What I Learned After Returning to America After a Life in Japan

and I've heard this from people that were sad to move back I heard this from people that were happy to move back I had I heard this from people that were had no choice but to move back you know there was but I think a lot of times people enjoy Japan especially if they're foreigners well obviously if they're foreigners because I've always felt like we were at War but now I know [Music] that hey guys what's up what's up what's up so again it's r so and uh we have an old guest from back in what 2019 was it yeah I think so 2018 one of them 201 2019 one of those years yeah 2019 right so brandan right yes right so we're going to get into an interview we're actually in a place called aroshi in the Queens New York right so yeah you came all the way from Connecticut which is like an hour plus Drive hour and 10 okay okay yeah not too long but you know well worth it well worth it in Good Company you know right right yeah yeah cool guy really cool guy right so um so tell us right you left Japan what two years ago was it or three years ago three years ago at this point three years ago okay yeah I left in 2021 right after the Tokyo Olympics I got a chance to volunteer there pretty dope experience when the par Olympics got rolling I packed it up and came back to the States so okay so why did you decide like to move back to America from Japan uh there was a couple of reasons the biggest was because my parents were relocating and because they were you know packing up they've been in the same place for you know longer than I've been alive from from where in relocating from one state to another state so yeah they were relocating from CT and they wanted to go down to the South okay and that reason was more than enough to come home but kind of other reasons and deeper reasons a lot of things that were taking place during that time after you know the virus and uh you know the political atmosphere of America I felt like there was so much that I needed to be doing and I was overseas giving all my energy my time and attention to other issues and other problems where myself I know that I have a lot of a lot to offer so I felt really needed and there were people back home saying like yo we need you back like wow we we got work to do so that's one of the reasons why it was like a huge calling my parents needed help obviously relocating but you at the end of day you can hire people to move your stuff um but the biggest reason was because I felt like there was a lot of work that needs to be done and I just felt that that desire to give back to my community and my that desire to kind of come back home and make a difference did did you feel like there was a a tug in your heart absolutely especially when I see people where I'm from in my community in my home going through certain things and not to say that I'm a superhero and I can protect them all the time but more so like there are things that you can do to make a difference there's people that you can talk to there's systems that you can create there's programs that you can run to either keep people away from certain areas or just to give them Direction so they feel like they have purpose and they feel like they have you know something to live for or something to kind of fight for uh was it like a Bittersweet experience or like for instance like you're in Japan where you enjoying your time but you had to leave so I'm wondering if like there was a if your heart was divided like you wanted to stay but you wanted to leave at the same time was it something like that or yes yeah it was because to be honest by the third year I finally was getting my groove real really kind of learning the language and the world was opening up more and feeling that responsibility was like oh but yo you you got to take care of yourself at the end of the day you know you can't you know you got to pour into yourself and you got to be able to kind of do your own thing and because I had grown my tongue you know in Japanese and because I have grown my network it was like yo but I'm finally catching my stride I'm finally you know feeling the flow of things of this lifestyle I could finally see myself kind of living in Japan for the Long Haul because I had finally learned the ways in which to walk my my group friends I had a great group of f i I feel like I created family out in Japan and the even the community that you provided you know when we were meeting up in Tokyo having those dinners really kind of with the people of our from our diaspora I was like yo it was like yo this is something that I could get used to it was at times certain amount of solitude that kind of felt like ah this is rough to get through but those rough patches were met with again that community that I found out there not only just from people from our diaspora but just people that from all over the world it's like these are my friends these are my family catching that stride was hard to make that decision like all right I'm just gonna give it all away because I need to go and uh answer this other calling and this other responsibility that I have but at the end of the day it was well worth it so how long were were you in Japan and what were you doing while while there I was there for 3 years I was teaching English and I was also learning Japanese and more so than anything I think I was really trying to find more of myself I think when you do get a chance to travel and you do to get a chance to step outside of your own kind of surroundings you get a chance to really focus on yourself cuz now everybody else's problems and everybody else that was kind of leaning on you that is not there anymore and people are not calling you because oh I need a ride or people are not calling because oh I need some advice you kind of get a chance to really smell yourself and like all right these are the things I need to work on these are the things I like these are the things I don't like and that opportunity for me to kind of grow more into myself was huge like in just how I see the world now so it was it was really important okay so what do you miss the most and what do you miss the least about life in Japan or living in Japan I think what I miss the most is my people like I really like I had a gig Chan and a baba Chan that's like a a grandma and a grandpa um I had in GMA you know I had my friends that I really built some beautiful relationships out there and even now I don't keep in touch as much