NOTIFICATION SQUAD: Which of these FOUR do you think is the biggest lie about Japan?! And WHAT did I miss? Let me know below. Now if you don't mind me, I must get back to my flying car. Also, the video starts at 27:29.
That flying car effect was so cool! The fact that Chris was able to figure out to make that practical effect look so amazing just shows how great of a film maker he is.
I was also thinking there must have been a lot of work put into that! Would take me ages to setup a scene like that. Honestly i thought he was in a gaming hall where they have these fancy car games you sit inside and so on..
@@paulaseabee8442 Dude, there are some things you cant do practical, Not only that CGI is highly customizable and easy to change in shots... A lesson to be learned by studios is to use Practical for simple scenes/plausible Scenes and CGI for impossible stuff for the real world. While i do agree that They do use CGI when its not needed.
I once asked a train conductor whether I was about to board the right train, 5 minutes before the train was about to leave. It was not the right train, so to my horror the conductor got off the train, grabbed my hand and RAN a few platforms over to get me on the right train. I could have easily waited for the next train but no, I had now single handedly delayed a train in Japan. I truly hope the guy got to keep his job😅
Exceptional. Probably since it would take much longer to explain where to go he did that. By the way anyone that delays a train or bus will get a huge fine. Be careful.
@@kyotoben610 Well, there's a difference between deliberately delaying and this - it's not like I asked him to take me anywhere😅 Literally just asked "This is the Biwako line, right?" in Japanese and all this happened even if I tried to tell him multiple times it's okay and I don't need help!😅
I am Japanese. For those who want to come to Japan and make friends with Japanese people, or those who are lamenting that they can't make Japanese friends after living in Japan. In Japan, business connections rarely develop into friendships. Even among Japanese people, it is difficult to make friends once they become working adults. However, there is an easy way for those who want to get friends. It is to belong to a circle of hobbies. Surfing, motorcycle touring, diving, billiards, shogi, chess, fishing, cooking, tea ceremony, kimono, anything is ok. If you want to understand the essence of Japan, I think the fastest way is to make friends with Japanese people.
It's funny, i always think how much Tokyo and Berlin have in common, weird as that may seem, and this is one of those. a lot of people (me including) have a lot of trouble just connecting with people, but i always meet new people/make new connections when i go Bouldering, it's truly the hobbies where they let their guard down haha. (also, germany loves faxes, cash money etc)
Making friends as adults in the US is pretty much the same. It's hard for people to know how to make friends as adults beyond simply showing up to the same classroom and seeing the same people. A lot of hobbies do not require showing up in person for, but these groups exist to make friends with people who share some common ground. MeetUp is pretty much the only app that facilitates meeting this way.
I think every place has the same difficulty, it's just a little even-more-closed-off for Japan. But given I've met like 99% of my friends through my hobbies... yeah that's just a generally good strategy.
I think this is actually pretty widespread. Work friendships are nice, but not really all that common, and really fairly superficial. You may go to lunch together or out for a few drinks after work, but that's about it. Your non-work lives are usually completely separate, and such friendships rarely survive if you change jobs, even if you're with an employer for many years.
Now I understand why it took quite a while to see new content, not just your UK trip, but damn, that new episode looks good. But please Chris. Never forget that most watching you are fully happy with usual regular production too. I’ve seen many UA-camrs just stopping entirely after they worked too damn hard. Don’t fall out of love with it! 🙂☺️
Thanks for the kind words! In hindsight this would have been two maybe even three videos. For some reason I stuck them all together into a longer video hence the longer than average production time!
@@AbroadinJapan By the way, I binge listened to the Abroad in Japan podcast while I travelled from Montreal to Indianapolis. A loooong drive. I was glad you and Pete “joined me” on that trip. Made it heaps easier.
@@AbroadinJapan I don't remember which video you said that you would like to improve on something for every video, and I think you accomplish that. It's impressive and inspiring.
I asked an old man in Tokyo if he could help me find my way back to Yokosuka (very common question on the east coast where the Navy base is). I figured he'd point me on my way, but instead he got on the train with me and traveled the hour ride to make sure I got back safe. I'll never be able to thank him enough! It was definitely a shock finding out how ridiculously polite people could be. (Not to say I didn't also experience, anti gaijin sentiment/ general rudeness.)
I asked one businessman near Tokyo for assistance one late evening. I was not fluent in Japanese nor did he speak any English. In my broken Japanese I expressed what I was looking for. He walked with me for 1.5 hours until we found the right place. I was exhausted but all I could think was how he was walking with me instead of heading home. When we found the right place, he waved me off and he went to the eki. I was overwhelmed with so much gratitude. I learned a lot about kindness and mutual respect that evening. I've also experienced rudeness while I was in Japan but for the most part I experienced more kind acts than in other places I've been to.
As a tourist the politeness is fantastic to experience. During one of our visits, my wife and I were wandering around a cold and wintery night in Hakone, trying to find a restaurant to eat. We had no idea where we were going. It was dark. Then suddenly a van pulled up beside us as we stood looking lost. The door opened and a kind mature man asked us if we were looking for food. to which we said yes!. He gestured us to get in the van and told us he would take us to a place to get food. We were desperately hungry and hesitantly got in the van. He took us to this very homely little restaurant and we had an incredible meal.
@@JujFuj I wouldn't follow through this this in any other country. Also the fact that it was in Hakone (tourist trap) gave us confidence in where this would go.
There's nothing unique to Japan about your story though. In the UK when I was younger and wandering around the middle of a town looking for my parents, a man in a van pulled up and offered to help find them with me, said he had some ice cream as well, so I got in. And do you know what? Even though I never actually found my parents again, the man let me stay in his basement which Ive been doing for years now, and he goes to the trouble of padlocking it at night to protect me from anyone that might try to break in. So there are decent people in every country!
@@Dinkolish Nope. Don’t be so afraid of the world. Movies and tv are not a good representation of it. I personally probably wouldn't have gotten in a car like that, but statistically, it's far less dangerous than our media-riddled minds would lead us to believe.
Unfortunately the UK is pretty shit when it comes to public transport (more "reliable" in the south, but it's still expensive). I'm taking a plane from the UK to Prague in September, it literally costs less than a train from the midlands (Cheshire/Liverpool/Manchester) to London
There's so many foreigners in Germany who came and expected perfect efficiency... and then they encountered German rail. Better than in the UK, but just barely.
I feel like having experienced British culture again gave him something to bounce off, I can imagine being in Japan for three years straight makes it harder to see the contrast with other societies
@@agenthippo hahaha, no, I'm fully aware he's British, but I can imagine experiencing the culture you're from helps bring perspective to what ways japanese culture contrasts with it
The first time I got paid in Japan freaked me out-- I got a giant envelope full of cash, as though I'd just assissinated someone instead of... repeating English phrases to junior high students.
If people got paid like that in the US, there would be a crime wave every payday. Heck, in some states even the cops are allowed to steal your money if you carry cash.
I hateee the insane aversion to cash we have in much of the US. Lots of nosey Karens dont like people having cash. Luckily where i live cash is quite common.
@@Primalxbeast That’s every place in the US. It’s called “Civil Asset Forfeiture”. Basically, if a police officer thinks something you have is in any way related to the commission of any crime they can take it with basically 0 evidence. Also good luck getting it back, because you go in front of a judge who can just say “no” and that’s it. People have lost 10’s of thousands of dollars after being charged with nothing and never gotten it back. Americas great though right? Haha yeah it’s great….
@@Yomom12388 Laws vary from state to state, I think it's easier for them to do that in some states than others. All states have civil asset forfeiture, but some may be less likely to take money from people who haven't committed crimes.
@@mind-of-neo Why? I'm not really sure what the benefit is of cash over cards, quite frankly, unless you're very paranoid about banks or do a lot of crimes. Also not sure where "nosy Karens" come in, I've literally never heard anyone comment on whether or not someone uses cash, unless a business specifically says "no cash" or "cash only."
I got off a JR train at Shin-Yokohama. The train in the opposite direction was on fire with smoke and flames coming from underneath. All the doors were open, but no-one was getting off. Curious I stuck around. The fire service arrived and tackled the fire, all with the train completely full of people playing with their phones. No drama, completely cool with standing in a burning train. A few minutes later, the fire was out and the train carried on to the next station. Now that's some industrial grade stoicism.
In my opinion, Natsuki is the biggest gift Japan has ever given to Chris. He's like that eccentric character in every anime show that's used for comedic relief, and in Chris' vlogs, he makes every episode a hell of a lot better. If every foreigner had a Japanese friend like that, nobody would ever feel lonely in Japan.
Regarding the "finding friends in Japan" I've always wondered if Chris just attracts weird people but with this explanation it might be that the only ones willing to open up to a foreigner in japan is someone offbeat and unusual.
@@justinmegibben4909 Most people who move away from their country of origin tend to be a bit unique. Most people never think the thought of leaving their birth country. Some because of culture or nationality, others because of their economical situation.
He did say that the only sort of japanese friends he could make were the maverick kind, and the ones that embrace western thinking and culture the most
I've lived in Japan for almost three years, and can confirm the issue with obtaining real Japanese friends. I have two, and I think the only reason we are friends, is because both of them studied overseas and embraced Western relationship culture. They both get really excited when they tell you their actual opinion, and not hold anything back.
I will be a devil's advocate. You've gotta consider that you're coming as a foreigner and trying to put your same expectations to them. So because you don't 合わない it feels like an issue. Japan as any other country has got a range of all. There's those curious and outgoing folks, there's the quiet and private, and whatever other mixes in between. /Most/ folks' friends seem to be those who were part of their immediate environment. Such as classmates, coworkers, etc., Consider that people get grouped together such as when people start a job, and how 何年目の社会人 gets given relevance here. And without adding more, that's just how it is here, and whether they like it because it's the 当たり前 way to be, or because they don't know better, it's certainly not up to foreigners to suddenly (perhaps even unconsciously) impose their values on an already established culture. That's not to say that there aren't niches of folks here, and most foreigners mix better with those niche folks, so as with everywhere else you've just gotta look for like-minded folks. In a culture that's obviously different to the ones foreigners come here from, it's not hard to imagine how the odds to find such folks may be smaller. So find your niche of folks and don't expect to be a sudden change in a new environment as you wouldn't be either anywhere else Edit: 社会人
I have to disagree, when I was living in Japan it was quite easy to make friends, friends that I still interact with even though it has been over a decade since I left. I simply believe it is where you are in Japan that matters. I found it near impossible in large cities to make any Japanese friends (only 2 of my Japanese friends came from a larger city Sendai), but since I mostly lived in a smaller, more rural area it was easier to interact on personal levels that let me make long lasting friends.
i think this is not necessarily a japanese issue. generally if you come to any country as a foreigner, there will be a "wall" between you and its inhabitants until they are able to recognize that you have a good grasp of how things work there socially, which means that they will stop having to tiptoe around you and finally have genuine interactions. not to mention there are the basic prerequisites of friendship, even between two locals i.e. similar interests and stuff, so without breaking through the first "wall" there's no way you will even see the second one. some people from some countries will claim that their locals are "frank" or "direct" compared to other countries but in my experience it is generally the same thing. there is a wall, but only the general attitudes on that superficial level beyond the "wall" vary.
