even plan to set up virtual running events as well as an opportunity for runners in Japan to do charity activities.

So, if you live in the Kansai area and want to join a new running group, LIKE the "Samurai Runners - Kobe." Also, if you are planning to travel to Japan on vacation or for business and want more information about running in the area, become a member.

More information about the Osaka "Samurai Runners" group will come soon!

You can also follow me on Twitter: @jlandkev 

10 Worst Things About Japan

Yesterday I brought you a post about the 10 best things about living in Japan in 2012…for me.

Today I bring you the 10 worst things about life for me in Japan in 2012.

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, this is a tongue-in-cheek (that means humorous) post so if you get upset about it, you have full permission to close this browser window and never read my blog again! Again…full permission…please…don’t come back!

Ok, now on with the list. 10 Things that didn’t make me very happy about living in Japan in 2012:

1. Earthquakes: Does anyone really like these things? (That’s a rhetorical question)

2. Really crowded trains: I have to commute to work and there’s nothing more disgusting than having to wedge into a train that smells of body odor and in the mornings, old booze (no matter what day of the week).

3. Expensive beer: It costs a lot of money to buy the stuff at bars, restaurants and eateries.

4. People who live in tiny apartments yet have large dogs: It’s pretty common around where I live and it’s just mean. A Golden Retriever or Siberian Husky is meant to run in wide-open spaces, not live in a one or two room apartment in a big city. It’s just mean!

5. Subway Restaurants: Nice to have a little taste of home, but have you had one? They TOTALLY skimp on the meat. MORE MEAT PLEASE!

6. Only one-way to skin a cat: In English, the saying, “There’s more than one way to skin a cat” of course means that there is always more than one-way to solve a problem. From my experience, for many in Japan there is only one way to skin a cat and if that doesn’t work…uh oh! No one seems to know what to do. Oh yes…they get stressed and panic!

7. Train pervs: So many of them in Japan and they all deserve to have their groping hands removed with a rusty butter knife!

8. Intentional pigeon-toed walking: A very common thing in Japan. Many high school aged girls and young women walk very pigeon toed (that’s when you walk with your toes pointing inwards). It looks strange, awkward and uncoordinated. Apparently, most do it on purpose because they think it looks cute.

9. YouTube Japan: I’ve been a YouTube partner since the early days. Once upon a day they supported all partners. Now they tell foreign partners straight up that they are no longer important…we don’t care about you and will not really help you!

10. I wasn’t “Lost in Translation”: Suppose I’ve been living in Asia too long for that. I do at times need a translator though! 

You can follow me on Twitter @jlandkev.

Weird Japan: Goya Dry Beer?

Japan is a country known for many things, one of them being strange beverages. Every summer, Pepsi comes out with weird and occasionally wonderful limited time flavours. Breweries make limited time beers and a walk through any convenience store in Japan will leaving you happy and confused while looking at the overall beverage selection.

A few days ago I wandered into a Lawson convenience store here in Kobe and was shocked to see Goya Beer on the shelve. Goya or "bitter melon" in English, is an extremely bitter vegetable that I am not particularly fond of, is used to give the beer a bitter edge.

I chose not to buy the beer. if you dislike goya as much as I do, you probably would have as well.

Since I didn't buy a can, I can't tell you how it tastes. I do however have a coworker who fancies himself a "beer afficiando" and he said it "Tastes like barf!"

If you are wondering, Goya Dry is made by Helios Distillery Co. in Okinawa, Japan.

You can find me on Twitter: @jlandkev

50 Things That Make Me Happy

Lists are fun to make. Lists are fun to write. Lists are fun to write about. I decided to make another “List” blog.

What makes me happy? That is always a good question. Many things of course make me happy and they make me happy to different degrees. I thought it would be fun to just sit down and make a list (sometimes humorous) about the various things that make me happy! These are not all Japan-related and are in random order (the first 2 are my top priorities though).


