433 Japan Reflections

Tom is back from a month in Asia with a suitcase full of stories, questionable observations, and a new appreciation for Japanese baseball. In Japan, he finally gets the baseball experience he's been chasing for 15 years, eats ramen worthy of a spiritual awakening, sings karaoke with strangers in Osaka, wanders through Kyoto's temples, and discovers that even the garbage trucks are cute. Along the way, his reading of Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan sends him down a rabbit hole of emperors, samurai loyalty, World War II, and how Japan became the country it is today. Then it's off to Thailand for comedy, khao soi, extraordinary coffee, an unforgettable crab curry, and a return to a Phuket beach that carries a very different meaning than it did ten years ago. It's travel the Tom Rhodes way: history, food, comedy, baseball, strangers, cultural misunderstandings, old memories, and the occasional existential detour. And finally, a piece of rock-and-roll knowledge that shakes Tom to his core: was Cheap Trick's Live at Budokan really live at the Budokan? Hooray for humanity! We're dropping new episodes every Thursday-ish. Connect! Be part of the Rhodesies team and get goodies: https://patreon.com/tomrhodessmartcamp https://patreon.com/ashnarodjan More Tom https://www.instagram.com/_TomRhodes More Ashna https://www.instagram.com/ashnarodjan