"Politeness and friendliness are two differents things", "High uncertainty avoidance" You resume very well what my experience in Japan is, Chris. I spend the last 10 winters (5 months each time) in Hokkaido as a ski and snowboard guide/teacher. If I compare to the others 6 countries I've lived and worked in I must say my Japanese friends are nice and funny until I need them to help me with something a bit demanding or challenging. Then they are like: " I could but....." and you realize that you more one your own that you woud think
To my knowledge (and I am in no way an expert!) I’ve heard there’s some pretty prevalent “independent/do it yourself” sort of it concept in Japan. People are seen as needing to be self-sufficient, or they’re failures. There’s also less of a giving/charitable culture there. This all culminates into being a sort of strange mindset to foriegners. To us, not giving help when asked or it’s obvious is rude, but to them, it seems that asking for help outside of family is imposing, in a way. It’s interesting, but I also could never see myself being able to live there for that reason, haha. I would say I’m an independent person, but I already have anxiety about asking for help when needed, and that would simply compound it.
@@scullyy I don't know if it's a Finnish cultural or personal trait, but for me helping people is just a nice and natural way to spend time with people.
Chris can you believe how far you’ve come? I remember watching you all the way back when you made that McDonalds fries video (Something about chocolate on fries) and now you’re in a flying car with a robot! How time flies. (But seriously, you really deserve all your success Chris, your videos never cease to keep on improving. Thanks for all the great videos over the years. I wish you even more success!)
Yeah I experienced the politeness vs. friendliness thing myself. In larger cities everyone was very nice to me, at least on surface level. (Maybe aside for a few "Oh sorry I don't speak English" responses, when I tried to speak, admittedly broken, but still Japanese) But in a smaller town I went to for sight seeing purposes, when I tried to enter a restaurant I was politely stopped and a sign saying something "come back in 30 minutes" has been put right in front of me. I thought it was kinda strange, and I peeked inside and it didn't seem like they were full or anything. But I also wasn't in a rush so I just took the 30 minutes to shop and stroll around and came back to this same restaurant. Sign was gone, I saw other people come in, but the moment I tried to enter they, again, apologized and put the sign up. That was the "Oh" moment when I realized the sign was specifically for me, because I was a gaijin. It stung a little because I was really trying my best to follow all the customs I knew, be polite and speak Japanese to the best of my ability. Anyway, I just went to another restaurant in the same town and they were super nice to me, and they complimented my shitty Japanese a lot haha.
This would be completely illegal all over the European Union. Besides, I don't find "polite" to lie about the reason for refusal. A sign "Foreigners and dogs are not allowed" would have been more honest.
How did you know it was because you were "gaijin" that they refused you? It probably was, but you never know, it could've been things like having a tattoo or a nose ring, etc.
These are all such good points to bring up, I always find myself thinking this all the time especially the food and the technology points. People sometimes really have no idea. What I'm almost more interested in though is that flying car set. I actually couldn't believe that was practical and not CGI. It honestly looked like a professionally rendered scene put onto a greenscreen. It's almost confusing how good it was.
CGI is supposed to be undetectable and so usually it should be bad if you can detect it. However, the look he was going for is "bad CGI" and he did it without CGI. It's truly a well crafted good "bad CGI" practical effect
When Chris brought out the sushi board, I thought it was fake food like his other fake food items in the studio, so when he popped the nori roll in his mouth...I almost had a heart attack.
Another misconception I had before going to Japan is how busy the big cities actually are: in Western media they keep showing over and over the same clips of Shibuya, Akibahara, Shinjuku or a few other hotspots like that overflowing with people, but in reality I realized after having walked around a lot, the vast majority of Tokyo and Osaka are actually very quiet.
When did you go? I haven't been to Osaka, but when I went to Tokyo, it was as crowded as I had seen in clips. I remember taking a train to Odaiba, and the train was stacked exactly how you see in movies. Everyone was bunched up together with almost no room to move. Shinjuku, Asakusa, Shibuya, Akihabara, they were all very crowded. It didn't take away from the experience, since I was expecting it, and plus Tokyo is just awesome in general and worth every cent to visit. But it definitely was a very busy place when I went.
Presumably it's the Covid normal. My experience around 5 years ago was the Tokyo metro at noon was my home city's rush hour! It is true most of the residential and back streets are fairly quiet (which you end up walking alot if your hotel/Airbnb isn't in a major area). So a bit ambiguous if experiencing that would've bettered your visit haha.
@@nit0134 Personally I can relate to OP, but that's because it really depends on the time of day that you're in these areas. Trains in Osaka and Tokyo were understandably stacked in the mornings and evenings, but throughout the day you definitely had room to sit down and spread out a bit if travelling across town. I remember getting up late one day and training over to Harajuku, it was super chill and more comparable to public transport in a much smaller city, no sardining at all. I also remember wandering around the streets of Asakusa (after visiting Senso-ji in the midday/afternoon, which was definitely populated) where it was definitely not all hustle and bustle. The streets were pretty sparse and traffic was pretty low to average, but they were also more normal neighbourhood streets. There certainly are chill parts of these cities. I was pretty lucky that I had enough time in Japan to see different sides of it though.
@@namename2215 Nah. It really is that Japan is misrepresented by Western media. Japanese people value peace, nature (outside of Tokyo due to necessity), and leaving each other alone. Of course COVID exacerbated it, but it's always been like that.
Absolutely. On a 3 week trip to Japan in 2019, my girlfriend and I stayed in Tokyo at the start and end of our trip for a few days - in the heart of the city not far from the central train station. We were amazed to be able to walk around in the afternoon and evening and even cross main streets and it was relatively quiet and very civilised.
Sometimes when I watch Abroad in Japan I forget that I’m watching UA-cam and think I’m watching the travel channel or something just because it’s so good. Editing, sound, picture quality, and the content itself is great.
When we were hiking in kyoto area there was a small section of the hike that went past a small group of houses. One local scowled at us and in japanese grumbled about foreigners in their area in japanes, but then on our way back a different small group of women in the neighborhood waved to us and said hello as we passed. I think all countries have both stark groups. We also had a business man in a reserved seat train get up and move and scowl at us. Then explained to the conductor that he changed seats because he didn't want to be next to us. On that same train ride an older women chatted with us in japanese about her grandson that was our age. You get both very polite and grumpy people.
I watched this video on Japanese culture that people are expected to stay absolutely quiet on their train ride. By any chance, were you guys chatting, or eating something on the train? You may eat in train, but I heard that Japanese prefer people to eat non-smelly foods, like bento they sell on train stations or simple snacks. Breaking any of these rules could offend a Japanese in the video I watched.
@@sado429 There are just some grumpy ones. Been to Japan several times and I've met my share of the nice and grumpy ones. On a Osaka-Fukuoka bullet train, I opened my breakfast sandwich that I bought from the station and I guess the plastic wrapper was a little noisy and this business man sitting in front of me turned around and stared at me as if to say you're bothering me. I didn't care and ate my sandwich. Mind you, the man next to me didn't bat an eyelid. Another time, I took a local train to get to Peace Park in Nagasaki and this elderly woman that I sat next to made a production of sliding her folded umbrella between us. I didn't say nor did anything, because I could've embarrassed her big time if I had gotten up and made a production of dusting my clothes. I noticed though that the woman sitting across from saw the whole thing and she looked embarrassed. I have several incidents that happened to me whist traveling in Japan, but I also have many stories of people going out of their way to help me. You can eat in the Shinkansen/bullet train, but not in the commuter trains.
@@peko7446 Oh that's right! It's only in Shinkansen train you can eat right? And that's super rude that the old dude in front of you turned around and glared at you. Sandwich is one of those non-smelling foods which shouldn't bother anyone, but I guess he was just an a$$. I heard that older Japanese folks might dislike tourists because they think foreigners don't follow the local rules and make their town dirty or something. At the same time, Japan profits big time from tourism, so being hostile toward tourist for no justifiable reason will only be their loss
I remember being stunned by seeing all the old technology still used in Japan the first time i visited in 2015. Was indeed expecting super hi tech all round. Yet it’s a wonderful country!
The observations about politeness and friendliness was spot-on. I've been in Japan for about 4 years and haven't made a single real Japanese friend. It can be very frustrating.
As a European.. I've friends who moved to my neighbour country, those friends are the most easy-going people you can imagine, and they gave up and moved back when none of them had managed to make a single friend after a year. Which matches with what others have said as well - nice and friendly, but if you want to know someone you have to know them already! From before!. In other words, this phenomenon is something that can be found in various places in the world. I do have friends in Japan, but that's because they are friends of friends and *that's* how you get new friends. And that's pretty universal, everywhere really.
People in today's age have issues making friends in their own countries, let alone other countries. Its something that you must seek out these days, it doesn't just fall into our laps like it did in the past so much.
Yep common all over the world though. Scandinavia can be particularly bad about this. Make your friends in school, you probably won't make new ones after that.
Making friends after adulthood is hard no matter where you are. Like people in the US may be some of the friendliest in the world but that doesn't mean it is easy to become friends with them. It is even harder if you don't speak the language at a native level. That said, if you want to make friends you have to work at it. And if you haven't made a real Japanese friend in 4 years, I think it is 99% likely that is your fault because you have not put in the appropriate effort.
I met a guy in the JET program when I was visiting a few years back and he said "Japan is the land of contridictions", as we walked in to a 1300 year old Shrine, with a giant electronic billboard out the front. It's probably the best description of Japan I've ever heard, and only gets more true they more I learn about Japan. Here's my list of contridictions: - Heaps of shines and temples, most people practicing traditions - majority identify irreligous (or "mushūkyō"). - Fancy heated robot toilets - but also traditional squat toilets, and no way to dry your hands in most bathrooms. - Super beautiful villages, lots of nature everywhere - Huge mega metropolises - Lots of vegetarian food - but basically nothing vegan. - Gambling is illegal - Pachinko and Gacha is everywhere. - Famous electronics brands - heaps old phones and consoles, and terrible websites. - High international demand for Japanese products - Businesses prefer to operate domestically. - Innovative assembly line practices - incredibly bureaucratic paper filled offices. - Culture of working hard encourages excessive working hours - leading to low productivity. - Problems dealing with waste due to limited space - Everything has excessive amounts of packaging. - Super polite and helpful - Judgemental of differences. Difficult to find a job or house without being Japanese. - Children independant from a very young age - pressured to study constantly, and participate in after school activities. - Convenient vending machines, konbini, restaurants, public transport - Inconvenient anything government related, lots of paperwork, personal seals.
No electronic payment...... but how do you pay for stuff? Where I rent doesn't even accept cash, you can only do electronic payments, maybe checks.... The last time I paid anything was when I was 18 and paying stuff for my parents with their cash/card.
