Japan Trip Planning, Onsen Monkeys & Ube vs. Murasakiimo | EP 27

Want to learn Japanese while laughing? Welcome to Nihongo to English — the bilingual Japanese-English podcast where Japanese culture, language, and pure chaos collide.

In Episode 27, hosts Michael Allen (CPA) and Michelle MaliZaki take a break from the Genki book and go full Japan travel mode. Michael is calling in live from Arizona, and Michelle is fresh off a golf tournament, Canada-bound for a comedy festival, and already big in Nagoya.

Together they spiral into the Japan trip planning session you didn't know you needed: mixed onsen (混浴), snow rotemburo in Niigata, the Sapporo Snow Festival, Ainu culture, a federal penitentiary in the frozen wilds of Hokkaido, a terrifying amount of bears, izakaya culture, stand-up comedy in Shinjuku, and a monkey in Kyoto that broke into a house and started opening doors like a landlord.

And because this is Nihongo to English, they also settle the most important question in Japanese food culture: ube vs. murasakiimo (むらさきいも). One is morning glory family. One is a yam. They are NOT the same. You're welcome.

Whether you're learning Japanese, planning a trip to Japan, or just love Japanese culture — this episode is for you.

NO homework. Just bilingual chaos — and somehow you learn.

📩 Questions? NihongotoEnglishnoshow@gmail.com
🎵 Theme Jingle by Michelle MaliZaki

エピソード27 – 日本旅行計画、温泉モンキー＆ウベvsむらさきいも

日本語を楽しく学びたい方へ。Nihongo to English は、日本語と英語を行き来しながら、日本文化・日本語学習・バイリンガルトークをお届けするポッドキャストです。

エピソード27では、ホストのマイケル・アレン（CPA）とみしえる・まりザきがゲンキでのお勉強をお休みして、日本旅行トークに全力投球！マイケルはアリゾナからリモート参加、みしえる・まりザきはゴルフトーナメントを終え、カナダのコメディフェスティバルへ向かい、名古屋でも活躍予定。

二人が繰り広げる日本旅行計画トークは盛りだくさん：混浴温泉、新潟の雪見露天風呂、札幌雪まつり、アイヌ文化、北海道の刑務所（本物）、クマ大量出没、居酒屋文化、新宿でのスタンダップコメディ、そして京都で家に侵入して勝手にドアを開けまくったサルの話まで。

そして日本食文化最大の謎に迫る：ウベvsむらさきいも。片方はヒルガオ科、もう片方はヤム芋。全然違います。どういたしまして。

日本語を勉強している方、日本旅行を計画している方、日本文化が好きな方 — このエピソードはあなたのためにあります。

宿題なし。ただのバイリンガルカオス — でも、なぜか学べる。

📩 質問はこちら：NihongotoEnglishnoshow@gmail.com
🎵 テーマジングル by みしえる・まりザき

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hello and welcome to Nihongo To English No Show.

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Yay!

SPEAKER_01 0:04

I am one of your hosts, Michael Allen CPA.

SPEAKER_00 0:07

And I'm the other host, Michelle Monizaki.

SPEAKER_01 0:10

And I'm here to inform you all that this special episode will not include a ginkky section. No! But seriously, I am currently in Arizona. And well let me just try and put it this way. Uh Ima Edizona de Dai Patiatemas. Why?

SPEAKER_00 0:40

Eh, you're tight.

SPEAKER_01 0:42

Streamer no pantides. Tote motanoshi totemo ginkides. Keto uh California no Los Angeles. Kajigarimas.

SPEAKER_00 0:56

Yama kajanak te kojo gamo in temas.

SPEAKER_01 0:59

Takara choto rosso ni modoritakunai kanjigare.

SPEAKER_00 1:05

Eh watashi baruserona karamo do tekitandes keto.

SPEAKER_01 1:10

Sono uhio kokio stakunai karatabun uhinichika uhtatsunohi Afutka uh Arizona De Pati Chimasho.

SPEAKER_00 1:26

Eh my kirusa patish staidakide show.

SPEAKER_01 1:29

Hi. Sorry. Uh I am going to enjoy my time partying with my uh fellow live streamers of the Nephew Network and the Uncle Joe show here in Arizona while I wait for the air to clear in Los Angeles. Yeah, what's next for Michelle Marizaki?

SPEAKER_00 1:57

Uh round of golf.

SPEAKER_01 2:00

Oh, well, a golf tournament?

SPEAKER_00 2:02

Oh no.