as I want to but a lot of times it's CU of the time difference not because I don't want to I don't have the desire TI to um so I'm definitely going to you know be honest with that and say that I miss my people the most what I miss the least I would say is I guess some some of the inflexibility sometimes you know the culture in Japan is like it got to be one way it can't you know you want something on the menu N I got to be like this there's no kind of improvisation no flexibility not all the time but a majority of the time and I think more so than anything there's a culture of um there's a word in Japanese I'm pretty sure you know it but is uh shoganai and that culture of shoganai it's like at certain instances it's there's nothing that can be done it's legitimate it's legitimate but I feel like sometimes in Japan the culture of shoganai is is too prevalent where it's like there actually is something that you can do if you sit be still listen to you know listen to what you really need to do and get that you know understand your higher calling now there's something you can do you got to get to work but that culture of Shogun ey something I'm like ah I don't think that's always true there is something that you could be done so I I missed that the least you mean is there one thing that you took from your time in Japan that you sort of like reinvested in your re-enter into America like one lesson you learned absolutely um humility I think humility is one of the biggest pieces of culture um that there's no missing it in Japan I I remember I was in the teachers office and my school and coacho Sensei like principal of the school he was on the phone can't see the person but even though he was on the phone he was still like Hy bowing like you know Hy like yes yes you know y I got you hype hype and just even though he's on the phone the person can't see him he still had the the courtesy to Bow and like let them know like yes I understand you I'm listening and that humility is not separate it's it's ingrained in the culture it's embedded sometimes to the detriment like he's like okay you being too humble um but I think that Vision gave me the opportunity or that culture gave me the opportunity to see like there's a way that you can operate where you're thinking about the collective versus the individualism and that piece when I came back home I started to apply in everything like yes I do believe that you should take care of yourself and yourself comes first but at the end of the day you are part of a collective and when you grow to understand that and you move in that way and you operate with that mindset and that mentality and also keep it in your heart it makes a world a difference because now other people feel that resonating off you so the things that you do the things that you say when you think of we you're saying we versus me it's it's like people gravitate and coming back home feeling how people have gravitated towards me because of that it just makes me feel like I need to double down on that and that's one of the biggest things I feel like I've applied coming back home wow so just a segue right since you're saying that so what are you doing now in America tell us about it oh man I'm I'm doing a lot um first and foremost I'm I'm taking my my poetry career to the next level so I am an international poet I just competed to make make a CT slam team um a couple days ago um I fell short by a couple of points um but I wasn't upset at all because every poet that made the team um and that was in the final round if people that are unfamiliar with slam poetry you go through a couple of rounds and there elimination process so I made it to the final round and the posts that did make the team are really good friends of mine all of them um and because I'm already on a slam team so I competed in October a couple of months ago and I made another slam team in a different state so I was competing kind of to be on two poetry slam teams and it's not that I'm trying to hog you know I felt like it was their time and I'm already on a team so I need to focus on being that on that team but aside from taking my poetry career to the next level um I'm also taking my speaking career to the next level um so I spoke on my first College University uh a couple months ago as well congrats and thank you man it was really big because it was my alma Mo it was the college that I graduated from the University that I call home and I've always been speaking at different high schools and I got the chance to speak overseas at a different places even at a university in Tokyo okay but it wasn't the same when I was at a university home and like I didn't have to like water down the message or keep it super simple I could kind of really go full-fledged have at it it was it was a special moment so those two things are you know some of my biggest priorities but aside from that I just got a promotion um and I started today today is my first day on contract um as the executive director of the MOs Coalition which is a nonprofit um here in Connecticut and we're in four different cities in Connecticut we're expanding next month to two we're moving kind of too fast if you ask me cuz when you expand to like a new city there's a lot of work that comes with it so it's like we're you know we're celebrating like hey congratulations and I'm like more more more work um but it is a blessing to be able to be in this position to give opportunities to other people operating with that mindset of thinking of us as a collective and how can we come together and help each other so that's what the most Coalition is about us not only advocating for education in multiple ways and giving people the choice of their education in here in Connecticut but also doing different programs and activities that are kind of outside of the box yeah we could come to to the hood and do a bunch of basketball games but are you doing chess tournaments are you doing literacy programs are you doing ESL classes for some of the you know people that don't know and don't have the access to learn English in other settings and other capacities so all of those things I get to do I get to teach kids how to swim I'm doing swimming programs I'm doing a sailing program I even know how to sell but you know what I'm going learn with y'all and I'm going to stay a page ahead of y'all so the next day y'all come in y'all know how to sell so some of those things that are really near and dear to my heart I'm getting