Speaker A
I decided this is a great opportunity for you to practice your listening. Well, anyways, let's get started.
Nicholas Edwards shares his journey as an American singer in Japan, discussing language, culture, and the music industry.
Key Takeaways
- Mastering keigo is essential to truly speak Japanese and integrate into the culture.
- Cultural references play a significant role in social acceptance in Japan.
- Persistence and courage are crucial for foreigners pursuing careers in Japan.
- The Japanese music industry involves complex cultural and business considerations.
- Connecting with people through shared interests helps overcome language and cultural barriers.
What the video covers
- Nicholas Edwards, an American born in Germany, moved to the US at age eight and later came to Japan to pursue music.
- He discusses the challenges of learning Japanese, especially keigo (honorific language), and its cultural importance.
- Edwards highlights the cultural differences between homogeneous Japan and multicultural America, especially regarding social integration.
- He shares experiences of culture shock and the difficulty of connecting with peers due to differing cultural references.
- Nicholas debuted on a major Japanese record label in 2013, three years after arriving in Japan.
- He appeared on a Japanese TV singing contest similar to American Idol, which helped boost his career.
- The video explores the complexities of the Japanese music industry, including marketing and cultural packaging.
- Edwards emphasizes the importance of courage and persistence when pursuing goals in a foreign country.
- He offers advice on overcoming mental blocks and connecting with others through shared interests.
- The conversation touches on the pride Japanese people have in their culture and the challenges foreigners face adapting.
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
was born in germany and my parents are american and yeah so when i moved to the states when i was eight but i didn't speak any german i went to an international school so i um i spoke english fluently
Speaker A
You know, it's funny that you say that though. So, I, I, I don't know how much you know about me, but I was actually, I'm American, but I was born in Germany and my parents are American.
Speaker A
there's nothing to talk about it was so like classy for me yeah definitely yeah those i mean that's it's especially you know japanese people even maybe in some ways more than americans have a really like strong sense of pride in their
Speaker A
And yeah, so when I moved to the States when I was eight, I didn't speak any German. I went to an international school, so I, um, I spoke English fluently.
Speaker A
in a homogeneous society like japan there's a lot more um i guess importance placed on knowing those cultural references yeah so that you can be a part of the group yeah so japanese specifically is i think it's important to
Speaker A
But I never lived in the States, and it was like, it was a nightmare trying to get connected with the kids in my school. They're like, oh yeah, like do you know this band? I'm like, no. Okay, but what about this? No.
Speaker A
so like yeah i you know it's funny because when i so i studied japanese for years but in college we finally started learning kegel and i was like okay i'll learn keigo and that's kind of like one of the lad later
Speaker A
There's nothing to talk about. It was so like classy for me.
Speaker A
it's so like natural to japanese people that there's people who are maybe you know maybe people who are like socially above you but they're not so far above you that you need to be like in full bow mode the entire time but you
Speaker A
Yeah, definitely. Yeah, those, I mean, that's, it's especially, you know, Japanese people even maybe in some ways more than Americans have a really like strong sense of pride in their cultural identity.
Speaker A
i'm really curious to hear more about um hear more about your music and what you're what you're doing because you said that's what really brought you here so what are you doing related to music now um well i
Speaker A
That's because American people, especially as a country of, you know, immigrants, there's just a lot of people all over the place with their cultural references that are so different from other groups of people. Whereas, you know,
Speaker A
in english but my my first release on a major record label was in 2013 so three years after i came to japan um wow that's like that's like singing what i was actually on a tv show oh uh called
Speaker A
in a homogeneous society like Japan, there's a lot more, um, I guess importance placed on knowing those cultural references.
Speaker A
season-long thing it's a um talk about that before actually yeah i've seen that that tv show before man you were that's awesome you were on that that's amazing yeah i actually not to toot my own horn but i won three
Speaker A
Yeah, so that you can be a part of the group.
Speaker A
on a record label on a major record label it's amazing so so i'm really curious to hear more about that i mean i don't know how much stuff you can share share with me but like what what is
Speaker A
Yeah, so Japanese specifically, I think it's important to know Japanese culture in order to really speak Japanese.
Speaker A
the music industry where depending on your situation it can there can be a lot of zeros attached to those uh the monetarily to that kind of work um there's just a lot of red tape that has to do with things that you i guess
Speaker A
Yeah. Yeah, I mean, like the thing is that they talk about how, um, Japanese is a very, what is it, high context culture or context culture or high context language.