SPEAKER_01 2:03

How did you win your golf tournament? Did you tell them how you did your golf tournament?

SPEAKER_00 2:08

Yay, I'm a pro now. Pro gorufa. Cool. Michiru Marizaki.

SPEAKER_01 2:12

Yeah, that'll pay for um cleaning one of your golf clubs.

SPEAKER_00 2:16

Yeah, half a tank of gas. And I'm going to Canada. Kanada Nikimas.

SPEAKER_01 2:22

Oh.

SPEAKER_00 2:23

Kanadano Karugari.

SPEAKER_01 2:25

Kanada no Karugari the Nagoshima. Comedy festival. Oh, so they uh they accepted you into their comedy festival.

SPEAKER_00 2:35

Uh I got second place a few years ago, so I've been going back every year.

SPEAKER_01 2:40

Oh. Yeah. Cool. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 2:42

Yeah. Also I'm going to Nagoya in July.

SPEAKER_01 2:46

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 2:46

Yeah. I'm I'm big in Nagoya.

SPEAKER_01 2:48

Mm-hmm. Nice. Nagoya. We've been talking about going to Japan at the same time. Let's go.

SPEAKER_00 2:53

Let's go.

SPEAKER_01 2:53

Are you trying to get me to go in July or July?

SPEAKER_00 2:55

July? Well, you I don't maybe it's July is not a good time to go. I'm just going because my dad's Hachiji. Ha ha ha chichi. My mom's like already warning.

SPEAKER_01 3:12

I don't know. I mean, I know it gets busy over there during tourist season, but.

SPEAKER_00 3:16

Super hot. It's not like 20 years ago. It's super hot. It's getting hotter and hotter.

SPEAKER_01 3:22

Well, is it like mushimushi hot?

SPEAKER_00 3:24

Mushimushi. Mushimushi and do supa hato. Choatsu. Yeah, I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 3:30

I I I lived there for a couple years before I came with. Oh no, no. Dogo demo motomoto at the same time. Yeah. I don't know. I I just feel like uh uh Ichido Ichie like Ichigo Ichie. Ichigo, not Ichido.

SPEAKER_00 3:57

Storobedi.

SPEAKER_01 3:58

Ichigo ich eh, strawberry, one strawberry, one storobedi ichie. I mean I think most people are very busy.

SPEAKER_00 4:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:08

So if somehow their schedule opens up and they want to make that trip to Japan, then they should just go whenever they're free.

SPEAKER_00 4:15

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well then let me know. Like we could go like in fall.

SPEAKER_01 4:19

We go in the fall? Okay, yeah, fall might be better.

SPEAKER_00 4:21

Because fall might fall, I think fall would be better time to go. Okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:24

That sounds good. Fall sounds good.

SPEAKER_00 4:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:26

I've been promising like for years now, I've been like, next year I'm gonna go back next year. Let's go back to the colour. So let's do it in the fall. Japan tsua. Yeah, we should. And then we can record in uh exotic locations because this setup is pretty small. We can bring this anywhere.

SPEAKER_00 4:46

Exotic location.

SPEAKER_01 4:50

Yeah, we could do an on.

SPEAKER_00 4:52

Have you ever done konyoku?

SPEAKER_01 4:53

Konyoku on sen?

SPEAKER_00 4:55

I've been to nyaku chanakte konyoku.

SPEAKER_01 4:57

Oh uh doko uh nan nanken deska. Oh, mikesbasu?

SPEAKER_00 5:06

Uh no. Usually otokoyu on nayu.

SPEAKER_01 5:13

Uh yatakoto arima. So mizuki.

SPEAKER_00 5:17

I I've never been to konyoku. I've never been to rotemburo. I mean not real rotemburo.

SPEAKER_01 5:24

Oh, what's the rotemburo?

SPEAKER_00 5:26

Rotemburo one uh no not inside the building, it's outside of the building.

SPEAKER_01 5:31

Oh, well I've been to um some like uh Yuki Yuki on Senate. Yeah, and uh in Yigata can all you do.

SPEAKER_00 5:39

Oh so no.

SPEAKER_01 5:41

There's uh on Sen Machi. And yeah, the so I've been in the onsen while it's been snowing outside.

SPEAKER_00 5:47

Yeah, you told me Tokamachi is ten days away from the famous hot springs or something.

SPEAKER_01 5:52

Uh from a f a train station, a famous station or something. Or at least it was. Uh you know. It was either that or they got deliveries of they got like trade that like the trade caravan would come through like every ten days or something. There's something like that. It's all in the history, yeah. Why else would you be called the ten-day city? But then there's also muikamachi.

