Chris whenever you grow bigger in clout, you put pressure on yourself to do the "next big thing", which is honestly good in a way, but I think it hinders your frequency. A lot of us loved when you'd do a weekly release of something like "addressing hateful comments", etc. I don't personally think it would be bad to revisit simpler times once in a while. It's the silly fun you had with videos that made me fall in love with your content.
Really agree witht this. As he’s massproducing these videos the quality is going down. Everybody is pushing out so much stuff lately just to please the algorythm, but I’m starting to unsubscribe to many channels lately. I only have so much free time in a day.
@@n1ngnuoYeah, with the number of "shorts", podcasts, and general spam from channels over the last year I've been unsubscribing too. Science and "video essay" channels are the worst for it and I've unsubscribed from almost all of them.
@TheClintonio You mean the wanna be Brian Cox and deGrasse Tyson channels? Because there are actual scientists and engineers making content on this website too, but their reports may sound a bit boring to the laymen.
@@日本人-j1snah, everyone now acknowledges that Catholicism and Protestantism is a legitimate religion. The unification church is a malicious organisation which only wants to take money from innocent people and harm their lives
My grandmother on my mom’s side was a Moonie. I remember becoming friends with a junior in high school when I was a freshman whose family was also in that church, and on her 18th birthday she got a letter from the church telling her she would be getting married the following summer and the name of the man she would be marrying…because in that church, you don’t choose your spouse, the Church chooses it for you. And I remember being so confused as to how she could be okay with it. Now that I’m older and look back it’s obvious it was because she grew up in a cult religion that basically raised her to think this was normal. I genuinely hope she ended up with a good person and that she’s okay. Anyway, fuck that church and all cults in general.
Couldnˋt agree more. Sorry about your friend! I have a similar story with a friend that disappeared into that cult 15 years ago and I still canˋt get in touch with him to this day.
I have a similar story. Around 30 years ago, my mum knew a quiet kid from our small town in Scotland. He was always smart, but seemed to always be quite lonely. A few years later, this kid moved to London to study economics at LSE. While there, he ended up getting in contact with the moonies. Long story short, fastforward a few months later and this kid has a mental breakdown. We never really got told what specifically happened to him. It was so bad that he had to move back to Scotland for a year. Stay away from the moonies, they’re very dangerous.
thank goodness it is just a small cult, with enough followers govts and humanitarian orgs must recognize them as a proper religion and when it come to that point to call it what it is would be considered bigotry. Understand what is sharia and what it demands and the importance of Sharia to Islam. Just does not feel like a religion when compared to the rest but more leaning to cult characteristics. it is bigotry to openly say it but it is what common sense tells us yet common sense tells us not to call it out but self censor because it is bigotry now that there are so many of them. and it wont be politically correct.
Who else wants Chris to bring back his signature 'Inside' documentary series!? Those videos are of impeccable cinematic quality. I think it's where Chris Broad shines the most as a filmmaker.
I spent Christmas in Japan a few years ago and we had a lovely time. There are loads of decorations and atmosphere. We also went to a midnight mass in Kyoto on Christmas Eve and it was packed
Xmas is great for the tree, the presents, the feasting and jolly drinks like egg nog. None of which are Christian. They're old pagan customs, like a European version of Shinto.
i like the fact that you do the podcast on a regular basis it helps to keep up with what you are getting up to and current affairs in japan it is like a current news channel i watch know all the time look forward to the next episode of life in japan HUZZAH
My 2 favorite channels are abroad in Japan and Climate town. And both of them post high quality content but post infrequently. But these are also the only two channels that I will actually rewatch the content because it's so good. So yeah, while others post quite often, and the content is enjoyable, i pretty much forget all about it as soon as I've watched it. And if I miss any of their uploads I don't really mind. But with Chris' content I look forward to it, get excited, and throughly enjoy it several times.
There's so many kind people in Japan! When I first went to Japan, back in 2004, I lived in a residential area of Kichijouji in Tokyo for about 2 months and had to go through a bunch of small street to do my laundry. The first time I went on my own, I got lost getting back to the apartment. I lived in an apartment on a main street and had to go up some stairs to get to that street from where I was, there was a high school boy on a bike that stopped and asked me "you ok?" and I tried, in my broken Japanese to tell him I needed to get to the big street at the top of the stairs, he was so confused, so I told him I was ok, but he followed me and tried to help me. When we finally found the stairs he did a big "AH!" as he finally understood what I had tried to tell him. When I went back to Japan in 2008, I lived in Chiba in a host family and I got lost the first time I tried to get back home (I had the address and the employee at the station did a map, but it didn't help me). As I was despairing and trying to find my way back, there was this lady that was speed walking toward the train station, she stopped and came and asked if I was ok, she didn't really speak English either and looked in a hurry. I told her I was lost and she saw the paper with the address and the other one with the map, she spent the next 30 minutes trying to help me find the address (asking people if they knew where the address was) and stayed with me until she was certain the house we found was the right one! I'm going back to Japan this weekend and will be there for 3 weeks! I'm sure I will meet other really kind Japanese, but I do hope I don't get majorly lost again this time!
I met other kind Japanese during those 2 trips (both around 2 months), but these were the 2 that stick with me the most. But back in 2004 my friend and I also met this Japanese man that spoke English and helped us find the right station to go to the Imperial Palace and my friend got accosted by 4 young men in an alley way in Kyoto (she got scared) only to be asked if she was lost and if she needed help lol. Also, we got a free onigiri each in a depato when we told the cashier "konnichiwa" and "Arigatou gozaimashita" lol she got so excited! If you go to Japan, even with almost no Japanese, say a couple of word, it makes a huge difference! The free food only happened once back in 2004, I don't think that part is common, but people seem to be happier when you say a Japanese word to them!
I lost a wheel on a suitcase in Brixton, London once. A man stopped to speak to me while I was crouched in the street trying to fix the wheel, and asked “Has the wheel broken? Oh no. Do you mind if I take some photos of you, I’m a street photographer.”
Thanks for reading out my comment guys! I actually wanted to know what to bring as a gift from America to Japan, but its all good. I had a great time on my trip!
