Activate Your Japanese!

What would you do
if you were Xuan?

"I'm getting used to work and Sumire-san doesn't scold me
like before, but..."

I'm telling you!
It's the best pasta I've ever had.

Seriously.

I don't know if I should believe you,
but I'll try it anyway.

Why won't you believe me?

"I'd like to have a casual chat
with Sumire-san too."

"But what should I talk about?"

Is something wrong?

Um...

This is Sakamoto.

Yes.

Really...? Okay.

I'm still at work, so could you text me?

Yes, thanks.

"Lost my chance again."

What? Why the big sigh?

Well...

What's the matter?

That's the look of love.

Is it?

Really?

- No!
- She says no.

Says her.

Don't be shy.

I'm a best-selling novelist.
One glance and I know what's going on.

With one glance.

Says him.

You're a best-selling novelist?

- You didn't know?
- No.

What? I'm not famous enough?

- Not quite.
- I was sure you'd know.

"Sumire-san..."

"Should I go and talk to her?"

"But about what?"

"Maybe not today."

Yansu.

I saw you giving up again.

You want to be friends, don't you?

I do, but...

Work relationships start with small talk!

Small talk?

That's right.

Chatting about things that are
unrelated to work is important.

So you shouldn't give up
trying to talk to her.

But I don't know where to start.

Come on!

Start with anything.

Like this!

Go for it.

She didn't notice.

Thank you.

Cute.

The pen.

That's an anime character, right?

It's from ""Nyanko Piece,"
my favorite show.

Oh yeah.

My nephew has the manga for it,
and I thought it was cute.

Really?

Rei, let's go.

Coming.

Well then.

That look on her face? That's love.

- All that from a glance?
- Yep.

This is going to be exciting!

Absolutely.

That was totally unexpected.

Yansu!

I wanted to speak to Sumire-san,
not Rei-san!

I didn't plan that either.

But anyway, I've found a clue.

What do you mean?

Don't you see? "Nyanko Piece!"

What about it?

You had a nice chat with Rei
because you share a common interest.

A common interest?

That's right. You love "Nyanko Piece,"
and Rei knew about the anime.

That's the common interest.

That means...

I should find something in common
to talk about with Sumire-san too.

"I couldn't find anything to talk about."

"There's Sumire-san."

- Hi, Sumire-san.
- Hi.

"A common interest..."

"Something to talk about..."

"Hey, that's...!"

Sumire-san!

Isn't that Mi-ke from "Nyanko Piece?"

That's right.

- Do you like it?
- Yes!

I'm a big fan of the show.

Are you?

I am.

This Mi-ke is so cute.

Really cute.

But this is even cuter.

Look.

I have a cat. Isn't she adorable?

So adorable!

She's actually at the vet's right now.

She should be having kittens
any minute now.

Speak of the devil.

Thank goodness!

It's taken long enough!

See?

They're so cute!

That's so wonderful.

Thanks.

Would you like to come and see them?

Could I?

Of course.

I'd love that.

But...

you need to come with Rei.

Why would you say that?

Everyone's talking about you two.

It's not like that.

"You can get closer to someone
by finding a common interest."

"Isn't that right, Yansu?"

"Today's Strategy!"

Cats are cute, but so am I.

Now, there's someone you want to
talk to, but you don't know what to talk about
or how to go about it.

What will you do if that happens?

Let's look at the strategy Xuan used.

Sumire-san!

Isn't that Mi-ke from "Nyanko Piece?"

That's right.

- Do you like it?
- Yes!

I'm a big fan of the show.

Find something in common
to talk about.

If it's something both you and
the other person can talk about, then the conversation will flow.

Xuan said,
"Isn't that Mi-ke from 'Nyanko Piece'?"

The phrase "desu yone" indicates that you're familiar with it
and you want to talk about it.

If you know something about an item that the other person has,
or the clothes they're wearing, great!

Talk about that.

Goodbye for now.

Meet senpai from all over Japan, Tsutsu Uraura!

Let's hear about their lives.

Today's senpai is Takahashi Amir from Iran.

Takasaki in Gunma.

This bakery has been popular for 20 years.

More than 40 types of bread are baked here each day.

We started selling apple pie today.

Amir uses specially selected ingredients in his handmade bread.

I blend soybeans from
Hokkaido and Nagano.

This machine makes soymilk.

I'll add("tonyu") this soymilk("tonyu") to the bread.

A Japanese pun!

Here's the finished bread.

It has a faintly sweet taste.

It's so fluffy.

I can't eat bread
from anywhere else.

Amir grew up helping at his family's bakery.

He became interested in Japan because of a TV drama.

The series Oshin started
airing during the war in the 1980s.

The main character worked hard.
A country girl became a CEO.

It made me think Japan
offered opportunities.

Seeking those opportunities, Amir came to Japan at 21.

He was amazed by the bakeries he saw.

I didn't know there were
so many kinds of bread.

I thought I was a pro back then.
It's embarrassing!

In those days, Amir made just one type of bread: barbari.

Inspired by the variety of bread in Japan, he decided to learn more.

But he struggled due to his lack of Japanese.

He worked part-time jobs and studied Japanese for three years.

That's when he met his wife, Yoko.

After they married, he decided to find work at a bakery.

Ten years after coming to Japan, he opened his own bakery.

Amir lives in Takasaki, Gunma.

I love the view from here.

You can see the whole city.

Including Mt. Akagi and more.
It's very relaxing.

This is a local specialty: Torimeshi bento.

The chicken is cooked in a sweet and spicy soy sauce.

Everyone from Gunma
has eaten this bento.

The meat is salty and
goes well with rice.

One of Amir's former employees has opened his own bakery.

- Looks nice.
- Thank you.

It's fresh.

Very good.

Yoshizawa studied breadmaking with Amir for five years.

I knocked on his door.

I said: "I don't know anything
about bread, but please hire me."

He's a breadmaking guru.
But to me, he's more like a dad.

Amir nurtures apprentices to spread Japan's bread culture.

Here are Amir's favorite words.

Even dust makes a mountain
if you pile it high.

It means small, repeated efforts can lead to big results.

Keep at it, and you can succeed.
I love this phrase.

Amir hopes to make even more types of bread to delight his customers.

Keep up the good work, Amir!