About
About The XQ Sumimasen Podcast
The XQ Sumimasen Podcast is about long-term life in Japan through personal stories, cultural observations, and honest conversations about the overlap between Japanese and English-speaking cultures.
Whether you already live in Japan or you're simply curious about what life here is really like, the show looks at Japan through the experiences that come with actually building a life here.
This isn't primarily a tourist-advice show. Sometimes I talk about big cultural differences. Other times, it's something as small as a hand gesture I misunderstood or a food I always assumed was Japanese.
About Me
I'm Sol, a Pacific Islander American from Saipan, and I've been living in Tokyo since 2011. I'm also a family man, an English pedagogue, a fitness enthusiast, a karaoke aficionado, and the solo host of The XQ Sumimasen Podcast.
I don't claim to speak for everyone living in Japan, and I definitely don't claim that my experience is the experience. I just talk about what I've experienced and what I've noticed along the way.
Why XQ Sumimasen?
The name is a playful mix of English and Japanese. XQ and the sumi in sumimasen come together to sound like "excuse me," while sumimasen itself means "excuse me" in Japanese.
So, in a way, the name is basically "excuse me... excuse me" in both languages.
And it's pronounced:
Excuse-me-massen.
Listen to the Show
The XQ Sumimasen Podcast is available on most major podcast platforms including:
Excuse-me-massen, and... See ya.