I'm so happy, that I'm finally able to introduce my best friend & team member Kazu to you! He now works in Hiroshima, so we are planning to meet up in Hiroshima or Kyoto once in a while to make more videos together... I hope you can look forward to more Kazu in the future! Other videos that Kazu showed up... https://youtu.be/Kvo8BeYJXvc https://youtu.be/NIEmOdLhTrc ・ In this channel, you can take a closer look at Japanese traditional culture, tips upon traveling to Kyoto, and social problems in Japan. So learners and lovers of Japanese language and culture, be sure to subscribe to enjoy more content! Thank you again very much for watching!

Nice to meet you Kazu!

Your friend is so funny, he legit should have his own channel.

i agree!

Whoa, I figured he already did!

What an interesting video! When Kazu said, "My body is Japanese, but my mind is American," I felt that. I was born and grew up in the US. However, I'm Filipino by blood. Whenever I visited the Philippines during summer break as a child, my family would call me American, and people would treat me differently. I would only speak in English back then. You're right - it takes courage to try to blend into the place that your parents are from, especially if you grew up away from there. I've been living in the Philippines for the past 2 years now, and it's still a struggle for me, even though I'm trying to blend in. I bet I will have quite an experience when I visit Japan eventually.

I can understand that. My parents are Indonesian but I was born in Brazil but I grew up in Canada, but I always considered myself a Brazilian stuck in an Asian body 😂😂😂

same

As an American born Filipino I feel the same

"No 7 year old shoots a gun!" Farm kid sweats profusely

FARM KID TINGZZZ 😭

That made me giggle, 10 year olds can hunt big game.

@Lucius A complete stranger, a friendly old man taught me how to shoot when I was 19 on holiday to Louisville, KY from England. 12ga slugs, which I now realize was a way of laughing at my recoil control. But I loved it! Thank you for passing on the knowledge and teaching the little ones about a brilliant firearms culture. It's people like you that would have taught me and been so open, helpful and friendly!

I didn't shoot a gun 'til I was 12. As an adult I've tried to make up for it by teaching two of my friend's 6-year-olds how to shoot with .22s. Actually rather proud of that, since without my own children it's some of the only knowledge I've ever gotten to pass on to the next generation.

So true

Shogo, when people found out that I lived in France, they would tell me to say something in French. So then I would say “Quelque chose” which is “Something” in French. 🙄😉

Nice

@Terrapin Alive Yes, it is. 😂😂😂

@Matthew Jay De rien

@Anthony McCannon Merci for sharing your story, "Antoine." 😁

My uncle lived in France for a while and his wife is a citizen of France, they have a daughter and listening to them speak in French is really interesting because I’ve been studying the language for about 4 years. They live pretty far away and my family will have video calls with them sometimes and ask me to speak to them in French, it’s rather intimidating

I can definitely relate to the cultural shock. I was thrown in highschool with all english classes about history and grammar, and my first two years in the U.S. were incredibly painful as I wanted to just get along with everyone but the language barrier made it near impossible to do anything. It took me two years just to understand my new language and five to actually write competently for university classes. Now the people in my native country don't consider me one of them and to be honest, _I don't even consider myself one of them anymore._ We have very different views in politics, ethics and culture that we just can't relate to each other. Makes me kinda sad, but it is what it is. Such is the capriciousness of life. _It leads you thru the most unexpected roads, and you have to make the best of it._

Thank you for sharing your story

KAZU IS SO ADORABLE! Harumi laughing in the back and chiming in is so ADORABLE!

i think she should appear in videos more often! she’s so cute and funny

Shogo your English is so good that if I hadn’t already seen you I’d swear you were American. It almost has a southwest accent.

Yeah its a Western/Mid-Western accent. Which i guess... would include California...

I was born in Chicago, Illinois and Michigan was not far from me. The regional accent is called Mid-Western accent. They both have the same Mid-West sound to me.

He said he lived in Michigan so that must be a SW Detroit accent

They're American afterall 🤣

Sounds like someone from California

Funny enough, English pronunciation changes when singing. Pop songs often use casual pronunciation, but then you hear a trained singer and there are so many rules to help the audience understand your words. You have to over-pronounce every syllable.

"Disestablishmentarianism" is the longest noun in English, I _believe_ . Just for trivia's sake, lol. And it's a political stance where you believe in _complete_ separation of church and state, basically. No tax breaks, no special treatments of _any_ kind.

