Japanese comedian Meshida talks what it's like to be a Japanese resident of Tokyo during the ramp up to the Olympics, and how yeah, we're "witnessing history," but so were Black Death survivors.

Ollie recommends a cruise that accidentally discovers what's more popular than "canal."

Bobby gets into the rainy season cruise spirit.

Topics discussed on this episode range from:


What Anti-Japanese Groups actually think about the Olympics
How Brian's Eikaiwa work is going
Bach-kaicho calling the Japanese, "Chinese"
What Meshida thinks is the MOST racist thing you can say to a Japanese person
Why Bach has China on the brain
The super gracious performance by Bach's Japanese translator
Which one is Ollie, and which one is Bobby
A VERY REAL thought experiment
Meshida's AIRBNB experience, hosting a comedy show for tourists, and what jokes they enjoy the most
A full rundown of Olympic developments over the last two weeks
Ollie's successful petition for a spectatorless olympics
The personal opportunity loss we've suffered by how these Olympics have played out
What Meshida thinks of the Japanese Honne and Tatemae in terms of why people care about the Olympics
The Japanese fixation on being emotionally moved by sports
How maybe most Japanese people just don't care either way at this point
How Meshida feels about seeing news around new Olympic related corona infections
Why Meshida hates BACH (the IOC chief, not the pianist)
Whether or not this will be a HISTORIC Olympics, and the way Meshida draws a parallel to other Japanese history
How the increase in "support" for the Olympics is actually "resignation to the Olympics."
The change Meshida thinks we'll see in the media once the games start
The elevator thing. YES, THE ELEVATOR THING

Why we've seen an increase in foreign discrimination during pandemic/ahead of the Olympics
Why we kind of feel bad for the hotel
Why it is and isn't a big deal


Get access to the extras by supporting the podcast for less than $1 an episode by becoming a member at http://buymeacoffee.com.

Topics Discussed on the Extras:


Have something you'd like to say? Send us a fax at japanbyrivercruise.com

or Tweet to us at @jbrcpod

Matt's New Yorker Article "Japan's Olympic Sized Problem"


Social Media Links:

Meshida: Twitter | Youtube

Ollie Horn: Twitter | Instagram

Bobby Judo: Twitter | Instagram | YouTube


Other things to click on
Some are affiliate links because we're sell-outs


We record remotely using Squadcast and the podcast is hosted on Transistor
Bobby uses the Samson Go Mic and Ollie uses the AT2005USB mic


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