Summary: The episode is an unscripted, free-flowing conversation that moves between light personal stories and heavier social commentary. It opens with anecdotes about a family trip to Sado Island and musings on the challenges of learning Japanese, then widens into discussion of rising anti-foreigner sentiment in Japan, often linked to economic strain and overtourism. The hosts explore recent political rhetoric, everyday annoyances like crowded trains, and how these reflect broader cultural shifts. They also touch on natural disasters such as earthquakes and extreme summer heat, the expanding role of AI in media and daily life, and slices of Japanese history and culture. The result is a candid, wide-ranging dialogue that blends lived experience with sharp observations about contemporary Japan.

Sweet Sauce: 

• Trevor’s Outro: “Deep in Japan” (SUNO)
• Sanseito, DPP sharply increase their presence in Upper House 
• The Sanseito Platform (English) 
• Hokkaido lands gobbled up by Chinese money
• Chinese intelligence activity abroad
• Japan Faces Prolonged Cyber-Attacks Linked to China’s MirrorFace
• China has spy in Japan intelligence agency, ex-detainee suggests in book
• Japan records new all-time high temperature, 41.2 degrees
• History of Sado Island
• Nichiren on the Opening of Eyes
• The top 10 annoying foreign tourist behaviors on trains, as chosen by Japanese people【Survey】
• NHK Easy News
• Two Grandmas Speaking Tsugaru-ben (Touhoku Dialect)

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Thanks for listening, fellow travelers of the ear. 

Yoroshiku and rockets. 🚀