17:06 I don't think they listened to the question. It was about bringing omiyage *to* Japan to give to people they meet or who are nice to them during their trip; not about bringing things back from Japan. What's perfect is something local. For me it's little 50ml souvenir bottles of Maker's Mark bourbon. A proud local bourbon that's actually owned by a Japanese company. Plus the Japanese love their bourbon! They be drinking highballs everywhere lol
I was coming here to say the same thing; Chris, you misunderstood the question! Joel wanted to know what he should bring from Ohio to give to any new Japanese friends!
During my first visit to Japan I didnt get a suica card. So I was at one of smaller metro stations in Tokyo, looking at the sing (no english) trying to understand how much I need to pay for my ride. There comes an middle aged woman that offers to help me, and proceeds to take out her purse to pay for my ticket. Of course I tried to refuse and somehow she ended up dropping her purse and having all the coins scattered around... I felt really bad, I thanked her and helped her gather the coins.
I'll never forget wandering around a Donkihote in Tokyo on Christmas Eve and getting WHAM!d. Of all the places you'd think you'd be safe, but silly gaijin internet traditions found me even there. We didn't go the KFC route on the big day itself, but we found a Germanic-style Christmas village festival in the park and had a lovely afternoon drinking mulled wine under an enormous clockwork tree and taking photos of many Shiba Inu in a variety of Santa suits, which is pretty much the most Christmassy Christmas we've had before or since.
I remember studying KFC's Chicken Bucket while earning my Master's in business administration. Truly among the greatest of corporate marketing campaigns. I want to go to Japan just to experience the KFC Chicken Bucket and marvel at it like an art student marvels at the Mona Lisa.
Tbh I don’t mind the infrequent uploads to abroad in japan, because the quality of each video makes up for it. For other channels like Cdawg etc, they don’t really keep up to your cinematography standard, it’s usually him just… playing arcade machines or doing something very minor. Even his other content where he cosplays or whatever, the quality is nowhere near comparable. Besides, the podcast makes up for what isn’t uploaded on the main channel.
I will say this in Connors defense. He's not just doing UA-cam, he's also a host on a Podcast called Trash Taste, Connor also joins Chris on a lot of Chris's adventures, he's also a Streamer over on Twitch as well as a Vtuber (which in of it's self is a lot of work behind the scenes) known as Vox Akuma. SO, Cdawg has a very, VERY full plate. That's not to take away from the hard work that Chris puts into his channel Abroad in Japan, but to sit here and compare two very busy people who are also good friends who have their own lives isn't very fair.
While CdawgVA is a Vtuber, he is not Vox, apart from differences in voices and speaking patterns, they streamed among us and spoke together which proves as much - just a small correction :3
@@shushyshushy6762 I don't have anything against Connor, i'm just contributing to the podcast discussion, particularly Pete bringing up catching up to the other Japan UA-camrs, and Chris commenting he doesn't upload frequently. I do enjoy watching CDawg, i'm just pointing out Chris's content has considerably more cinematic quality, thus his upload schedule is far slower, for a good reason. I'm not expecting a similar amount of content flow for Chris. I do appreciate CDawg and the rest of the trash taste uploading schedule. Especially when Chris is brought in.
Tv shows do this a lot. They start off with a great idea and people love it…… then they change what made people love it in the first place …… then wonder what happened…. Where did the viewers go? It’s your show though and you’ve done great. So good luck….. I’ll still be watching!
#faxmachinequestion Dear Chess boxing champ Chris and Participation trophy Pete: My friends and I are FINALLY going to Japan next April for 2 weeks after years of dreaming and planning! We bought our flight tickets a bit ago and are now looking into our options for lodging, but we're kind of at an impass with eachother. I'd like to stay at some Ryokans or fun Airbnb's for some of the trip, but my friends are nervous about any extra charges and wants to stay at exclusively hotels. My question is; are Ryokans and rental homes worth the little extra charge compared to hotels, and is the "Gaijin" Tax actually something to worry about when it comes to those? Thanks for reading, keep up the awesome work and I'm loving the book!! -Andrew from Idaho
I'm amazed the institutions of conservative Japan would make changes precipitated by the public killing of one of their own - ie give agency to assassination as an option to affect change. It's good something positive has come out of it in any case. About receiving kindness in Japan, years ago when I was a very new and hapless resident there I missed the last train one night. I didn't know yet that I could've just holed up for the night in a net cafe. I caught a taxi and the driver realised I was trying to outrun the train to another station ahead and that it would be impossible. He rang his daughter who spoke English and handed me the phone. She explained he would switch off the meter and drive me home, far away in the mountains. Their kindness still amazes me. I hope they are doing well. Love your work, guys.
The LDP's links to the Unification Church were completely unknown to me. Of all the books I've read about Japan, the years I have spent there, nothing ever cropped up about it. How did they manage to stay under the radar for so long?
As for Britain never getting snow. Sorry.WRONG!! The snow only became infrequent in the late 80s/ 90s. Before that we always got snow. In 1978 I was given a present of a toy FN FAL (aka SLR) and a Paratrooper uniform. There was a picture of an 7 or 8 year old me after Christmas dressed like a para, holding a SLR, in the middle of thick snow (This was in Southern England.) We even got Snow Days. In 1977, the day after I and numerous other kids saw Star Wars, I was sitting on a desk with others along the back of the wall, discussing Star wars, waiting for a Snow Day to be discussed. We had one in 1981 in Scotland when we were sent home from School. We spent the rest of the day making snowmen.
I have a story about them. Around 30 years ago, my mum knew a quiet kid from our small town in Scotland. He was always smart, but seemed to always be quite lonely. A few years later, this kid moved to London to study economics at LSE. While there, he ended up getting in contact with the moonies. Long story short, fastforward a few months later and this kid has a mental breakdown. We never really got told what specifically happened to him. It was so bad that he had to move back to Scotland for a year. Stay away from the moonies, they’re very dangerous.
I think the question about the omiyage was about what gifts from Ohio to give new Japanese friends. This is something I would like to know too. I have a few Japanese friends and I have no clue what to bring them from Ireland. Would seem a bit odd giving Japanese friends gifts they can get themselves in their own country, wouldn't it?
