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There are many different kinds of rights in this world. For example, the right to choose not to get the COVID vaccine. But there are vulnerable people, such as the elderly or those with underlying illnesses. Getting vaccinated helps protect these people and assists doctors. In my opinion, when we insist on our rights, we must consider whether someone might be harmed by exercising that right. Sometimes, we might have to give up certain rights. There are many schools kids in the US. And Austin, Arthur, you said you don't want to raise your children there. I think that's a valid reason for advocating for banning guns. Anyway, thank you for sharing your honest opinion!

Sexual assaults committed by U.S. military personnel against Japanese girls have been a recurring issue in Okinawa for many years. What do you think about this?

今回の会話の英日字幕付きの動画とスクリプト、会員限定のコミュニティ、月１回Austin and ArthurとのZoom晩酌は「AAフレンズ」でご利用いただけます！ 詳しくはこちら→ iu-connect.com/aa-shokai

My teen years in 2015-2021. Me & my cousins would go to the back and shoot our .22’s,20 guages, and set up bottles that we collected. We built trust amongst ourselves and respected well mannered marksmanship, it made us young men feel close just having fun & enjoying each others company, Correcting one another to show how much we learned from CZcams/fathers. We didn’t need adult supervision cause we shot with love and care, our gun safety rules were that of common courtesy . The reason we a group of teens were able to be shoot by ourselves was cause our fathers taught us well. Most of my fellow Americans don’t experience this. Before my birth my family depended on guns for food in 1970’s-1980’s and cause of it we love firearms. It’s the same love a family would have for their house or car it kept them going when options were limited.

Those who 'hate' US marines are NOT local ppl in Okinawa!! Most of them are leftist activists from other prefectures, some are even from China or Korea! You can see what is written in their banners. Chinese n Korean letters! They just try to devide Japan n US. Just like in the states now. Please know that they're not local people!

Yes some japanese people are racist, BUT they would always used a subtle racism (or they have to be drunk and in a group to be openly racism) it's by my experience in the street : fake coughing, mouth's noise, bad eye contact... Once you understand that you can reply back doing the same as coughing back, mouth noise back of course always louder, keep the eye contact (they always finished by watch the floor at the end) ofc I respect their country, their people, their culture, I am learning japanese everyday, I respect their law and tradition...

Thank Austin for clearly said that he loves telling US history 😆It's great to get the actual background culture of the topic 👍

I’m sorry about your experience with police, but it is very common all over the world. I grew up in country side of U.S. and police car always slowed down and checked up on me. That was sad experience at the time, but I think they’re just doing their job, because foreigners tends to have conflicts with citizens due to difference in culture, and once you let non-citizen criminal escape it is really difficult to catch them. As police officers start to recognize me as residence of the town, they friendly waved at me as they pass by.

That Sake pour called TOKKURI(徳利)

No country is perfect, and risks are inevitable. I saw guns were displayed alongside fishing gear in an outdoor store close to Everett, easily visible to children. Toy guns are also widely sold at major retailers like Target and Walmart. What intrigued me on the show was when Austin mentioned how dangerous it can be to live in the wild in the U.S. He highlighted a real challenge. I heard about a cyclist being attacked by a coyote near a popular park close to downtown Seattle, a place where people frequently go to walk or play. This is just one example among many. Despite these dangers, I still believe in advocating against widespread gun ownership. However, the key is to find and implement the most effective and realistic solution to address this issue.

Justice without force is powerless; force without justice is tyrannical. Austin!!! You're totally right. We were taught that justice without power is useless in Karate Dojos. Originally, this was said by a French guy named Blaise Pascal. He said that Justice without force is powerless; force without justice is tyrannical. justice without power is just empty talk. I mean, you can preach all the nice things you want, but some countries around Japan are all about flexing their muscles. Sorry about the protests around the Navy base. Without power, we’d get overrun in no time. On the flip side, power without justice is tyranny, and that’s true too. Just think about school bullies and the social hierarchy-it's clear as day. Everyone just falls in line with that strong, good-looking jerk who's popular, even though he’s a complete psycho. So yeah, Pascal’s words really hit home."

