Bilingual Bento

02/12/2025

2025 in review 🇯🇵

27/10/2025

チェンソーマン レゼ篇!!!! とても楽しみです！

27/10/2025

27/10/2025

06/10/2025

Very excited to read “Super-Frog saves Tokyo” by Murakami-san! 🐸💚

Tags 🏷️: #村上春樹

04/10/2025

As if it’s been 6 MONTHS since the last episode, don’t fret, this is the big one, lock in to 2 hours of my dulcet tones and I’ll give you the run down as to what’s been happening since April.

Episode 17 is out NOW! - linktr.ee/bilingualbento

Tags 🏷️:

30/09/2025

The next episode is gonna be a LONG one! Stay tuned👀

17/08/2025

Finally catching up with anime, life has been crazy busy the last few months. Maybe once I get enough stuff watched I can finally record an episode of the podcast 😅

22/07/2025

Please note: I actively check my social media accounts on Sundays, if you need to contact me urgently, please email the Bilingual Bento email address. Thank you!

29/06/2025

Thoroughly enjoyed SunnyCon this year, lots of amazing traders, artists, cosplayers. I spent way too much money but hey-ho! Supporting independent artists is the best way forward 🙂

(A full breakdown of my haul plus artists socials can be found on my Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/p/DLe0HugMqRf/?igsh=bHNvc2VxbnIwbmpt)

14/05/2025

Mongrel by Hanako Footman 🎻

The feelings of integrating into a society which is alien to you, the pain and suffering of battling with your identity, who you are, what you are and where you belong. All of these emotions are central to the stories of Meiko, Haruka and Yuki.

Each story shows us what it’s like not to fit in, not to meet the expectations that society deems we must adhere to, the power that men have over the lives of women, and the suffering they must endure.

Through cycles of self-sabotage and self-abusive behaviour, these characters work through complex emotions, sometimes ending up in difficult and dangerous situations. To which they come out and learn why these feelings and events seemed to have been drawn to them.

Without spoiling anything, I can honestly say that Mongrel has really opened my eyes to a lot of things. I can relate but only in an indirect sense, taking race out of the picture but replacing it with sexuality and gender identity. The feelings of being lost, abandoned and seeking out answers really resonated with me.

I highly recommend Mongrel if you’ve not read it. You’ll not be disappointed.

Tags: #文学 #日本文学 #ハーフ

10/05/2025

Finally finished “Abroad in Japan: Ten Years in the Land of the Rising Sun” by Chris Broad

Overall it was a wonderful read and listen, I read along with the audiobook as an accompaniment (which helps a lot with my dyslexia) and Chris’s voice was a great addition to the experience. It felt like I was sat with him as he regaled stories of his time in Japan, some funny, some embarrassing, some touching and some deeply emotional.

It was also nice to see Chris talk casually about some of the uncomfortable experiences regarding his anxiety, which I feel he steers away from in his videos and on the Abroad in Japan podcast. I believe this often gets covered up with his “grumpy British” persona, whereas in fact, he’s a lot more than that, in the book he comes across as humble and very human.

As a former teacher I can relate to some of his experiences from being asked awkward questions from your learners, to having interesting exchanges with your colleagues. It took me back to a time where I felt like I was making a difference. Very nostalgic!

I highly recommend reading “Abroad in Japan: Ten Years in the Land of the Rising Sun” if you’re interested in the personal exploits of a young, naive English lad trying to find his way in the world. To then watch him emerge as a skilled and talented filmmaker in the beautiful country of Japan.