I used to be with Dublin Kendo, and typically we'd give presents of Waterford crystal and Irish whiskey to visiting sensei. Everyone loves whiskey - also things with pictures of Ireland would likely suit, calendars or those coffee table books you get from tourist shops.
Yeah, I agree. They seemed to have misinterpreted the question. I recommend any individually wrapped snacks or sweets. Especially ones you can’t get in Japan.
My background is Korean-Canadian. I personally recommend people to stay away from the Unification Church at all cost. Their theology is Calvinist theology but with a twist of militant Japanese nationalism of the 1930s. Actually Japanese politics became far right since the mid-1990s mostly due to fundings from the Unification Church. Having a Korean heritiage isn't easy. You need some courage to say "absolutely no" to Christian cults run by Koreans.
Hello Chris, I just bought the new audiobook and felt kind of disappointed, there haven’t been any guide on breast feeding yet and I am already on chapter 13, what gives?
Question: Thinking about visiting Japan for the first time next year, looking at either getting the train pass for a week and slowly making our way to Osaka or renting a car (from England so no driving issues), would you recommend doing a road trip? cost wise, there is should be two -to four of us so significantly cheaper for the car.
Definitely don’t get the JR pass - went up by 70% on 1st October - so unless you’re travelling the entire length of japan a couple times… not worth it I did see an Instagram video the other day about alternatives to the JR Pass; using the trains (I recommend you googling JR pass alternatives etc) In regards to driving - generally it’s recommended that for a 1st time visit - on a typical 2 or so weeks - that driving isn’t a good idea - if you’re coming for longer then maybe Also despite have a uk license (as do I) you’d need an international Drivers permit for Japan So I hope some of this helps
tbh christmas in japan sounds almost like a dream lol my family is extremely catholic and love to be together for the holidays and i, honestly, could go without it 😅 like people say, you can't go 15 years of catholic school without a religious trauma ☠️ me & mom love to just pretend nobody's home during christmas, watch a (regular) movie, eating whatever shit we want (and i love kfc! although there's none in my city 😂) anyway, wish a good weekend for you both 💙
It's not really that great honestly. Unless you're with a partner you're going to be experiencing nothing that interesting. You're better off doing Christmas in a Christian country.
You decorations and music everywhere - only Christmas Eve is couples thing. And even then, lots of families have Christmas cake and maybe even presents.
My mother joined one multi-level marketing called "Itec internattinal". She lost her money a lot. So I wanted to stop her. I reserced about this company. The leader of this company said "We have a connection with some governer." And the leader got the Invitation from Abe's cherry blossoms party. I reserched the party. He invited a lot of kind of people, not only actors, Yakuza and ultra-right youtubers and some multi-level marketing members. And also Unification Church people. The party was held by tax. People were angry but Abe political party threw away the name list of the party. The problems are multi-level marketing or cults have used the relationship with politicians to gather new members. In return for support from politicians, they use their members to give votes to politicians. Democracy is undermined by the close relationship between politics and bad groups. One reason why the Liberal Democratic Party is a one-party dictatorship is that it continues to remain in power without using formal democratic methods. But they are afraid of public backlash. That's why they connect with far-right UA-camrs and use their propaganda.
I'm sorry this is so long, but why do some people in Japan agree with Yamagami's actions? This is because the Liberal Democratic Party has organized votes through cult groups and other organizations, so no matter how many people vote, the Liberal Democratic Party will still win. There are people who feel that the Liberal Democratic Party has left the Japanese people in a situation where there is no other way to stop this dictatorship other than what Yamagami did.
Be carful for American. Recentry, Unification church cannot get money from Japanese. So I think they will try to get from American too. When They find a torget, they wil try to make you guys them member by using everything. They will say first time "We are just a Christian.", "Are you interested in studying bible?", and they will take you to them church, and brainwashed.
Another factor of the Church's success among the LDP voter base is that their beliefs align with the xenophobic, warmongering Nationalism of the party so they were formerly compatible based on that fact as well.
Question for you. If a friend from America came to visit, what type of gift would you like to receive? My question was the last one read out this episode.
#faxmachine Hello Chris and Pete. I have been asked by my local community radio station TMCRFM to put on a show either live or pre recorded (mine will deffo be pre recorded). Am a bit nervous and am not very confident but I wanted to express my love for Japan and tech but tbh am not even sure were to start or what to say, do you guys have any advice or words of wisdom to share? Also hoping to come and study in Japan in 2026 (yeah I plan way too far in advance) won't be for long like 6 weeks, just something I have wanted to do for over 15 years and now seems like the right time to do it before I reach the wrong side of my 30s lol, any recommendations on schools within Tokyo? Theresa from Doncaster, England.
Im excited for my first KFC Christmas in Japan. I've heard the KFC hype rumours, is there a way to go about it? xD Can I just order the day of? Is there a set meal? I wanna get this right hahah any help from anyone is greatly appreciated.
Japanese people have to reserve their kfc Christmas bucket like 4… I think 6 weeks in advance There is an old video on Abroad In Japan channel that covers this
IMO, most religious organizations are indeed cults, the only difference being which ones are accepted and given authority. Japan has always had the sensible attitude of not really sponsoring or banning religions unless they are shown to be a nuisance, or otherwise get in the way of society. Tokugawa was quick to block Christianity as a whole once it was shown that the foreigners were using it to setup their own feudal hierarchy and undermining the local power structure.
Not entirely true, but he was worried when the catholics came, the protestants that came with the Portuguese were not viewed as such. Actually I believe it was in Kyushu one of the leaders became Christian and it started spreading more after that. Tokugawa's reasoning was always about keeping himself and his belief system in control.
I believe there where some problems that mostly came from the foreigners that brought the faith with them. It led to the prosecution of Christian there, but also know that they are disrupting the native traditions, belief and political structure of Japan. The main goal of the missionary was religious conquest and would sometimes use force conversion, straight up just destroy the local shrines once they get powerful enough. There were also cases of them prosecuting the Buddhist/Shinto priest who refuse to convert. The foreigners who came with the Christian missionaries also bought Japanese women to be sold as slaves overseas. Slave trading is still a thing and Portugal have quite a market behind it. This further stained Christianity in the eyes of Japan in the past. @@whyisthisathingnow...
