(AIKO) Hello world, where I'm from in Japa-... (whispering) Wait, no. Not good.
(GREG) That's not good.
(AIKO) Hello world! This is a FAQ video.
(GREG) Version 2.
(GREG) All right, I'll say the questions, you answer them. (AIKO) Yep.
(GREG) Ok, does Aiko prefer to speak Japanese or English?
(AIKO) Japanese.
(GREG) OK. And why?
(AIKO) Well, because... I'm like better at Japanese right now.
(GREG) You're better? Oh, OK.
And, well, since the kids -as in you and Shin- know English very well,
um, are you placed in advanced English classes in school?
(AIKO) What is "advance"?
(GREG) Advanced. (AIKO) What's "advanced"?
(GREG) Advanced. Like, uh... "higher level".
(AIKO) What do you mean "higher level"?
(GREG) Well, if there's like... normal kids who go to one class, then kids who know stuff really good
they go to a different class, that's an advanced class.
Aiko, do you have english classes?
(AIKO) Well, I had them when I'm Grade 3. But... well, I don't have it right now.
So I don't know if I'm gonna have it again or if I'm gonna have English school when I get to Grade 5.
(GREG) But, It's not because you speak english, right? Just...
All your kids... don't -in your grade- don't have English class?
(AIKO) Yeah... right now, but like, um Grade 5 and Grade 6, um...
there's some English class so we might... I might do
English class when I'm grade 5.
(GREG) Ok, um, and how are you retaining your English?
Are you losing your English speaking ability, you and your brother Shin?
(AIKO) Yep.
(GREG) You're losing it?? (AIKO) Yep. (GREG) I don't... I don't think they're losing it.
(AIKO) Hmm, Like I can... Look, there's some stuff that I could um...
I mean, I can spell, but like now I can't spell it, or I can't read it anymore so...
And I'm better at Japanese right now.
(GREG) Ooh, yeah, you're right. Your read-... Your reading and writing aren't just... maybe strong
But your speaking is still pretty good, I think.
(AIKO) Well, yeah... (GREG) I think so.
Since the kids speak Japanese to mommy and English to you, what language do you and mommy speak to each other?
So that's a question... well, what language do mommy and I speak?
(AIKO) Well... English.
And sometimes mommy talks Japanese to you, so you can learn Japanese.
(GREG) Yeah. Mostly English. Trying more Japanese. But if we have to talk about anything serious, it's English.
Mmm, OK. Can you have pets in Japan? Does Aiko have any pets?
What animal does she like?
(AIKO) Well, you are allowed to get pets but, not a pet in a... "manshon"?
(GREG) Yeah. "Manshon" is a... japanese, the name for a japanese apartment is called "manshon".
(AIKO) And condos and so... And because... um... like... it might be loud.
But little animals like goldfish and um... like little birds is allowed, to be okay,
but like big, I mean like cats and dogs they're not allowed being in a manshon but in a normal house they are ok.
(GREG) Well, depends on the apartment building. (AIKO) Yep.
(GREG) Yeah, some you... but ours you can't have any cats or dogs or things like that. (AIKO) Yeah.
(GREG) Which animal do you like?
(AIKO) I wan- I like ah.. cat and bunny. And this is the kitty that I got.
(GREG) Oh, yeah! You got it from someone. A fan! (AIKO) Yeah.
(GREG) Chuck. (AIKO) It's Chuck.
(GREG) Chuck. (AIKO) Chuck. (GREG) Chuck.
(GREG) Um... Thanks, Chuck.
Japanese schools, you have to remove your outter shoes and swap them for indoor shoes
before you go inside,
so what the person wants to know is, what do visitors do
if they're visiting school during a festival?
(AIKO) Oh! Um... Like inside the school?
(GREG) Yeah, like say your parents come visit...
(AIKO) Oh! They have slippers
Um... for um... like people that come they have slippers and then there's a
festival stuff in um... in like outside of the school.
And we just... normal shoes.
(GREG) Yeah, so outside... most festivals would take place normally... (AIKO) Yep.
(GREG) ...so you just wear your outdoor shoes, but if it's inside, they have lockers just for visitors
where they can get slippers and... but a lot of people bring their own slippers.
(AIKO) Sometimes you have Saturday school, and in Japanese it's called "jigyoukoukai",
and it's not on every Saturday, but your parents can look at inside your class, and see what the kids are doing,
and on those times they can like... they use those slippers.
(GREG) Aiko, what do they... people do when they get sick?
(AIKO) Um, go to... in Japanese it's called "hokenshitsu",
and they go to um, like a normal room, and that's like... have
lots of stuff that you might see in a hospital or like little...
(GREG) This is at school you're talking about?
(AIKO) Yeah. (GREG) Oh!
(AIKO) And um... Well it's just a teacher that knows about um, like your body and stuff and
so um, there's a room like that, and then you can lie down in a bed, and then you can
like um, eat food there, if you like gonna- and you can go home.
like, tell the teacher to bring your stuff, and then go home if you have a
high fever or something and yeah, there is those kind of things.
(GREG) So sports... what kind of sports do you like
and what do you like to watch or what do you like to do?
(AIKO) Ok. My favorite sports?
Well, It's um... swimming. Like I'm doing swimming on every Tuesday and it's quite fun.
