it all started 3 months ago. my friend who's learning japanese mentioned using podcasts to learn japanese so i decided to check out this whole podcast thing. what i found were several podcasts that really didn't teach much japanese or had poor audio quality. i thought, hey i could do it better and eventually i got serious about making my own japanese podcast. it's time to eat my words. today i am releasing live the first episode of my japanese podcast naruhodo japan. i've never done a podcast before and i'm learning as i go. there are technical issues of course.

it all started with the recording and microphone issue. do i record directly to a computer or to another medium first and then bring it over to the computer for editing? do i record directly in garageband or use it only for mixing the podcasts? which microphone do i use? the medium will partially dictate the microphone? do i get a regular one or a usb one for the computer? at first i went with usb but i just didn't like it. the stand it came with was a lie and the mic itself picked up more background noise than what it should have actually been recording. i'm not a master at recording but i'm not a complete idiot either. i know i can't expect much for $100 or so but that product was not good, which was disappointing because i think the company is decent for computer music consumer goods. my mom had a digital voice recorder and after using it once, i decided that's the thing for me and immediately ordered one. so that's what i'm doing: recording to a digital voice recorder with built-in usb, transfer it to the computer, edit the file, mix it down in garageband.

i did a little bit of research by listening to other non-japanese podcasts. i have been listening to some portuguese lesson podcasts for my upcoming trip to brazil but i haven't been listening to it lately so i can't say i've actually learned any portuguese. what i have learned from them and other ones are that i want to stay on topic, i don't want it to be excessively long and filled with pointless things, i want it to have decent audio quality, and i want it to be useful. hearing myself speak is quite painful and i'm very critical of my japanese accent and the level of my voice. it feels very strange to talk alone in the house and i do it quietly so that needs work.

besides coming up with show topics, the first thing i did for the podcast was try to come up with some jingles. i figured the show needs a theme song. i dusted off my guitar, plugged it in and just started jamming like crazy. i was playing straight for 4-5 hours before i finally took a break to eat, hours past my regular mealtime. the first thing i played was very heavy, considering what kind of stuff i used to play when i would actually practice guitar. my wrist got tired quickly too but i just kept going. i came up with 5 different short riffs just for fun. i didn't want anything too japanese, nothing stereotypical. but i had to of course record one thing very japanese. i'm also aware of copyright issues, which is why i wanted an original theme song. the japanese thing i recorded was traditional so there are no copyright issues. i'm not sure if i'll ever use it but i have it if i need it.

i believe that teaching is a great way to learn something. by doing this podcast my japanese will improve as well as my geek skills. i think i will also become more active in the japanese-american community. that is because the purpose of my podcast is to teach/share japanese language and culture from a nikkei perspective. (nikkei are japanese who live abroad and their descendants.) i think this is a unique point that the other japanese podcasts do not offer. i hope to chat with some nikkei and cover some nikkei events for the podcasts. one way to make it more authentic japanese, (because you can criticize me all you want for being only half and born outside of japan), is to feature issei (first generation immigrants, that is to say those that were born and raised in japan). mostly this will be done through a regular segment featuring my mom. (you can also criticize that she/we doesn't speak standard tokyo japanese but the whole point of learning about another culture is to expand your world and there are many aspects of japan so it's a bit narrow-minded to only focus on tokyo/kyoto.)

another reason why i started the podcast is lately i've thought about becoming a japanese teacher for high school students in america (or elsewhere?), which would mean going back to school to get certified and i'm not sure if going into debt is worth it. i mean, will i even like it? will i be good? will my students benefit? doing a podcast is a great way to find out. i've also been trying to help people with their questions online for a couple months now and since several people found my advice useful, i proceeded on with the podcast idea. answering questions by typing is one thing but you really need to hear japanese being spoken. that is another reason for the podcast.

i have already begun video taping some nikkei events in los angeles for a couple special video podcast episodes. (again, something i've never done before so it will be a learning experience.) i'm really looking forward to my south american trip so i can report on nikkei there and compare the communities. from now on, wherever i go, if there is a nikkei community i think i am going to cover it for the podcast. in a mad rush i designed and ordered business cards which i could pass out for the podcast. they arrived yesterday (much quicker than i anticipated) which is why i pushed myself to debut the podcast. i can't wait to use these during my trip. i said that if the printers did a good job then i would praise them. they did. if you ever want business cards, then i recommend gotprint.com. i picked them because i wanted a printer in the los angeles area in case there was any trouble and i had to go to their office. in my quick internet search, i just couldn't find a local place open when i was off work. i also couldn't find an internet place that was decent quality, decent price, and that i could trust. i took a leap of faith with gotprint.com, paid a little extra for rush and fast shipping, but am very pleased. the extra $5 was really worth it for peace of mind to know that i have these cards for my trip.

anyway, if you are interested in it, please check it out. i welcome all comments and criticism but please try to make it constructive and don't break my fragile heart. this is only the debut episode and i have many more ideas. it's a matter of finding time to prepare it as well as gathering people who agree to be interviewed. i'm really proud of following through on this idea. i have another project i started 1 year ago but never completed. i've just been too lazy about it.

naruhodo japan: the podcast for learning about the language and culture of japan from a nikkei perspective.

podcast meishi