On Japanese TV there are a few foreign faces that show up quite often.
From what I’ve seen they are pretty much fluent in Japanese (ah a great
goal to move towards). One such personality an American by the name of
Patrick Harlan. It seems he was raised in Colorado and went to the
Harvard
Divinity School before setting sails towards Japan.
Right now he shows up on one of NHK‘s
English shows and also does stand
up comedy (I believe it’s called manzai if I’m not mistaken) with a Japanese
comedian. A lot of this manzai comedy relies on wordplay and puns.
I’m still not that strong on my vocabulary in Japanese so most
of the wordplay puns are lost on me unfortunately. But it’s something
to work towards. I know most foreigners learning Japanese strug off Japanese
humor as boring but for me it’s something to strive towards. Understanding
what a culture considers funny is one of those humps any advanced foreign
language learner should try to achieve. Even if you don’t find it funny
at least you can appreciate what the joke is based on.
Here’s the interview
(warning it’s in Japanese)
