Tag: Fun Friday

Podcast Guest: Timothy Reid – From English Teacher to Award-Winning Musician and Video Game Sound Designer Pro in Japan

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This week on the podcast, I’m thrilled to welcome Timothy Reid, a multi-talented artist and creator whose journey to success in Japan is nothing short of inspiring.

Originally from North Yorkshire in the UK, Timothy moved to Japan in 2011 after graduating from the University of Leeds. Like many foreigners, he started out teaching English just to get by — but everything changed in 2014 when he won a national guitar contest. That moment launched him straight into the Japanese music industry.

Since then, he’s done it all: from touring and recording as a professional guitarist, to demoing gear in-store, teaching at music schools, and more recently, breaking into Japan’s video game industry, contributing to both big-name AAA titles and indie games.

In this episode, we talk about learning Japanese, breaking into the music and gaming industries, and what it really takes to build a life and career in Japan. If you’re interested in living in Japan, pursuing a creative career here, or just want to hear an honest, fascinating story about surviving and thriving abroad, you won’t want to miss this conversation.

If you’ve ever dreamed of building a successful creative career in Japan, this is an unmissable episode packed with insight, inspiration, and hard-won lessons.

Click on the links below for Timothy’s home page and social media account:

Timothy Reid Official Website

Timothy Reid Instagram

For more Japanese language learning podcasts and interviews with people doing cool stuff in Japan, visit: Learn Japanese Pod

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In this episode of Learn Japanese Pod, Andy and I dive into the world of starting a small business in Japan. We share our personal journeys of setting up our own company , the lessons we learned, and the surprises we encountered along the way.

If you’re a foreigner living in Japan—or planning to move here—and you’ve ever thought about launching your own business, this episode is packed with useful insights and real talk.

What We Talked About in This Episode

Here are some of the main topics we covered:

• Why we decided to set up a company in Japan
  Our motivations, goals, and what pushed us to take the leap from freelance to incorporating.
• Types of companies you can register in Japan
  We break down common structures like the Godo Kaisha (GK) and Kabushiki Kaisha (KK), and why we chose what we did.
• Legal and financial help – Do you need a lawyer or tax accountant?
  How we found help with paperwork, taxes, and navigating the legal landscape.
• The process of registering a company in Japan
  From choosing a company name to getting all the documents stamped, we share what was smooth—and what wasn’t.
• Hanko culture and paperwork
  What it was like getting our hankos (personal/company seals) made and how they’re used for official documents.
• Registering your company name
  Tips and gotchas when reserving a name, and how we made sure ours passed.
• Our overall experience – Was it easy or hard?
  We compare notes on how bureaucratic (or not) the process was, and how long it took.

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Key Takeaways

• Preparation is key – Research and planning go a long way in making the process smoother.
• Get help – Hiring a bilingual tax accountant or lawyer can save you time and stress.
• Japan’s system is unique – Cultural and legal differences (like using hankos) can be surprising, but manageable with guidance.
• It’s possible! – Setting up a company in Japan as a foreigner is very doable with the right support and mindset.

For more podcasts on learning the Japanese language and discovering more about the culture of Japan, click here!

In this episode, you’ll learn how to understand Japanese vocabulary — using only Japanese. Specifically, we’ll focus on how to ask for the meaning of words in Japanese and try to understand the explanations you hear. Mastering this skill not only boosts your vocabulary but also deepens your understanding of how words are naturally used in context. And remember, this becomes an exponential process – the more words you learn, the more words you can learn. It’s an extremely effective way to improve fluency.

Admittedly, this can be a challenging skill to develop, especially for beginners who may not yet have enough vocabulary to follow explanations in Japanese. However, it’s an incredibly valuable skill to work on at any level. Over time, it will greatly improve your ability to use and understand Japanese more like a native speaker.

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If you’d like to get PDF show notes, an extra bonus episode on this topic as well as Japanese audio practice dialogues, become a premium member here:

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In this Fun Friday edition of the Learn Japanese Pod podcast, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Katheryn Gronauer, a Tokyo-based entrepreneur with a fascinating background. She shared incredible insights and stories, including her unique experience growing up in a family that managed sento—traditional Japanese public baths.

We talked about what it was like helping her family run the business and how those early experiences shaped her approach to leadership and personal development today. Katheryn has since taken that knowledge and applied it to her coaching practice, The Sento Mindset, which focuses on rethinking life with honesty and courage to achieve your goals and achieve success. 

Beyond that, we discussed life in Tokyo, and plenty of other thought-provoking topics. It was a fantastic conversation, and I can’t wait for you to hear it!

Click on the links below to access Katheryn’s websites and social media mentioned on the podcast:

Katheryngronauer.com

About The Sento Mindset

Thrive Tokyo

Katheryn’s LinkedIn

Katheryn’s Facebook

Katheryn’s Instagram

This is the Fun Friday edition of Learn Japanese Pod. Fun Friday is where we temporarily put down our Japanese textbooks and talk to cool people doing cool things in Japan.

In this episode we talk to Japan veteran and my very good friend Andy. We talk about what life is like in Japan during the Coronavirus pandemic.

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Fun Friday: Coronavirus in Japan

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