A lot of stuff about Japan

it is another rainy and cold day here in the Kansai. I am still on vacation, but as it draws to a close I find myself doing work at home. I just finished typing some reports and will soon head out and buy some new supplies for my new classroom. I have changed schools this year and will have a new role. I am quite excited to mix things up and work with new students and people.



I have sumo hands! these are two souvenirs i picked up while at the sumo tournament on the weekend in Osaka. The one on the left is Baruto's hand (he is an up and coming Estonian wrestler) and the one on the right belongs to Hakuho. Hakuho is the curent Grand Champion or Yokozuna. the hand prints were about three dollars each.

Random stuff I wanted to post:

Looks like South Korea and Japan are at it again....disagreeing with each other.
Japan, S Korean scholars again differ over history

it just isn't my home country of Canada that is having a doctor shortage. Japan is facing the same problem. I remember while living in Ottawa, seeing OC Transpo buses covered in advertisements about the medical professional shortage we were suffering from. Looks like that here in Japan, the government will make things easier for foreign doctors to practice here.


if you are in Tokyo this upcoming weekend you might want to take in the Tokyo You Tube Hanami party. You don't have to be a You Tube person to take part. It will be held in Yoyogi park on March 27th. Hanami means "cherry blossom viewing." Basically it is a great chance to drink under the blossoming cherry trees. For a lot more info, check out the Tokyo Cooney vid with all the details:

Hanami 花見 and the WORST Pizza ever

Spring is in the air and the cherry blossoms are coming out to play. It's time for people all around Japan to head to their nearest park, spread a blue mat on the ground, fire up their bbq's and get pissed under the cherry trees. This yearly activity is called Hanami 花見 which literally means "cherry blossom viewing"



In this video, Japan's most famous vlogger Tokyocooney explains a little more about what Hanami is.

Life In Tokyo: Vlog #19 Hanami - Cherry Blossom Viewing


Now Tokyocooney organized the first You Tube Hanami party in Japan last year. It was held in Yoyogi Park in Tokyo. I was in Canada freezing my ass off when it went down. I won't be able to make it to the second annual You Tube Hanami party which takes place tomorrow in Tokyo. I am not alone though and several other Kansai-based You Tubers can't make it up there either. We've all decided to band together and have our own little Hanami party at Osaka Castle Park tomorrow starting at 1:00pm.


On a food related note, I saw a video about pizza in Korea today that almost made me bust a gut. It was one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time.

If you've ever had the chance to live or visit Japan or Korea, you might notice that they do some very "interesting" things to their pizza. In Korea, when you order a pepperoni pizza, it's common to have it arrive with corn on top! Pizzas often come with mayonnaise, sweet potato and a variety of other "undesirable" toppings. Often the sauce has no spices, and the cheese is rubbery and of VERY poor quality.


I really appreciated this video:
Making Korean Pizza

Christmas in Japan: The Music Video

Just posted on YouTube last night "Christmas in Japan: The Music Video"! Fatblueman, a Japan-based vlogger wrote the song and put the video together with the help of YouTubers from all around Japan. It's about the foreigner experience in Japan around the Christmas Holidays. At about 53 seconds in you can see ME! That's right, I'm wearing my Santa beard. My YouTube handle is "BusanKevin" and I have a bit part. Feels really cool since there are some pretty big YouTube names in the video like TokyoCooney, Gimmeabreakman and Applemilk1988.

Check it out!

Christmas in Japan (日本語字幕）

Again...watch this vid. It's funny and very cool! And like I said...I have a small part in it...I'm singing with KansaiPJ....wearing quasi-Santa costumes!