SPEAKER_00 6:14

And yeah, that's also like yokaichi. That's a market. Like every fourth of the month they have a market.

SPEAKER_01 6:23

Yeah, I can't wait to go back.

SPEAKER_00 6:24

Okay, we should look up like when is the good time to go.

SPEAKER_01 6:27

If you insist, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, sure. You do all the research now. I I do the research. Well, you seem very passionate about it. Oh, Izakaya, oh mochirong. Uh Kyoto ni ikitai, kyoto ni modoritai, tomodachi no kasoku. Kyoto desun da mas. Hi. Hokkaido wa mada itakotona mina sama wa hokaido wa moshirokunai deshina sanso. Sorito demas.

SPEAKER_00 6:59

Kaisa nyo skideska.

SPEAKER_01 7:01

Oh, hi, suki dei sukidas.

SPEAKER_00 7:02

A job.

SPEAKER_01 7:03

Hi, hokkaido don uhitoka kanitoka. Uhate uh. To uh miso rameng uh. Is it misorameng? Hokkaido ramen. Or is it tonk tonk tonkotsu? Tonkotsua kyushu. So yeah, I wanna go to Hokkaido. Uh maybe uh camping camping.

SPEAKER_00 7:25

Kumaga de Kauai. Uh Kauai Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear.

SPEAKER_01 7:30

So this guy.

SPEAKER_00 7:31

So Abunai.

SPEAKER_01 7:32

Local demo?

SPEAKER_00 7:33

Abunay.

SPEAKER_01 7:33

Abuna demo California camping hood.

SPEAKER_00 7:37

Demo Hon to ni ni hond the kumaga and abunai. No, you're party uh camping uh uh hobby this young so camp gumpate when you go camping, I I'll go the other way.

SPEAKER_01 7:51

Okay. Hi.

SPEAKER_00 7:54

Ah, she's and hoked on i wa camo show ali must.

SPEAKER_01 7:58

Well, cameusho uh uh uh camousho tenantino.

SPEAKER_00 8:05

It's like a jail, but it's not jail. It's like more than jail.

SPEAKER_01 8:09

Like prison? Prison? Yeah, I think. I don't know. I guess jail prison is like more, I think federal and jail is state. Yeah. But yeah, came like a penitentiary.

SPEAKER_00 8:18

So penitentiary.

SPEAKER_01 8:20

So that's so they uh yeah, they take all the dangerous uh people uh and they just throw them in a in a penitentiary in the frozen wastelands of the city. Okay, okay, you can visit that one.

SPEAKER_00 8:31

I know I don't why why I don't have no business. Right.

SPEAKER_01 8:35

Well I'm just saying I thought you brought it up, so I thought you know, I'm uh when I go camping, you can visit the prison. Oh, I knew, yeah. Oh, and sapporo. Hi, saporobiru. So maybe I just want to go just just just for fun. One time I went to uh jigokudani.

SPEAKER_00 9:09

It's like I forget.

SPEAKER_01 9:11

I think it might be in uh just like one or two prefectures south of Nigata. It's within like a day's drive of Nigata. Kusay this gun?

SPEAKER_00 9:20

Jigokudani. Well, this uh the sau guy by Sarua imawa no itchawado punch kun uh panchikun?

SPEAKER_01 9:31

Panchikun Panchywa Saru Saru no Namaya.

SPEAKER_00 9:34

Saruga punchy de you.

SPEAKER_01 9:36

Punchy one punchy.

SPEAKER_00 9:42

Rupan san said this the must manga animal manga?

SPEAKER_01 9:47

Rupan the third? Oh yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:55

So no so no namaikala punchkung. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 9:59

So do you just call monkeys punchkoon?

SPEAKER_00 10:02

Yeah, monkey wa punch so monkey de punchkung.

SPEAKER_01 10:04

Okay. Yeah, I had um a very scary incident in Kyoto where a monkey got in the house and started opening up um doors and stuff.

SPEAKER_00 10:14

Oh start opening up a business. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:18

And so uh I was super scared of them, and so I overcame my fears by going to Jigoku Dani.

SPEAKER_00 10:25

Oh. Did you? Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:27

Well, there were just monkeys running around everywhere in in the onsen. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. So yeah, that that was a fun, a fun place to go. Uh yeah. So uh I don't that's a good question. What would I want? I mean, I'd want to go back and do all the classic stuff and just eat all the food.