Speaker A
you know when they're kind of deciding how to package you to the world okay um there's a lot more thought put into that than i ever really i mean now that i've been in this industry for so long it's um
Speaker A
So like, yeah, I, you know, it's funny because when I, so I studied Japanese for years, but in college we finally started learning keigo and I was like, okay, I'll learn keigo. And that's kind of like one of the later things you learn.
Speaker A
so technically not a child well in japan at the time of a child yeah right um newly an adult in america and still a child in japan okay um and it was uh there's just a lot of you know you stand
Speaker A
But when I come to Japan, I realize it's like so ingrained in the culture that you can't really speak Japanese without it.
Speaker A
fortunate because i came to japan right as i just said when i became an adult right so um my life was going to be changing a lot anyways just as a person and because it was that like timing that i came to japan and
Speaker A
Yeah, you know, especially because it's one of those things where the amount of, it's so like natural to Japanese people that there's people who are maybe, you know, maybe people who are like socially above you, but they're not so far above you that you need to be like in full bow mode the entire time, but you
Speaker A
but it was definitely a lot of you know culture shock and then just growing up and then also working and those kind of things dude we we need more people like you nick i mean there's so many people who
Speaker A
just need like this muscle.
Speaker A
it seems like you you really put yourself out there you know i don't know many people who have the courage that you do to like go to a foreign country and get on those tv shows and really like
Speaker A
Yeah, right. So there's like really, really bare bones keigo and then there's like you gotta like pull out the big guns.
Speaker A
grew up in a not super populated area um and my you know my knowledge of the world was limited um it didn't really i'd never really crossed my mind that i was doing anything that was like bold or daring
Speaker A
Yeah, okay. Yeah, so the big guns came. I like that. Gotta get real respectful.
Speaker A
back to oregon yeah um but i just i wanted to do it so i did it i really wasn't thinking i wasn't even that scared because i didn't even know that i was supposed to be scared yeah no but i'm telling you dude that's
Speaker A
Yeah, so I'm really curious to hear more about, um, hear more about your music and what you're, what you're doing because you said that's what really brought you here. So what are you doing related to music now?
Speaker A
the pros and cons i just do something and i know i'm gonna mess it up so then like when the hits the fan i'll just like i'll just clean up my mess and like move forward you know but you know many people you know like
Speaker A
Um, well, I release music with Universal Music Japan at the moment. I've been, all, I've been around the block, the basic industry was, but I, I mean in Japan they call it your major debut.
Speaker A
they just shut themselves out you know yeah but i mean i wonder i wonder what it is that made you not even like think about that for me i think it was definitely in the same thing where you know think
Speaker A
Um, okay, that's not really a word we use in English, but my first release on a major record label was in 2013, so three years after I came to Japan.
Speaker A
i wanted to be you know i i tell this to my friends all the time who say things to me like i think it's just a matter of knowing what you want yeah and i think people tend to
Speaker A
Um, wow, that's like, that's like singing. What, I was actually on a TV show, oh, uh, called Zavardo.
Speaker A
like this is the one thing that i want because you know that in i mean obviously not everybody can just like become whatever they want it doesn't work that simply but i mean trying is always i think the best option if you
Speaker A
Okay, um, where people from all over the world come and sing Japanese songs and kind of like a vaguely American Idol style where it's like a contest and they give you points instead of votes because it's not like a season-long thing, it's a, um, talk about that before actually.
Speaker A
failure they're afraid of messing up or saying something strange like my whole work is dedicated to helping people overcome those mental blocks and actually connect with people in the real world but debbie have you felt that too or
Speaker A
Yeah, I've seen that TV show before. Man, you were, that's awesome. You were on that. That's amazing.
Speaker A
technically it's i guess an english lesson but i talked more about language as an as a study as opposed to like teaching english i teach more about english yeah yeah as in the the basics of it as a language and not
Speaker A
Yeah, I actually, not to toot my own horn, but I won three times. So that's why I, so that's why I was, not to buy a home, but I'm gonna.
Speaker A
conversation we talked about that japanese proverb of you know when you like something you become good at it i think that people especially japanese people are get nervous about proclaiming to really love something because it almost feels like
Speaker A
Yeah, um, the winning, that was why I was able to get a record deal.