It is written in the current Japan constitution article 20 that "no religious organization shall receive any privileges from the State, nor exercise any political authority."
If we simply taxed all the religious organizations the same way literally every single other one of us is, I feel like a lot of our social issues like healthcare, education, public infrastructure, et al could actually be fixed up without us having to forego food to pay our taxes
Thank you trixie for your question- now i know i definitely want to avoid xmas in Japan :) i do wonder if there is any country you could feasibly escape xmas carols and decor? Other than hide in the wilderness - a muslim country should be one but nope, at least Egypt had random santa clauses decorating belly dancing clubs. Even if Coptic Xmas is on another date, and has very different traditions.
Japan has freedom of religion in their constitution. Though I do wonder why a Christian would bother moving here. It's basically an agnostic nation. (That said, a Christian is better than a Muslim)
Churches take donations, how else are they supposed to run? If someone is willinging giving allot why should that negatively affect public opinion? if the church is guilting and manipulating people out of money that would be wrong, is that what they did?
wtf looked it up the Church took so much money from families it bankrupted them? That is evil to do normally, but its more evil to do it under the pretense that its for God. Guess they forgot the bible vers matthew 7:15 "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves." ... church was more like a ravenous wolves after their money, feasting and hungering for more.
What the Moonies do is literally fraud via psychological manipulation by telling their Japanese targets that their ancestors are suffering in hell for the crimes committed during Japanese colonization of Korea, unless they donate all their wealth to the church they won't find peace in heaven. What truly angered people after the assassination was Shinzo Abe's hawkish stance contradicts with Moon's teaching about Japan being a sinful weakling or "war criminal country" (literally spoken by Moon's widow during the anniversary of Abe's death when donations from Japan dwindled severely), yet Abe colluded with the church for political leverage.
So taking on a case by case basis; as a Christian, we are to give generously when we tithe, support others in need when required but don’t be foolish when giving money to the church For example there’s some churches out there that falsely teach that “if you give us all your money, God will bless you & make you rich” Codswallop! Any one who preaches that is only trying to put money into their own pocket to buy bigger houses, faster cars, go on better holidays etc No ⬆️ - scripture says time and time again that a Pastor/Minister etc should be paid a reasonable fee for their services; reasonable in the sense to live modestly, honestly And yes sure with a church building itself; their are running costs of course But the church is NOT about money, money, money… Any money that comes in is to be used to promote the gospel message, for example (sensibly speaking) advertising, printing, putting media out there But going back to the question at hand - DEFINITELY NOT manipulating! If you give to a church - give what you can but if that means you give more than you can afford, going bankrupt etc - then that’s just foolishness
But they didn't take enormous amount money from people.... or marry Japanese people off to the impoverished areas or to those who simply couldn't marry... Unification church or not, no religious groups with that many lawsuits should be allowed as a legal body.
@@日本人-j1s Those were the time the states and the faiths were as one. Those crimes were not committed by a single religious organization, they were committed by the states and the churches and beliefs behind it. Plus saying that is like Nazis happened so you can genocide the people in today. I don't believe in Christianity either, however in modern times frauds are no longer tolerated especially in developed countries like Japan.
@@ingridjones4089Don't waste your time on this brainwashed fanatic. They are mobilized by the cult to play victims online, refuse to admit that they are being scammed by the Unification Church.
Chris whenever you grow bigger in clout, you put pressure on yourself to do the "next big thing", which is honestly good in a way, but I think it hinders your frequency. A lot of us loved when you'd do a weekly release of something like "addressing hateful comments", etc. I don't personally think it would be bad to revisit simpler times once in a while. It's the silly fun you had with videos that made me fall in love with your content.
Really agree witht this. As he’s massproducing these videos the quality is going down. Everybody is pushing out so much stuff lately just to please the algorythm, but I’m starting to unsubscribe to many channels lately. I only have so much free time in a day.
@@n1ngnuoYeah, with the number of "shorts", podcasts, and general spam from channels over the last year I've been unsubscribing too. Science and "video essay" channels are the worst for it and I've unsubscribed from almost all of them.
Chris keep up with whatever your doing , your great . Love your Content ❤️🔥
@TheClintonio You mean the wanna be Brian Cox and deGrasse Tyson channels? Because there are actual scientists and engineers making content on this website too, but their reports may sound a bit boring to the laymen.
日本政府の宗教弾圧に反対します。
I wish something would be done about the Cult of Scientology now just like what Japan did about this Unification Church Cult
It's a nice thought, their money is louder though.
Those bastards are enormous in terms of financial and political prowess.
初期のキリスト教もカルトという理由で弾圧されました。
統一教会も同じです。
@@日本人-j1snah, everyone now acknowledges that Catholicism and Protestantism is a legitimate religion. The unification church is a malicious organisation which only wants to take money from innocent people and harm their lives
My grandmother on my mom’s side was a Moonie. I remember becoming friends with a junior in high school when I was a freshman whose family was also in that church, and on her 18th birthday she got a letter from the church telling her she would be getting married the following summer and the name of the man she would be marrying…because in that church, you don’t choose your spouse, the Church chooses it for you. And I remember being so confused as to how she could be okay with it. Now that I’m older and look back it’s obvious it was because she grew up in a cult religion that basically raised her to think this was normal. I genuinely hope she ended up with a good person and that she’s okay.
Anyway, fuck that church and all cults in general.
Couldnˋt agree more. Sorry about your friend! I have a similar story with a friend that disappeared into that cult 15 years ago and I still canˋt get in touch with him to this day.
I have a similar story. Around 30 years ago, my mum knew a quiet kid from our small town in Scotland. He was always smart, but seemed to always be quite lonely. A few years later, this kid moved to London to study economics at LSE. While there, he ended up getting in contact with the moonies. Long story short, fastforward a few months later and this kid has a mental breakdown. We never really got told what specifically happened to him. It was so bad that he had to move back to Scotland for a year. Stay away from the moonies, they’re very dangerous.
thank goodness it is just a small cult, with enough followers govts and humanitarian orgs must recognize them as a proper religion and when it come to that point to call it what it is would be considered bigotry.