an opportunity as the executive director of this nonprofit I'm going to get a chance to kind of live my dreams and providing other people opportunity to do the same so it's been a blessing man and those are some of the biggest things I also started my own clothing brand um I kind of got it on you know Shameless plug right here and my clothing brand is called United fabric um fabric is kind of spelled in a unique way at a certain point we were coming together like how can we take the same energy that we're applying when we fellowship and we commune with each other and how can we make money so this was one of the ways we decided to dip our toes into not only just spending spending spending not only being consumers how can we be owners um because that's another mindset that group economics and that ownership that we want to apply not only in the things that we talk about but the ways that we walk the ways that we carry ourselves feeling not only oh like I can own an item from somebody else but own something that I created and something that I put together so that's what United fabric is about using a group economic mindset in a collective mindset to come together and like I'm not going to rock no designer this hat that I got on my man's made this hat and I'm looking at this like this is designer because he made it he took the time to be creative and put together quiet account it's it's something that he believes in it's his brand this is United fabric so United fabric is taking the things that are for us by us on some I don't know if you know familiar with FUBU yeah for us bias and considering that to be the designer versus I'm go buy some I don't know whatever the designer is and go pay people a bunch of money who don't support our culture who don't give back to us so no that's I'm not doing that so that's what United fabric is about so pretty busy as you you can see but some of these opportunities and these blessings like you know it's not lost upon me that it's I'm in a unique position and I have a responsibility do you miss Japan absolutely Absolut the safety you know the the convenience going to comini some KAG or some you know Yaki SOA not from the com Yaki SOA you get at the festivals but you know just the ability to kind of I guess walk with a sense of security I do miss that a little bit um I do miss you know a lot of the Japanese culture that I I grew to love um so yeah will he be back anytime soon oh yeah I was supposed to go back last summer um but I was unable to and I I did a lot of traveling um in 2023 and and I had my sites go going back to Japan in the summer but I had to make a decision like do I want to go here do I want to go there and the price tag for Japan versus where I went it was a lot different um but this year I have huge plans to go back in 2020 in 2024 this year and I I want to aim for the summer cuz I would like to go back for not just like a week or two I would like to go back for like maybe a month or two and really carve out some time maybe go back in July or August and really get an opportunity to spend time in gumma in Tokyo go to k though go see my peoples you know maybe travel to a new place in Japan that I haven't been um but yeah I will be back this year and that's one of my biggest goals because I would also and maybe you can help me out with this I would also like to perform um I performed a couple of times in Japan I performed in Osaka I performed in Tokyo I performed in Guma um being an international poet one of my boys midnight he put me on like yo make sure you perform so I I did that but I also got a chance to practice my speaking career um so when I do go back to Japan this this this year I would like to focus on getting a couple of gigs to speak um and also speak at places where yeah I got to get my Japanese up so you know go there with a prepared speech and and and dive in and maybe do half of the speech in Japanese half of the speech in English um so that's a huge goal of mine so you know if you know anybody that's looking for some speakers we can set it up in the summertime you know and really get busy okay so is there anything that you've learned being back in America in terms of like in regards to or just like your reintroduction right because I feel like when you live overseas like your perspective changes right more colors added to your life so when you come back you're seeing America with new eyes right so like is there anything that you've learned since being back here absolutely I think the biggest thing I learned is that I've always felt like we were at War but now I know that when I say the phrase and you know it when we we are at War it's not just like with guns and bombs when I came back to because I felt like my time in Japan I was in a lot of solitude and this was a moment for me to really self-reflect and really kind of prepare myself to the next phase of my life when I came back to America I learned that we are truly at War especially spiritually and there's a lot of things a lot of situations a lot of entities that are constantly pumping out things that will affect you spiritually and if you are not prepared if you are not like I don't even want to say just prepared but if you don't even if you have no foundation and you don't believe then you really out here susceptible to some very very powerful forces that you that are Beyond you beyond your understanding beyond your control beyond your influence and you have to learn how to equip yourself to your spirit man needs to be fed and it's cool to be bopping to some song all day long but if you don't understand that that's having a an effect on you spiritually then you're going to be susceptible to some things that really mess you up or get you off track and you don't even realize why your life is headed in a certain direction and it's spiritually you know so I think we are at War of course it's like you know the guns and a bomb maybe economic all those things are pretty obvious but I think the ones that is not so obvious that I really learned more about is that that spiritual warfare that is not always talked about it's not always kind of Illustrated to people and yeah that was real it's super real so that's I think the biggest thing that was one of the things that I guess I gained more in too it it was a more colorful picture when I came back home for people in Japan right because usually when they hear that someone is moving from Japan back to America they're like what what what are you doing