HERE WE GO:

1. My wife and son (of course that’s #1)

2. My family back in Canada (I am tight with my family)

3. Pizza (here in Japan I make it from scratch at home)

4. Polo Burger (at a pub called Polo Dog in Kobe)

5. Running early in the morning.

6. Running late in the evening.

7. Milk chocolate

8. Kettle chips (love crispy potato chips…just salted)

9. Harvey’s hamburgers (only in Canada)

10. BBQing on the back deck (can’t do that in Japan)

11. Castles (all over the place here)

12. The cool and crazy things I see everyday in Japan

13. Cold beer on a hot summer day.

14. Cold beer on a crisp Fall day.

15. Yakisoba

16. My wife’s cooking

17. My son’s excitement when I walk in the door every evening from work.

18. Dreaming of having an adventure

19. Finishing a marathon

20. Blogging

21. Video blogging

22. How happy my students are to see me every morning

23. Hiking in the woods

24. Watching my son make new discoveries

25. Tim Horton’s breakfast sandwiched (yep…I am a proud Canadian)

26. Weekends

27. Cold beer on a cold Winter’s day

28. A nice red wine

29. Cooking

30. Starbucks

31. Coffee (anytime…anywhere)

32. Popcorn

33. The really genki (energetic) clerk at my local Lawsons (convenience store)

34. Apple products

35. The friends I’ve made through new media

36. The fact that my hobby is turning into a part-time job (sort of)

37. Writing

38. Teaching

39. Living in the beautiful city of Kobe

40. Being from Cape Breton

41. East Coast music (Canada)

42. Soon I will only have a 5 day work week

43. Q (the CBC radio show)

44. Cold beer on a wet Spring day

45. My iPhone

46. TWiT (This Week in Tech…the podcast)

47. Daydreams of buying a new camera and laptop (DSLR and a MacBook Pro)

48. The smell of a fresh pot of coffee in the morning!

49. Sleep

50. Vacation time to hang out with my family!


By the way, you have probably already heard that I was a panelist last week in the Seoul Podcast. It was cool to hear today that the episode I was featured in and my You Tube channel were mentioned on the Japan Talk podcast!

A really great information video for anyone interested in traveling to or moving to Korea:


You awesome folks can follow me on Twitter: @jlandkev

Valentine's Chocolate Treat in Japan

Tis the season to buy expensive chocolates for the one you love. Well, in Japan, it's at least time for women to spend money on the men they love.

Unlike in the Western world, where both men and women demonstrate their affection for each other with gifts, candy and romantic dinners; in Japan, on February 14th, only women dole out the cash. February 14th, aka, Valentine's Day is a day for girls and ladies to give chocolate to their boy/man-friends. One month later, on March 14th, White Day finds men returning the favour.

Now, Japan is a country of seasonal delights. One of those delights is beer. Whether it is the changing of the seasons or the changing of the winds, Japan's major brewers have a beer to fit the occasion. To celebrate this "chocolatey" season, Sapporo beer has teamed up with a confectionary company called Royce and have created the very "Hokkaido-centric" Sapporo+Royce Chocolate Beer. It comes in both Sweet and Bitter flavours! Last night my wife bought a can of the Bitter chocolate beer for me (she's an angel).




How was this beer you ask? It was good! Upon pouring the glass, the room filled with very strong notes of thick chocolate. This was the most chocolatey, chocolate beer I have had yet (mind you, I haven't had many)! Although this can was deemed bitter, it didn't taste very bitter. I found it quite sweet actually.

Long story short, it was a nice beer. It was full bodied and flavoured. Could I drink two glasses in a row? Absolutely not! it was a little too rich for me.

I piece of home

A Canadian in Japan with a Canadian beer. A Christmas gift from a fellow Nova Scotian.

2010...been there, done that!

2010 is about to come to an end and the Year of the Rabbit is about to begin.

The year was a wonderful ride of ups and downs for me. Luckily, it was about 95% ups. This is my third year living in Japan and was also the year my wife and I had our first child.

Here are a few signs that the year is changing in Japan:

Ebisu Beer, one of Japan's premium brewers has come up with limited time packaging to bring in 2011.


Traditionally, many Japanese people eat soba (buckwheat noodles) そば or 蕎麦 on New Years Eve. This was dinner at my house this evening. My wife prepared a soba soup with tempura shrimp. As you can imagine by the picture, it was delicious.



Nihonshu 日本酒 or sake is a very popular drink on New Years Eve and New Years day. this is the biggest holiday of the year in japan and people enjoy having their liquid happiness to celebrate the holiday! i tok this at my local supermarket this afternoon here in Kobe.


During the New Year, Japanese people tend to eat a lot of mochi 餅. Mochi is essentially a doughy rice cake. it is baked, eaten as is or used in soup on new years day morning.