Started watching this channel because my wife is Japanese and she watches it, actually really good as a westener with Japanese wife

Thank you both for interesting discussions. I really enjoy your show on Spotify podcast. About the topic of tourist places, i agree to make tourists/residents prices. Raising price for everyone damages only damages local residents. It sound just "outsider"'s idea for me. The point is how to gently/secretly distinguish them. I guess if kyoto city can make payment app with discount for thier residents connected to thier residential info, it would be much easier. Another my sad idea is people should know possibility to be treated differently when you visit/live in foreign countries. Ideally nothing like it happens, but it is too much expectations. *Sorry if my comments sound offensive. As long as they have good manner, i like foreign tourist cuz I'm happy that they got somehow interested in our culture:)

Hi!

In Japan, at the beginning of Meiji era, the newly born central government banned Samurai from possessing katanas, Japanese swords. The purpose was to abolish the status of the Samurai who ranked at the top of the hierarchy in Japanese society at that time. By enforcing this act, the Meiji government aimed to equalize the status of all people. Nowadays, nobody considers katanas as weapons. We view them as traditional crafts and treats them as artistic and historical objects. I understand that the right to possess a gun is stated in the American constitution. However, as far as I understand, this right was established because the country was experiencing an ongoing war against England. Is this situation still going on in the USA? If you need a gun to protect yourself from wild animals like grizzlies, it should be allowed under regulated conditions. Japan also allows hunting with guns under certain circumstances. But do we really need a gun in our daily lives? Do we hunt in cities? Or do we have shooting classes in school? Our life style does not depend on guns whether we live in America or Japan. It is not too late to ban guns from the USA. Your country just needs strong leadership to implement a law banning the possession of firearms. I know that National Rifle Association is going to oppose this legislation. But it needs to be done if people don’t want to see bloodshed in their towns. Even if a law banning guns were enforced, it would take time to collect firearms from individuals. And gun shootings will continue for a while. But the number of incidents will decrease as time passes. The question you must ask yourself is whether you want a safer neighborhood free from the threat of gunfire. Japan successfully removed almost all katanas from its society about 150 years ago. America can do the same with guns.

I see how Americans take the gun culture so precious. So then, they can’t complain when psychopaths periodically commit gun shootings against ordinary citizens.

朝6:30から授業ってやばいですね。先生も生徒も凄すぎる。夜型な私からしたら信じられないです。 田舎のスタバならアメリカのような雰囲気かもしれないですね。 今ロンドンにいるので、そういえば東京ってスタバに限らずどこのカフェも激混みで並ぶし、ロンドンだと基本座れるし、テイクアウトが多いからか、カフェの前で列って見たことないなぁって思いました。ロンドンも店舗小さいので、アメリカの田舎の店舗のようなリラックスした雰囲気はないです。

21:46

I think this is ridiculous because if non-Japanese nationals have to pay more, to be fair, Japanese nationals also should be able to prove that they indeed have Japanese nationality. How do they do that? How many percentage of Japanese nationals have passport to prove their nationality?

今回の会話の英日字幕付きの動画とスクリプト、会員限定のコミュニティ、月１回Austin and ArthurとのZoom晩酌は「AAフレンズ」でご利用いただけます！ 詳しくはこちら→ iu-connect.com/aa-shokai

この回が1番好きです、何回も見てる。ありがとう！

Youre both kinda right. Racial profiling is never okay, however its the disrespectful foreign tourists who are also destroying japan.

Seattle's famous teriyaki chicken is originally a Nikkei people(Japanese-American) dish. It is said that Japanese immigrants began grilling chicken on an iron griddle at festivals and gatherings in the olden days. When I stayed in Seattle for the first time 25 years ago, I was so surprised to see so many teriyaki shops there. I tried some of them and was even more surprised by the sweet flavor like the sauce of mitarashi dango. However, there were also some delicious shop without sweet sauce, and Yasuko's Teriyaki near Seattle U was my favorite. Last year I visited Seattle for the first time in 14 years, and most of the teriyaki stores were gone and Yasuko's seemed to have closed. Thai and Korean food seemed to be more popular now(I love both though). I highly recommend Maneki Restaurant in Japantown, International District, which has been around for a long time(since before WW2). You guys may have heard of it.

Recently, I have been asked how to get to Inokashira-Line in Shibuya. It is pretty match difficult to explain in Japanese, why not in English. I hereby declare that just because I am wearing T-Shirts with MIT or Harvard logos, it does not necessarily mean that I can speak English.