While it is true that 87% of Japanese are atheists - technically Buddhism and Shinto are atheist religions. They don't believe in a God or Gods. They believe in a way of life (Buddhism) and spirits (Shinto). There is no creator(s) and no beginning and end to life as most western religions believe. So you can't just classify Japanese by western standards of what it means to be an atheist. They believe in something, that belief is just not a God.
I'm reminded of the time we asked a shop lady in Nakagawa up in Hokkaido for directions to a camp site we were looking for. She was so aghast at the idea that we would walk so far, and made her son drive us there in their pickup truck (it was almost a 15 minute drive). But you're right about the difference between being nice and being polite/hospitable, and I only had maybe 2 Japanese people I really felt I was close to, at all, when living there.
Talking about “old” technology; Japan is one of the few countries where CD and DVD sales are still higher than streaming revenues. All to protect the income of their artists. That is actually not a bad thing. Streaming killed the income for many artists elsewhere, who are now dependent on touring and merchandise.
And if you do record a concert you get comments telling you "your being disrespectful! take the video down" which would like n e v e r happen anywhere else
Physical media means there are still huge music stores like Tower Records in Shibuya. Although things are sadly changing and the largest Tower branch in Osaka recently closed down. I know several Japanese musicians and they would not be able to do their work without physical media sales.
@@retired-s5h from what I understand, the main issue is the miniscule pay per stream on the most popular platforms: Apple music: $0.01 per stream Amazon music: $0.004 Spotify: $0.0033 UA-cam music: $0.008
I'm from Finland, the promised land of black sense of humour and (sometimes brutally) honest culture, yet somehow I've made some really good Japanese friends. I must say it was difficult at times. I felt very frustrated because I couldn't understand their little nuances or honne/tatemae culture, and they probably thought I was a barbaric caveman for not following the "etiquette". Now that we've been buddies for a while I'm shocked how roasty little villains they can be lol
Interesting point on Finland. I’m from Poland and I think we kinda see Finish people as quiet, polite and not very social like. I’d never thought you are the land of black sense of humor. Now you really got me interested :D Also its funny how many misconceptions people have about other countries and cultures. This, for me, makes it even more important to get to know others. We’d be all in much better space if we just grab a drink with our “biggest enemies” and figure out that despite some differences, we’re not that different after all.
I'm from Finland too and I have managed to make way more true and real friends in Japan than I ever did in Finland. And far quicker than I expected. I feel like the honne/tatemae thing too is pretty Finnish thing (at least when you grow up in the countryside) in itself so that has not given me too many problems, mainly I have sometimes panicked and over-reacted, that "shit, was this one of those situations and was I rude without realizing it!?" and when I go to apologize my friends laugh at me and tell me it was nothing like it and everything is fine. "そこまでに日本人にならなくてもいいでしょ！" 笑 Only one advice to anyone; Learn Japanese. Not even for the sake of "making friends" or any other goal, but for the sake of everything in your life. I don't have many foreigners for friends besides few people I really like, but mostly what I have seen them do is just hang around in their own groups and be loud in foreign. I'd imagine that might stand in the way of getting to know people around you, but I don't really understand humans too much anyhow, which is why Japan suites me perfectly I guess.
@@SumaSummarum While usually quiet, most Finns are brutally honest when they decide to open their mouth. The stereotype I've heard is that Finns are seen as rude as they don't partake in small talk and don't sugarcoat too much. Naturally, as a Finn myself, I see the lack of small talk with strangers and generous personal space sizes as politeness. It might just be that depending on your own culture Finns are seen as either rude or polite.
As Finnish I feel that Japanese way to get familar to someone else feels very familar and I think it is in the same way also in Finnish culture. I think most friends come from school or working life or some kind of hobby where you have longer time to get familiar with someone else.
I think westerners think Japanese are very robotic and cold, which is a huge misconception from what I noticed. While work hours are very focused on order and efficiency in the streets, most shops close early and the locals let loose and enjoy themselves. I especially noticed this in Kyoto
It's also because Western culture values extroverts over introverts. So even in the US, if you're more reserved, and soft spoken, people can think of you as cold there too
@@ADragonNerd I am a bit of both an introvert and and Extrovert. (Note: I am diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome which is part of the Autism spectrum) I can be a bit uncertain at first with people, but once I find a connection I open up all the way.
Going out to drink with colleagues is an expected part of the culture even if they don't want to. Also as mentioned being under the influence calms their anxiety
The last point is so true! Politeness/hospitality is NOT the same as friendliness! People can be superficially nice to you and smile but if you try to know them on a personal level, you quickly realize they don't really care. Korean society has the same thing. Yes, Korean people are very polite and hospitable, but they don't care about having any meaningful relationships outside of their close-knit group.
Funnily enough Sweden has a very similar culture people will be nice to you but will for the most part try to keep to themselves unless drunk. A great story has to be about how this one Swedish guy working with my dad would work overtime everyday when asked why he said that there's nothing at home and most people will not talk to you and the only time you could interact and have fun was when you were drunk.
I've said the same thing even about Midwest in the US. Very hospitable people, will give you a meal, a ride and the shirt off their back. But they're very closed off to change and opening up to their true selves. Very, very true that there is a difference between hospitality and true friendliness.
All societies have the same thing. But I will always prefer mutual respect and manners, compared to the opposite, even if there is no bond going to be created, which in all of your life is rarely on a substantial level for the majority of people you get to know. But yeah, there are cultures who are more likely to be friendly and open in heart and mind. Though I seem to find these folks always in the countryside and rarely in any more crowded areas. Individuals who live within the city are more unlikely to be friendly and respectful, depending on the situation.
People going to get mad when I'm saying this but - I do think there are a thing with especially Americans coming to either Europe or japan and they expect/demand this "experience" where the local population should pander to them so they can fulfill some sort of instagram friendly dream they they made up in their head before traveling. The reality is that most people that they meet are not on vacation and are not especially excited to show this loud American "the secret spots of their city" - I'ts just another tourist.
i’ve been here for 15 years. you nailed it. especially the whole “Japan is so futuristic!”yes, there is plenty of cool and “futuristic “ stuff here but also a lot, unfortunately mostly in business , that is so old and out of date it takes forever to do anything.
It's not "futuristic" but it's also true there are many technologies and fields Japan leads and has a big share in market even if it's not visible in daily life.
So this is why there are so many "filing for anything is a nightmare" stories? I was just watching stories of people buying akiya in Japan and struggling enormously with the legal and clerical side of things.
I think this is the best "Lies about Japan" video I've ever seen. And, these food chains really need to hire you to write their ads Chris. I was really hankering for some Japanese food after hearing about all the "healthy" Japanese food.
Honestly, the way you've been utilizing your set is amazing. You've come up with such unique ways to use the space. I feel like it's a different place in each video. Well done.
Politeness vs friendly, such a good observation. I've noticed the social hierarchy seems so ingrained in the culture that many "other-world" anime tend to keep it or make it even stronger. It's another world and still the authors can't imagine a society without the politeness and hierarchy.
Yeah I've always wondered if Japan's ingrained social etiquette is why there are so many anime/manga stories set in worlds where there are social classes and nobility who have to follow specific conduct. It's just a concept that is easy enough for them to convey while also throwing in cool fantasy tropes too for the Western flair.
To be fair like 99% of isekai is set in a pretty generic medieval fantasy world and extremely strict hierarchies are a central feature of feudalistic societies. Then again the fact that so much isekai feels like a carbon copy of all other isekai is its own problem.
Considering the history of Japan overall, this really doesn't strike me as a weird list, especially when you look at the histories of all other cultures. Japan is one of the few, if not the only, cultures that has literally cut itself off from the outside at one point in time and they really cling to that. I find it fascinating how that manifests, even if sometimes it does so in bad ways.
It's true, Japan was an isolationist country not just for a little while, but for thousands of years. It really wasnt until the late 19th century that they started opening their doors to foreigners, and it wasnt until the early 20th century that they started adopting technology and modernizing. Its hard to forget that western countries have had this slow steady march towards modernization, whereas Japan did it in the last century or so.
I have to unfortunately go "Uhm, actually" on this one and make a few notes regarding the Kaikin policy. There is nothing to indicate that Japan was completely isolationist as far back as the Jomon period (in fact, there's evidence of exchange and cultural influence from the Korean peninsula in the late Jomon period). The general assumption is that a lot of knowledge regarding metallurgy and later writing in the Yayoi era also came through the Korean peninsula. The point where Japan really becomes isolationist (although that term should be taken with some reservation as, while foreign travel was strongly discouraged, private trade with the Chinese mainland and Korean peninsula was still kept up) is 1639 when the Kaikin policies start being enacted. This was primarily a result of the 1637-38 Shimabara rebellion and the role played by Catholic converts in rallying the populace against the Shimabara clan and seizing Hara castle. It's not like people had lots of freedom to travel before that (Hasekura Tsunenaga being a rare exception), but the seizing of a Daimyo's castle by, among others, Christian converts and the suspected Portuguese involvement was really the catalyst for maritime trade restrictions. Fun history tidbit: the reason the Dutch were allowed to maintain trade links was because they supplied a ship and two dozen modern guns to help bombard the castle, showing that my people have always been willing to commit brutalities and or war crimes if there was a business opportunity at the end of the line.
@@DiggingForFacts I see, like all things historical, there are multiple layers and it's more complex than you would think. Tbh, we learn global history in America, but the overall lesson was that Japan was basically off limits until about the 19th century. In retrospect, they may have meant from an American perspective that Japan was isolationist, even though they were trading and maintaining relationships with other Asian countries.
@@A_Lion_In_The_Sun You also have to remember after being Open to countries like Britain they closed there borders again and only opened them when America decided they can dictate what a country can and cannot do and forced them to open there borders again
I read a story of someone who wrote a 30 line python code that automated employee check-ins, which they used to do manually. Naturally everyone loved it, except for the higher ups who approached the employee and criticized his attitude about 'not respecting the rules and attitudes that the elders set,' 'trying to stand out beyond his position' and 'placing too much trust on machines' and fired him, and reverted back to the old manual system where they had someone whose job during that time was literally to check people in. What a nightmare.
I'm American and would agree with you on the baseline, but always doing what is most expedient does have an eroding effect on culture and social institutions --- the flip side to this, is that even under intense pressure from American globalism, Japan has remained a strong and vibrant culture that has a real sense of itself as Japanese (perhaps moreso than any other nation in a similar scenario). you might say, well you can just automate the thing and still retain a strong sense of culture (and in this isolated example sure), but overall you have strong hierarchies like Japan which does enable them to bat way above their weight in many industries, and these strong hierarchies move slowly, or you flatten hierarchies like the west does (which can move faster but has its own host of problems, namely it becomes overtaken by bureaucracies and becomes increasingly hostile to greatness/merit).
