Mike

Penny

[Recording: 10.7.2025]

Ask Me Anything

Japanese Language Advocate ● Session Musician ● Board Member & Educator

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From the walk-in closet to the Hollywood Bowl.

Doggedness. In view, it beckons us to draw closer, to marvel at the commitment to strength, to suspend pause and to act. It is far from innate, instead, crafted across the years, tempered by leaps of faith that injure, but fail to maim. The best practitioners teach, and endeavor others to do the same. Like Mike Penny. BE LIKE MIKE.

Performing on a D.I.C.E Winner

Christmastime. "We're putting together a small ensemble, can you make it to PlayStation Studios in LA?" Additional in-game arrangements were needed for an upcoming action-adventure game from Sony Interactive and Sucker Punch Productions, and required the talents of a stellar shamisen session musician. "Of course." Arranger, Bill Hemstapat, said later of Penny and the others hired to work their magic: "they brought their absolute A-game to the table and delivered that last piece of the jigsaw puzzle needed in the world of Ghost of Tsushima."

Fueling the Front Lines

Calligraphy sets, software, dictionaries... textbooks—just a few of the tools Mike helps language teachers secure as Japanese Language Grants Specialist at The Japan Foundation. "I feel so proud that every day I get to support Japanese language education, teachers, and students," he says. Grants for professional development and salary assistance so schools can build, sustain, and rescue programs also fall under his purview. Some travel affords him the opportunity to personally witness the smile he puts on a teacher's face—a benefit he loves most of all.

Directing the Iconic

Smart stewards of the future dance a two-step with the past... it's a mirrored bit of hand-holding with custodianship that ensures honoring obligations to both the "then" and the "now" remain entwined. Since 2014, Mike, along with his colleagues on the Greater Miracle Mile Board of Directors, has helped shepherd one of America's storied historical, cultural, and commercial icons from then to now, AND to what's next...Los Angeles' famed Miracle Mile. Visit if you can. If you can't, there's always the 1988 thriller... that'll get you close, at least!

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN WITH MIKE

How an obsession with music theory helped compound his efforts when it came to learning Japanese.
"We're all one world music camp away from a life-changing trajectory"—why saying "yes" in a world filled with "no" is more important than ever.
How to be daring and persistent when you've finally discovered your mentor-to-be.
His "steal like an artist" strategy for still creating work that is 100% you.
His decision framework for investing in himself when real money has to be laid down on the table.
What busking in the streets of Santa Cruz for hours on end taught him about people and life.
Why teaching: "learn this, because it will help you do this," is one of the best ways to motivate a learner or subordinate.
Why he believes art is the one realm where being a dictator is always your best move.
How to spot yourself when in a funk and, how to successfully maneuver away from it so you can turn that experience into a dividend-paying asset.
How to find, apply for, and win grants and scholarships to further your own learning, or on behalf of those you support in school and/or work.
How to choose projects to invest in when all appear worthy of support.
Why we should all aim to be like Frank Zappa.
Why we should always be placing ourselves in a position to have "bread gigs" AND "fun gigs."
Why aiming THROUGH the obstacle is everything—especially when it comes to getting your first few licks out of the shamisen.

Don't Crowd Out Your Curiosity.

Two of Mike's biggest passions were entirely unplanned. A guitarist and percussionist earlier in life, Mike discovered the shamisen entirely by chance while in attendance at a world music camp as a teenager. It offered up a light bulb moment... a goal to pursue. From Valencia to Santa Cruz he went, and soon was apprentice to said player at Lark Camp. A secondary love of Japanese soon sprouted. Today, both loves have added tremendously to his life, and his experiences gained and shared have, in turn, added to the lives of countless others around the world.

OUR WELCOMED GUEST

Mike Penny

Mike Penny is an award-winning Tsugaru Shamisen performer and composer from Los Angeles, CA. A student of both Kevin Kmetz the highly respected Tsugaru shamisen sensei Fukushi Toyoaki, Penny has given hundreds of public performances and workshops throughout Japan and the US.

Mike’s performances at prestigious venues such as Hollywood Bowl, Getty Center, Getty Villa, Skirball Center, Ovation Hollywood, along with his viral YouTube videos have earned him a following for his unprecedented style of shamisen playing, and he is an active studio musician, lending his talents to projects such as Sony PlayStation’s Ghost of Tsushima OST, Netflix’s Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles, Blue Eye Samurai, and more.

A JAPANESE LANGUAGE PROGRAM LIKE NO OTHER.

Maplopo helps intermediate and advanced learners of Japanese internalize language through the power of story—all in a single learning platform. Maplopo is rigorous, structured, and handcrafted for serious learners of Japanese.