Hello everyone! Welcome to the Bilingual Cafe! As a follow-up to our previous episode on former Prime Minister Abe's state funeral, in this episode, we discuss the government's decision to investigate the Unification Church for any wrongdoing w...

Hello everyone! Welcome to the Bilingual Cafe! In this episode, we discuss the arguments for and against the recent state funeral of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.このエピソードでは、安倍晋三元首相の国葬について、賛否両論を取り上げました。This episode can be foun...

Hello everyone! Welcome to the Bilingual Cafe! In this episode, we discuss the recent remarks made by the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) in a press conference, specifically stating that the "end is in sight" for the pan...

In this episode, we discuss exchange rates and the weakening of the Japanese yen. We also discuss how the trend is influenced by the actions of the American Central Bank and the importance of following economic news worldwide.このエピソードでは、...

In this episode, we reflect on an incident where a 3-year-old girl died after being left on a kindergarten school bus for hours. We try to understand the negligence but also discuss potential solutions.このエピソードでは、3 歳の幼稚園児が幼稚園バスに何時間も放置され、...

In this episode, we discuss the recent passing of Queen Elizabeth II. We also reflect on why the general public admires her but also the criticisms that accompanied her legacy. このエピソードでは、エリザベス女王2世の最近の死去を話題に取り上げました。一般大衆が女王を称賛する理由だけでなく、彼女...

What constitutes happiness? In this episode, we discuss happiness and whether Japanese people are happy relative to people in other countries. We also refer to the World Happiness Report and whether the index accurately reflects the happiness o...

This episode discusses the origins of Golden Week (a collection of four national holidays within seven days) and why people are willing to travel during the week amidst the stress, long lines, and traffic jams. We also discuss our concerns rega...

As a follow-up to our previous conversation on parental leave, we discuss housework in Japan in this episode, specifically the distribution of housework between husbands and wives. We also take a closer look at the number of hours of housework ...

In this episode, we discuss parental leave in Japan, focusing on paternity leave and the Japanese's attitudes toward men taking a leave of absence from work. We notice a big gap between what Japanese law offers and men's willingness to take lea...

Apologies (again and again) for uploading this episode late, this time several months late! This episode was recorded in response to the Twitter exchanges between Elon Musk (CEO of Tesla) and David Beasley (Director of UN WFP) regarding world h...

In this episode, we reflect on the Japanese royal family while referring to the upcoming marriage between Princess Mako and her fiancé Komuro Kei, who is a commoner. Specifically, we discuss the gossip surrounding the couple while also referrin...

In this episode, we explain the theory of the Tragedy of the Commons, an economic theory that explains humanity’s behavior towards the natural environment, specifically our behavior to extract natural resources and consume. We discuss the impli...

In this episode, we decided to list and discuss the major events that have occurred during the two months we were not recording. Topics discussed include the COVID-19 pandemic, the UN climate report, withdrawal of US troops in Afghanistan, amon...

It has been several months since we uploaded our last episode. As many of you may have noticed, both of us have teaching jobs, and the months towards the end of each semester are the busiest. We hope to keep uploading content regularly again in...

Apologies (again) for uploading this episode several weeks late. This episode was recorded a week after the death of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who was a member of the British royal family and the husband of Elizabeth II. We also took th...

With the pandemic, 2020 was a year of balancing priorities between economic benefits and health. Now, as we go through April with a 3rd national emergency in Tokyo with the Olympic Games looming closer, priorities have become even more difficul...

Apologies for uploading this episode late! This time, we will be discussing the recent incident in the Suez Canal involving the massive container ship Ever Given blocking the canal. We reflect on the size of the ship and the magnitude ...

In this episode, we discuss the origins of feminism while reflecting on our own experiences with the movement. Some argue, however, men cannot be feminists because “one must be a member of the targeted group (i.e., a woman).” We also reflect on...

The key phrase of this episode is the “glass ceiling.” We reflect on the term while discussing the glass ceiling index that The Economist recently published. We also reflect on other indexes and rankings that reflect gender equality and at the ...

In this episode, we reflect on the term “double standard.” After briefly discussing its definition both in English and Japanese, we reflect on racism in Japan. We specifically refer to Naomi Osaka, a professional tennis player, and discuss a po...

In this episode, we focus on the English word ‘celebrity.’ As a continuing discussion of loanwords in Japanese, we first discuss the historical origins of ‘celebrity’ while understanding its connotations. Later, we identify the nuances of its u...

In this episode, we reflect on the controversial remarks made by Yoshiro Mori, who recently resigned as the head of the Tokyo Olympics organizing committee. Not only do we discuss societal attitudes towards women partaking at workplace meetings...

In this episode, we discuss earthquake preparedness and whether people have a fatalistic attitude towards natural disasters. As Japan experienced a major earthquake last week, luckily with no major casualties, we took this opportunity to reflec...

In this episode, we discuss the expression “coming out of the closet”. Although the expression is a metaphor to describe LGBTQ people’s self-disclosure of their sexual orientation or of their gender identity, Japanese people have started to use...