I definitely agree with Austin's opinion about racial profiling. I think people who drink outside in Shibya are not tourists but foreign and local people who live near Tokyo while the problem in Kyoto is actually mainly caused by tourists. So there may be different approaches for it? In addition, local people in Kyoto would consider anyone comes from outside Kyoto as an outsider. Probably they are more familiar with tourists fron foreign countries than domestic tourists.

広島に旅行している子供が外国人観光客に『Japanese kids！how polite！？look！look it！』と指さされて動画撮られて、そそくさと荷物を抱えて移動していました。 これは胸が痛い事態です。 指を刺されて動画を撮られ、なんと言われてるかも分からず嫌な気持ちだったでしょう……

Japan is not experiencing over tourism. Kyoto has a problem with too many tourists packed into too few spaces. Japan also has a problem with English as a lingua Franca, and they need to change the way it is taught and how it is tested at the university level. But talking about “Japan’s over tourism” isn’t helpful nor is it accurate.

Glad that you brought up this topic. There’s already some comments mentioning the idea of local discounts, and I 100% agree with that. Only people who have their IDs showing they live there can get discount. Tourist price itself isn’t a bad idea but doesn’t go well with Japanese culture. No more racial profiling and pointless discussion.

I totally understand that Austin wants everyone to be treated equally, which is definitely what all of us should do, but I want him to understand and admit that Japanese in general have good manners. We never bother a convenience store to the point where the store decides to put up a fence. We never urinate on a shrine gate, nor do we kick and punch deers in Nara(considered divine in Shinto) (Both of them are what some Asian guys did... I was devastated to see that.) Few of us litter in the street , except for those who like to hang out at nightlife districts and those who were not raised well. I totally agree with you guys that we shouldn't expect too much from foreign people who are from low-context culture, though. We should put a lot of effort into getting them to understand our culture, etiquette and religion.

I support the tourist price. Residents can show their ID or utility bill etc. to prove their address where they pay the resident tax that goes to maintaining these facilities. Sounds like a fair deal to me. Just to make it sound less attacking though, they tend to phrase it 'local's discount (e.g. 県民割)' instead of tourist price. Enjoyed the pod as always :)

鳥居登ってたり、お稲荷さんの脇で子供にオシッコさせたり。お年寄りに道も譲らずのさばってるし。困ってますよ。 One of my American friends told me that you still had a place that you could stand up. Fair enough.

日本を離れて10年以上・・・オレゴン州に住んでます。 友人たちから、どこへ行っても外国人ばかり・・と言う話は聞かされていました。 久しく日本へ戻ってませんが、お話しを聞きながら「なんだかなぁ～😮‍💨」と溜息をついてしまいました。 FBにも、誰のアカウントかわかりませんが、日本に関して情報を発信している投稿にはAIで作成されたような日本の写真が掲載されてたり・・。埼玉のクルド人の問題もニュースで知ったり・・・。 今、一時帰国したら、「昔の日本は今いずこ？」と感じるのでしょうか。 It doesn't matter which country they come from or whether they live in Japan. What matters most to me is the state of mind of the person❤

Thanks!

I'd like to see you guys talk outdoors someday.

I think what they should do is to raise the price for everyone just as Austin said. But then issue coupons and publicize them only to the residents in Japan (i.e. including foreigners who are actually living here and not just visiting). But tourists being overcharged does happen in other countries as well. Even in the States, there are many universities where foreigners have to pay double the amount of tuition than an American.

Your talk about the vulnerabilities of a greedy character reminds me of No Face in Spirited Away.

Speaking of the war. Have you ever visited Atomic Bomb Memorial Museum in Hiroshima and Nagasaki? I’m so curious how do American people think about these tragedies.

