Meet the Kansai Team

By Japanzine Staff | Saturday, Dec 27, 2008

In lieu of our usual What's Poppin' column (apparently nothin's poppin' this January), we'd like to introduce you to 2 new reps currently helping Sam Zipursky to bring a well-informed Japanzine to your door. Ladies and gents, please give it up for Aiko Yoshida (Osaka) and John Harden (Kobe). Feel free to get in touch with them if you have anything you want to know about, or if you know something we don't. 

Hey, Aiko! Tell us a bit about yourself and what you're doing in the Big Takoyaki.

Aiko: I live in Osaka. I qualified as a Japanese teacher with experience both in and outside of Japan, but I have ambitions in other fields such as the fashion industry. My life's ambition is to communicate with various kinds of people from all over the world and help to connect them as a “bridge”. I love traveling, reading good books and listening to interesting stories about other people.

What'll you be bringing to Japanzine? 

As a native Osakajin, I'd like to introduce a side of Osaka usually undiscovered by foreigners. 

Have you ever had any interesting run-ins with a gaijin? 

The funniest question I've been asked is, “I want to buy some blowfish in a supermarket, but are they still poisonous?” You asked me that, Sam, you buffoon! The cutest mistake was when my friend misunderstood the meaning of irasshaimase, the word used by Japanese shop clerks. He thought it meant “hello” and had been answering irasshaimase back for quite some time!

How about you, John? Tell us a bit about yourself, where you live, your background, what you're into...

John: I was born in Nashville, but raised in the heart of Plano, Texas. As for hobbies and interesta, I enjoy many activities: Snowboarding, hanging out with friends, spending time with my wife and relaxing at home. For all of you manga heads out there, I'm in the middle of the Slam Dunk series. So if you haven't had the chance to enjoy this classic set, put the 4th season of Lost on pause and report to your local Tsutaya, immediately. As for food, I bar none!        

What do you want to bring to Japanzine?

My number one priority is to share my perception of Kobe and it's surroundings. I've been fortunate enough to meet many wonderful people, as well as travel to many interesting places in and around Kobe. I would like to share all of this with the magazine's readers. 

Any moments of whacked out J-weirdness you'd like to share with us?

One time I caught a man taking a "joy-piss" in the restroom! I coined this phrase after witnessing this guy literally dance while he urinated... everywhere!  Apparently, he'd had one too many, so the notion of putting urine in the toilet completely escaped him. I mean, this dude was tagging the walls, the floor, and a little bit of everything else. I guess some people like to take joyrides, while others like to take joy-pisses!

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