Speaker A
speak english well and they get laughed at for flying yeah um i think that and then you know there's this the whole if a japanese person is um too interested in other cultures then they like become not japanese enough and they get
Speaker A
Yeah, and that, um, you know, release music on a record label, on a major record label. It's amazing. So, so I'm really curious to hear more about that. I mean, I don't know how much stuff you can share, share with me, but like what, what is
Speaker A
you know specifically japan japanese people have a stronger sense of that i think and um i think the the first step to being able to speak a language is really admitting that you really want to speak a language
Speaker A
something that was surprising to you after getting into the music industry in Japan?
Speaker A
yourself up to you know making the mistakes that you need to make in order to overcome them yeah i need to have you on again so we can talk about the philosophy of like languages i love this this is so
Speaker A
Oh my gosh, um, how much more work there is that has nothing to do with music.
Speaker A
young younger like i said i was born in germany and i've always been kind of the kid between two worlds when i was in germany i was the american kid and i was bullied and when i went to boston i was the
Speaker A
Okay, so you know, I think in any culture when businesses, especially the music industry where depending on your situation it can, there can be a lot of zeros attached to those, uh, the monetarily to that kind of work.
Speaker A
stuff i'm like come on guys but yeah you know what i what i realized is that you know the more you study language you can kind of see how language has been affected by the cultures around it so like if you look
Speaker A
Um, there's just a lot of red tape that has to do with things that you, I guess, wouldn't even like, you know, like the color of my hair or like, um, yeah, the way that they, uh, this isn't my natural hair color either because I got it all the time.
Speaker A
like english doesn't exist without all the other languages and cultures that have influenced it and it's the same thing with japanese and it kind of shows me that we're all the same human and we're all kind of i mean not the
Speaker A
Um, but, uh, a lot of, you know, when they're kind of deciding how to package you to the world.
Speaker A
otherism that exists in kind of being a a citizen of a country where you're a citizen of this country and everybody else is who is a citizen of not this country so and that's especially strong in japan because of you know
Speaker A
Okay, um, there's a lot more thought put into that than I ever really, I mean now that I've been in this industry for so long, it's, um, it's so obvious to me that I just never really thought about it as a, I mean basically as a child at the time.
Speaker A
japanese and yeah it's that's something that isn't i think as real as it feels to people who are a part of it um and you know people want to be the on the inside of of it when they're here when they're a
Speaker A
Um, I was on the first time I was on the TV show I was 18.
Speaker A
happens that's just something that is only exists as a fear it doesn't really exist as a reality yeah actually i do i do want to ask you something um about that but one second my my camera's about to
Speaker A
So technically not a child. Well, in Japan at the time of a child.
Speaker A
weird yeah yeah i mean i know you're a professional so i'm so happy that kyoko like messaged you like i don't know how she finds these awesome people for me it's wonderful i was very glad because i've watched your channel
Speaker A
Yeah, right, um, newly an adult in America and still a child in Japan.
Speaker A
a ton of videos about like um about like teaching english yeah even though i am a native english speaker because it's a different perspective because you have you know your um my idea of english is not as um
Speaker A
Okay, um, and it was, uh, there's just a lot of, you know, you stand on stage for like an hour and a half or two hours or however long, but to for those two hours there's just so much like preparation involved.
Speaker A
that's true that's so weird yeah things like i don't know what i'm the i was watching a video on like dark and light ours the other day okay which i a foreign woman or a japanese woman oh a
Speaker A
I think that was some, but I was, I guess in a lot of ways fortunate because I came to Japan right as I just said when I became an adult.
Speaker A
dark and light ours okay well that's fascinating because i never thought about r is like have being different because it was just i knew how to speak it since i was little so yeah but i like watching videos like that
Speaker A
Right, so, um, my life was going to be changing a lot anyways just as a person and because it was that like timing that I came to Japan and especially since I lived in a not very populated area to Tokyo.
Speaker A
and it is kind of weird but every single one of my videos i i get people saying like no one says that arthur you're just making stuff up but no definitely you know there's like a and living in
Speaker A
Yeah, everything changed at once, so it was very easy for me to just keep myself in a mode of like whatever comes, just let it come.
Speaker A
speaking english you know i think that that exists in any country that yeah you know speaks english they have their own kind of like um tendencies and the way that japanese people like the the kind of i guess mistakes
Speaker A
Yeah, but it was definitely a lot of, you know, culture shock and then just growing up and then also working and those kind of things.
Speaker A
that is so i was always fascinated by those videos yeah whenever i go back to the states my mom my mom says to me aren't you you've been in japan too long your english is getting weirder yeah i was just like like
Speaker A
Dude, we, we need more people like you, Nick. I mean, there's so many people who have their dreams and they don't have the courage to face them or to actually go for them, go, go for those, make them a reality.