I'd say the real nightmare is how routine automation of social interactions has lead to the dystopian present of most industrial consumers becoming increasingly isolated, and vulnerable to corporate mass media and general alienation.
@@chrisc7265 I think it should be pointed out here that America isn't interested in globalism as an economic system. Its interest is security. If you have been paying any attention at all you will have noticed that America is going the other way (governmentally). Right after WWII the U.S. basically made an offer to the world. We will patrol the worlds oceans and keep trade open and in exchange those countries would help contain the USSR. Things started to change right after the USSR fell and the U.S. is going to get more isolationist as time passes unless something changes here in the states. This is going to put even more pressure on our "Allies" as we stop trying to keep the peace world wide. Think about the U.S. position, we have Canada on one side and Mexico on the other (with Two very large oceans east and west) who are allies (well, in general anyway). We are capable of manufacturing what we need. We don't have the issues that say a European country does. Surrounded by other countries who may not be friendly and due to internal capabilities not have the resources to produce enough to be self sufficient. If our older politicians continue as we are now, things are going to get even more chaotic and destabilized.
Having lived in Japan for 22 years and now living in my western home country; I miss the food and I miss the onsen (hot spring) culture, And one thing Japan still does better than any country is service. You can see the service mentality in everything they do.
@awnx ruyv dunno where you live, but japan is quite hot, over 35-40°c in summer with high humidity, and they still have garden. ..but nature overthere is always green, high humidity no draught thanks to pacific air... if they need fresh stuff they can hole inside their climatised place, or visit a climatised one, like shopping place, subway... and if they have free time they also go near water, river everywhere, sea also...and theres fresh air too in foretst in mountain.
about the last aspect, the friendliness, Sora the troll (japanese youtuber that makes content in english) covers it: there's basically three factors that are at play here: 1.- Japanese people mostly keep to themselves while on the move: most Japanese people rarely talk to one another on the street unless they already had plans to get together, because they're laser focused on their task at hand, getting somewhere, go buy something, going to or back from work/home, so literally no time for chat. 2.- Japanese are actually pretty introvert: the major reason for why is hard to form friendships in japan is because unless the situation calls for, Japanese people hardly interact with each other, the only places that happens is at school or works in which is pretty mandatory to communicate with someone else, and THAT'S were most friendships are born over months or even years of pretty much forced interactions with your fellow students or workers/kohais/sempais, although the work aspect is also hard as most people keep it professional and just interact with you due to work so, students are the easiest way to form friendships. 3.- Free time is somewhat rare for the average japanese: Japanese culture is one based on work and study, students usually also partake on club activities after regular class hours, meaning they could be coming home at night, employees are the same, working until night time, therefore what little free time a japanese person can get is usually reserved for themselves (games, manga, tv shows/animes) or time with family or lovers, friends are the last person people think of when thinking how to spend free time. Now this is not a mandatory rule, each person is different but are ruled by a common culture which pretty much operates like this, bottom line is unlikely (not impossible) that you will make a friend or find the japanese love of your life on a night out in japan, even if you dominate the language, as usually going out with friends is yet another thing Japanese people can do with weeks of anticipation, even if a japanese person calls you his/her friend you'd probably spend months without hanging out once.
As a Canadian, I take umbrage with your "slow news day" quip. In fact - a new stoplight was just installed and it's running on the national news as we speak. We also got a bowling alley last month. 😉
i profoundly disagree, my mom took a camera shoot of a falcon that day! We are still talking about it 3 months later, oh, and the weather that day was just perfect!!! lol ;)
I'm actually surprised there's not a similar Paris Syndrome for Westerners after going to Japan. I found the interesting mix of old and new all around was cool, so I wasn't super shocked. It was fascinating. But I feel like a lot of anime fans are expecting just a densely packed place of oddities. I ended up liking it a lot more because it was more than the oddities everyone showed me. I learned a lot more from visiting than I did from videos.
I think there is but it's reversed with French people hahahahhaahah, I swear, no joke, I think both countries have a mutual appreciation for each other but when they experience the real thing for the first time there might be a lot of disappointment. But I have to say most Japanese nowadays, in my opinion, have gotten over the the fake fantasy of Paris and can now appreciate it for what it really is, one of the best French bistros I've ever been to in Paris was run by Japanese immigrants and my favorite UA-camrs on Paris stuff are Japanese
There is something similar, as someone who've lived there and still return every year, each time I bring some friends I witness it. It's not quite the Paris syndrome, and is even closer to being the opposite. To make it short, most foreigners I know feel discomfort at having to go by the rules, and feeling like you need to do the extra effort when in public to be respectful and mindful of others makes them feel uneasy. Not saying that they're selfish pricks, but going to Japan is like living in a house full of rules with strangers, you can, sometimes feel like you're lacking freedom if you're not used to it. Most of my friends have said that was the main reason why they probably wouldn't be able to live there. On a side note, most also feel uneasy about the culture of service and attention Japan has. Going in a shop and instantly getting approached by a vendor is something they're not used to. And when asked, most of the people from western country will say "I''d rather them leave me make my shopping alone, and if I need help I can ask" or something like that. Probably because having that much attention and care is usually something reserved to the more wealthy in those same western countries. I mean, it's the same kind of un-easyness I can sense when they go to a gastronomical restaurant and have a waiter constantly taking care of them... I personnaly went through the Paris syndrome, and even now, I still don't quite get the way western people live, not saying it's bad... it's just different.
@@malinaanaho paris is the trashcan of europe, going there is the worst place you can go. Only the architecture is still great. Its more like a fancy looking ghetto
I think this may in part be due to the way the country is set up. You don’t notice how much it falls below your expectations because everything is cheap, the public transit is absolutely ridiculous, only surpassed by Switzerland (and not in punctuality either), and there’s plenty of fun stuff to do if you’re down town or have a tourist book. When you actually have to live in the country, you become much more apathetic and wary of the weeabo mindset, and you can’t help but roll your eyes when people praise it considering how it’s not nearly as advanced, clean, or respectful as one would hope. Granted, it has these qualities, but it is highly exaggerated overseas, and it primarily applies to highly developed urban areas. The same diversity of services and access in Tokyo isn’t available in the rest of the country like it is in most other developed places.
I’d be interested in a documentary about life in Japan, how people of different ages deal with life’s challenges. Most of the videos I’ve seen on UA-cam are about anime/manga, cuisine and travel.
Well, I’m admittedly not as entertaining as Chris, but I do make videos on a range of topics that you don’t see much in the ‘Japan vlogsphere’. Check some out if you’re interested. 🍻
I know this sounds crazy but an unfortunate amount of financial businesses in Canada, USA, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK still use fax. Often for incredibly important things like the transfer of shares and account balances.
Here in Germany you can transfer some things by fax and it is legally binding as signed and delivered as long as you have the transfer record. It is less of a hassle than working with courier services.
This is what I've been trying to tell my friends. I worked with Japanese companies selling them spare parts. Took them 3 days to re-issue their PO due to price change. Reason? Because their company must approve each purchase with physical signature (from dept head downwards). And this is just one example from one company.
chris you're the reason a lot of people want to go to japan/have gone to japan. thanks for always bringing your uniquely you style of story telling to the masses.
I gotta add to the misconception of japanese friendliness: bullying and humiliation are an uncomfortably common occurence in many places. You ever do something wrong, and you can bet your ass your neighbors and coworkers will never, ever let you live it down. And by wrong, I mean something THEY take offense to, not something that is inhenretly the wrong thing to do. Also, japanese politeness is deeply rooted in the hierachry of respect, which grants anyone who's been around for longer a certain superior "Senior" role. And if you talk back to or disagree with these seniors, you're pretty much on their shit list forever. Even in entertainment (particularly "slice of life" animé/manga), there are many of these "gags" where the new guy in the office is pestered by his seniors to get them stuff, and to take over parts of their workload. And while it certainly doesn't get that playful and cheery in office jobs, the pressuring and exploitation of new employees is far more real than people might think. Additionally, working extra hours, while not explicitly required, is expected of you as a show of loyalty to the company. Now, this isn't the case everywhere, obviously, but it's still very much a problem Japan as a whole refuses to acknowledge, just like many mental issues running rampant (depression, burnout, social anxieties, hikkikomori, excessive escapism/otaku culture, gambling addiction).
@@cheezeofages i feel like Japanese mentality is a lot more close minded and not as willing to tackle these issues in an open manner. Definiteky a problem everywhere, but it’s a tabboo subject in Japan
@@superwatcher456 That's all good. If I know Japan, I know that eventually they will address this. For now, I am glad Japanese people are keeping all foreign influences away from the country.
I don't have problem making Japanese friends, but it's wrong to think everyone's friendly, like anywhere else. Polite unfriendliness is better than impolite.
The friendliness point I've heard about Swedish people too that people are quick to help people in need but extremely difficult to make friends with and if Japanese people has the same reason as Swedish people do then maybe this might help shed light to why that is. Swedes tend to take friendships with extreme loyalty and the friends we do have we usually met in school and as we become adults it's difficult enough to have the time to maintain the existing friendships that we aren't quick to make new ones if we can't see ourselves getting along for the next 30+ years since friendships end up being kinda like mini marriages. For that reason you better click on a meaningful level through some kind of common interest or something, like gamers are probably the fastest "make new friends" examples I can think of but the common interest can be anything. You can't just small talk your way into the friend circle, unless you are language exchange partners with equal interest in language learning or something. Oh, and be thoughtful af.
I think this is kind of true for Japan as well! Many groups of people i have met here have been friends since they were students and they rarely go outside of that group. Even for sports teams that i have practiced with have all been playing together since high school and most of them are around 40 now. its a very interesting thing to see, but it can be hard for foreigners to make any type of true friends.
As a German, I find it interesting that there are quite a few similarities between both nations. While no one in their right minds would call German food healthy, we too are usually seen as a technological sophisticated country…when in reality, people overwhelmingly still pay cash and fax machines still rule the office.
Just like Japan Germany is a mechanical culture. And as such it has and will have difficulty progressing to Electronic and Information age. That will belong to China that is original information civilization.
@@SimFoxSim that's because it started perfectly at the time computers were first entering the scene. I mean heck a place like Somalia everyone uses their phone to pay nobody really use cash for anything even the random street vendor only accept payment through your phone.
Chris, I have an impression that this difficulty of making friends in Japan is also closely related to their club/circle culture. Most of my wife's friends are just people she met in her musical circle during her college years.
I've recently moved back to Japan and I've had the experience of having someone draw me a map for directions, and boy it was an awkward one. One time, out of the blue, I got pinkeye and after going to the eye clinic I went to find a pharmacy to get my prescribed medicine. I tried one store that I thought could provide me my medicine, but it turned out I was wrong (ironically, it was a store called "American Drug"). The staff member I talked to called for another staff member. With a panicking voice that sounded like she was about to cry (because she probably have never dealt with a foreigner before), this other staff member drew me a map and even took me outside to point me in the right direction. The whole exchange was awkward. The language barrier really made communication tough (my Japanese still isn't the best). I tired asking yes or no questions and she couldn't even answer those properly. In the end, I tried to say sorry for being a bother and went my way. I tried another store where I eventually got my medicine. Japanese people are generally nice. At first, it can be awkward, but being nice yourself and speaking Japanese will make things a lot better.