Like there's a bus, and then you go on a bus, and then while you go on the bus you can bring candy and eat it.
And I like that part.
Yeah, It's very fun. And when you're done your swimming lesson, I mean yeah... your swimming lesson
You can just play in the pool.
(GREG) Hmm. What are your favorite subjects in school?
(AIKO) Subjects? Like... classes?
(GREG) Yeah.
(AIKO) Well, I like crafting school.
Or like arts class?
(GREG) Minecraft? Crafting School?
(AIKO) Art class.
(GREG) Art class! Arts and crafts.
Aiko: Yes, this... craft something. And I like music class and...
Well... I like this stuff. And on summer sometimes you do swimming class
and I like that too, but the water is so cold.
(GREG) Hmm. Do you prefer living in Japan, Canada or is there no preference and why?
(AIKO) Well I... I don't know which place I want to... um... live.
(GREG) Ok. Let's see... What do you do in your spare time for fun?
(AIKO) Um... Sometimes I like... watch TV, or play with somebody... or sometimes I like watch YouTube and... yep.
(GREG) Hmm-hmm. Probably like other kids around the world that have TVs and computers.
(AIKO) Yeah. (GREG) Yeah.
Uh... How old is Aiko?
(AIKO) I'm 9 right now and I almost have my birthday.
(GREG) And you're gonna be ten! (AIKO) Yeah...
(GREG) Aiko, what are you eating in your YouTube cover?
(AIKO) Pineapple! (GREG) Pineapple.
(AIKO) Pineapple! (GREG) Okay, that's easy.
(AIKO) How long have you been in Japan?
(GREG) Uh, we've been in Japan for almost three years now.
How did you guys decide to move your family to Japan after several years in Canada?
Uh... That's probably a whole video that I might do at some other time,
uh... but the very short answer is we always wanted to move to Japan,
but we never had the opportunity. And I guess when you get married and you're young
and you think, "Oh I just can move back and forth between countries". But you have kids, you have jobs...
It's not so easy to do that. So we actually had an opportunity
—three years ago— to move to Japan, and we did.
(AIKO) How did your mom and dad meet?
(GREG) Hmm. I don't think mom would like me answering that too much.
(AIKO) Yeah.
(GREG) But we met in Canada, long time ago.
[whispering] Long time.
Why were Japanese names chosen for the kids instead of something more westernized?
Well, the kids actually have Western names for the middle names.
The first names are Japanese and I think because we were living in Canada, so we just wanted to make sure
they retained their Japanese heritage. And I guess in Canada
it's not so weird to have, I guess, non-western names, but when they go to Japan,
I guess would be... the kids would stand out a lot if they had a non-Japanese name.
So I guess we kind of knew that, when we were naming them.
Plus we tried to name them names that wouldn't be to hard to pronounce in English, so...
Yeah. Aiko and Shin. Although people call you "Eiko"
if they just write her name on the paper but Shin... Shin is pretty easy to "Shin".
But people say Shintaero instead... (AIKO) "Shintaero" but It's "Shintaro".
"Shintaero, Shintaero!" "Eiko, Eiko!"
(GREG) Maybe this is a question for you Aiko, even though it's probably a question for me
(AIKO) Ok.
(GREG) It's "Do people, or Japanese people, treat you different because you're not full Japanese?"
(AIKO) Mmm, no. But sometimes they just um... say um... "gaikokujin",
and "Gaikokujin" means like people from like other places from Japan,
and um, yeah... I guess they do it for fun, but they don't treat me different.
(GREG) Ok. Um... Do you guys have citizenship in both Canada and Japan?
And for the kids, until they're adults, they're both Japanese and Canadian,
whereas for the mother, she's Japanese, I'm Canadian, but we both have residencies
in each other's respective countries. So, yeah.
Can Aiko just speak Japanese only?
(AIKO) In the video?
(GREG) Yeah...
(AIKO) Well... Well, that might be good too because Japanese people who are looking like, know what I'm saying and---
(GREG) Ok, well, tell somebody in Japan
what Canada is like... so tell somebody who's Japanese, watching.
(AIKO) If people ask me, "how is it living in Canada?", I have to say that Canada has a lot more nature.
Also the houses are a lot more spacious. I think living there is very nice.
(AIKO) Are you embarrassed... speaking Japanese?
(AIKO) No. I'm not.
(GREG) You seem... like, so quiet.
(AIKO) No. this is how I talk
(GREG) This is how you talk. Ok.
Ok, who do you love more, mommy or daddy?
(AIKO) Both.
(GREG) Thank you everyone for all the questions.
There was a lot of questions. I don't think we got to them all, but we will try to do
another V.3 someday.
Um, and how do we end this thing here?
(AIKO) Thanks for watching! See you next time! Bye!
(GREG) Ok, Aiko. I forgot two questions, or two things.
The first one is: why do you wear lipstick and makeup?
(AIKO) I don't.
(GREG) Then why are you all red?
(AIKO) Well I'm always like this.
(GREG) Yeah, when Aiko gets hot she gets really red.
I know, maybe the camera just makes her look like she has lipstick or something,
but definitely no lipstick, no makeup.
(AIKO) Yeah, I never did before.
So my daddy made a new channel called
"Life where I'm from X", and it's all about adult stuff, so I don't know like if kids will like it,
but yep... and he made a new channel and...
so... watch it.