This is a common gift set given during the new Year. Japanese people are very big on giving gifts. this particular beer/juice set was given t my family by a good friend of mine. He isn't Japanese, but has been in Japan for some time and honours traditions.


This beautiful flower arrangement was given to my family by my sister-in-law. She is a florist in Osaka and made this new Years style arrangement herself. it is an awesome gift to bring in the New Year here in Japan.

I wish everyone out the a very Happy New Year!

Christmas Trees and Minoh Beer

Tomorrow is a national holiday in Japan and of course I, and many others will reap the rewards. Unfortunately I do have some work I have to do throughout the day, but will have some time to hang out with the family. I also hope to hit the road for a morning run. I haven't really been able to run much since my marathon a few weeks ago. I had a pretty serious chest cold that turned into the flu. I'm now ready to start getting serious about running again.

Yesterday we ventured into the wilds of Kobe and harvested a plastic Christmas tree. The new 150 cm tree will soon be a focal piece in our living room. We decided to spend Christmas in Japan this year. Last year we made our way to my parent's house outside of Ottawa and had a super time. It of course would be great to head to Canada again this year for the Holidays, but with a new little gaffer, we'd feel more comfortable not having to make such a long journey.



Yesterday I also ventured out for the first time with the baby carrier. My wife often takes the baby out using the carrier, but it was the first time I tried it. It was a cool experience for sure!




The other dayI bought a couple of bottles of Minoh Beer while at a specialty supermarket in Akashi. Minoh Beer is a craft beer made in Osaka. Their Stout one the WBA best Stout last year. I also have an IPA. Check out this fabulous blog about the brewery by beerjapan.com.


Here is my video blog about Minoh Beer Stout.

Some recent videos

Here are a few of my recent videos on You Tube. For the most part, they are filmed in Kobe, Japan.

Delicious Japanese Lunchbox おいしい弁当

A delicious Japanese lunch box I ate for lunch. I have always noticed that food videos tend to be my most successful. I need to make more food videos!



Japan Blows Up

here is a video about the Kobe City summer fireworks that went off on Sunday evening.



Beau's Brewery

Here is a video I put together using footage I took while in Canada during my Christmas vacation. Beau's Brewery is located fairly close to my parent's house in Eastern Ontario, Canada.

Izushi Blueberry Beer

It's been a long week and will get longer from here. For only the second time during my year and a half stint in Japan am on medication. It's nothing major, but it is kickin my butt and making me drowsy. I'm doing my best, but have been basically stumbling around throughout the day like a zombie. I suppose tomorrow will probably be no better.

This week is also a week of Halloween parties. As we come closer to the big day this Saturday, there are 3 parties at my school that I have to dress up for and help execute. Between field trips, zombie-like medicated stumbling and Halloween parties, there will be no You Tube videos this week.



I came across this picture this evening and wanted share it. During the summer, I visited the small town of Izushi, located in Northern Hyogo Prefecture. the town is known within japan for it's amazing soba noodles and beautiful scenery. While there I picked up this craft beer. This blueberry beer is made by the Izushi Shiroyama Beer Company.


I saved this beer in my fridge for a few months and had it in September. It was quite good. It had a very full and solid taste with a hint of fruity sweetness. In this picture you can see the one blueberry that was inside the bottle. I think I would have preferred it if there was a stronger berry flavour. This is a nice summer beer. Years ago, when I was living in Moncton, New Brunswick, I was a regular patron of the Pump House Brewery. They had a great blueberry ale there. I suppose to this day, i always compare any blueberry to that one and most normally come nowhere close.

Autumn Food in Japan

It's been difficult, but I have recently laced up my shoes and have begun running again. I was having a lot of motivation problems lately and just haven't felt the ambition to get out there. In August I applied for a spot in the 2010 Tokyo Marathon. I wasn't holding my breathe since I had about a one i six shot of getting in since there was a lottery. Much to my surprise though, last week I received an email saying I had a spot.It is on February 28, 2010. That's a Saturday. This will be my second full marathon and my first major one. I have a little more than four months to train and this time around I hope to take the training a little more serious than for my last marathon. I completed the last one without any problems, but I know I can push myself to do better this time around.

Long story short, I've been out on the road several times this week. Twice, running home after my Japanese class. It is about a 5 km run back home, but i have to do it with a fairly heavy pack on my back. Hopefully the training will continue and I will find my legs again.