I'm Japanese, but I'd like to say that it is almost impossible in the city center of major cities that staffs panic and cry. It is more likely to happen with housewives and students who have never worked or in rural areas where never seen foreigners, though.
you could've made it less "awkward" by getting your google translate out and typing what you meant on there. you're in a non-english speaking country so it's up to you to accommodate them, not the other way round.
@@lowkeyconvert8971 I know I'm in a non-English speaking country. I wasn't speaking English at all in this situation. I was speaking Japanese the best I could.
I lived in Japan 10 years, from uni all the way to disgruntled English teacher. I was lucky enough to make life-long friends there, half of them were Japanese, and the other half were a collection of international mates from all around. I miss those days and look forward to the day I can go back to visit them all.
I've lived in Japan about 2 years now. The biggest lie I was told was how expensive everything is. Lodging is expensive... Food and transportation, are incredibly cheap compared to California or even most other US states. Even before the exchange rate went crazy I could take my family of 5 out to dinner for $30.00. Cant even get Mcdonalds that cheap in the states. I can get from Sagamihara to Tokyo for $5.00 the equivalent train ride would be $20 in California.
Making friends as an adult, especially as you approach middle age is not easy even here in America. As you get older and commit more time to your career and family, it leaves little time for other activities. With that little time left over people often invest in friends they already have. Although I have noticed at this age friendships can develop with the parents of the children your child is friends with since you may seem them regularly. All in all, making friends (real friends, as opposed to just drinking buddies/activity friends) after leaving university is quite rare. Perhaps it's not Japan, perhaps it's just that you're older.
The crazy thing about fax machines is that it actually helped me and my dad out one time. Insurance company tried emailing info on our work insurance so we could do contruction in the hotel and it would never send and we asked if they had a fax machine and they did. Told them to fax it and it took less than a minute. So sometimes old ways still work lol
When it comes to signed legal papers often faxing it is the preferred option. Safe from sending it by the post. As a fax document you can't really temper with. A email you can.
I bought my first desktop computer in 1993 and it had a fax-modem and I became fascinated with faxing because I never did it before --- I was literally faxing stuff to random small businesses and even getting those "fax on demand" services to send me technical documents and such --- it was a lot of fun in the early 90s!
@@allentoyokawa9068 In IT in the West and this is completely not the case and most western fax services now just end in an email mailbox anyway, but with the fax protocol just sending everything out in plain text. Medical services using them aren't for security but typically due to archaic government requirements that haven't kept up with email standards.
One part-myth I was surprised about was Japanese efficiency. Public works things like transportation usually are very efficient. But without living there, you probably won't hear much about how insanely bureaucratic Japan is since it's a pretty boring topic. But sometimes just trying to get simple paperwork done is painfully convoluted. And workplaces as well. Of course, everyone knows about the long working hours in Japan, and one effect of that is that workers are often too tired to be very efficient.
Naa japan was never supposed to be efficient. It has always been effective though. No matter the amount of work and resources needed if japan wants something it happens just often at an incredible cost. Look at bonzai trees, traditional sports or the fukushima cleanup. If you want efficiency go to germany.
@@badcat9096 efficiency in germany? I would know that! Just look at the BER airport drama or the Elbphilharmonie. Billions of tax Euros are wasted every year, just feeding the corruption. If you want efficiency better go south to Switzerland. There's a joke that tells you everything you need to know about Europe: In heaven the cooks come from France the policemen from England the car mechanics from Germany the lovers from Italy and everything is organized by the Swiss. In hell the cooks come from England the policemen from Germany the car mechanics from France the lovers from Switzerland and everything is organized by the Italiens
Japan is not efficient at all. The Japanese are similarly frustrated by the large amount of paperwork and multi-step, complicated administrative procedures.
So, I've been to Japan a LOT and the way I always explain it to people is. "It's like the most advanced country in the world, from the 1980s." Everything is still that NES plastic grey that browns over time and push button instead of LCD etc.
And that is one of the many reasons why I like Japan so much. Many Western countries have way to much useless "innovation“ that actually complicates daily life and is usually much more susceptible than approved older alternatives.
@@Shinkajo he's nuts lol. It's hard to even find a grounded outlet in Japan. Frustratingly on the cusp of being amazing when it comes to tech but then stubbornly dug into their place when it comes to actually doing it.
20:12 The cash thing is so true... I was pretty shocked to learn that many hotels outside of Tokyo don't even accept Visa/Mastercard. Adding to the experience, I had just gone to Japan from China where even the food hawkers on the street use QR codes and look at you weird if you offer cash.
I think it's probably true more so for tourists or the older generation that's not comfortable using cashless transactions. It's not as widespread as other places but I almost never use cash living here in daily life (going to the supermarket, gas station, cafes, bills etc) or even traveling anywhere within the country.
Ironically, it is derived from that Japan has few counterfeit banknotes, while China has many. In Japan, the older people are, the more they consider electronic things as "insubstantial" and avoid them. The exact opposite seems to be happening in China.
I will let you know one common reason why we are conservative about this that I often heard is because of natural disasters. When a serious earthquake happen and it cause electric power outrage, you will not be able to buy food or water etc if you rely on card or E-cash. Same reason for low spread of electric vehicles.
Breaking the fourth wall in the flying car -brilliant. When the Canadian news anchor introduced you as a "Britsh film-maker" I was like really? But after getting to the end of this video, yes, you really are a film maker and those films just keep getting better. Thanks for the entertainment.
And no Chris, you are not the only one who struggled to create relationships (I have been here 10 years and my Japanese friends can be counted on one hand). And is it me, or do they (especially elderlies) also have this cultural habit of laughing whenever they are unsure what to say or feel out of place? Example: Last week my cat died and when the temple dude came to pick up the body, the old lady living nearby came to say hi to him (she is the one that introduced me to this temple and knows the dude). She smiled and almost laughed all the time while the dude and I were very seriously filling in the papers and putting the body in the car... it was so so awkward...
@@winterTripicactually laughing at awkwardness is an inherently human genetic trait. Everyone is wired to laugh when they feel awkward. The reason you may notice it more in eastern culture is because sharing our problems with strangers pretty much doesn’t happen, so when you do it it’s incredibly awkward
@@winterTripic It's also common for people to giggle when unsure what to say in eastern cultures. I am sure she meant no harm, probably just ran out of words to console you
The truth is, Natsuki is a needle in a goddamn haystack without a doubt. It's exciting to see someone who's personality transcends his culture's introverted nature. Sometimes I feel like hanging with Natsuki would be a lot like watching an episode of FLCL 😆
The truth is you're hanging out in the wrong shopping malls. I made plenty of friends in Japan with people just as 'extraverted' as Natsuki. A shared passion makes all the difference (not anime), I spent my time with skateboarders, musicians and artists in underground clubs and on the streets late at night, people I knew for 6 months that I'm still friends with years later.
@@xxDxxism It was more of a reaction like whaaaaat than what as in a question. I didn't know they were in a relationship cuz I didn't see the Q&A video
I had been working at a shipyard in Kyushu for over two months. The guys I had worked with invited me to a dinner and I paid for the dinner as a thank you for a kind and productive cooperation. One of them brought a square watermelon, and the guys all thought it as much of a novelty as I did. It was a fun night out, and well no one will ever say no to watermelon to square off a meal.. It was fun to see that no one there had really bought one of those before, and all thought it more of a novelty thing than anything else.
This video is so well made, ligh-hearted and entertaining in a relaxing way, it makes me almost nostalgic. Just a fun, really well done documentary with a balance of useful information and entertainment. Thanks, Chris, great work. 😊👍
Hey Chris I started watching your videos about 6 years ago in secondary school and now I'm moving to Himeji with the JET Programme in a month! Your channel is a big part of what made me fall in love with Japan so thanks for all the content and please keep it coming:)
26:22 was speaking to my japanese teacher about this. She said that while "tatemae" was the norm, the reason why many people liked the late Shinzo Abe was because he clearly stated his opinions. The more I learn about japan the more I see these weird contradictions. It's almost like these things are a release from the very strict societal conventions they place on themselves.
Perhaps that's also why channels that talk about Japan's political & cultural issues (like Nobita from Japan or Let's Ask Shogo) pop up in recent years. UA-cam, being an international platform, allows the honne to be heard instead of dismissed through tatemae.
From the perspective of someone that has been to Japan half a dozen times as tourist Chris has nailed it. Popular opinion about Japan is full of misunderstood and misinformed stereotypes. Sure there is the quirky and the "weird" but if you know the cultural and social context they're not that strange at all. All contribute to the rich cultural experience that is Japan. I do lose weight every time we go to Japan though, even though I absolutely pig out on nearly everything in Chris' top 10 list of Japanese foods. I suspect it was because we're more active than at home - we walk everywhere for example. 😂 One last popular misconception I hear all the time is that Japan is expensive. That might be relative depending on where you are from but from the perspective of this Aussie Japan is way cheaper than Australia for just about everything.
Agreed on the activity... as much as I pig out on all the great food in jp I actually maintain if not loose weight when I go and it absolutely has to do with all the walking and trekking in parks and such.
Yeah. I wonder where this "Japan is super expensive" misconception is coming from. Compared to other Asian countries, most of which are still developing, ...sure Japan is expensive. But among the developed countries of the world, it's amongst the least expensive (at least according to this twitter account which releases charts and stats about developed countries - the Estonian PM has quote tweeted the account plenty of times before , so I'm assuming it is reliable)
@@browniebear9282 maybe it's coming from the fact the fact that most countries on Earth are not well developed? Coincidentally, most of the population live in those.
@@browniebear9282 It's because wages are also low in Japan. While the cost of living is low in other cities, Tokyo is where a lot of jobs are so people gravitate there for employment, so rent is also pretty high in comparison to the rest of the country. With most youtubers that live there they're able to take advantage of the fact they're paid in USD and make more than the average Japanese person.
Natsuki deserves even more praise and love from all of us. He is a Japan´s national treasure. Great video, nice script and production as usual. Many thanks.
Just read your book and found your channel this way, loved your writing and greatly enjoy your observations about Japan. It's clear you put a lot of work into your videos and it shows!
I love how chris has slowly evolved past just being a travel and informational youtuber and it's amazing to see the humor he conducts with his unending affable'ness
Chris, the quality of craftsmanship that went into this video, is fantastic. The timing of the edit, the use of motion in the small zooms and wipes, the writing and the grade are all fantastic. Everything's brilliantly put together and it's a very enjoying and informative watch. You said you wanted to make projects you enjoyed again, based on skits and high concepts, and this video delivers majorly
this mad, earliest I’ve ever been on a video. Currently writing this in Oxford Uni doing a Japanese course for the summer, I owe a lot of this to Chris, thank you Chris!