what are you crazy right um any uh I guess advice for them right like because I I feel like they think it's the worst decision like usually for the people who might want to move backward they might be in a position where they need to move move back to to United States yeah or wherever in the world right from Japan and they're like maybe a bit scared afraid nervous Etc any advice from your perspective because you lived in Japan and moved back right anything you can share to maybe like let them alleviate some of that stress I would say carve out a plan don't just come back because a lot of times and I've heard this from people that were sad to move back I heard this from people that were happy to move back I had I heard this from people that were that had no choice but to move back you know there was kind of like sometimes a resentment like oh I'm not going to be special no more because when I'm in Japan I'm I'm super special this not me I you know wherever I walk I feel like you know I got it I got I know what I'm doing um but there are some people that like you know we're scared to go back home not even just because they felt like they weren't being going to be special no more but almost to the sense that Japan is almost like a false reality and I'll put it like this and I I will try not to be too convoluted but I think a lot of times people enjoy Japan especially if they're foreigners well obviously if they're foreigners because it's super clean it's super structured it's super convenient it's super you know it's very unique it's beautiful there's a culture that's vibrant but they are they don't have to abide by the rules of the culture Japanese people have a certain custom they they walk in a certain way they don't talk on a train station I could be a foreigner I could go into the train station I could talk and I could be on the phone and because I'm a foreigner oh well it's okay right it's okay it's cool so that freedom you get all the the the benefits of being in Japan but you don't have to be held to the same standard you get kind of sucked in because like oh this is beautiful I can do all of these different things but you don't have to live and abide by the same rules that keep that culture in that way so when you come back home and you got to deal with other problems you got to remember you're going back to a culture that you know well but you think that it's all rainbows and candies and Skittles when it's not you just weren't a part of that culture and you didn't do the work that made it necessary for that culture to even exist and to live you were just roaming freely when you go back to your own country and you feel like oh but this is not like that and you start complaining it's like well you can do something about it you can participate in that culture and do something about it or you can complain about it um so I think going back the biggest thing is to create a plan so you understand that there is going to be a culture shock when you get back you are going to need time to kind of process you are going to need time to kind of reevaluate yourself re-evaluate how you see yourself within your own Community your own culture your own society and when you do have a plan and you know you're like it's easier to have Direction a lot of times people come back and then they want to go right back to Japan or wherever they lived because that culture shock is too strong and they got too used to that freedom and those benefits without pouring into the culture and I felt like that happened so I would say create a plan um strengthen your sense of direction which is you know obviously a way to strengthen your sense of self and you know don't be afraid to now that you did in order to for you to leave your nest and go to a different place you had to take a leap of faith take another another leap of faith and don't be afraid to take those leap of faith because you know that's how you will get to the next level that's how you will kind of Ascend and kind of step into a new version of yourself you know what uh just now earlier you said that there was a call in right to come back so I think also for the people who might be in Japan right now and they feel a calling like a tug like a reason to go back right but they're resisting that because they want to stay in their comfort zone uh I think just like you did if there's a call in there that's drawing you they should answer it what do you think about that I agree with you and I think that if you are unable to answer that calling then you are denying not only yourself but you're denying the people that you would affect or denying the community that needs you regardless of the fact if they are the ones calling cuz for myself it was my community calling like yo what's what's going on but I think more so than anything it's kind of like I don't want to get all biblical on it but like Jonah in the well 100% it's like Jonah and the well it's like yo if you you could deny that calling all you want but the well is coming that the well is coming and that well a word the well is coming you feel me so for those people that I guess they do feel like they have a calling and pray for you know J Japan ain't going nowhere so you can always go back and you can set your life up to kind of revisit but I think more so than anything to the point that you just made once you create that comfort zone you need to figure out a way to break out of it because you get into the space that's after your comfort zone which is like you know the fear Zone and then after the fear Zone it's like you know kind of like the growth Zone it's like oh shoot I'm growing and then after a while that growth Zone then becomes your comfort zone because you gotten to a certain point where it's like you know you know how to do that you can do that now with your eyes closed those same things those same you know skills it is time for you to kind of again like you mentioned step outside your comfort zone and answer that calling because that is the only way that you you know you're part of of that Community you're part of that culture how can it move forward without maybe one of its best assets its best you know and not to say that everyone needs to go back cuz some people like they don't have that calling and they're not called to do that they can just exist or live or be in that other you know that other place regardless if it's Japan whether you live somewhere else but for those folks that are experiencing that tug that