Understand what is sharia and what it demands and the importance of Sharia to Islam. Just does not feel like a religion when compared to the rest but more leaning to cult characteristics.
it is bigotry to openly say it but it is what common sense tells us yet common sense tells us not to call it out but self censor because it is bigotry now that there are so many of them.
and it wont be politically correct.
Long time listener and first time watcher, and i have to say it is nice to see Pete's ramshackle studio and the collection of Otamatones
Rude. It is not ramshackle
@@Astro listening to how he put some of it together was quite funny, it's nice to see how its come along
Who else wants Chris to bring back his signature 'Inside' documentary series!?
Those videos are of impeccable cinematic quality. I think it's where Chris Broad shines the most as a filmmaker.
I spent Christmas in Japan a few years ago and we had a lovely time. There are loads of decorations and atmosphere. We also went to a midnight mass in Kyoto on Christmas Eve and it was packed
Xmas is great for the tree, the presents, the feasting and jolly drinks like egg nog. None of which are Christian. They're old pagan customs, like a European version of Shinto.
i like the fact that you do the podcast on a regular basis it helps to keep up with what you are getting up to and current affairs in japan it is like a current news channel i watch know all the time look forward to the next episode of life in japan HUZZAH
Never heard of the Unification Church.
The Moonies.
Everyone over 50 "Ohhhh those people."
My 2 favorite channels are abroad in Japan and Climate town. And both of them post high quality content but post infrequently. But these are also the only two channels that I will actually rewatch the content because it's so good. So yeah, while others post quite often, and the content is enjoyable, i pretty much forget all about it as soon as I've watched it. And if I miss any of their uploads I don't really mind. But with Chris' content I look forward to it, get excited, and throughly enjoy it several times.
There's so many kind people in Japan! When I first went to Japan, back in 2004, I lived in a residential area of Kichijouji in Tokyo for about 2 months and had to go through a bunch of small street to do my laundry. The first time I went on my own, I got lost getting back to the apartment. I lived in an apartment on a main street and had to go up some stairs to get to that street from where I was, there was a high school boy on a bike that stopped and asked me "you ok?" and I tried, in my broken Japanese to tell him I needed to get to the big street at the top of the stairs, he was so confused, so I told him I was ok, but he followed me and tried to help me. When we finally found the stairs he did a big "AH!" as he finally understood what I had tried to tell him.
When I went back to Japan in 2008, I lived in Chiba in a host family and I got lost the first time I tried to get back home (I had the address and the employee at the station did a map, but it didn't help me). As I was despairing and trying to find my way back, there was this lady that was speed walking toward the train station, she stopped and came and asked if I was ok, she didn't really speak English either and looked in a hurry. I told her I was lost and she saw the paper with the address and the other one with the map, she spent the next 30 minutes trying to help me find the address (asking people if they knew where the address was) and stayed with me until she was certain the house we found was the right one!
I'm going back to Japan this weekend and will be there for 3 weeks! I'm sure I will meet other really kind Japanese, but I do hope I don't get majorly lost again this time!
I met other kind Japanese during those 2 trips (both around 2 months), but these were the 2 that stick with me the most. But back in 2004 my friend and I also met this Japanese man that spoke English and helped us find the right station to go to the Imperial Palace and my friend got accosted by 4 young men in an alley way in Kyoto (she got scared) only to be asked if she was lost and if she needed help lol.
Also, we got a free onigiri each in a depato when we told the cashier "konnichiwa" and "Arigatou gozaimashita" lol she got so excited! If you go to Japan, even with almost no Japanese, say a couple of word, it makes a huge difference! The free food only happened once back in 2004, I don't think that part is common, but people seem to be happier when you say a Japanese word to them!
Dear Chris and Pete,
I have run out of referential adjectives. Thank you for today's episode.
Yours sincerely,
Sayantan.
I lost a wheel on a suitcase in Brixton, London once. A man stopped to speak to me while I was crouched in the street trying to fix the wheel, and asked “Has the wheel broken? Oh no. Do you mind if I take some photos of you, I’m a street photographer.”
Thanks for reading out my comment guys! I actually wanted to know what to bring as a gift from America to Japan, but its all good. I had a great time on my trip!
Loving your book, Chris!
17:06 I don't think they listened to the question. It was about bringing omiyage *to* Japan to give to people they meet or who are nice to them during their trip; not about bringing things back from Japan. What's perfect is something local. For me it's little 50ml souvenir bottles of Maker's Mark bourbon. A proud local bourbon that's actually owned by a Japanese company. Plus the Japanese love their bourbon! They be drinking highballs everywhere lol
I was coming here to say the same thing;
Chris, you misunderstood the question! Joel wanted to know what he should bring from Ohio to give to any new Japanese friends!
Yeah, they answered the reversed question instead.
During my first visit to Japan I didnt get a suica card. So I was at one of smaller metro stations in Tokyo, looking at the sing (no english) trying to understand how much I need to pay for my ride. There comes an middle aged woman that offers to help me, and proceeds to take out her purse to pay for my ticket. Of course I tried to refuse and somehow she ended up dropping her purse and having all the coins scattered around... I felt really bad, I thanked her and helped her gather the coins.
OK but Sir, this is a Wendy's.
I'll never forget wandering around a Donkihote in Tokyo on Christmas Eve and getting WHAM!d. Of all the places you'd think you'd be safe, but silly gaijin internet traditions found me even there.
We didn't go the KFC route on the big day itself, but we found a Germanic-style Christmas village festival in the park and had a lovely afternoon drinking mulled wine under an enormous clockwork tree and taking photos of many Shiba Inu in a variety of Santa suits, which is pretty much the most Christmassy Christmas we've had before or since.
I remember studying KFC's Chicken Bucket while earning my Master's in business administration. Truly among the greatest of corporate marketing campaigns. I want to go to Japan just to experience the KFC Chicken Bucket and marvel at it like an art student marvels at the Mona Lisa.
Tbh I don’t mind the infrequent uploads to abroad in japan, because the quality of each video makes up for it.
For other channels like Cdawg etc, they don’t really keep up to your cinematography standard, it’s usually him just… playing arcade machines or doing something very minor. Even his other content where he cosplays or whatever, the quality is nowhere near comparable.
Besides, the podcast makes up for what isn’t uploaded on the main channel.
