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Episode 008 Show Notes   The Entrepreneurial Game with Taylor Matthews   The Podcast on Itunes The Podcast on Stitcher Direct Download Link   In this podcast we talk to my long time friend, Taylor Matthews. If you're big into reading manga online they you probably know Taylor as NihonjinTaylor or njt, the founder of MangaHelpers, the largest site for online manga translations. However his main gig is that of President of Mugen Creations, a Tokyo-based translation company that specializes in video game translations, he also works in game design.  Taylor has been in Japan for over a decade and in this episode he talks about his how it all started, from his first job as an English teacher, to trying to launch a business with the help of big Japanese publishers only for it not work out.    There's a lot of good stuff in this episode and it's my favorite one to date.      Get more of Taylor:     Manga Helpers Mugen Creations  TM

Episode 007:Getting Her Number Don't Mean Sh*t     The Podcast on Itunes The Podcast on Stitcher Direct Download Link     So, you meet a nice Japanese girl and you get her contact info...all good, right?     Not necessarily. In this very short solo podcast, I (Brandon) go through three issues you will definitely come across when interacting with Japanese women:   1. Taking forever to respond 2. "Invite Me Next Time" 3. Ghosting   Like always, we appreciate taking the time to listen to the podcast. Please let us know what you think by leaving a rating on itunes or stitcher. If you have any questions you can hit me or Derek up on twitter     Twitter Brandon: @bmaffins Derek: @miyaviderek

Episode 006:These Aren’t The Black Dudes You’re Looking For (Part II) Show Notes     The Podcast on Itunes The Podcast on Stitcher Direct Download Link   Part II of my episode with my friend Josh where we talk about being black in Japan   A few things we talk about in this episode:   Opinions on the foreign heirarchy in Japan Assumptions made by Japanese Dealing with misunderstandings Brandon's "I like niggers" story    Different software was used for this episode and the audio got all screwed up. Unfortunately there is reverb in Josh’s audio and my audio isn’t as loud as it usually it is. Apologies, the audio should improve after this episode.       Twitter Brandon: @bmaff

Episode 005:These Aren’t The Black Dudes You’re Looking For (Part I) Show Notes     The Podcast on Itunes The Podcast on Stitcher Direct Download Link   I’ll keep this description short. In this episode I sit down with my friend, Josh Tubbs as we have a lighthearted talk about being black in Japan.   A few things we talk about in this episode:   Josh answers “the usual” questions Josh's major faux pas with our old host family How Japan seems to feel about dark skin Japanese women and their vampire-like hatred of the sun   Due to the length and file size of the episode we decided to divide it into two parts. Part II will likely be released the first week of December. Different software was used for this episode and the audio got all screwed up. Unfortunately there is reverb in Josh’s audio and my audio isn’t as loud as it usually it is. Apologies, the audio should improve after this episode.

WE ARE NOW ON ITUNES! This means you can now find us pretty much anywhere you listen to podcasts, Stitcher, iTunes or whatever other third party app you use to listen to your podcasts (i.e. Podcast Addict which is what I use)   Episode 004 Show Notes   Jumping Into The Fire with Rob De         In this podcast we talk to musician, business man and native New Yorker, Rob De about his journey into Japan. I would say that Rob’s introduction to Japan was a bit different from most of the foreigners that call Japan their home. I’d say that most foreigners come to Japan through teaching English and then branch out into other things (if they branch out at all) but not Rob. He got started as a front end web developer before moving into working on music for mobile video games and then investment banking.   A few things we talk about in this episode:   Rob answers “the usual” questions Opinions on “always being gaijin” Being persistent in getting what you want and being able to provide value Dealing with having very little Japanese while working in an all Japanese environment The pro

Episode 003 Show Notes   We’re joined by Ray Arcega today. Ray is originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, California, and currently resides in Chigasaki, Kanagawa. He discusses Asian films on YouTube for his channel Asian Filmist, and loves to chat about anything geek oriented. I met Ray back when we were both teaching in Nagasaki. This episode is a bit long as we talk about Ray’s Japan experience and the Japanese film industry. It’s a pretty geeky episode.   A few things we talk about in this episode:   Ray answers “the usual” questions Are Japanese women submissive? How Asian Filmist came about. Japanese TV is terrible and the fall of Japanese film Opinions on whitewashing in American film and “yellow washing” in Japanese film   Ray’s info:   Asian Filmist   Asian Filmist Twitter Ray’s Twitter Ray's Instagram Mentioned in the podcast:

Episode 2 Show Notes: We’re joined by our very first guest! Our guest, Minami Shoji is a fiber and crochet doll artist. One of the many interesting things about Minami is that she only spent three years of her childhood living in Japan. She was born in Indonesia and spent most of her childhood growing up in the United Arab Emirates and Oman. She comes from a rather internationally-minded family so I knew that she was someone I wanted to talk to for the podcast. She has held gallery events displaying her art in Japan as well as Germany and she also used to be the lead singer of a metal band.   A few things we talk about in this episode:   Minami answers “the usual” questions Life growing up in the Middle East Adjusting back to Japan after spending such a long time away from the country How she got into fiber art and the Japanese view of art and artist Advice for foreign people when dealing with Japanese people   Episode Direct Download Link   Please take the time to check out some of Minami’s instagram (link down below) where you can see some of her work and her awesome dolls.   As always, thanks for taking the time to listen we really appreciate it and take the time to give us feedback on itunes or hit us up directly on twitter.  

Episode 001 Show Notes   You ever hear the idea that if you’re not a very popular guy back home that you can just hop a plane to Japan and have women just fall absolutely in love with you? Yeah, well if that happens you just may very well be a Charisma Man.  Sadly, before you buy your ticket you should know...that ship has sailed long ago. If you’re awkward back home, you’ll be awkward here too.   Charisma Man is the topic of today’s podcast. Derek and I touch on: The origins of the concept   Our own opinions of the phenomenon and it’s accuracy in current Japan We also take a bit of a different look at the subject. You see, often times people judge these guys without really knowing them personally. So we take a stab at the kind of women that could potentially be attracted to these kind of guys   Episode Direct Download Link   As always, thanks for taking the time to listen we really appreciate it and take the time to give us feedback on itunes or hit us up directly on twitter.   Twitter Brandon's Twitter Derek's Twitter Mentioned in the podcast:  The Charisma Man Website

Episode 000 (Pilot Episode) Show Notes:   Welcome to The Grain of Shio Show! In this...the pilot episode my co-host, producer and best bud, Derek and I talk a bit about:   What we are trying to do with this podcast How we originally got interested in Japan and how we ended up there Our most foreign moments Misconceptions people outside of Japan have about the country What message we’d like to tell the Japanese population Panties and those that steal them and other darker Japanese news stories.   Episode Direct Download Link   And that’s it. A short introductory episode. The two of us are new to this whole podcasting world so we ask that you give us some slack and we learn the ropes and tackle this new project. We have no idea what we’re doing and we’re just taking it one day and at at time.   Giving us a rating and review on itunes puts the podcast in front of more people and allows us to grow. Tell us what you think because we appreciate any feedback...even if it’s negative. :)   Let us know on twitter as well:   Twitter Brandon's Twitter Derek's Twitter