みんなで Japanese Conversation [1] and Streamers the Band

 For this weeks Listening/Watching excersize, I took a dive into two mediums I typically don't explore- the unscripted conversation of もしもしゆうすけ and the musical inclinations of Notre Dame Graduates Streamers the Band.

This is not the first time I have watched Yusuke, with some of his videos serving as some of the first introduction into the world of Japanese conversational videos. It was interesting consuming his content however in a medium that wasn't a monologue. 

 

In the video we are introduced to Igor, a Belarusian national, who has traveled to and lived in Japan slowly becoming familiar with the language and the culture. During this conversation, we learn a number of cultural differences that Igor and Yusuke note and discuss, including the perception of smoking as a past time, in which Yusuke views the action as a form of mental health, a sharp contrast to the more pessimistic views of Igor and myself. 

The video also discusses actions of a foreigner in Japan including actively studying and prepping for the JLPT and even the existence of schools dedicated to preparing foreigners for the exams. The video goes on to discuss other day to day actions experienced by the individuals including the massive lines experienced in Tokyo for even a typical action(waiting 20 people to buy anything from a convenience store) and pursuing parks and less touristic areas to escape the hustle and bustle of the crowds.

The video was interesting and I found myself able to comprehend the content largely without subtitles, including conversational daily actions, different actions that are bought and sold, and even discussion about duration of actions and long term goals. The video was fun and interesting as well as serving as a good contrast to the meticulously crafted and scripted content that I was familiar with, as the charterers took time to reflect on the various questions before responding.         

                                        

As to the song もう音楽しかない by Streamers the Band, it was really interesting to be able to see Notre Dame students continue to pursue their passion of Japanese after graduation. The song, which translates to Losing Myself in the Music, serves as an J pop variant of their previously released song.

It is clear to see the Japanese influences on the song itself, seemingly drawing heavily from the City Pop genre of the 1980s and artists like Yasuha and Tomoko Aran. While I was not able to understand the song extremely well due to the more reflationary/dream like nature of the song, it was fun to listen to. Even if I was unable to understand the song completely, I found myself able to understand some of the grammatical structures of the song- especially the plain negative nai structure and verbs like 聞. I am unsure whether I will continue to listen to the band regularly but I had fun listening to it by and large.