I will say this in Connors defense. He's not just doing UA-cam, he's also a host on a Podcast called Trash Taste, Connor also joins Chris on a lot of Chris's adventures, he's also a Streamer over on Twitch as well as a Vtuber (which in of it's self is a lot of work behind the scenes) known as Vox Akuma. SO, Cdawg has a very, VERY full plate. That's not to take away from the hard work that Chris puts into his channel Abroad in Japan, but to sit here and compare two very busy people who are also good friends who have their own lives isn't very fair.
Quality > Quantity every time.
While CdawgVA is a Vtuber, he is not Vox, apart from differences in voices and speaking patterns, they streamed among us and spoke together which proves as much - just a small correction :3
@@shushyshushy6762 I don't have anything against Connor, i'm just contributing to the podcast discussion, particularly Pete bringing up catching up to the other Japan UA-camrs, and Chris commenting he doesn't upload frequently.
I do enjoy watching CDawg, i'm just pointing out Chris's content has considerably more cinematic quality, thus his upload schedule is far slower, for a good reason. I'm not expecting a similar amount of content flow for Chris.
I do appreciate CDawg and the rest of the trash taste uploading schedule. Especially when Chris is brought in.
@@janusmcgee8909 Ah okay, maybe your previous comment came off differently to me.
Tv shows do this a lot. They start off with a great idea and people love it…… then they change what made people love it in the first place …… then wonder what happened…. Where did the viewers go? It’s your show though and you’ve done great. So good luck….. I’ll still be watching!
Another great podcast
#faxmachinequestion
Dear Chess boxing champ Chris and Participation trophy Pete:
My friends and I are FINALLY going to Japan next April for 2 weeks after years of dreaming and planning! We bought our flight tickets a bit ago and are now looking into our options for lodging, but we're kind of at an impass with eachother.
I'd like to stay at some Ryokans or fun Airbnb's for some of the trip, but my friends are nervous about any extra charges and wants to stay at exclusively hotels. My question is; are Ryokans and rental homes worth the little extra charge compared to hotels, and is the "Gaijin" Tax actually something to worry about when it comes to those?
Thanks for reading, keep up the awesome work and I'm loving the book!!
-Andrew from Idaho
Hey Chris. It's me again. I am reminding you to wish me a happy birthday for tomorrow.
I'm amazed the institutions of conservative Japan would make changes precipitated by the public killing of one of their own - ie give agency to assassination as an option to affect change. It's good something positive has come out of it in any case.
About receiving kindness in Japan, years ago when I was a very new and hapless resident there I missed the last train one night. I didn't know yet that I could've just holed up for the night in a net cafe. I caught a taxi and the driver realised I was trying to outrun the train to another station ahead and that it would be impossible. He rang his daughter who spoke English and handed me the phone. She explained he would switch off the meter and drive me home, far away in the mountains. Their kindness still amazes me. I hope they are doing well. Love your work, guys.
It always makes me happy that Japan is never afraid to stomp out religion.
Chris please take your time with your videos. We appreciate quality over quantity. 🙏
The LDP's links to the Unification Church were completely unknown to me. Of all the books I've read about Japan, the years I have spent there, nothing ever cropped up about it. How did they manage to stay under the radar for so long?
I brought back kitami onion soup and it was GOOD
Hello and Welcome!
As for Britain never getting snow. Sorry.WRONG!! The snow only became infrequent in the late 80s/ 90s. Before that we always got snow. In 1978 I was given a present of a toy FN FAL (aka SLR) and a Paratrooper uniform. There was a picture of an 7 or 8 year old me after Christmas dressed like a para, holding a SLR, in the middle of thick snow (This was in Southern England.) We even got Snow Days. In 1977, the day after I and numerous other kids saw Star Wars, I was sitting on a desk with others along the back of the wall, discussing Star wars, waiting for a Snow Day to be discussed. We had one in 1981 in Scotland when we were sent home from School. We spent the rest of the day making snowmen.
I have a story about them. Around 30 years ago, my mum knew a quiet kid from our small town in Scotland. He was always smart, but seemed to always be quite lonely. A few years later, this kid moved to London to study economics at LSE. While there, he ended up getting in contact with the moonies. Long story short, fastforward a few months later and this kid has a mental breakdown. We never really got told what specifically happened to him. It was so bad that he had to move back to Scotland for a year. Stay away from the moonies, they’re very dangerous.
I'm sorry to hear this. Speaking from personal experience, the UC targets the lonely and the impressionable. I hope he is doing better.
I think the question about the omiyage was about what gifts from Ohio to give new Japanese friends. This is something I would like to know too. I have a few Japanese friends and I have no clue what to bring them from Ireland.
Would seem a bit odd giving Japanese friends gifts they can get themselves in their own country, wouldn't it?
I live in New Orleans and when I traveled to Japan earlier this year I brought Mardi Gras beads. Cheap, unique & relatively lightweight.
I used to be with Dublin Kendo, and typically we'd give presents of Waterford crystal and Irish whiskey to visiting sensei. Everyone loves whiskey - also things with pictures of Ireland would likely suit, calendars or those coffee table books you get from tourist shops.
Yeah, I agree. They seemed to have misinterpreted the question.
I recommend any individually wrapped snacks or sweets. Especially ones you can’t get in Japan.
My background is Korean-Canadian. I personally recommend people to stay away from the Unification Church at all cost. Their theology is Calvinist theology but with a twist of militant Japanese nationalism of the 1930s. Actually Japanese politics became far right since the mid-1990s mostly due to fundings from the Unification Church.
Having a Korean heritiage isn't easy. You need some courage to say "absolutely no" to Christian cults run by Koreans.
The Korean cult scandals are wilder than any conspiracy theory a comic book author can come up with.
my cousin recently visited and brought back some tokyo banana! it is very good!
Chris. you should've put the podcast on youtube from the start.
Hello Chris, I just bought the new audiobook and felt kind of disappointed, there haven’t been any guide on breast feeding yet and I am already on chapter 13, what gives?
That's chapter 14, don't worry
Thanks so much for this info. I was surprised to see a unification church in Kamiyamacho in Shibuya about 10 years ago. Glad they’re being taken down.
I'm guessing your next video release will be regarding you and Sharla's wedding plans!
