Japan By River Cruise

Disability activist and historian Mark Bookman talks about how accessibility progress is bolstered by the international spotlight of the Paralympics but hampered by the lack of accessibility at the policy-making table.

Ollie interrogates the patriarchy.

Bobby seems pretty consumed by his anxiety about how much time we have left.

Topics discussed on this episode range from:

• Ollie's disastrous start to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and how a Brian intervened to save the Day
• How AirBNB does in terms of accessibility
• How Japan travel accommodations do with accessibility overall
• What Mark's work as a disability activist entails, and how his daily life and interactions inform his activism
• The concrete web of support that's required to make a disabled person's
• The challenging of advocating for people with invisible disabilities in Japan
• The importance of inclusivity in accessibility conversations
• The Paralympics as an opportunity to reflect and improve on accessibility
• How Corona has illustrated some of Japan's social barriers to accessibility
• Japan's over-reliance on care networks for disable people
• How Japan's aging population and shortage of caregivers highlights disability and accessibility issues
• The chance that the Paralympics offers to address some of these issues
• How incredibly sporty we all are
• Mark's experience being consulted by the Japanese government to work on accessibility issues
• How Japan's attitude towards accessibility compares to other countries
• Japan's legal history around accessibility
• How transportation accessibility has rippled out to other areas
• How Japan's inclusion TARGETS set them apart from other countries
• A brief history of Japanese disability welfare laws and where they excel
• WHY they excel in those areas
• Disability visibility in government, and how it affects public perception
• Japan's history of high-profiled disability
• How the Paralympics can function to create "undesirable accessibility"
• How the Paralympics can be helpful to some and harmful to others
• Some really disastrously bad Paralympic advertising messaging
• What Mark tells a government when they ask what they should do
• Why the government needs to do more than just ask Mark what they should do

Topics discussed on the extras include:

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

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

or Tweet to us at @jbrcpod

Content links:

Mark's Ted Talk: Paralympics as Possibility: The Past, Present, and Future of Accessibility in JapanArticle on Covid-19: The Coronavirus Crisis: Disability Politics and Activism in Contemporary JapanAccessibility Mapping Project

Social Media Links:

Mark Bookman: Twitter | Bookman Research

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

Music industry and Visual Kei Insider Sarahphina teaches Bobby and Ollie about stuff they're totally unfamiliar with, like X Japan, Japanese rock fandom and humility.

Ollie looks into a river cruise dating service for vaccinated singles. All ten of them.

Bobby organizes the kind of tourist activities HE wants the foreign Olympic athletes to experience.

Topics discussed on this episode include:

• This Tweet
• Ollie's lack of decoration and decorum
• Sarahphina's amazing cottage core interior design
• Sarahphina's efforts to connect and protect the modeling/talent community in Tokyo and why it's sadly necessary
• Some uncharacteristic positivity re: people, their dreams, and helping to achieve them
• Our continued success as a web-based River Cruise podcast
• Why and how YOU should "do the needful" and join as a member
• The anniversary of the death of Hide, and why he was the reason for Sarahphina's entire decision to come to Japan
• Hide's work and career, why his fans are so passionate, and how X Japan created the genre of Visual Kei
• What Visual Kei meant when it started, who coined it, and how it's evolved
• The western inspirations for Visual Kei
• Why androgyny and make-up and beauty is an element built into Visual Kei
• Gatekeeping and faction-based elitism in the Visual Kei fandom
• How Nocturnal Bloodlust used Visual Kei to build a fanbase so they could stop being Visual Kei
• Gackt and Roland, and creating a public persona based on luxury, wealth, and beauty, much like Bobby and Ollie have done
• Different portrayals of masculinity from Culture to Culture
• WHAT ABOUT THE MUSIC?
• What could Hide have accomplished had he lived, and what his goals may have been
• How Hide's work spanned all kinds of creative fields, and how that continues to inspire people
• What happens when famous creatives decide what projects to take on or who to work with based on evaluating their quality or ability, and not just how famous they are
• Whether or not there is anything notably unique about FANDOM in Japan, and how Visual Kei helped create more of an interactive commercial based fandom
• Crossover between Visual Kei and Idol marketing, and how Bobby and Ollie might be able to implement some of those techniques
• (Get ready to buy random polaroids of us, some of which might be our members.)

Topics discussed in the extras include

• How 'Cycle Around Japan' coped with the restrictions that meant you could no longer cycle around Japan.
• The lame thing Sarahphina does to work out.
• Ollie's Covid-safe approach to exercise.
• How Ollie tested his theory that spin instructors don't listen.
• Saraphina discusses how if you left her in the middle of some woods she'd survive.
• Why Saraphina had a bear in the back of her truck, and why that was fine.
• A discussion about Mary Had a Little Lamb, and other bangers.
• The Tokyo wilderness, and a Nagano from Tokyo hike.
• How Sarahphina got the 'Cycle Around Japan' gig, and what is required of the presenters.
• Sarahphina's zombie apocalypse survival plan.
• Some first-hand evidence as to why Japan isn't as safe as people claim.