pull I would say answer that calling in your own time and figure out why that is happening figure out why you feel that way and when you get to the why that will give you that direction that you know it's truly pivotal and life is about purpose right like life is that's the purpose of life is purpose right so life is about purpose and uh what's the message that you carry right because you're talking about speaking so when you go to a place to speak like what message do you carry oh man that's a great question thank you for asking me that um the biggest message that I I rock with is the three pillars that have put me in this position that I'm in and those are teamwork leadership and service I realiz realiz I've been on Sports my whole life so when I got to a position where I moved outside of my state you know stepping outside my comfort zone and I moved to a different state I got a chance to finally be on a team that didn't involve Sports so in my mind it's like you know either basketball or football or soccer I was a huge soccer player I had to learn how to be on a team that didn't involve Sports it made me realize that there's so many pivotal teams that are I guess history makers that don't have nothing to do with sports they not dribbling the ball they not passing the ball back and forth but they still were a team and that teamwork to me I feel like is one of the big quote I live by teamwork make the dream workor right then leadership one of the things I preach about or talk about is the importance of leadership and how everyone has a role to play when it comes to leadership a lot of times people think of a leader oh strong maybe a man maybe someone that's super you know boisterous or vocal but you could be a leader and you don't have to open your mouth at all but there could be things or your style of lead leadership or the way that you carry yourself the way that you exude that confidence that you can display that leadership and give that leadership style to other people to kind of recognize just as important just as imp pivotal for a team success doesn't always have to be the loud mouth that's always at the front of the pack could be someone on the side analyzing or data or whatever the case is as leadership is important um and then service we are here to serve others and the sooner that you get to that realization the better off you'll be in your direction and in the distance that you cover regardless of how you slice it dice it we are here to serice somebody somebody right now is serving us food we're going to go home and we're going to do work or do jobs that serve other people so that's what it's about for me service so those three pillars are the biggest things there are a couple of other things that you know I throw in there and put in the mix but those are the three pillars and I kind of Base a lot of the messages that I have off those so where can people find your online right if they want to get in touch with Brandon where they where do they go like the clothing line speaking poetry where can I find you so you can find myself um on Instagram my Instagram is balance that's b a l a n C3 um I'm not Hollywood so I do follow back unless you're like a robot or like some wild person talking about some wild stuff um but aside from that the clothing brand uh you can also find the clothing brand online Instagram or go to our website which is United fabric clothing brand L United fabric clothing LLC um you can in Instagram the Instagram is just United Fabric and spelled in this way so f a b r e q again this is spelled in a unique way because each letter in fabric is uh first initial of one of my family members yeah so it's like you know I'm I'm the beat you know my name balance Brendan um but aside from that uh tap in with me uh I am looking to really put other people in position in 2023 one of the biggest things I brag about nowadays I brag different now I got the most people paid that I've ever gotten paid before and that's it feels good to me because a lot of people you know measure their success by the things that they accomplish and I'm learning as a leader and the responsibility I have the ways that I measure my success is how I put other people in position or how I get other people paid or how I give other people opportunities that said one of the biggest things I'm looking to do is continue to put other people on stages and perform and to share their poetry I've been to so many different places where people are like oh you know I've been to a show but I never wanted to share you know I ain't going to mention nobody that's next to me but you know I've been to a show or I wanted to always share but they kind of like you know just need that extra push or that extra encouragement or that extra like you better get up there you know and that's what I'm doing now so if there are people that you want to share your voice we're creating a couple of poetry platforms one of the biggest ones I'm going to shout out right now is called Museum of poets I just performed in Hartford Connecticut for the first time for the first Showcase of Museum of poets and we're looking for museums across the world so if you know a museum that's interactive that's engaging that has different spaces or sets that you could kind of see someone performing in whether it's an aquarium whether it's a museum a history museum let me know because we're looking to take this thing worldwide and we just started but I understand the potential of it so that's one of the ways that I would love people to tap in if you can but follow me man all right so Brendon bro thanks so much bro for coming all the way down here to New York to meet up right pleasure was mine right appreciate it man it's been a long time I a see you in a couple years man I had to catch up man yeah yeah respect respect right so guys this was Brandon right again the the first interview the link will be in the description down below all the links that he spoke about will be in the description down below again if you enjoyed this video please give it a big thumbs up and remember to subscribe to this channel for more videos like this until next time thanks for watching bye for now peace

Channel: The Black Experience Japan

Views: 40,260

Keywords: What I Learned After Returning to America After a Life in Japan, Black in japan, life in japan, Life in America, Black in America

Id: SApJ2CH_fdI

Length: 28min 44sec (1724 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 14 2024