Last weekend, I went to Osaka-fu with my wife. We were staying with some of her family for the weekend. it was a great rural experience. they live in a very small farming village called Nakamura. It just happened that on that weekend there was a large matsuri or festival. This village as well as more than a dozen surrounding villages were having a harvest festival. Groups of men from every village would push a danjiri, or portable shrine, throughout the streets of the village, singing, dancing and praying. They would begin around 6 am and continue into the night. The Nakamura danjiri stopped at the house next to where I was staying for a break. The men pushing it were refueling with tea, snacks and morning beers!



While in the country last weekend, we picked some sweet potatoes and soy beans to take home. It is Fall in Japan and sweet potatoes are a big deal here. Most bakeries carry seasonal treats baked using sweet potato. A few nights ago, Mai made sweet potato muffins at home. they were awesome. A great breakfast treat.



You can see what they looked like when they were fresh out of the oven. Many people also collect chestnuts and make seasonal baked goods with those as well. Yu can find both sweet potato and chestnut breads, cakes, muffins, etc., throughout the area.


Two Fridays ago, after work, I stopped in Sannomiya. Sannomiya is the main downtown area of Kobe. I was there to pick up a new camera. I purchased a Sanyo Xacti HD which will make my You Tube video making better. Mai and I needed a bite to eat so we wandered through the crowded back streets of Sannomiya looking for a restaurant. We stumbled across a Korean style bbq restaurant and decided to give it a try.


Korean food is really quite expensive when you are outside of Korea, but this place was reasonable. The meat was delicious, but the servings a little small. Grilled beef and a beer is a great way to finish up the week.


Great looking food grilled on hot coals. Although, I don't normally miss Korea very much, I do miss the food. Korean food is great and it was always so affordable to eat out at restaurant. It is no surprise that many foreigners who move to South Korea to teach and work, normally never cook at home. They don't have to because Korea has such an amazing restaurant culture. The food is cheap and good.

Happy 4th of July and stuff

To Americans all over the place, "Happy Independence Day." Hope the day finds you up to your eyeballs in all things patriotic like fireworks, bbq's and beers. I'm not really sure what happens here in Kobe or in the Kansai area, but I'm sure there a lot of folks out drinking some beers and having a grand ole time somewhere this evening.

Summer is here and I unfortunately heard my first cicada whining in the trees today. That truly means summer is hear in Japan. The Japanese are quite fond of the ear-splitting noise of cicadas and are taught from a very young age that the loud noise is the "song of summer." I of course am not Japanese and although I admire many aspects of Japanese culture and beliefs, the "song of summer" thing....I think it's a load of bull-cocky!

Some other news on the Kevin front. I have a new machine in my home. Yep, it's time to put my 5 year old Samsung laptop out to pasture. I bought a new and shiny iMac. I've entered the world of Macs and am excited about the move. I primarily did it to make my BusanKevin videos a little more spiffy and besides, Macs are just damn cool! I have been playing with iMovie this evening and seems relatively easy to use. I'll have some new videos up soon.

Canada Day in Kobe

Happy Canada Day everyone! Yep, it's July first and Canada may almost be over here, but it's just getting started back home. Hope Canadians all around the world are having a great one. I also hope all of my good friends in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and various parts of Ontario are having a great day! May the suds flow freely and may you have fun.

Here's my You Tube Happy Canada message!





I read this news story last night and not only was surprised, but found it damn cool. I'm into Mother Nature and all of her critters. As a child growing up in rural Nova Scotia, catching salamanders was a summer diversion. A big one would have been a yellow spotted one and measured about 10cm. We felt like conquering heros if we ever found a salamander that large! A true King of Amphibians. OR so I thought.....til I found out about the Giant Japanese Salamander last night!

Giant salamander found walking along road in Kyoto
KYOTO —

A 105-centimeter-long giant salamander was found walking along a riverside road in Kyoto by a motorist Tuesday and was temporarily taken into protective custody by police. According to police, a man driving his car along the Kamogawa River that flows through the city spotted the salamander at around 5:50 a.m. and dialed the 110 emergency phone number to summon police, who rushed to the scene. The huge aquatic salamander was then brought to a police station in Kita Ward and held there for several hours in a water tub before being released into a branch of the same river. Kyoto University professor Masafumi Matsui told Kyodo News he was concerned to learn that the giant salamander in question, which resembles a hybrid, was released without proper examination and into a different waterway from the main course of the river along which it was found. The Kamogawa River, the amphibian expert explained, has a serious problem with hybridization between Japanese and Chinese giant salamanders, and there is concern the problem could spread to other habitats in Japan. Read more at Japan Today


Then I checked out the giant Japanese salamander on You Tube. I found this clip from a National Geographic show with Dr. Brady Barr....wow!