今回の会話の英日字幕付きの動画とスクリプト、会員限定のコミュニティ、月１回Austin and ArthurとのZoom晩酌は「AAフレンズ」でご利用いただけます！ 詳しくはこちら→ iu-connect.com/aa-shokai

I enjoy listening your talk series. I would like to tell you what I always wonder about. I am not sure if it is only in Japan, though. I wonder why they show a person’s “age” in captions on TV shows or SNS etc.. Have you ever realized that in a lot of cases there is a person’s age shown in captions written next to his or her name. I can’t explain well. I hope you understand it. So, I would like you to talk about how important your age is among co-workers or friends. How differently it is considered in the US. For example, sometimes only 1-year-old difference is meant big in Japanese culture. 初めまして、いつも勉強させていただいています。さて、トピックになるかどうか、、、いつも不思議に思っているのですが、日本では、たとえば朝の番組とか、出演者の紹介のキャプションにその人の年齢がカッコ（）で入るのですが、なんで？？？って思うのです。アメリカのTVでもそんなことありますか？ネットの記事でもその人の名前と一緒に頻繁に年齢が出ていると思うのですが、、、。 その人が何歳かどうかって、日本とアメリカではどのくらい重要度があるかと思うことがあり、トークのトピックにならないかしら？と思いました。 全然、わけわからない感じでしたら、すみません（初めての投稿でした）。。。

First, thank you for a great video this time too!! I really want you two to watch “Nausicca of the Valley of the Wind”. This is old Miyazaki film in 1984, before he made Studio Ghibli. He made two great films before Totoro, “Nausicca” and “Castle in the sky”. Tbh, I’m not a fan of Ghibli (I watched most of their works though),but I love “Nausicca”which has a epic theme . This film is describing how foolish human beings are trough wars and destroying nature, at the same time, we can see a hope to human beings, thanks to the main character Nausicca. She is a girl who is really wise, thoughtful, kind, strong and peaceful. The best films for big fans of MiyazakiI are “ Nausicca” and “Castle in the sky” , so please enjoy this film and discover new things about Miyazaki film!!

ジブリではないのですが、PLAN75という映画を観ていただきたいです。高齢化社会での死という重いテーマですが、ぜひ、お二人の考えをお聞きしたいです。

風立ちぬは戦争映画じゃなくて作家論だしな。ジブリじゃないけど、戦争ネタならゴジラ-1.0とかかな。 アメリカ人は日本人より戦争の記憶が近い分、まだ俯瞰視できてない気がする。PTSD問題も自分ごととして感情的に反応する印象。

IMO, Naushika did the whole anti-war theme way better

I highly recommend The Wind Rises. While it carries the same anti-war message as other films, it stands out from other Miyazaki works by targeting a more mature audience, delving into themes of love and life's callings. The music by Joe Hisaishi, composed for a smaller band, is outstanding as well!

考察が深くてまた映画を見直したくなりました！thanks for sharing🙂‍↕️🌿

I'd love for you two to watch The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, directed by Isao Takahata (who also directed Grave of the Fireflies) and have a discussion about it! The source material is a Japanese classic, and the animation is a masterpiece that reaches the level of art. The reason I want you two to watch it is that when I, and other Japanese people I've watched it with, see this anime, we feel a sense of nostalgia for the "original scenery of Japan". On the other hand, I'm curious to know what kind of emotions people from other countries experience when they watch it.

I guess you choose this theme following the Japanese custom in August. For me It was really valuable to hear that. But I slightly felt strange that you two didn't mentioned about what is happening now. I believe it was on your minds though.

As a Japanese resident in Seattle for six years, I'm curious about how you and other Americans perceive "The Wind Rises." The film tells the story of a character who, perhaps reluctantly, helped design Kamikaze warplanes that were used in WWII. When I visited the Museum of Flight, I noticed a description in front of a B-29 airplane stating that the atomic bomb helped end the war. This gave me mixed feelings, but I realize it may be viewed as a historical fact by others. I'd like to understand how Americans feel about Kamikaze and their portrayal in history and media. I'd also like to mention that during SeaFair, where the US Navy Blue Angels performed, I noticed a poster on an electric pillar that described the Blue Angels as promoting war propaganda. I enjoyed the show as entertainment, but it made me realize that not everyone shares the same perspective.

I would like you guys to talk about Princess Mononoke, because when I listened to the episode you talked about 日米の信仰の違い, it reminded me of Princess Mononoke. it's my most favourite Miyazaki film. I watched it over and over when I was a kid and I could say that it has created my own identity.

今回の会話の英日字幕付きの動画とスクリプト、会員限定のコミュニティ、月１回Austin and ArthurとのZoom晩酌は「AAフレンズ」でご利用いただけます！ 詳しくはこちら→ iu-connect.com/aa-shokai