A Japan Less Traveled (w/Alisha Ivelich)

Japan's closed borders mean that foreign production crews can't get in to produce Japan travel features, so creator Alisha Ivelich is taking the opportunity to fill the demand with a Japan travel series that actually cares about Japan.
Japan's closed borders mean that foreign production crews can't get in to produce Japan travel features, so creator Alisha Ivelich is taking the opportunity to fill the demand with a Japan travel series that actually cares about Japan.

Ollie recommends a privacy-focused cruise that, due to the ToS, we are not allowed to tell you about.

Bobby looks at how our favorite indoor river cruise, "It's a Small World," is getting a little smaller.

Topics discussed on this episode range from:
  • Naomi Osaka's press conference decision, and how it highlights a new focus on prioritizing mental wellness
  • A SURPRISING comparison of Naomi Osaka to Donald Trump? 
  • Ollie's vaccine appointment 
  • Why Alisha isn't leveraging her YouTube fame to get into pro-sports
  • How Alicia tried to work with the pandemic without giving it too much of a presence in her travel series "Elements of Japan" 
  • Combining a cinematic travel show approach with an on-the-ground documentary
  • Alisha's teammate on the project Irwin Wong and how awesome his skills and gear are
  • How Alisha tries to present Japan in a different way from both existing YouTube Japan content and studio produced Japan travel content
  • What she thinks is the main difference in terms of the focus in her production
  • Why it's important to have a production team/host that understands the local area
  • Why the bumbling fish out of water host format is so popular and how Alisha takes that into consideration when putting together her show 
  • The opportunity the pandemic has presented for local production teams to step up 


Get access to the extras by supporting the podcast for less than $1 an episode by becoming a member at http://buymeacoffee.com.

Topics Discussed on the Extras:
  • A weird night long ago when a bunch of early Japan YouTubers got together
  • Alisha's journey with English Channel 101
  • The Japan Pod 101 umbrella/business model
  • How Online language learning has developed
  • The cult of personality attached to larger YouTube channels
Have something you'd like to say? Send us a fax at japanbyrivercruise.com

or Tweet to us at @jbrcpod

The Iwate Episode of Elements of Japan
English Class 101

Social Media Links:

Ollie Horn: Twitter | Instagram

Bobby Judo: Twitter | Instagram | YouTube

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A Japan Less Traveled (w/Alisha Ivelich)
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