Actually is Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia is actually the longest noun that isnt a “science” word. Medical yes. It means the fear of long words xD

Really, technical words shouldn't count. Names of organic chemicals can go on and on.

@Leila Eris People usually want to exclude medical/chemistry terms like that. I think there are even longer scientific terms, they can get ridiculously long.

@ZXNOVA unendliche Worte :D

I could relate to a lot of what you guys mentioned. My parents are from a different countries and I was brought up in a third country due to my dads job and finished my college education in a fourth country, to top it all I got married to my wife who is from a fifth country, so I experinced many cultures in my life from day one I was born.until now.

@Pun Bishal I fully agree with you.

Yes there are people like us too 😂. And we are told we are privileged. But folks don't see the shit we have to go through to adapt and learn and face various issues.

Ok, we need more Kazu. Wonderful as always and may your channel continue to grow!

I'm from Germany and when people ask me to say something in German, I say exactly what you said: "what should I say?/what would you like me to say?" in German

Read the interlude from Guren no Yumiya, the first Attack on Titan opening title ;)

I miss Germershiem down in Bavaria. It was an amazing place to be in the 90's.

As someone currently taking language classes and preparing for eventual visits, these videos are an amazingly kind service and in some ways a funny look at what to expect. Thank you so much for making all these videos, hope you and your family are doing great!

Yeah growing up and getting used to society is tough enough when adjusting to just one society, let alone two. Kids who can do this and go through this, I salute you. Mad respect.

I wish there is an episode like this once a month. It's such a breath of fresh air.

Woah… these are so relatable and comforting to an extent 😂 Used to excel at school, came to Japan, everything crumbled and I’m dead. Can’t comprehend a thing and people can’t comprehend me. This video is awesome!!

Thanks for sharing these, man! I can only imagine the struggles since I'm American born and raised though I have been bullied and have bullied for various other reasons like my gender, disabilities, etc. I was otherwise incredibly lucky! I did have a few classmates from Korea, Japan, the UK and Norway to name a few with a few of those who did eventually return to their home countries so I always wondered what that was like.

I can relate to this so much! Regarding Japanese returnees doing traditional Japanese things - in my experience, it's not returnees, but more nisei/sansei who do it. Like Japanese Americans who are super into taiko or kendo.

The longest noun in the English dictionary is "Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis". The longest word overall is the full chemical name for the human protein titin. It's too long to post in a YouTube comment, but it's 189,819 letters long and takes about three-and-a-half hours to pronounce.

😱😱😱

Say that one time at a slow pace Cause it's still gonna twist your tongue

Love the chemistry between you three in this conversation. It was a pleasure listening.

Hello Shogo 👋 My story is long so I won't go into the details. I was born and raised in Los Angeles. Served 3 years in the Navy. My parents where both Mexican and I started school speaking Spanish only but I can relate to every struggle you and your friend had in my life 😎

I came back to Korea after spending 4 years in Alabama as a child. It's really amazing how much experiences I have in common with Shogo.

I really enjoyed your video! One year as an ALT, I experienced there being two returnee students in the same JHS year group. One hid his perfect English and played the class clown role. He resented his father for his international heritage, and worked hard to blend back in to his Japanese peer group. However, in private, he would be OK talking to me and I would give him books to take home and read (Roal Dahl, etc.). The other student liked to stand out in English lessons and would try his best. He didnt want to be bullied, but he must have decided it was best to be his most genuine self, regardless of any negative consequences. I liked both of the boys.

This reminds me of the bullying I got just from moving to another state in the US! lol. When I was 12 we moved from California to Arizona in the 1980s..... I was only the third asian kid and Arizona felt like another country then. Oddly, I wasn't bullied so much by students but by grown ups driving by while I was cycling too and back from school. I learned then that asian kids in America have to support each other if when they had thoughts about fighting each other because things were rough already.

Kasu is a bomb! Too funny 😂 I thought the same things he said! Hold on! We have 6 continents here 😵‍💫 Kasu said the perfect things about blending in and in the end he was right…. His mind is definitely western…at the hamburger stuff I cracked. Anyway the difference is sensible even if grow up in mixed culture environment like I did, I understand deeply what you talk about, and furthermore I’m not a good pretender even if, as Kasu did tried as much as I could, I always stood out too much, and couldn’t blend totally in. Now I actually try not to push all my colors in the faces of my colleagues, but in my private life I don’t care anymore, and the most funny thing is that in my country, depending from the location your parents grew up ( if they took their cultural habits with them) also between same nation people will see each other as “returnees” thing (if you have a father from one region and mother from the other region everybody will think you are from the region that your are not currently in). The funny part is I married a guy with same situation, (parents from different regions) but living same place (in which we still don’t blend totally in eighter) 🤣🤣🤣

I'd totally watch your friend's channel if he had one! You two are really great friends and this video is very funny! :D

I love Kazu's sass "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" by Aerosmith is my jam for a karaoke session but I don't even bother to sing it well and instead focus on having fun with the song as a group. =]

Two great buddies, sharing some precious experiences with us, while having much fun too…congrats.