Speaker A
like turn their heads a little bit when i speak to them in the states now because the my way of saying things has changed so much i need to i need to spend more time in the states if i'm going to teach english you know
Speaker A
But like you, you did that, right? And of course, I'm sure there's luck involved, but it seems like you, you really put yourself out there.
Speaker A
they're like you're not can't be from here yeah clearly yeah dude dude i gotta it's funny because like looking at you you look totally normal to me but then that's because i'm used to like i'm used to it you know
Speaker A
You know, I don't know many people who have the courage that you do to like go to a foreign country and get on those TV shows and really like try to make it happen.
Speaker A
parts on the side of their face that would like i know why they do that but i remember thinking that they they kind of look like aliens a little bit and now i'm just so used to it so like
Speaker A
You know, that's, that's amazing. I, I really, people are very kind and, um, you know, talk about that being courageous, but genuinely at the time I was not even thinking about like, I was not sheltered per se, but because I
Speaker A
across bang and and men that rarely have this going on right yeah definitely different um ideas of of fashion yeah so so let me ask you so about your your music career so you've been doing this for a while now
Speaker A
grew up in a not super populated area, um, and my, you know, my knowledge of the world was limited, um, it didn't really, I'd never really crossed my mind that I was doing anything that was like bold or daring.
Speaker A
more i like um i love to be on stage and i love to perform and interact with people who are kind enough to listen to my music but um i like i really love to be in the studio and i like to write
Speaker A
At the time I was just like, I speak Japanese, I like to sing by mom. I, I mean, I never really was worried, you know, that, um, I was fortunate enough to be in the position where, you know, worst case scenario back to, back to Oregon.
Speaker A
that is definitely um because i studied japanese by translating lyrics a lot because okay okay i love the music um that kind of gave my like formative years of studying japanese were very much rooted in the way that japanese people use
Speaker A
Yeah, um, but I just, I wanted to do it, so I did it. I really wasn't thinking. I wasn't even that scared because I didn't even know that I was supposed to be scared.
Speaker A
uh they're more far removed from just regular speech than when i say like american or english songs right um have a a unique way like there are things that they would write as lyrics but that they wouldn't actually say
Speaker A
Yeah, no, but I'm telling you, dude, that's so rare because like I'm kind of, I'm kind of the same way too. Like I'm kind of like act now, think later and then it'll work out somehow.
Speaker A
never tried writing lyrics in japanese i've never even like i don't actually don't listen to much japanese music my favorite japanese artist is nujabes and he always does stuff with american artists so oh yeah yeah but but so
Speaker A
You know, so I'm kind of like instead of debating and trying to weigh the pros and cons, I just do something and I know I'm gonna mess it up. So then like when the hits the fan, I'll just like, I'll just clean up my mess and like move forward.
Speaker A
definitely the music the music thing is what i think i mean i have been you know dabbling in the i love linguistics as like a as a field of academia i don't know why i keep saying like i've been using all these like things
Speaker A
You know, but you know many people, you know, like especially in Japan, you know, you know, I met, I meet all these people who are like, yeah, I would love to do this or I'd love to try this. Oh, I can't do it, you know, I'm too busy or I would never work and
Speaker A
of fun doing the live stream kind of like like english philosophy yeah kind of uh videos and the comparing and contrasting of cultures um so i want to do more work in i guess it's almost like educational entertainment
Speaker A
they just shut themselves out.
Speaker A
going to talk about whatever i want to talk about and if you don't learn anything then that's just too bad isn't it yeah i got it yeah i'm definitely going to be i'm going to check those out today after
Speaker A
You know.
Speaker A
i i feel as someone who's not an experienced teacher and it's just does this as like a a hobby um you know it there's so much more to unteach than there is to actually teach i feel because there's
Speaker A
Yeah, but I mean, I wonder, I wonder what it is that made you not even like think about that. For me, I think it was definitely in the same thing where, you know, think or act now, think.
