The Real Japan’s Rob Dyer: Japanese culture, Depeche Mode, pen pals and a love story
Rob Dyer of The Real Japan has been exploring as much of Japan as he possibly can since 2000!
Greetings, friends the globe over!
Once again I have a most interesting podcast guest to introduce you to. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Rob Dyer, the brains and pioneer of The Real Japan, a comprehensive online resource library and consulting service for Japan travel planning.
You may recall that my son and I took our first international trip together to Japan in May 2023. I promised each of my three children a trip of their choice, and my son is the firstborn. It was his turn last year!
Art Museum in Osaka, Japan
He chose Japan after only five minutes of consideration, telling me that he had always been fascinated with anime, Japanese culture, the language and the food. We knew that our optimal time to go was two weeks in May and had some loosely held ideas of what type of excursions and vacation we wanted. Bear in mind that my son and I are at vastly different stages and energy levels of life. He is a young college student and I’m a middle-aged, suburban mother and entrepreneur. We needed to find the ideal blend of destinations and excursions for us both to enjoy the time together in Japan!
I set about doing research and quickly became overwhelmed in the trip planning process, so a quick Google inquiry for “Japan travel bloggers” resulted in the discovery of Rob Dyer, The Real Japan founder and owner.
The man, the myth, the legend—-Rob Dyer, ladies and gentlemen!
Not only did Rob create a travel itinerary for us based on our interests, but he also provided language learning hacks, transportation recommendations for Japanese railways, pocket Wi-Fi options, and a breakdown of different types of lodging to consider.
The goal for both my son and me was to plan a trip that fit in enough cities and activities for two weeks without rushing through any of the experiences. Rob certainly facilitated this and so much more for us.
In the podcast interviews, I like to personalize things a bit and find out background on my guests, so naturally I asked Rob to share his love story—the one in which he meets and woos his Japanese wife through mutual fandom of Depeche Mode and their membership in a fan club! Rob recounts this best during the interview, so you’ll have to give it a listen!
An observation that we discussed about Japan is that the people dress in a very neutral, conservative color palette and style, yet Japanese architecture and even product packaging are very bold, avant-garde and colorful.
Rob quickly referenced a Japanese expression, 出る釘は打たれる (The nail that stands out must be hammered down.), as a possible reason why Japanese attire tends to be quite conformist. He elaborates on this concept and its tie to Japanese culture during the podcast.
Some of the topics we discuss and points referenced in conversation, along with additional resources from Rob himself are listed for you below:
The main site: https://www.therealjapan.com/
The Best Time To Visit Japan – All You Need To Know (colour during the seasons) - https://www.therealjapan.com/best-time-to-visit-japan/
The Unpredictability of Modern Japanese Architecture - https://www.therealjapan.com/the-unpredictability-of-japanese-architecture/
Top 7 Etiquette Tips For Travel in Japan - https://www.therealjapan.com/top-7-etiquette-tips-for-travel-in-japan/
The Real Japan Store Travel resource and planning materials store - https://www.therealjapan.com/store/
Hiroshima City Guide Google Map - https://www.therealjapan.com/hiroshima-google-map/
Two beautiful and traditionally dressed women gave us permission to snap their photo! Lovely!
We only scratched the surface of all there is to discuss about Japan and her vibrant, rich culture, so Rob has agreed to return for a second podcast episode later in the year. We simply must delve a bit deeper into some specifics about destinations and sites to see there.
I hope that you will take some time this week to listen to the podcast, friends!
Your colorful sojourner,
Lauren