This was such a great talk. I enjoyed every second of it. Good job!

Since I know a lot of Japanese my friends ask me to say things in Japanese, mainly nicknames. I've always thought that we might need to do something that requires all the languages I know(Japanese, some Chinese, little French, and Little German).

I remember being able to have friends over for a drink like this. I can’t wait until I’m able to again.

I've just noticed. In Shogo's videos there are English subs for those times when they speak in Japanese, but there are no Japanese subs for long English videos like this. I wonder if Shogo plans to make these videos accessible to potential Japanese viewers.

@Sushovan Chakravorty I don't see it as complaining. Like Keksit said, critical. And I would include REALISTIC.

@Sushovan Chakravorty - He is critical and correctly so too. The people who most need to hear the criticisms are the Japanese themselves.

Obviously no, he always discusses about japanese culture in kinda complaining way.

When y'all tried to say "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" it made me smile :) Another great video!

I could totally understand your situation because I myself am a returnee and I also came back when I was in fifth grade.

"No 7 year old will hold a gun and shoot!" Me: **Looks around whistling innocently** Yeah...i was 5 when i first held a gun. by 8 i was hunting with my grandfather by 16 i was shooting competitively then i turned 18 and joined the military :(

Glad I'm not alone

Texas country life same I was 5 when I held my first gun 😂

@Baibac yes~

Cool

Rural life very different in the US

I have family that lives in Michigan. I used to go there every summer to visit. I visited so often that it felt like a second home for me. I even had a library card for the Belding library. Unfortunately, I haven’t been back since my parents divorced when I was 14. Michigan is a pretty place, especially Holland.

Kazu has a great sense of humor, great choice putting him on!

This is the fourth video I have watched after recently stumbling onto your channel. The experiences you and Kazu were mentioning reminded me of my experiences when I was much younger but did not have the support system or understanding of teachers both of you had. Things have changed greatly, as it should, since it is becoming more common for Japan to have returnees and/or "hafu's" (I am much older than Shogo's mother and the term "hafu" was not even a recognized term in Japan for me, I was called "hanbun-hanbun"). Changes to most Asian cultures happen VERY slowly but I am encouraged by the changes that have happened in Japan between the experiences I had versus the experiences you and those of your generation are faced with. The information and explanations given in your video's are very informative and done very well. My best wishes to your endeavors, your family, and your friends.

Hello Shogo, I just recently found your channel and I am really intrigued. I really like the perspective on Japanese culture. I myself am living between Bulgaria and Germany and usually to ppl. from countries in the Balkans we all are bilingual, I personally know no one who can’t some English, German, older folks Russian or French. But there is also some curious particular thing going on in Shipka Areal overe here there are some folks who speak Japanese because there are some living here, apparently there was a documentary years ago about my home country and well Bulgarian yoghurt and some ppl. from Japan liked it this much they moved to this place at peak shipka.

The three of you are lovely to watch together, and remind me of hanging out with my best friend ^_^

Thank you for sharing your experiences. I really enjoyed listening to you guys talk about your childhood

If someone wanted me to say something in English... I would take them literally and say "something in English". (I am a Brit and have inherited the stereotypical sarcasm/humor! I think Kazu might have received that somehow too!). Also, I don't have the luck or memory to be able to speak/read/write multiple languages, so this is unlikely to occur. (I usually speak English!).

I like Kazu's sense of humor really good episode.

I high key love Kazu's humor

Terrific show! Love your friend Kazu and look forward to more together!

We had a a student from France and we were learning French and one of our classmates had lived in France. We actually wanted to hear them because we wanted to know how they really spoke. I can’t imagine bullying him. We didn’t want to know “textbook French”

I'm also a "returnee" to America from England. I got the whole speak English english, when I got back. I was like wtf?!

Shogo I'm glad you getting through from hard times, and your mother is right you should proud because your experience

Shogo, I was taught to shoot as early as I can remember. Some kids actually are shooting on Saturdays being taught proper gun etiquette by their parents.