SPEAKER_00 10:44

Okay, three things you want to eat in Japan.

SPEAKER_01 10:47

Three things? Yeah. Um, hi. Oishis sushi to U. Unagi unagi daisuki this. Hi. And uh I mean I just want to go to Izakaya, have that Izakaya experience. Oh, Izakaya food. Yeah. Oh, but you know what I really want to do? What? I just want to I want to bring my act to Japan. I want to go to the various weird little comedy clubs and do my stuff, you know. That's what I want to do.

SPEAKER_00 11:20

No, no, I usually go to Nagoya.

SPEAKER_01 11:22

Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:23

And I also do uh I also do a show in Shinjuku.

SPEAKER_01 11:28

Okay. Yeah, that's what it that's what it's gonna be about.

SPEAKER_00 11:32

Yeah. And then I think there are shows in uh toko. Shigaken. I have to ask.

SPEAKER_01 11:44

I've also never been to Okinawa, though I know that's a much bigger journey.

SPEAKER_00 11:47

Okinawa. It's very expensive from to go from Tokyo to Okinawa. Oh, sure, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:55

No, it's like it's like its own destination. Yeah. But I like their purple potatoes.

SPEAKER_00 11:58

Um yeah, none like yeah. Munasakimo.

SPEAKER_01 12:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:01

Yeah. What's the difference between Munasakimo and Ube?

SPEAKER_01 12:06

I mean, that's a good question. Uh but if you look it up, I'm sure there'll be an answer. No, um I mean ube I mean mudasakimo is like some kind of potato, and ube, I think, is not a potato. Ube is. No, I think it's technic, it's some other kind of root vegetable, I think.

SPEAKER_00 12:26

But root vegetable sounds like potato or carrots.

SPEAKER_01 12:30

Well, carrots definitely a root vegetable vegetable, and daikon is a root vegetable. Um but yeah, I uh watched a 30-minute uh video one time. It was like, what's the difference between a potato and a yam and a purple potato? I don't know, but it was very interesting. But you watch the Vini. Well, they have different flavors and they have different um uh starch amounts and uh the uh like the way that the peel, like when you bake them, some sometimes the the peel will stay attached, other times the peel will separate. Some of them will are get like really soft and wet, other ones dry out easier. So they just all have slightly different flavors. I don't know, asking the difference in what's the difference between ube and uh Murasaki Imo is kind of like well, what's the difference between like a blueberry and a blackberry and a strawberry and uh like they're all kind of berries, right? Yeah, but they're all different.

SPEAKER_00 13:21

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:22

Well exactly. Same thing with potatoes.

SPEAKER_00 13:24

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 13:24

Yeah, but I'm pretty sure that ube and murasaki imo are not the same thing. Well, we're gonna find out right now. Alright. Ube versus versus um oh and then there's also a tatoimo which is a whole other thing.

SPEAKER_00 13:40

Yeah. Tadoimo is sticky, right?

SPEAKER_01 13:43

Um Tadoimo? Oh yeah. Yes, it is. Um I'm just like, are purple sweet potatoes ube? It's gonna be like no.

SPEAKER_00 13:54

No.

SPEAKER_01 13:55

Purple sweet potatoes and ube are often confused due to their similar vibrant purple hues. Vibrant purple hues. However, these two roots come from different plant families and have unique characteristics that set them apart.

SPEAKER_00 14:08

Also, I w I was offending ube by calling it purple.

SPEAKER_01 14:13

Yeah, probably. Um so ube is a type of yam as opposed to being a potato. Purple sweet potatoes are part of the morning glory family. Oh. Um so yeah, that yeah, I mean, you know, you could look up uh what their flavor differences is and stuff. Um, here it is. Purple sweet potatoes. Dense yet moist with a slightly dry finish when baked or roasted. Ube, soft creamy texture that becomes smooth when cooked down into pastes. So the purple sweet potatoes retain their shape better when cooked, whole or sliced, while ube is often mashed or pureeed for desserts. Ta-da! John.

SPEAKER_00 14:56

John.

SPEAKER_01 14:58

Do you feel smarter now? Did you learn anything? I already forgot. Okay. Well, just know they're not the same.

SPEAKER_00 15:04

Okay. They are not the same. But morning glory family.

SPEAKER_01 15:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:08

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 15:10

But don't worry. Uh, we'll be back. I'll be back, and you'll just have to uh take a break from studying the Gankee book this time. But don't worry, Morning Hungo, Tong English no show. Well, it's just gonna keep going. All right. Later.