Regarding number 4 (friendliness) I think it comes down to Japanese ability. I'm fluent in Japanese, been here more than 12 years, and almost all my friends are Japanese. On the flip side my few foreign friends don't have any Japanese friends, and coincidentally none of them speak Japanese fluently. The few who do speak Japanese have a level between business level and conversational. Just enough to talk to people and live their lives, not enough to really get to know people.
The weirdest moment in Japan for me was when I gave a 2000 yen note to a 7/11 store clerk and he started to shake like it was a demon I have given him. He then went to his colleagues and started wondering is this real, what is this and then the senior team told him, yes it is. Then I was told in Osaka the note is extremely rare and I had like 10 notes on me. No wonder I had people look at me in amazement every time I gave them this note from Okinawa.
I was just in japan and my parents gave me some ¥ as a gift and in the envelope there was two ¥2000 notes. I used one on the first day at a 711 in the machine and didnt think anything of it. I still have the other ¥2000 note, not one place would take it from me lol!
I appreciate Japan for what it is naturally, but I'm tired of these naive people who talk about its inhabitants as if they are absolute angels. I once met an arrogant Japanese girl who asked me to stop watching these videos, but I go where I want. she told me that reading my negative comments saddened her but I was telling the truth about her culture. what if we speak their language badly? she refused to admit that her compatriots have too many cultural flaws! these people have a problem with ego and hypocrisy.
Hello Chris, I'll just add, While Japan in the Sixties was opening up with the Bullet train, here in the UK, Dr Beeching was closing lines which were being ripped up. Now in the UK we're criticised for using our cars. I love the fact Japanese children still walk to school with their friends, people are polite and follow the rules I haven't seen littler outside a fast food shop, unlike in the UK. I'm looking forward to Japan opening up it borders soon.
A lot of people don't know that while obesity is very low in Japan, diabetes is actually pretty high, who knew that diets in blood spiking insulin carbs like rice and noodles isn't very good for you.
@@nesagwa it’s more likely that you have health problems if you are obese and have problems with weight, so you are literally wrong. Yes you can have problems with health if you are not obese, but isn’t it obvious?
@@Tennosoul Even in the video it literally talks about the rates of stomach cancer and other ailments being nearly double in Japan compared to other "fatter" countries. No. It is not obvious because it's false.
Excellent video, Gezza. I live in Thailand (for 8 years) and some of what you mentioned about "polite chatter" is true here too. Sometimes Thai people are too polite and don't express their true feelings perhaps because of culture or shyness similar to your Japanese experiences. This is problematic in all relationships at work, socially and in personal relations. But we continue to crack the code! Best wishes from Bangkok.
Japanese streets are not weird, just different. I live in Europe and I loved walking in Kyoto just to see the road signs are different, there are dispensers everywhere, there are lots and lots of electric wires in the air. The sewer plates are not from PAM and are sometimes colored. The architecture is different, the city streets layout is different... The air is not the same, it's hotter and wet. I'm not saying it's better, it's just different and when you take a flight for 12 hours you sure hope it will be different.
@@nanaholic01 its really just people from burgerstan that think those things, if anglos did not take over the world and have pax britannia and then pax americana, then the world would have a more diverse world view
@@NeostormXLMAX not true at all. Talk to some Japanese people and you would often find they thinks a lot of stuff westerners do are weird too. Fact is its human nature to fear the unknown and unfamiliar as we are creatures of habits.
Finally someone made a very honest video about Japan. Our family moved to Yokohama during COVID for a year. We had exact the same fantastic assumptions about Japan. Super healthy diet ,futuristic cities and etc…. We were very surprised when we actually lived there.
@@iii898iii no its not. It's like going back 10 years if you're traveling from a city like shenzhen or even shanghai. He talked about cash being used as a reason Japan is still lagging behind in technology. China literally spearheaded cashless payments. And funnily enough got some backlash from the western critics (until ofc they started doing the same thing) You can go anywhere with no cash in china even low income rural areas operate with mobile payments now. As for transport they literally have 2/3 of the entire world's high speed rail network. That's insane
While living and working in Japan I decided to go on a long adventurous hike. I walked from Ashikaga to Tokyo. People were very helpful and one woman even stopped her car and gave me an umbrella because of the hot sun that day. Beautiful people Beautiful place.❤️🇯🇵🇨🇦
Hey Chris. I just found your channel yesterday and I’ve watched a bunch of your videos. Bloody brilliant! I’m a British expat living in Canada and making my first trip to Japan at the end of October. I’m 43 and have been wanting to visit since I was around 17! Your videos have been really helpful and informative. You’ve told me things I never even thought about. Hopefully I’ll run into you on the street and can buy you a beer or two.
When I went to Japan for the first time, I was pretty amazed by how different it was from what I was thinking. But still, it was a fantastic trip, and I can't wait to return to Japan.
NOTIFICATION SQUAD: Which of these FOUR do you think is the biggest lie about Japan?! And WHAT did I miss? Let me know below. Now if you don't mind me, I must get back to my flying car.
Also, the video starts at 27:29.
DeeZ
No tengo
Literally just listening to the latest episode of the podcast!! And now a new vid! Aaaaa what a day 😁
no catgirl wives
Chris pls like this comment and make my day......👍
Unequivocally the flying car set was worth building, Chris, that looked incredible.
This needs to be pinned or at least faved by chis
My first - and immediate - thought as well. Looked a lot more than the sum of its parts.
You're right, is really well made for something that wasn't made out of much.
Kinda want a full flying car episode. What could it be about though?
The first part of the video is just honestly good freaking edit top tier!!!
That flying car effect was so cool! The fact that Chris was able to figure out to make that practical effect look so amazing just shows how great of a film maker he is.
A lesson to be learned by the studios who've deserted practical effects for CGI.
I was about to comment that his CGI was on point. The lights projected unto him looked incredibly good.
I was also thinking there must have been a lot of work put into that! Would take me ages to setup a scene like that. Honestly i thought he was in a gaming hall where they have these fancy car games you sit inside and so on..
@@paulaseabee8442 Dude, there are some things you cant do practical, Not only that CGI is highly customizable and easy to change in shots...
A lesson to be learned by studios is to use Practical for simple scenes/plausible Scenes and CGI for impossible stuff for the real world. While i do agree that They do use CGI when its not needed.
I especially liked the futuristic glasses. Nice touch.
I once asked a train conductor whether I was about to board the right train, 5 minutes before the train was about to leave. It was not the right train, so to my horror the conductor got off the train, grabbed my hand and RAN a few platforms over to get me on the right train. I could have easily waited for the next train but no, I had now single handedly delayed a train in Japan. I truly hope the guy got to keep his job😅
Dang he's so dedicated
Exceptional. Probably since it would take much longer to explain where to go he did that. By the way anyone that delays a train or bus will get a huge fine. Be careful.
@@kyotoben610 Well, there's a difference between deliberately delaying and this - it's not like I asked him to take me anywhere😅 Literally just asked "This is the Biwako line, right?" in Japanese and all this happened even if I tried to tell him multiple times it's okay and I don't need help!😅
Hero orgin story lol
🎉🎉🎉
I am Japanese. For those who want to come to Japan and make friends with Japanese people, or those who are lamenting that they can't make Japanese friends after living in Japan. In Japan, business connections rarely develop into friendships. Even among Japanese people, it is difficult to make friends once they become working adults. However, there is an easy way for those who want to get friends. It is to belong to a circle of hobbies. Surfing, motorcycle touring, diving, billiards, shogi, chess, fishing, cooking, tea ceremony, kimono, anything is ok. If you want to understand the essence of Japan, I think the fastest way is to make friends with Japanese people.
It's funny, i always think how much Tokyo and Berlin have in common, weird as that may seem, and this is one of those. a lot of people (me including) have a lot of trouble just connecting with people, but i always meet new people/make new connections when i go Bouldering, it's truly the hobbies where they let their guard down haha. (also, germany loves faxes, cash money etc)
Making friends as adults in the US is pretty much the same. It's hard for people to know how to make friends as adults beyond simply showing up to the same classroom and seeing the same people. A lot of hobbies do not require showing up in person for, but these groups exist to make friends with people who share some common ground. MeetUp is pretty much the only app that facilitates meeting this way.
No different anywhere
I think every place has the same difficulty, it's just a little even-more-closed-off for Japan. But given I've met like 99% of my friends through my hobbies... yeah that's just a generally good strategy.
I think this is actually pretty widespread. Work friendships are nice, but not really all that common, and really fairly superficial. You may go to lunch together or out for a few drinks after work, but that's about it. Your non-work lives are usually completely separate, and such friendships rarely survive if you change jobs, even if you're with an employer for many years.
Now I understand why it took quite a while to see new content, not just your UK trip, but damn, that new episode looks good. But please Chris. Never forget that most watching you are fully happy with usual regular production too. I’ve seen many UA-camrs just stopping entirely after they worked too damn hard. Don’t fall out of love with it! 🙂☺️
Thanks for the kind words! In hindsight this would have been two maybe even three videos. For some reason I stuck them all together into a longer video hence the longer than average production time!
@@AbroadinJapan By the way, I binge listened to the Abroad in Japan podcast while I travelled from Montreal to Indianapolis. A loooong drive. I was glad you and Pete “joined me” on that trip. Made it heaps easier.
Yes, this is the type of content we do like watching, great video. 👏👏👏
I just think he's hit a stride with his overall production. Kinda reminds me of Alton Brown's Good Eats, but for Japan.
@@AbroadinJapan I don't remember which video you said that you would like to improve on something for every video, and I think you accomplish that. It's impressive and inspiring.
I asked an old man in Tokyo if he could help me find my way back to Yokosuka (very common question on the east coast where the Navy base is). I figured he'd point me on my way, but instead he got on the train with me and traveled the hour ride to make sure I got back safe. I'll never be able to thank him enough! It was definitely a shock finding out how ridiculously polite people could be. (Not to say I didn't also experience, anti gaijin sentiment/ general rudeness.)
I asked one businessman near Tokyo for assistance one late evening. I was not fluent in Japanese nor did he speak any English. In my broken Japanese I expressed what I was looking for. He walked with me for 1.5 hours until we found the right place. I was exhausted but all I could think was how he was walking with me instead of heading home. When we found the right place, he waved me off and he went to the eki. I was overwhelmed with so much gratitude. I learned a lot about kindness and mutual respect that evening.
I've also experienced rudeness while I was in Japan but for the most part I experienced more kind acts than in other places I've been to.
@@GD-cs1zk Why do you automatically presume he/she's white?
Wow that is amazing how sweet and kind of him.
@@GD-cs1zk 🥱🙄
@@PM-fs2eg he is a leftist
I'm glad Natsuki is classified as "Not playing by the book". He is an absolute legend.
I lost it at the "go fuck yourself". lol
Where is he?
@@MrKodachii living his best life; where are you, bro?
