Welcome back to Happy Hour Japan Season 2! In this short episode, Aaron and I will take you inside a Japanese スーパー (supermarket/grocery store).
Not only will we show you what it’s like to shop in a grocery store in Japan, but we’ll also show you a great example on how to get kicked out of one 
Kanpai,
Kevin
Welcome back for our first real episode of Happy Hour Japan Season 2!
Today, Aaron and I are going to take you on a short trip to a Ramen shop to show you what it’s like and introduce some key works and phrases that you’ll want to know.
Ramen is super popular in Japan is definitely worth checking out when you visit.
No beers in this episode unfortunately, but Kanpai anyway!
Kevin
Top off your glasses and get your kanpai-face on because Happy Hour Japan is finally back for Season 2!
In Season 2, Happy Hour Japan will focus more on taking you around Japan and teaching you Japanese as well as showcasing Japanese culture.
But I’m sure you have tons of questions on your mind like:
What’s the new format?
Is it going to be a one man show?
Has Kevin found “someone else?”
Rest assured, all of your questions will be answered in the Season Opener!
Kanpai,
Kevin
Hey!
The cherry blossoms have started blooming here in Japan which means Spring is finally here! The weather’s warming up, kids are gearing up for the new school year, and mothers are rushing to the store to pick up the latest bento goods!
Wait…bento goods?
Yes, bento goods! Have you ever heard of deko-ben or kyara-ben?!? If not, this episode is a MUST SEE!
-Kevin
As the title of this post suggests, this is our last episode of Happy Hour Japan..
…well, sort of.
We will be coming out with an HHJ replacement soon, but with me moving to Japan, Aaron and I quickly realized that we wouldn’t be able to continue our video blog in its current format. In other words, we will still continue contributing to ispeakjapanese.net (rest assured!), but Happy Hour Japan (in its *current* format) will be coming to an end.
What we desperately need from all of you are suggestions! What would you like to see in our next version of HHJ?? Please leave us your comments and we’ll try to take all of your suggestions into consideration as we figure out what to do next. In the meantime, be sure to check out our archive of HHJ episodes and feel free to re-live past episodes here on our site.
For our final episode (our longest ever!), we invited a few of our close friends to have one big final panel discussion about learning Japanese. We had a great time hanging out with them and really appreciate them coming on the show. They all have unique viewpoints and experiences with the Japanese language so it’s a must-see for all of you out there who are interested in (or are currently learning) Japanese.
Lastly, we want to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have been following Happy Hour Japan! Although we will continue with a new format, Aaron and I figured this would a great opportunity to extend a big thank you to all of our supporters and viewers!
So thank you & kanpai!
Kevin
Thanks for visiting us at ispeakjapanese.net! Aaron and I are back with our latest episode of Happy Hour Japan.
A couple of months ago, we received an email from one of our viewers asking us to do an HHJ episode on Japanese toilets. At first we thought it might be a little inappropriate, but we’ve since realized that it’s a really important topic to cover…especially if you plan to visit or live in Japan.
We’ll talk about the high-tech ‘washlet’ toilets as well as the more traditional eastern-style toilets that have terrorized foreigners visitors to Japan for decades!
Kanpai,
Kevin
Hi there, and thanks for stopping by!
Every time I visit Japan, I inevitably learn or realize something new about the country and its culture. I recently got back from a trip to Japan and this time around was certainly no exception. In fact, I ran into a very unexpected and unfortunate surprise when I ran out of cash while on my trip. Through this experience, I realized just how important cash is in Japan and the troubles visitors to the country often encounter when trying to access their bank accounts back home!
If you have any future plans to visit the country, I highly recommend you watch this episode!
Kanpai and until next time!
Kevin
Trust me. We know it can be tough learning Japanese. We’ve been there.
Lately, we’ve been getting a lot of emails from viewers asking us to give them advice on how to learn Japanese effectively. In this episode, Aaron and I will talk a little bit about our own experiences learning Japanese and what we’ve discovered along the way. Hopefully this information will help some of you out there who are struggling with the language and get you back on the right track!
Plus, we have a big announcement!
Kanpai,
Kevin
You may not realize it, but you’re probably using a lot of Japanese words in day-to-day life. With the rising popularity of Japanese culture, food, and ideas, we English-speakers are getting more and more exposure to the Japanese language. Don’t believe me? How about the words “sake,” “samurai,” “mottainai,” “kaizen,” “kimono,” “anime”….I’m sure you’ve used or heard at least a couple of these words recently.
Unfortunately, many of these Japanese words are mispronounced by English-speakers 
In this episode, Aaron and I cover just a few of these commonly mispronounced words and go over how they should be pronounced. Although it’s not 100% necessary to pronounce Japanese words “authentically” all the time, we figured that it would be good information to pass along to anyone learning Japanese and to those who want to travel to Japan in the future.
Enjoy & Kanpai!
Kevin
Happy Hour Japan, Japanese Vocabulary, Japanese for Traveling
Aaron and I were pleasantly surprised at the positive response we got to our T-shirt suggestion. Thanks to all of you who gave us feedback!
But before we can start printing t-shirts we need a design so we’ve decided to officially kick-off our t-shirt design contest!
The winning design will be featured on our first HHJ T-shirt and possibly some other items as well…like hats, pins, and maybe even water bottles!
To enter your design, simply email it to either Aaron or me (aaron[at]ispeakjapanese.net or kevin[at]ispeakjapanese.net). When we’ve collected enough entries, we’ll post all the designs on our site and have everyone vote on their favorite. There aren’t any real rules or restrictions, but try to keep it clean 
Sketches are welcome, although print-quality images would be appreciated.
I’ve already received a couple of designs, but hopefully we can pull together many more so that we have healthy pool to choose from.
We look forward to seeing your designs!
Kanpai,
Kevin