Speaker A
the same coin when um yes so there's just a lot of un learning that i needed ready to do and i was not excited to be next get everything that you've ever heard you know you know i really i really feel
Speaker A
the same way too so like like so of course you know i i teach a lot of stuff on my on my youtube channel yeah i teach a lot of phrases and words i'm gonna start teaching a lot of communication related
Speaker A
stuff but i find my work with my students that i do coaching with and i help them to you know actually connect with connect with english speakers and create a habit of speaking english with those people not not with teachers but the
Speaker A
most important thing for me is not to teach them but to help them get rid of their preconceptions of what they should be doing you know yeah i i just i wish i could just say on my youtube channel
Speaker A
hey guys you don't need to learn anymore you just need to like let go of all these like things that are holding you back and just just try it and then you'll do it but no one's ever going to watch a video
Speaker A
like that yeah definitely yeah so i'm clicking on the abstract philosophical english videos i'm a stranger but okay dude well this has been this has been great talking to you i just have one final question for you and that is you know lots of
Speaker A
japanese people particularly the people who watch my channel they're interested in connecting with and making friends with um people from other countries you know they they're learning english not for toeic or anything but to actually connect with people but a lot of peop a
Speaker A
lot of them are really scared to do it you need a lot of courage to like work up and try to build a connection with someone but um do you have any advice for japanese people living in japan about that
Speaker A
um i guess i don't know if i'm the one to give advice on this because i have like no english speaking friends cause everybody's gone home so because when i first came to japan i had more friends who
Speaker A
were from america or from different parts of the world but because i've been here for 10 years the eventuality of you know everybody going back to their country has left me in a english-free lifestyle but um but i would say
Speaker A
that the most important thing and this is what i always tell people when they ask me how i learn japanese um is to connect try and connect with people not based around learning a language but around something else something that you're interested in
Speaker A
because i learned japanese and was able to become really good at japanese because of my love for music and it had a lot less to do with me like going out of my way to like be immersed in japanese so much as i was
Speaker A
just enjoying what i was doing and things that i already enjoyed so things that i already enjoyed and you know mixing those in with learning japanese listening to japanese music just entertainment in general and then when i you know
Speaker A
if i was just uh choosing to need someone i cannot sing if i just stay true to that like genuine um you know enjoyment of what i'm doing then i think that's really like the key so when you're making relationships
Speaker A
with you know american people or people from english-speaking countries or whatever the case may be i think it's important to connect with people based on like if you love baseball then watch baseball games in english with the english commentary
Speaker A
or if you love like dancing or whatever well dancing is um would be an unfortunate one because you don't speak when you dance but yeah right but you know if you so look for you know foreign people or people
Speaker A
who speak english who are dancers and then you know build that relationship around shared interests because if you you know try and build a relationship with an american person just because they are native english speakers then there's going to be a limit to how
Speaker A
much you can really connect with someone when it's kind of based off like like what you can do for me language-wise yeah so if you just have you take your hobbies and throw those into your um obviously your interpersonal
Speaker A
connections yeah and into your studying and i think that's like kind of the key to um not getting bored of learning a language and also you know in kind of investing yourself into a language yeah dude i'm so happy you said that
Speaker A
because that's that's exactly where i what i want to tell everyone to like you know it's language isn't the content it's just a framework for for the content and so like if you say like let's talk in english
Speaker A
it's like okay what are we going to talk about you know there's nothing to talk about right so like like you said don't study english instead do things in english or don't talk with people for english talk with them for
Speaker A
a topic that you're interested in you know of course there's going to be those people who are just super interested in english as you know a language and that's of course fine too but if that's the case then you know look for
Speaker A
native english speakers who are also really interested in english because those people exist as well yeah and you can talk about language if you want but for the average english learner your interest is not i think there's a lot of japanese people
Speaker A
who are who learn english because they kind of like feel like they should yeah and i always tell people you know if you really want to speak a language and like genuinely and not want to speak a language because you know you think
Speaker A
that it'll help you in this way or help you in that way but if you just genuinely want to speak a language then i think that's like the biggest motivator yeah so i mean if you're just figure out
Speaker A
what you like and then just do it in english and that should be a give you a lot of opportunities to uh learn yeah dude okay this is this is a great this is a great ending a great way to wrap up
Speaker A
so good talking to you nick i really thank you so much yeah and i hope to talk with you again soon for sure absolutely well that's it for my conversation with nick communications and my hope for you through you connect
Speaker A
is that you use english as a tool to connect with people i love japan i've decided to call japan my home and i want more people to connect to the world through english sonotamini you can click up here or you can click
Speaker A
the link in the description box below as always enjoy your english adventures see you next time thanks for watching another video i hope this video was helpful for you and enjoyed it if you want to support us you can click
Speaker A
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Speaker A
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Topics:Nicholas EdwardsJapanese music industrykeigoJapanese cultureforeigners in Japanlanguage learningmusic careercultural adaptationJapanese TV showscross-cultural experience