@@ExcessCongruence dang...
I mean, he is the one who helped give us the hit iTunes-charting song "Too Much Volcano."
As a tourist the politeness is fantastic to experience. During one of our visits, my wife and I were wandering around a cold and wintery night in Hakone, trying to find a restaurant to eat. We had no idea where we were going. It was dark. Then suddenly a van pulled up beside us as we stood looking lost. The door opened and a kind mature man asked us if we were looking for food. to which we said yes!. He gestured us to get in the van and told us he would take us to a place to get food. We were desperately hungry and hesitantly got in the van. He took us to this very homely little restaurant and we had an incredible meal.
that story could have taken a harrowing turn depending on the last sentence😂
@@JujFuj I wouldn't follow through this this in any other country. Also the fact that it was in Hakone (tourist trap) gave us confidence in where this would go.
There's nothing unique to Japan about your story though. In the UK when I was younger and wandering around the middle of a town looking for my parents, a man in a van pulled up and offered to help find them with me, said he had some ice cream as well, so I got in. And do you know what? Even though I never actually found my parents again, the man let me stay in his basement which Ive been doing for years now, and he goes to the trouble of padlocking it at night to protect me from anyone that might try to break in. So there are decent people in every country!
Sounds like a terrible decision and you were extremely lucky.
@@Dinkolish Nope. Don’t be so afraid of the world. Movies and tv are not a good representation of it.
I personally probably wouldn't have gotten in a car like that, but statistically, it's far less dangerous than our media-riddled minds would lead us to believe.
As a Brit the trains do make me incredibly jealous of Japan, here you're lucky if it arrives at all nevermind on time
I remember one time on the train here I overheard an American (an American!) complaining about how slow our trains were
Americans don't usually use trains, and when we do, they keep relatively strict timelines. Sort of like planes.
Unfortunately the UK is pretty shit when it comes to public transport (more "reliable" in the south, but it's still expensive). I'm taking a plane from the UK to Prague in September, it literally costs less than a train from the midlands (Cheshire/Liverpool/Manchester) to London
There's so many foreigners in Germany who came and expected perfect efficiency... and then they encountered German rail.
Better than in the UK, but just barely.
Oh verified account
Glad to have Chris back. You can really tell how refresh he is since his trip to UK.
@@agenthippo UK people really suffer under American diets --- they need that sausage, tea, and cheese to recuperate LOL
I feel like having experienced British culture again gave him something to bounce off, I can imagine being in Japan for three years straight makes it harder to see the contrast with other societies
@@agenthippo hahaha, no, I'm fully aware he's British, but I can imagine experiencing the culture you're from helps bring perspective to what ways japanese culture contrasts with it
Refilled with sarcastic pessimism. "Lived in shoe box in middle O road"
The first time I got paid in Japan freaked me out-- I got a giant envelope full of cash, as though I'd just assissinated someone instead of... repeating English phrases to junior high students.
If people got paid like that in the US, there would be a crime wave every payday. Heck, in some states even the cops are allowed to steal your money if you carry cash.
I hateee the insane aversion to cash we have in much of the US. Lots of nosey Karens dont like people having cash. Luckily where i live cash is quite common.
@@Primalxbeast That’s every place in the US. It’s called “Civil Asset Forfeiture”. Basically, if a police officer thinks something you have is in any way related to the commission of any crime they can take it with basically 0 evidence. Also good luck getting it back, because you go in front of a judge who can just say “no” and that’s it. People have lost 10’s of thousands of dollars after being charged with nothing and never gotten it back. Americas great though right? Haha yeah it’s great….
@@Yomom12388 Laws vary from state to state, I think it's easier for them to do that in some states than others. All states have civil asset forfeiture, but some may be less likely to take money from people who haven't committed crimes.
@@mind-of-neo Why? I'm not really sure what the benefit is of cash over cards, quite frankly, unless you're very paranoid about banks or do a lot of crimes. Also not sure where "nosy Karens" come in, I've literally never heard anyone comment on whether or not someone uses cash, unless a business specifically says "no cash" or "cash only."
I got off a JR train at Shin-Yokohama. The train in the opposite direction was on fire with smoke and flames coming from underneath. All the doors were open, but no-one was getting off. Curious I stuck around. The fire service arrived and tackled the fire, all with the train completely full of people playing with their phones. No drama, completely cool with standing in a burning train. A few minutes later, the fire was out and the train carried on to the next station. Now that's some industrial grade stoicism.
That's pretty metal!
"Sir, the train is on fire!"
"Listen kid, I'm headed for a 12 hour shift, give me a break!"
@@drowningmerman4256 😂
this is hilarious!!!!
In my opinion, Natsuki is the biggest gift Japan has ever given to Chris. He's like that eccentric character in every anime show that's used for comedic relief, and in Chris' vlogs, he makes every episode a hell of a lot better. If every foreigner had a Japanese friend like that, nobody would ever feel lonely in Japan.
if every japanese person was like Natsuki, i would move to Japan too! :D
He is literally playing a character and Chris is the director. LMAOOOO
Natsuki is awesome!
You win the comment section.
Wonderfully put, man's a legend
Regarding the "finding friends in Japan"
I've always wondered if Chris just attracts weird people but with this explanation it might be that the only ones willing to open up to a foreigner in japan is someone offbeat and unusual.
I always assumed many of the Japanese people I have met in the US that moved here, moved because they were offbeat and unusual to t heir culture.
@@justinmegibben4909 Most people who move away from their country of origin tend to be a bit unique. Most people never think the thought of leaving their birth country. Some because of culture or nationality, others because of their economical situation.
He did say that the only sort of japanese friends he could make were the maverick kind, and the ones that embrace western thinking and culture the most
Yeah they are normally very stuck up and racist in Japan. It's the open minded folk that aren't.
That's the best kind of people either way!
I've lived in Japan for almost three years, and can confirm the issue with obtaining real Japanese friends. I have two, and I think the only reason we are friends, is because both of them studied overseas and embraced Western relationship culture. They both get really excited when they tell you their actual opinion, and not hold anything back.
I think Natsuki also has a fascination with certain parts of western culture and he does was able to become friends with Chris
I will be a devil's advocate.
You've gotta consider that you're coming as a foreigner and trying to put your same expectations to them. So because you don't 合わない it feels like an issue. Japan as any other country has got a range of all. There's those curious and outgoing folks, there's the quiet and private, and whatever other mixes in between.
/Most/ folks' friends seem to be those who were part of their immediate environment. Such as classmates, coworkers, etc., Consider that people get grouped together such as when people start a job, and how 何年目の社会人 gets given relevance here. And without adding more, that's just how it is here, and whether they like it because it's the 当たり前 way to be, or because they don't know better, it's certainly not up to foreigners to suddenly (perhaps even unconsciously) impose their values on an already established culture.
That's not to say that there aren't niches of folks here, and most foreigners mix better with those niche folks, so as with everywhere else you've just gotta look for like-minded folks. In a culture that's obviously different to the ones foreigners come here from, it's not hard to imagine how the odds to find such folks may be smaller.
So find your niche of folks and don't expect to be a sudden change in a new environment as you wouldn't be either anywhere else
Edit: 社会人
Lived for 5..only hv 1..reason is..she need to practice english
I have to disagree, when I was living in Japan it was quite easy to make friends, friends that I still interact with even though it has been over a decade since I left. I simply believe it is where you are in Japan that matters. I found it near impossible in large cities to make any Japanese friends (only 2 of my Japanese friends came from a larger city Sendai), but since I mostly lived in a smaller, more rural area it was easier to interact on personal levels that let me make long lasting friends.
i think this is not necessarily a japanese issue. generally if you come to any country as a foreigner, there will be a "wall" between you and its inhabitants until they are able to recognize that you have a good grasp of how things work there socially, which means that they will stop having to tiptoe around you and finally have genuine interactions.
not to mention there are the basic prerequisites of friendship, even between two locals i.e. similar interests and stuff, so without breaking through the first "wall" there's no way you will even see the second one. some people from some countries will claim that their locals are "frank" or "direct" compared to other countries but in my experience it is generally the same thing. there is a wall, but only the general attitudes on that superficial level beyond the "wall" vary.
"Politeness and friendliness are two differents things",
"High uncertainty avoidance"
You resume very well what my experience in Japan is, Chris.
I spend the last 10 winters (5 months each time) in Hokkaido as a ski and snowboard guide/teacher. If I compare to the others 6 countries I've lived and worked in I must say my Japanese friends are nice and funny until I need them to help me with something a bit demanding or challenging. Then they are like: " I could but....." and you realize that you more one your own that you woud think
To my knowledge (and I am in no way an expert!) I’ve heard there’s some pretty prevalent “independent/do it yourself” sort of it concept in Japan. People are seen as needing to be self-sufficient, or they’re failures. There’s also less of a giving/charitable culture there. This all culminates into being a sort of strange mindset to foriegners. To us, not giving help when asked or it’s obvious is rude, but to them, it seems that asking for help outside of family is imposing, in a way. It’s interesting, but I also could never see myself being able to live there for that reason, haha. I would say I’m an independent person, but I already have anxiety about asking for help when needed, and that would simply compound it.
The complete opposite of Scandinavia where people are seemingly cold, but will help you with demanding/challenging stuff.
@@scullyy I don't know if it's a Finnish cultural or personal trait, but for me helping people is just a nice and natural way to spend time with people.
Chris really outdid himself with the production value huh? What some imagination, projectors and editing can do, magical!
Chris can you believe how far you’ve come?
I remember watching you all the way back when you made that McDonalds fries video (Something about chocolate on fries) and now you’re in a flying car with a robot!
How time flies.
(But seriously, you really deserve all your success Chris, your videos never cease to keep on improving. Thanks for all the great videos over the years. I wish you even more success!)
Many thanks for the kind words! It's taken 10 years to save up to buy this flying car, but purchasing it has been a worthwhile endeavour indeed.
:-)
@@AbroadinJapan a reply from Mr Affable himself 😃
Well said
@@AbroadinJapan can’t wait til we get that flying road infrastructure back home in the uk!
Yeah I experienced the politeness vs. friendliness thing myself.
In larger cities everyone was very nice to me, at least on surface level. (Maybe aside for a few "Oh sorry I don't speak English" responses, when I tried to speak, admittedly broken, but still Japanese)
But in a smaller town I went to for sight seeing purposes, when I tried to enter a restaurant I was politely stopped and a sign saying something "come back in 30 minutes" has been put right in front of me. I thought it was kinda strange, and I peeked inside and it didn't seem like they were full or anything. But I also wasn't in a rush so I just took the 30 minutes to shop and stroll around and came back to this same restaurant. Sign was gone, I saw other people come in, but the moment I tried to enter they, again, apologized and put the sign up. That was the "Oh" moment when I realized the sign was specifically for me, because I was a gaijin. It stung a little because I was really trying my best to follow all the customs I knew, be polite and speak Japanese to the best of my ability. Anyway, I just went to another restaurant in the same town and they were super nice to me, and they complimented my shitty Japanese a lot haha.
