Becoming Japanese

Greg Lam is a professional videographer who is probably best known to Japanophiles from his YouTube channel(s) "Life Where I'm From". He's been producing vignettes about what it's like for a Canadian or any other non-Japanese to live in Japan, and has often explored the topic of bridging multiple cultures and origins, either from the viewpoint of an adult or a child growing up in Japan. Thanks to his professional interviewing, recording, and editing skills, Greg introduced me to a new, younger audience that digests the internet primarily through video as opposed to written websites and blogs, which is what this site is. Sitting down with me in my home office, crammed with professional lighting and mics and high end cameras, Greg came prepared with countless questions that I could tell were well prepared and showed me that he had thoroughly read and researched the information on this site. Given that the creation of this site was partially inspired by two things:...

The official poster for the film What makes a Japanese person Japanese? Is it the blood that runs through their veins? A parent they were born to? The country they grew up in? Is it how they look? How they act? How they speak? Their citizenship? A few years ago I was interviewed at my home by a professional videographer who publishes popular streaming videos to the YouTube site, "Life Where I'm From". Apparently, this topic was of great interest to Greg Lam … not necessarily just because of me or the fact that he lived in Japan, but more likely also because like me, his immediate family has many people who are legally, culturally, and/or genetically Japanese in one or more ways. He has produced and directed a full length feature film (almost 2 hours) which explores the many facets of "Being Japanese": not just the "legal" aspect (which is what this site focuses...

Eiji (Evan) Koehler, born American, and Olaf Jong, born Indonesian, describe their experiences about acquiring Japanese nationality for the YouTube channel "Where Next Japan?" In the video, they describe the process of becoming Japanese citizens and explain not just how they did it, but also how other people reacted, and their thoughts on the place they now call home. 00:06 Intro 02:17 Why did you change your citizenship? 04:16 How did your family react to your decision? 04:57 How do other people react to your decision? 05:29 When did you start the process? 09:26 Were you surprised by any part of it? 10:48 Did you encounter any misinformation or misconceptions? 11:57 What was it like choosing a Japanese name? 14:20 Has your sense of self changed at all? 18:28 Final comments It's an interesting video, and I recommend checking their blog out for other interesting Japan topics.

Last year in autumn a Canadian professional videographer by the name of +Greg Lam  , who creates content for a very interesting YouTube channel called "Life Where I'm From" , asked if he could interview me in my home in my man-cave/home office (the other two walls have whisky and computers instead of books). It took some time to edit the footage, but I think he did a wonderful job of making a very wonky and dull subject (Japanese naturalization and me) into something that is easy to watch and entertaining. The ten minute glossy abridged version is here: The longer, almost unabridged, one hour version, is here: If you enjoy his videos and wish to support his work, you can do so via Patreon . If you're a business and need professional video work, you can contact his business, Small Biz Doer Videos.

This was an unplanned impromptu Hangout on Air discussion where I joined the weekly program " 2½ Oyajis ", run by  +Hiko Saemon  and  +Victor Boggio  . The conversation was originally supposed to be about Deputy Prime Minister 麻生 太郎 { TARŌ Asō } 's controversial comments about "quietly revising the Japan Constitution" , but some people weren't prepared, so we talk about living in Japan issues instead. Issues covered: Immigration Policy in Japan Assimilation in Japan by immigrants Whether there is a " Japanese citizenship test " as part of naturalizing Urban myths regarding the naturalization procedure coming to your home and seeing if you're "assimilated" or not Japanese-Fillipinos seeking citizenship ... and lots of other (mostly silly) stuff +Victor Boggio  announced that he will soon be doing his own personal info on permanent residency versus naturalization on his YouTube channel , and he will be using...

+Hiko Saemon and +Victor Boggio interview me on YouTube Live (Google+ Hangouts), talking about naturalization and this blog site. It's a little personal, and a little silly, but they did a great job introducing their viewers to this blog and becoming legally Japanese. Anyway, this is something different for this site. Don't take it too seriously. For those from Google+ or Youtube: if you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment. (not the best screen-cap of me. I think they went a little overboard with the flags)