Chatting with Nukemarine, a military veteran in Japan

In this week's podcast, we talk to Nukemarine, someone who is not only a military veteran living in Japan for over 15 years, but also a seasoned veteran in the online language learning communities. Nuke has been an active member of many Japanese language learning forums, not only as a member but also as a moderator. Nowadays, he enjoys his retired life in Japan while teaching english in Japan on the side, and he actively helps out members of the community by providing free resources. He has his own YouTube Channel where you can follow his Japanese Language Learning Journey, as well as his own framework for learning Japanese. 

Also if you enjoyed the podcast, we have an hour of bonus footage from Nukemarine up on our Patreon! 

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We start off the podcast talking about Nuke’s experience living in Japan for the past 15 years. Nuke briefly talks about his experience with the military and his brief stint living in Africa. Although most people may experience cultural shock when coming to Japan for the first time, Nuke didn’t experience any of that and decided to live in Japan long term after meeting his now Japanese wife. 

In talking about Japanese media, Nuke talks about the influence of Anime and Japanese dramas on Japanese cultural from his perspective. Although Anime is very popular outside of Japan, it maintains a minority audience within Japan. Nuke talks about the importance that J-Drama has on cultural references and television

Going back to his experience when he first came to Japan, Nuke talks about the decision to live in Japan long term, which included the purchase of an apartment with his wife. Nuke then shares his experience dating in Japan, and the cultural differences that he felt through that process. 

Although Nuke has lived in Japan for 15 years, he wasn’t studying Japanese the entire time that he was there. There were periods of times when he only participated in online language forums and didn’t personally study, and there were times where the study method he used was not effective. 

We discuss Nuke’s participation as a moderator in these online forums, and how he naturally fits into the role due to his background with leadership within the military. We learn what the role of a moderator is and how he goes about resolving conflicts in the online forum. 

Lastly, we reflect on Nuke’s mistakes when he was learning Japanese, and he gives some wise advice to those who are currently learning Japanese.