This was nice, you three got good synergy going.

OMG, I can relate to the seven continents situation so much! I was flabbergasted the first time I came across this.

You guys are so cool! You got to experienced both worlds!

Kazu has a great sense of humor, absolutely love it!

Oh we have this in Holland aswell. I’m half Spanish, I had to translate every Latino hit on the radio 😂 and a Dutch friend that grew up in Australia had to read in English class cause her Ausie accent is so cute 🙄. My friends in Spain always asked me to say something in English etc… this is not a typical Japanese thing I think. It’s just people. I’ve got the question if I feel more Spanish or Dutch 🤨, where would you rather live etc.

As far as the gun question goes, it tends to depend on the family as to when an individual might learn how to use a gun... some people don't ever learn and become a safety hazard the moment they even look in a gun's general direction, others learn pretty early in their lives. I believe it's likely due to the fact that America in general is more accepting of the right to own firearms. I think a similar comparison would be like how Japan treats ownership of katana with a cutting edge instead of a dull edge. Non-functional firearms or ones that use "non-lethal" ammunition like bb's, paintballs or pellets (though that last one is a borderline case since some pellet guns can be really dangerous) don't generally have a lot of regulation since they're seen as decorations or "toys". Meanwhile, guns that fire live ammunition often require a permit to own, training in firearm safety and a requirement to periodically renew the aforementioned permit.

More Kazu, lol! You guys have a fun dynamic.

Agreed!!

Your mother is a very wise woman. Much respect!

I was in a military family most of my life. My father was in the US army and then so was I. Moving from state to state, country to country every year and a half to three years. So I built up a defensive attitude and had to stand on my own as an outsider many times. I did not push anyone away but I never really tried to be part of a group. I did end up in many fights. But I also ended up with very good honest friends in the end. This can work in America. In Japan, culture is big, very big. It controls people's lives. And standing on your own and not fitting in is not always looked at highly. It's a very hard position to be put in. I commend you for what you have accomplished and for the challenges you've now taken on in life yourself. Yoku yatta

All three of you make a Great Team making these very informative videos! Thank You!! 💓

As someone who studied overseas for college, I can relate to #6 a lot, although I feel like I'm kind of in between. Especially in regards to food. Because finding halal food, much less halal Malaysian food, is difficult in the US, the first thing I would rather eat the moment I touch Malaysian ground after graduating and flying home would be a plate of nasi lemak. Nothing fancy, just the nasi lemak you can find on Malaysian stalls.

On the other hand, some of us do shoot guns from an early age. I got to shoot my first rifle at the age of 8-9 and my mortal enemy was an old beer can, but my Dad was supervising of course.

Good video man, super interesting and was very nice to hear about your experience living in different countries . Look forward to more vids

Sorry you experienced bullying. You and your friend can tell your stories in a such cool way. Fun to listen. Greetings from Poland🇵🇱

Thank you for this video sharing your experiences and your friends experiences about being returnees.

You might prefer to use Antidisestablishmentarianism. It’s the longest word in English that isn’t jargon or terminology. Really love your work. 👍 Good job!

Your best friend from high school and it's been 12 years? That hit me unexpectedly hard 🤣

I am not japanese but.. I stayed in a foreing contry for many years (20) and when I when back home I started to do a few more things that are a tradition en my area.....I feel it`s a way to re-connect to your culture. I think it was something that you kind of missed but I wasn´t aware of it

I just love the content of this video.... i learned a lot from this... :)

At one time when I lived in Japan I taught English at an all girls high school...there were two girls who were returnees and they were totally freaked out about coming back to Japan...because they had spend their middle school and some of high school years in America...they were like ...OMG we can't wear makup...we can't really date...they were not happy...

Keep up the great work you guys!

I grew up as a Air Force bratt and was raised abroad in the Pacific Islands. I totally understand you in this video but enjoyed two places the most that left wonderful impressions on my life. One is Japan and the second is Okinawa, with Phillipines being a close 3rd. It's so crazy when you spoke about identities because the points you spoke on are the exact emotions and similar experiences i went through ad a teenager and up, but this made me a more excepting man and more respectful of others and their cultures. The world needs more of us and less isolation as that seems to be an environment for bigotry to grow. More love, respect

I am learning japanese at an evening school. People ask me all the time to say something in japanese. Once i was so annoyed i said "kuso-tama, anata no okasan wa futoi desu yo". And when they asked me what it meant i said "The weather today is nice"

Actually depending on where you live in the US...guns being used and such really are that insane! Not only do we have a ton of mass shootings but also it isn't uncommon for teens to lean and shoot guns in some areas. it is a real problem...

