This is a popular response, I guess its a go!

Thank you, and to you too. May 2025 be amazing for you!

良いお年を。

Depends on the job. Some listings clearly ask for Japanese, some say you don't need it. Some don't say anything...so you take you chances.

Glad I am somehow entertaining. I must admit I find it both interesting but of course gratifying that people are interested in what I have to say. Happy New Year!

よいお年を！

I would, but the wife would have a heart attack about privacy. ;)

The old green and yellow cars of the enoden are still there. Just a few cars have had a different paint job applied. It's a beautiful drive, and back when I lived in Hayama I could even run along there sometimes. LOTS of foreign tourists these days.

This is the type of idea that makes me want to found an NGO. Great stuff!

Have you watched my videos about woodblock prints? I do a couple where I share my collection. Just search "exjapter woodblock prints" and I am sure they will pop up.

@@Exjapter Thanks! I just found you a few months ago, YT recommended some older video and I watched them but those are not about woodcut prints. I will check them out.

Thank you very much for your comment, Lucas! Happy New Year to you as well. I hope I can continue to make interesting videos in 2025 as well. Best wishes from Japan!

​@@Exjapter 有り難うございます🎉

Thank you! Happy New Year to you too!

Thank you for the comment. I hope 2025 provides further entertainment and information.

Lore? Oh dear....lol

Interesting... I hope 2025 exceeds your expecations!

Thank you so much! Happy New Year to you as well.

Thank you. Epically good for the world, lets hope!

No, the cleaning is helping me procrastinate from writing....

@@Exjapter Just messing with you, boss.

To you and yours as well. Thank you.

Haha, thank you. I will admit I enjoy a little bit of Nagano driving scenery from time to time myself. Maybe I'll do a reaction video some day.

Haha, totally forgot about this one. I have been thinking about redoing older titles, but I think I will let this one rest, lol

@Exjapter always good to remind ourselves to maintain our health, physically and mentally.

​@@Godzillajztrue. I ran a marathon in 2024 and hit the gym no less than 3 times a week. I am sticking with it.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you as well. If you set your sights on life here, I wish you the best of luck!

Sorry to hear JET didnt work out. To be honest, it may be a good idea to try again. JET is a different sort of Japan experience. That said, if you dont mind rural, I know a place where you might be able to apply down in Kyushu where they have had trouble filling a spot through local hiring.

@Exjapter I absolutely do not mind rural. I actually prefer it over busy, noisy city life. If no other avenues work out before September I will absolutely apply to JET again. I am determined to make a Japanese relocation happen.

If the quality is like the originals, the Shattered Backboards are highest on the list for sure. I have the reverse 2.0 pair, but really want the original colorway.

Yes! Please send me an email as the dates come closer, to remind me. The next 2 months are going to be very hectic for me.

And to you as well!

Thank you and best wishes to you as well. Yokohama is overlooked - I seek to change that, no matter if the change is small.

Thank you so very much for your frequent comments throughput 2024. I hope I can still come up with an interesting thing or two in 2025.

I really looked forward to it as a kid, and putting up new ones every year and seeing favorites come out of the box again was/is a lovely tradition.

Merry Christmas to you, too, and all the best in 2025! 良いお年を。

I am curious why you would be so adament about avoiding a Japanese style room? I personally love the aesthetic and enjoy changing out the artwork in the tokonoma (not to mention buying new pieces). I wouldnt want my entire house to be that style, but I also appreciate it for the fact the style lends itself to being the least cluttered room in the house as well. Thanks for physique comment. I am a regular in my school's training gym at minimum three days a week. I wouldnt impress any body builders, but I am trying to improve my strength and conditioning. I got more serious about it during the pandemic, figuring by getting as healthy as possible would help me fend off any nasty bugs I might catch.

