Japanese Video Page

Welcome to our latest media addition - Japanese videos. In our never ending battle to shed some light on what it is to be an English teacher in Japan, we’ve begun listing videos related to living and earning your bread and butter in the land of rice and honey.

Japanese Video

We have a serious fecal waste filter in place - meaning U-Tubers who wish to become superstars via the social media platform that Facebook is don't make the video cut list.
Meandering and circumlocutive videos get whacked. Only insightful, to the point, professional and well done videos get listed.  If you find one and want to let us know you can get a hold of us on the contact form.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video clip has got to be worth at least 1,000 times more.

Know of a cool video on teaching in Japan that you would like to recommend? Let our ever growing audience see it. Kick us the url or embed code to it on the form below and we’ll post it.

Plus we’ll lavish piles of praise on you for your generosity. (Nothing lewd, crude or nude please.) Note: in our Japanese video page we've made an effort to cut out videos that are obvious Japan bashing, or Japan praising to the point of nauseousness. Also videos where hosts attempt to leverage the YouTube platform to become a super star in their own minds don't make the cut. The point is maximum info. delivery in the minimum amount of time to serve you the visitor.


               Japanese Video Index

Teaching Related 

Japanese Junior High School Video
A nice inside look at typical students might find in any high school in Japan. “This is what happens when an ALT grabs the camera.”

Another Assistant Language Teacher Video
This Japanese video starts off on the wacky side, that's for sure. But shortly thereafter gives a fairly rare glimpse of the actual office environment that a typical ALT will find him or herself in. A fairly comprehensive look at a typical day an ALT faces to earn his paycheck mixed with a bit of show-boating and humor.

Japanese Junior High School Video
A nice dose of humor is mixed with a fairly detailed account of what goes on behind the scenes in a typical Japanese junior high school. Although this Japanese video is a bit long, it is one of the few out there that shows how the ALT interacts with the Japanese staff at the school and shows the under-belly (a bit at least) of how things really go in a school setting. At the very least give you a bit of a heads up on what to expect. More here on the  History of English education in Japan.

Apartment and Living Related

Typical Living Quarters for JET Teachers 
A typical Japanese apartment for ALTs and Jets. Located in Fukuyama, Josh, Crystal and Bill, our hosts, show us the ins and outs of their Japanese apartment. Leaving no stone un-turned, you get a guided tour of their humble abodes.

An Average 1dk ALT Japanese Apartment
Here is a nice video that shows a very typical 1DK  size Japanese apartment. (Roughly 400 square feet). This is the type that a college student would typically live in. The video is shot in a rural setting along with a good shot of humor or two. Well explained. Camera work is pretty good. 

Culture Shock and Some Realities About Those Who Teach in Japan
Here is a nice video (but a bit on the long side - 18:14 seconds)  that looks at some of the stark as well as subtle realities that a teacher will go through as they adjust to Japanese culture. Things like woman cleaning men's clothes changing rooms while you're undressing. Not being allowed to sit shotgun in a car with someone you don't know well you will be asked to sit in the back seat. etc. Reverse culture shock is also looked at. This specific video is towards the top of the page.

The Core Basics on Japanese Etiquette - A nice tight and professionally done video that hits the basics on common etiquette. Topping out at (13:06 seconds) , it packs a whack of info into that tiny time slot. Definitely worth looking at to get a feeling for Japanese culture and etiquette. Just like this site No Fluff & No Hype.

Tourist and Vacation Related

Big City Living Vs.Country living
Here is a nice video a bit long (12:21 seconds) with a nice splash of humor but an excellent take on the pluses and minuses of living in rural Japan vs. living in the concrete jungles of Tokyo, Osaka etc. A fairly personal perspective. The setting is in Yamagata prefecture the city of Sendai. It addresses the topics of feeling isolated in the country side of Japan vs. being overwhelmed by the neon glitz of big city life.

25 Things to do in Tokyo
Here is a nice one. Done professionally. Moves quickly. Not a moment wasted for 18:19 seconds. Our host Mark Wiens cranks through an impressive amount of footage and squeezes every drop of out of the videos run. So if you are a teacher on the go with a weekend to spare or a tourist just wanting to have a little taste of Tokyo, you'll get a mouthful with this one.

Christmas in Japan - Quite to the point. 2:54 seconds worth of thoughts about how a Japanese Christmas is different from Western Christmas in both how it is celebrated and what it represents psychologically. Both view points of foreigners as well as Japanese are presented. The video, at the bottom of the page, has both good sound and visual quality.

Other Wacky Videos

Drunken Billy also called  "The Staff Guy" found this to be a hoot!  Looong...  Looong ...Maaan. A chewing gum commercial.  It's not only funny but sheds a bit of light on how wacky Japanese humor is. Packed with flipped out Japanese style humor and topping out at slightly over six minutes if you got time to kill and want to get a feel for how zany Japan can be, you can watch it on  your smart phone at the water cooler. Catch it here. Sakeru Gum series さけるグミ #1-11 complete (Eng SUB) 

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