Chris you never did say what you are working on. I can't wait.
What happened to the old intro on the Spotify podcasts? I miss it, it just feels weirdly incomplete :(
Can we please get the intro song back? Cheers!
Question: Thinking about visiting Japan for the first time next year, looking at either getting the train pass for a week and slowly making our way to Osaka or renting a car (from England so no driving issues), would you recommend doing a road trip? cost wise, there is should be two -to four of us so significantly cheaper for the car.
Definitely don’t get the JR pass - went up by 70% on 1st October - so unless you’re travelling the entire length of japan a couple times… not worth it
I did see an Instagram video the other day about alternatives to the JR Pass; using the trains (I recommend you googling JR pass alternatives etc)
In regards to driving - generally it’s recommended that for a 1st time visit - on a typical 2 or so weeks - that driving isn’t a good idea - if you’re coming for longer then maybe
Also despite have a uk license (as do I) you’d need an international Drivers permit for Japan
So I hope some of this helps
Please please please bring back the proper length of the intro.
tbh christmas in japan sounds almost like a dream lol my family is extremely catholic and love to be together for the holidays and i, honestly, could go without it 😅 like people say, you can't go 15 years of catholic school without a religious trauma ☠️ me & mom love to just pretend nobody's home during christmas, watch a (regular) movie, eating whatever shit we want (and i love kfc! although there's none in my city 😂)
anyway, wish a good weekend for you both 💙
It's not really that great honestly. Unless you're with a partner you're going to be experiencing nothing that interesting. You're better off doing Christmas in a Christian country.
It's good to see Japan stand up to those crooks.
Christmas in Japan is a couple’s holiday like Valentine’s Day in the West.
It is mostly a Tokyo thing.
You decorations and music everywhere - only Christmas Eve is couples thing. And even then, lots of families have Christmas cake and maybe even presents.
ua-cam.com/video/Pp6ggz_uwWE/v-deo.html@@capitalb5889
My mother joined one multi-level marketing called "Itec internattinal".
She lost her money a lot. So I wanted to stop her. I reserced about this company.
The leader of this company said "We have a connection with some governer." And the leader got the Invitation from Abe's cherry blossoms party. I reserched the party. He invited a lot of kind of people, not only actors, Yakuza and ultra-right youtubers and some multi-level marketing members. And also Unification Church people.
The party was held by tax. People were angry but Abe political party threw away the name list of the party.
The problems are multi-level marketing or cults have used the relationship with politicians to gather new members.
In return for support from politicians, they use their members to give votes to politicians.
Democracy is undermined by the close relationship between politics and bad groups.
One reason why the Liberal Democratic Party is a one-party dictatorship is that it continues to remain in power without using formal democratic methods.
But they are afraid of public backlash.
That's why they connect with far-right UA-camrs and use their propaganda.
I'm sorry this is so long, but why do some people in Japan agree with Yamagami's actions?
This is because the Liberal Democratic Party has organized votes through cult groups and other organizations, so no matter how many people vote, the Liberal Democratic Party will still win.
There are people who feel that the Liberal Democratic Party has left the Japanese people in a situation where there is no other way to stop this dictatorship other than what Yamagami did.
Be carful for American. Recentry, Unification church cannot get money from Japanese. So I think they will try to get from American too. When They find a torget, they wil try to make you guys them member by using everything. They will say first time "We are just a Christian.", "Are you interested in studying bible?", and they will take you to them church, and brainwashed.
Finally, it is a good start, but they should take it further on these shysters
Was that video about foreigners in Japan that big thing or do we still have something coming shortly?
It sounds like a much bigger thing to come
Are You going to Norway?
Another factor of the Church's success among the LDP voter base is that their beliefs align with the xenophobic, warmongering Nationalism of the party so they were formerly compatible based on that fact as well.
Religion affecting politics?! Good Lord say it isn't so... That would never happen in other countries... Like the USA 🧐
More Abroad in Japan Videos !! 🥳🙂 ありがとう、ミスター・スリム・フェイス、いや、ミスター・ハンサムと言うべきか。
Question for you. If a friend from America came to visit, what type of gift would you like to receive? My question was the last one read out this episode.
Umeshu plum wine and Tokyo banana ,sounds good interesting spelling 😂 @@Joel49765
Well... I guess Shinzo Abe's assassin won. It feels weird, but maybe he had a point.
To be fair, no more than 26 bishops are now allowed in the House of Lords.
#faxmachine Hello Chris and Pete. I have been asked by my local community radio station TMCRFM to put on a show either live or pre recorded (mine will deffo be pre recorded). Am a bit nervous and am not very confident but I wanted to express my love for Japan and tech but tbh am not even sure were to start or what to say, do you guys have any advice or words of wisdom to share? Also hoping to come and study in Japan in 2026 (yeah I plan way too far in advance) won't be for long like 6 weeks, just something I have wanted to do for over 15 years and now seems like the right time to do it before I reach the wrong side of my 30s lol, any recommendations on schools within Tokyo?
Theresa from Doncaster, England.
Im excited for my first KFC Christmas in Japan. I've heard the KFC hype rumours, is there a way to go about it? xD Can I just order the day of? Is there a set meal? I wanna get this right hahah any help from anyone is greatly appreciated.
Japanese people have to reserve their kfc Christmas bucket like 4… I think 6 weeks in advance
There is an old video on Abroad In Japan channel that covers this
Good to know! Ill reserve now aha :P I live right next to one@@WolfietheheroProductions
I wish the US would do the same with the megachurches.
イスラエルの混乱を止めるにはアメリカ人が福音派のメガチャーチの欺瞞に気がついて民主主義に基づいて糾弾するしかない。
しかしバイデンと背後のユダヤ人勢力に辟易しているアメリカ人はむしろトランプやペンスを歓迎したいと考えてる。
破滅的な平和思想の宗教の是非は世界中の人間がちゃんと正面から議論して監視するべきだね。
信仰の自由が全てを許す時代は大昔に終わった。
Took them long enough
Abroad in Japan: "What Would You Do?" Edition
IMO, most religious organizations are indeed cults, the only difference being which ones are accepted and given authority. Japan has always had the sensible attitude of not really sponsoring or banning religions unless they are shown to be a nuisance, or otherwise get in the way of society. Tokugawa was quick to block Christianity as a whole once it was shown that the foreigners were using it to setup their own feudal hierarchy and undermining the local power structure.