@@Exjapter Adamant? I like that because like Don Corleone, I refuse to apologize for refusing to be persuaded or to change my mind about liking to live like a full red, white and blue-blooded American while living in Japan-----which until recently also included flying the American flag by driving American sports cars despite the beer cans being welded into the engine block. Maybe it has to do with my formative years in Japan when I lived in military base housing and where like corporate expats, our housing and utility costs were free-----and instead of a tatami room, our houses came with a much tinier maid’s room because at 360 yen to the dollar, we could more than afford to have a live-in JAPANESE maid as well as Japanese houseboys, lawn boys and a chauffeur? Now that’s not to say I never rented an apartment that came with one tatami room. But when that couldn’t be helped, I always immediately covered those tatami mats with a rug so they would look brand new when we moved----aka no landlord ever ripped me off by claiming I had to pay for replacement tatami mats because I knew the secret that instead of replacing the tatami mats, all they did was flip the mats over while pocketing your money. Of course, I may have dated myself with “The Destroyer” reference from the days decades ago when he wrestled in Japan alongside and across from “Giant-O-Baba”. But “The Destroyer” did have a son who attended St. Mary’s International School-----with or without a mask.

Never had a tatami apartment except my JET one, where I wasnt required to pay for new mats because of the public housing rules. I could see how that would be annoying though. More than the wrestler reference, 360 yen to the dollar dated you! Not that it would make a difference for me. Only my tiny tiny crumbs from youtube pays me in dollars. When it was 80 to 90yen to the dollar under Abe, that was when we lived large.

@@Exjapter I don't know about your last sentence? Because when I was 12 years old and had $20 in my pocket after mowing 10 lawns in Yokohama and then went to the bank to exchange it for 7,200 yen to go shopping off-base, I thought I was living large.

Thank you much! May 2025 be your best year yet.

Totally subconcious - not sure why I stopped it!

Merry Christmas, and thanks for the comment.

I'm happy as long as my #1 fan sticks around. 😄

A few others have suggested this, so I will probably make this video topic early in 2025.

Thank you! Yes, technical language and jargon are tough, especially since they wont help in any other aspect of life here.

Well be sure to comment on my vlog when I make it as the comparisons should be interesting.

Yes, I gotta work on the Japanese to deal with administrative tasks for advising students, something I dont do now, meaning I have had zero exposure to that sort of vocabulary and kanji. Once the degree is done, I cant take my foot off the gas.

@@Exjapter I'm not clear on what the higher level career path is in University teaching here in Japan, but you may find more opportunities open up outside of teaching, if you're interested in such things. I'm looking for new work now (non-teaching) and the biggest obstacle is my average Japanese - everyone is looking for skilled, experienced bilinguals (not a common commodity), so if you have the Japanese and decent experience in a professional/cultural capacity, you're most of the way there.

I am not familiar with that vlogger, but have you ever read the catforehead .com blog? Lots of great info there.

And then the "safe-foreigner" thing happens with students confessing serious issues they dont want to tell anyone else.

I am a better driver in a few respects, one of them being I am much more careful about looking for bicycles and scooters since they are so much more common here than where I grew up. Car ownership really comes down to where you live. Many of my coworkers don't own cars because they live in central Yokohama or Tokyo. Where I am, it would be hard to do much (like grocery shopping) without a car. Out in Yamanashi where I was a JET I tried to live without a car when I first moved in. I lasted 2 months and never regretted getting one as it boosted my freedom to explore exponentially. But if I had to move to central Tokyo, I'm pretty sure I'd get rid of it.

Thanks for the comment and sentiment. As long as people don't mind what may be my longest video ever, I will do a building a house video at some point.

I agree that building a custom house in Japan deserve at least one video, just for the various obstacles unique to Japan. For example, stay entirely with Japanese suppliers. I went with American doors and windows, which means that if a window breaks, nobody will fix it for you. I had that happen to a window, and the only thing I could do was pay somebody to replace the entire sash. Oh, and don't get me started on the Japanese penchant for wallpaper!

Is it an evolution? I don't really have an overarching plan, so if an evolution is happening it's a naturally occurring one.