Learning English with Obama

Another weekend is upon us and things in Kobe just got a little chillier. No plans this weekend aside for tomorrow's race. I'm running in the Kobe Marathon. Actually, I'm not sure why the call it a "marathon" since the longest distance is 10km. I'll be running in the "Kobe 10km Road Race"...I think that's a more appropriate term. It's on Rokko Island, which is relatively close to me. No super early rise and shine in order to get to this run! Awesome.

So,I was just reading on Japan Today that Barack Obama's speeches are now the "in thing" in Japan for English language learners.

Japanese learn English using Obama speeches

Saturday 24th January, 06:29 AM JST

TOKYO —

Aspiring English speakers in Japan have made President Barack Obama’s book of speeches and accompanying CD a national best-seller.

In Aichi, central Japan, a Buddhist monk has reportedly been playing the president’s speeches during his temple service. And dozens of students in an English-language class in Tokyo have been memorizing his 2004 Democratic Convention speech to improve their understanding and pronunciation.

“Tonight is a particular honor for me because, let’s face it, my presence on this stage is pretty unlikely,” the students at Kaplan Japan school recited together Friday.

“The Speeches of Barack Obama” has sold 420,000 copies since its release on Nov 20—an “unprecedented huge hit” for an English-language text, according to publisher Asahi Press. Read More...


Once upon a time, in a Land far far away, I was an English teacher. Not one of those "unqualified" ones that Korean folks enjoy demonizing, but a "qualified" one. I also made a few videos on my You Tube channel about teaching ESL in Korea. To this very day, a few of them remain my most popular vid, even though the production quality bites and they're filled with vocal fillers....lots of "ums and ahs"!

I probably receive at least a dozen emails and twenty comments a week from people who are interested in moving to South Korea to be language teachers. Because of this continued interest in my ESL vids, I've decided to make a new advice series. These aren't about teaching though. They are about living in South Korea and I suppose they can also be applicable to living in Japan as well.

I am no longer a language teacher in Korea (I live in Japan) and am not a language teacher here either, so I really know little about the ESL market in Japan.

Here's my latest vid. It's all about the pitfalls of trying to get a haircut in Korea.

A haircut in Korea or Japan...

See original here.



Oh yeah....cheers to cheap beer!

Asahi says cheers to cheap beer

Saturday 24th January, 04:27 AM JST

TOKYO —

Asahi Breweries Ltd said Friday it expected a sharp rise in sales of low-malt beer as recession-hit consumers drown their sorrows with cheap suds.

Japan taxes beer based on malt content, meaning lower prices at the cash register for low-malt beer or beer-like drinks made of beans, corn or other produce. Read More...

This "low malt" beer is an "acquired" taste, but it does fit the pocket book more. I drink it myself from time to time. Tastes like a crappy lite beer. Expect Coors Lite when you open a can!

Bōnenkai Time

Last night was my school's bonenkai. A Bonenkai 忘年会 is a year end party that most companies in Japan hold. It basically means "forgetting the previous year. I suppose it's a whole "out with the old, in with the new" sort of thing. We had our party in Osaka. Fukushima is an area close to Osaka Station and it's a neighborhood filled with trendy restaurants. Teachers and employees from the 4 branches of my school met at a nice Italian restaurant and hung out in a private lounge. Loads of food and even more booze...all free! Good times, but I was a little late on my way out the door and didn't make all of my trains. Luckily I was able to make it all the way back to Sannomiya Station in Kobe, but the Port Liner (train to Port Island where I live) was already shut down and I had to take a short, yet expensive taxi ride home.

The other day I was in a 7-11 buying my lunch and I noticed a new beer on the shelves. It's apparently the 120th anniversary of the Kirin Brewing Company and they've put out 2 news beers to commemorate the event. They've made both a Pilsner and a Lager. I review one in my latest YouTube vid.

In this vid I review the Pilsner.
Japanese Beer Review: Kirin Pilsner


Happy Bonenkai season to everyone out there. May your hangover be small!