Not entirely true, but he was worried when the catholics came, the protestants that came with the Portuguese were not viewed as such. Actually I believe it was in Kyushu one of the leaders became Christian and it started spreading more after that. Tokugawa's reasoning was always about keeping himself and his belief system in control.
I believe there where some problems that mostly came from the foreigners that brought the faith with them. It led to the prosecution of Christian there, but also know that they are disrupting the native traditions, belief and political structure of Japan. The main goal of the missionary was religious conquest and would sometimes use force conversion, straight up just destroy the local shrines once they get powerful enough. There were also cases of them prosecuting the Buddhist/Shinto priest who refuse to convert. The foreigners who came with the Christian missionaries also bought Japanese women to be sold as slaves overseas. Slave trading is still a thing and Portugal have quite a market behind it. This further stained Christianity in the eyes of Japan in the past. @@whyisthisathingnow...
It is written in the current Japan constitution article 20 that "no religious organization shall receive any privileges from the State, nor exercise any political authority."
Didn't thay one guy pew shinzo Abe because the cult messed his life up?
Love Chris. Love Sharla (?) Love Pete. Hate Connor.
Scientology sooooon!?
Tom Cruise just hand delivered you a cease and desist letter.
@@Omni0404 He's hiding in my closet
If we simply taxed all the religious organizations the same way literally every single other one of us is, I feel like a lot of our social issues like healthcare, education, public infrastructure, et al could actually be fixed up without us having to forego food to pay our taxes
Thank you trixie for your question- now i know i definitely want to avoid xmas in Japan :) i do wonder if there is any country you could feasibly escape xmas carols and decor? Other than hide in the wilderness - a muslim country should be one but nope, at least Egypt had random santa clauses decorating belly dancing clubs. Even if Coptic Xmas is on another date, and has very different traditions.
Cults. Not even once.
eyooo
I do think as well that you should release less less Videos and do more more Videos!
W
Johnny was super interested in world war 2. I think they should give him the full 1940's experience. That would fix him for a while.
i often say that new yorkers are not nice, but they are kind. maybe the same can be said about japanese people.
From what I've heard, it may be the "nice, but not kind" behaviour that's generally encouraged there (ex. bystander syndrome)
I'm a Christian and I have a Bible will japan allow me keep that with me when I move to Japan?
Japan has freedom of religion in their constitution. Though I do wonder why a Christian would bother moving here. It's basically an agnostic nation. (That said, a Christian is better than a Muslim)
@@TheClintonio I want to move to Japan because I love how nice the Japanese people are so kind to others
@@KatashixKenshinyou will find kind people and unkind/stupid people where ever you live…no one country has a monopoly .
@@leighrogers1383 ok
If you listened to the video, it was clear that there are plenty of churches in Japan.
There is still hope that 創価学会 (Soka Gakkai) follows this fate.
Churches take donations, how else are they supposed to run? If someone is willinging giving allot why should that negatively affect public opinion? if the church is guilting and manipulating people out of money that would be wrong, is that what they did?
wtf looked it up the Church took so much money from families it bankrupted them? That is evil to do normally, but its more evil to do it under the pretense that its for God. Guess they forgot the bible vers matthew 7:15 "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves." ... church was more like a ravenous wolves after their money, feasting and hungering for more.
What the Moonies do is literally fraud via psychological manipulation by telling their Japanese targets that their ancestors are suffering in hell for the crimes committed during Japanese colonization of Korea, unless they donate all their wealth to the church they won't find peace in heaven. What truly angered people after the assassination was Shinzo Abe's hawkish stance contradicts with Moon's teaching about Japan being a sinful weakling or "war criminal country" (literally spoken by Moon's widow during the anniversary of Abe's death when donations from Japan dwindled severely), yet Abe colluded with the church for political leverage.
So taking on a case by case basis; as a Christian, we are to give generously when we tithe, support others in need when required but don’t be foolish when giving money to the church
For example there’s some churches out there that falsely teach that “if you give us all your money, God will bless you & make you rich”
Codswallop! Any one who preaches that is only trying to put money into their own pocket to buy bigger houses, faster cars, go on better holidays etc
No ⬆️ - scripture says time and time again that a Pastor/Minister etc should be paid a reasonable fee for their services; reasonable in the sense to live modestly, honestly
And yes sure with a church building itself; their are running costs of course
But the church is NOT about money, money, money…
Any money that comes in is to be used to promote the gospel message, for example (sensibly speaking) advertising, printing, putting media out there
But going back to the question at hand - DEFINITELY NOT manipulating!
If you give to a church - give what you can but if that means you give more than you can afford, going bankrupt etc - then that’s just foolishness
日本政府による統一教会への宗教弾圧に反対します
さらば洗脳された信者
@@ultracapitalistutopia3550
さらばマスコミに扇動されてるデマ信者
@@日本人-j1s デマなんて。結局お前の寄付はラスベガスのカジノで無駄に浪費されるだけだ
初期のキリスト教も異端なカルト宗教として迫害されましたが、今では世界宗教になりました。
統一教会も同じです。
But they didn't take enormous amount money from people.... or marry Japanese people off to the impoverished areas or to those who simply couldn't marry... Unification church or not, no religious groups with that many lawsuits should be allowed as a legal body.
@@ingridjones4089
キリスト教は十字軍戦争、奴隷貿易、先住民虐殺、免罪符など統一教会よりも酷いことをしてきましたが?
@@日本人-j1s Those were the time the states and the faiths were as one. Those crimes were not committed by a single religious organization, they were committed by the states and the churches and beliefs behind it. Plus saying that is like Nazis happened so you can genocide the people in today. I don't believe in Christianity either, however in modern times frauds are no longer tolerated especially in developed countries like Japan.
@@ingridjones4089Don't waste your time on this brainwashed fanatic. They are mobilized by the cult to play victims online, refuse to admit that they are being scammed by the Unification Church.
@@thisspaceforrent5737
全くやってないでしょ。
It's insane the intense hatred Japanese have for Koreans and yet follow so diligently its religion.