Thanks so much for all of your wonderful videos!! I appreciate and enjoy them so much and they are all so interesting. You lived in Michigan, very close to where I live in Ohio.

I live in Montreal Québec Canada. I went to French school while beind of English and French ancestry and I was also asked to read the English text and students would repeat after me. This may not be exclusive to Japanese.

"No seven year old would hold a gun and shoot." I started shooting at three. Granted, my dad is a gunsmith. But yeah, it depends on where you are. Most people I know (in the rural South) started shooting at around five or so.

17:04 Well yes but actually yes. Going shooting, either at a range or in the woods, is a pasttime. Hell competative shooting is a sport.

Hi from West Virginia! Another great video...you all do great work...amazing team. Keep it coming.

Kuzo has such a great personality!

Everyone has at some point experienced bad teachers, and they're awful, but the good teachers are so incredibly important. I hope everyone gets to experience at least one good teacher.

It seems you get a similar experience no matter as long as you cross cultural boundaries when you move. Have similar experiences from just moving from Norway to Sweden.

y'all are effortlessly funny! 😭

I’m a blasian and I feel the returnee on the South African and Japanese and the USA side of things and this made me feel better bc I’m going back to Japan in 2023 and thank

I like Kazu, you should have him on camera more 😉

English is a very difficult language even for those who have it as their primary language. I don't know about anyone else here but it was very hard for me to pronounce a lot of common words as a child. I didn't start speaking to others until I was around 5 years old. It had my parents really worried for awhile. I even had to take speech therapy well into my middle school years. Speech was always hard for me. Even today as I am in my thirties now, I still mess up my words a lot. English is the only language I can speak, but I have been around other languages growing up to know what some people are saying when they have conversations. Speaking them is not possible for me. I do admire people who can speak more than just one language and see it as an amazing ability to have. Thanks for sharing this perspective with us. It was a wonderful experience.

I enjoy the story time 😊 Thanks!

Wasn't planning to watch the full video in one sitting but I guess I did. So sad to hear about your bullying Shogo 😔

Thanks so much for this video, I really enjoyed it. By the way, i want to ask you something, Do you also have a problem, when someone asks you to explain some words/phrases in English, but you don't have an idea how to clearly explain it,. Because it's so obvious to you, and you just understand it, let's say, automatically? I'm just curious, that's why I'm asking about it

12:55 English Speakers sometimes have problems understanding what is being communicated in songs. And this doesn't even get into things that you mishear for a long time I though "Revved up like a Deuce" In Blinded by the Light was "Revved up like a douche" :D

会話が早すぎてついていくのが必死💦 いつも丁寧なテンポに慣れてたけど こういう動画も刺激になりました😆

I remember I used to be asked for help with English homework. They'd ask me to read something in English, and when I do, they're intimidated. Then, when I speak Japanese, they're still intimidated..they'd be like, "Nanda koitsu?!" They think that it was easy for me to learn English. It wasn't! I had to study hard to understand English, let alone, read, write, and speak it!

I am originally from Serbia, but I live in Canada now. I was always interested in Japanese history so I started watching your videos 😁.

I don't care which country I die in, as long as my friends and family are all around me, holding my hands as I pass away.

Japanese friend: "You know English, could you tell me the meaning behind my favourite English song?" Returnee: "okay, what is it?" Friend: "Under the Bridge by Red Hot Chilli Pepper" Returnee: "..." The friend proceeded to have a terrible day afterwards

Shogo, in number two, that is absolutely true in Turkey 🇹🇷 . In my old school, many students asked used our English teacher as a dictionary by asking everything they don’t know. Greetings from Turkey 🇹🇷❤️🇯🇵

Language is so fun, I love talking about word things :3

“Heard someone shoot a gun”, yup, certainly sounds like Michigan, I lived there for like 5 yrs, a lot of hunters there. Seems weird that you weren’t bullied more in Michigan being Asian, but ended up bullied in Japan, people are so weird no matter where you live I guess

“What’s the longest noun in English?” My guess is Antidisestablishmentarianism

As far as the guns, it's like going to Japan and swinging a katana as part of cultural tourism. Cult of the sword meets cult of the gun. If only my fellow Americans treated their weapons with a more enlightened attitude... Unfortunately, our culture isn't about self-improvement and honorable paths so much as it's a display of power and thinly-veiled hostility toward "others".