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

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

or Tweet to us at @jbrcpod

Content Links:
ENeDi Official Twitter
The Man Who Coined The Term Visual Kei

Social Media Links:

Saraphina: Twitter | Instagram

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 ...

Long time editor of "Fukuoka Now" Nick Szasz brings his inbound expertise to bear on the proliferation of virtual tourism in Japan, a trend in which regional tourist destinations all over Japan try to learn how to use the internet.

Ollie recommends a cruise that's currently booking for next year, which is still gonna be too early.

Bobby has a new river cruise segment which will probably not be as popular as its namesake.

Topics discussed on this episode range from:

• What you can do to help make the Tokyo Olympics feel a little less like home
• The ways in which Nick, Ollie, and Bobby's career paths have intertwined over the years, and why this whole thing might actually be Nick's fault
• Nick's experience helming an English based monthly publication in Japan for over 20 years
• How Bobby rose to fame as the most prominently featured background extra in a fake hair commercial
• What happened with Nick's paper media publication during Covid, and the numerous ways that the magazine pivoted to reflect the way Fukuoka itself was changing
• How Cruises (YEAH, BABY, CRUISES) changed everything for Fukuoka
• JBRC Press Club reporting on the decision to hold the Olympics without foreign spectators by @GvaOto, @stonecoldkilzer, @pixelmaven and @shinpansalter
• How the loss of the Olympics took away what was supposed to be a boom year for, not all only the three of us personally, but many many industries in Japan, especially tourism and those in adjacent fields
• Why tourism magazines and informational free papers were already seeing a decline pre-covid
• Nick's pivot to video content in the form of Kyushuu Live
• The wide variety of quality in terms of the virtual tours that have become available, and how Nick's project is a bit different from a simple "tourism initiative"
• The merits of LIVE streaming
• How does virtual tourism become a substitute for a tourism economy? How do you monetize it?
• Nick's thoughts on how to turn a fanbase for free content into financial support for local areas
• Does the future of travel involve building a relationship with a destination before you get there?
• How remote travel content with a more targeted, deeper look at a local place can equate to a more engaged viewership
• If you want to watch online Japan video content, why would you pick remote tourism over just... a travel show, or The Last Samurai?
• How this raises the question of what the goals of tourists actually are.
• Is virtual tourism necessarily tainted by its function as advertising/sales platform, or is there a way in which that can be leveraged to create more interaction between travelers and local economies?
• The elephant in the room with virtual tourism, namely that it's a poor substitute for the real thing
• How will Japan tourism rebound when the borders open?
• Hopes that this will be an opportunity for a reset of local tourism rules, but how it might be likely that the need to make up for lost money could see an even worse resumption of old, bad tourism habits
• The possibilities offered up by Adventure Tourism

On this week's extras, Ollie tried harder than ever before to get a guest to walk during the first topic, and it's even more impressive that he got so close to succeeding because Nick is actually friends with both of us. Hear how we did this, with a story about a kitten no less, and get access to the extras by supporting the podcast for less than $1 an episode by becoming a member at http://buymeacoffee.com. It's something to behold.

Topics discussed on the extras include:

• Ollie's kitten and how little he knows about its sex drive
• Where horniness comes from
• Ollie period-shaming his cat
• Ollie's penchant for talking about borderline inappropriate, off-book topics without being aware of guests level of comfort
• Nick busts out his own off-color cat story
• Why Ollie's favorite grandma was the one with the balls
• How a buddhist jaunt through Asia ended up with Nick living in Japan
• How every generation goes through a Buddhist phase, and how zen or mindfulness as a trend expresses itself differently in different generations
• How getting "travel information" worked back in the day.
• How zazen mindfulness practices actually work and how hard they are
• How great Fukuoka is
• What good quality of life/cost of living actually means
• How Fukuoka is literally sunnier
• The image of ...

Little message from Ollie to say that he's heading to Japan as part of his stand-up comedy tour. Tickets are available with a big JBRC discount if you use the promo code JBRC.

https://tickets.olliehorn.com/tokyo - Friday May 5th @ Good Heavens
https://tickets.olliehorn.com/fukuoka - Saturday May 6th @ Shimokitazawa

Tickets now on sale for Brighton Fringe previews and Edinburgh Fringe 2023 too!

https://tickets.olliehorn.com/brighton - End of May
https://tickets.olliehorn.com/edinburgh - All of August

Check Ollie's instagram for more information about his London dates and other touring.

Part one of a (potential?) two-part run down of every single news story that came out of Japan in 2022.