This would be completely illegal all over the European Union. Besides, I don't find "polite" to lie about the reason for refusal. A sign "Foreigners and dogs are not allowed" would have been more honest.
that's the most passive aggressive thing ever
Yeah next time just throw your Pokeball at them racists.
How did you know it was because you were "gaijin" that they refused you? It probably was, but you never know, it could've been things like having a tattoo or a nose ring, etc.
@@clubeyxander5132 Or a Yakuza front that didn't want randoms walking in...
These are all such good points to bring up, I always find myself thinking this all the time especially the food and the technology points. People sometimes really have no idea. What I'm almost more interested in though is that flying car set. I actually couldn't believe that was practical and not CGI. It honestly looked like a professionally rendered scene put onto a greenscreen. It's almost confusing how good it was.
homie saw it himself when he noclipped there
Where does that car fit in the half life 2 speedrun ?
i love how i see you in alot of the channels comments that i watch
CGI is supposed to be undetectable and so usually it should be bad if you can detect it. However, the look he was going for is "bad CGI" and he did it without CGI. It's truly a well crafted good "bad CGI" practical effect
Teach Chris how to bhop.
When Chris brought out the sushi board, I thought it was fake food like his other fake food items in the studio, so when he popped the nori roll in his mouth...I almost had a heart attack.
Same here, but I thought he just really committed to the bit.
Honestly I'm still not sure it wasn't fake.
The crunching sound effect definitely added to it.
I think most of the items on the board were fake but not the sushi
I should have followed it up by devouring the plastic ramen 😅
Another misconception I had before going to Japan is how busy the big cities actually are: in Western media they keep showing over and over the same clips of Shibuya, Akibahara, Shinjuku or a few other hotspots like that overflowing with people, but in reality I realized after having walked around a lot, the vast majority of Tokyo and Osaka are actually very quiet.
When did you go? I haven't been to Osaka, but when I went to Tokyo, it was as crowded as I had seen in clips.
I remember taking a train to Odaiba, and the train was stacked exactly how you see in movies. Everyone was bunched up together with almost no room to move. Shinjuku, Asakusa, Shibuya, Akihabara, they were all very crowded.
It didn't take away from the experience, since I was expecting it, and plus Tokyo is just awesome in general and worth every cent to visit. But it definitely was a very busy place when I went.
Presumably it's the Covid normal. My experience around 5 years ago was the Tokyo metro at noon was my home city's rush hour! It is true most of the residential and back streets are fairly quiet (which you end up walking alot if your hotel/Airbnb isn't in a major area). So a bit ambiguous if experiencing that would've bettered your visit haha.
@@nit0134 Personally I can relate to OP, but that's because it really depends on the time of day that you're in these areas.
Trains in Osaka and Tokyo were understandably stacked in the mornings and evenings, but throughout the day you definitely had room to sit down and spread out a bit if travelling across town. I remember getting up late one day and training over to Harajuku, it was super chill and more comparable to public transport in a much smaller city, no sardining at all.
I also remember wandering around the streets of Asakusa (after visiting Senso-ji in the midday/afternoon, which was definitely populated) where it was definitely not all hustle and bustle. The streets were pretty sparse and traffic was pretty low to average, but they were also more normal neighbourhood streets. There certainly are chill parts of these cities.
I was pretty lucky that I had enough time in Japan to see different sides of it though.
@@namename2215 Nah. It really is that Japan is misrepresented by Western media. Japanese people value peace, nature (outside of Tokyo due to necessity), and leaving each other alone. Of course COVID exacerbated it, but it's always been like that.
Absolutely. On a 3 week trip to Japan in 2019, my girlfriend and I stayed in Tokyo at the start and end of our trip for a few days - in the heart of the city not far from the central train station. We were amazed to be able to walk around in the afternoon and evening and even cross main streets and it was relatively quiet and very civilised.
I was in Japan back in 1999. It was cool to see tiny cell phones, mini CD's, and Dance Dance Revolution. Now it's like, what happened?
Sometimes when I watch Abroad in Japan I forget that I’m watching UA-cam and think I’m watching the travel channel or something just because it’s so good. Editing, sound, picture quality, and the content itself is great.
When we were hiking in kyoto area there was a small section of the hike that went past a small group of houses. One local scowled at us and in japanese grumbled about foreigners in their area in japanes, but then on our way back a different small group of women in the neighborhood waved to us and said hello as we passed. I think all countries have both stark groups. We also had a business man in a reserved seat train get up and move and scowl at us. Then explained to the conductor that he changed seats because he didn't want to be next to us. On that same train ride an older women chatted with us in japanese about her grandson that was our age. You get both very polite and grumpy people.
That moving away from a seat next to foreigners happens waaaaay more often, that it can be put under the faked politeness of Japanese…
I watched this video on Japanese culture that people are expected to stay absolutely quiet on their train ride. By any chance, were you guys chatting, or eating something on the train? You may eat in train, but I heard that Japanese prefer people to eat non-smelly foods, like bento they sell on train stations or simple snacks. Breaking any of these rules could offend a Japanese in the video I watched.
@@sado429 There are just some grumpy ones. Been to Japan several times and I've met my share of the nice and grumpy ones. On a Osaka-Fukuoka bullet train, I opened my breakfast sandwich that I bought from the station and I guess the plastic wrapper was a little noisy and this business man sitting in front of me turned around and stared at me as if to say you're bothering me. I didn't care and ate my sandwich. Mind you, the man next to me didn't bat an eyelid. Another time, I took a local train to get to Peace Park in Nagasaki and this elderly woman that I sat next to made a production of sliding her folded umbrella between us. I didn't say nor did anything, because I could've embarrassed her big time if I had gotten up and made a production of dusting my clothes. I noticed though that the woman sitting across from saw the whole thing and she looked embarrassed. I have several incidents that happened to me whist traveling in Japan, but I also have many stories of people going out of their way to help me.
You can eat in the Shinkansen/bullet train, but not in the commuter trains.
@@peko7446 Oh that's right! It's only in Shinkansen train you can eat right? And that's super rude that the old dude in front of you turned around and glared at you. Sandwich is one of those non-smelling foods which shouldn't bother anyone, but I guess he was just an a$$. I heard that older Japanese folks might dislike tourists because they think foreigners don't follow the local rules and make their town dirty or something. At the same time, Japan profits big time from tourism, so being hostile toward tourist for no justifiable reason will only be their loss
What you have to remember is the way the country bounced back even after two atom bombs.
"it's essential to differentiate between politeness and friendliness". I wish more people would understand the difference.
I remember being stunned by seeing all the old technology still used in Japan the first time i visited in 2015. Was indeed expecting super hi tech all round. Yet it’s a wonderful country!
Like what?
The observations about politeness and friendliness was spot-on. I've been in Japan for about 4 years and haven't made a single real Japanese friend. It can be very frustrating.
As a European.. I've friends who moved to my neighbour country, those friends are the most easy-going people you can imagine, and they gave up and moved back when none of them had managed to make a single friend after a year. Which matches with what others have said as well - nice and friendly, but if you want to know someone you have to know them already! From before!. In other words, this phenomenon is something that can be found in various places in the world. I do have friends in Japan, but that's because they are friends of friends and *that's* how you get new friends. And that's pretty universal, everywhere really.
People in today's age have issues making friends in their own countries, let alone other countries. Its something that you must seek out these days, it doesn't just fall into our laps like it did in the past so much.
@@eewweeppkk i would believe most "friends' are online nowadays via phone
Yep common all over the world though. Scandinavia can be particularly bad about this. Make your friends in school, you probably won't make new ones after that.
Making friends after adulthood is hard no matter where you are. Like people in the US may be some of the friendliest in the world but that doesn't mean it is easy to become friends with them. It is even harder if you don't speak the language at a native level. That said, if you want to make friends you have to work at it. And if you haven't made a real Japanese friend in 4 years, I think it is 99% likely that is your fault because you have not put in the appropriate effort.
Taking production quality to another level, yet again
Yeah but it will never be as impressive as the bed unfolding on the first video
@@rangokfunkazuul8344 😂 that truly is the bench mark. Unbeatable
I met a guy in the JET program when I was visiting a few years back and he said "Japan is the land of contridictions", as we walked in to a 1300 year old Shrine, with a giant electronic billboard out the front. It's probably the best description of Japan I've ever heard, and only gets more true they more I learn about Japan.
Here's my list of contridictions:
- Heaps of shines and temples, most people practicing traditions - majority identify irreligous (or "mushūkyō").
- Fancy heated robot toilets - but also traditional squat toilets, and no way to dry your hands in most bathrooms.
- Super beautiful villages, lots of nature everywhere - Huge mega metropolises
- Lots of vegetarian food - but basically nothing vegan.
- Gambling is illegal - Pachinko and Gacha is everywhere.
- Famous electronics brands - heaps old phones and consoles, and terrible websites.
- High international demand for Japanese products - Businesses prefer to operate domestically.
- Innovative assembly line practices - incredibly bureaucratic paper filled offices.
- Culture of working hard encourages excessive working hours - leading to low productivity.
- Problems dealing with waste due to limited space - Everything has excessive amounts of packaging.
- Super polite and helpful - Judgemental of differences. Difficult to find a job or house without being Japanese.
- Children independant from a very young age - pressured to study constantly, and participate in after school activities.
- Convenient vending machines, konbini, restaurants, public transport - Inconvenient anything government related, lots of paperwork, personal seals.
No electronic payment...... but how do you pay for stuff?
Where I rent doesn't even accept cash, you can only do electronic payments, maybe checks....
The last time I paid anything was when I was 18 and paying stuff for my parents with their cash/card.
Add this one.
Kids are very polite and respectful - no i saw kids bullying other kids its heartbreaking.
Come on about toilets it isn’t fair, most Asian countries have them and only out of city
While it is true that 87% of Japanese are atheists - technically Buddhism and Shinto are atheist religions. They don't believe in a God or Gods. They believe in a way of life (Buddhism) and spirits (Shinto). There is no creator(s) and no beginning and end to life as most western religions believe. So you can't just classify Japanese by western standards of what it means to be an atheist. They believe in something, that belief is just not a God.
@@quatro2732 kids of all races bully other kids it’s not like it’s exclusively a japanese thing
I'm reminded of the time we asked a shop lady in Nakagawa up in Hokkaido for directions to a camp site we were looking for. She was so aghast at the idea that we would walk so far, and made her son drive us there in their pickup truck (it was almost a 15 minute drive). But you're right about the difference between being nice and being polite/hospitable, and I only had maybe 2 Japanese people I really felt I was close to, at all, when living there.
Talking about “old” technology; Japan is one of the few countries where CD and DVD sales are still higher than streaming revenues. All to protect the income of their artists. That is actually not a bad thing. Streaming killed the income for many artists elsewhere, who are now dependent on touring and merchandise.
So true! A lot of concerts in Japan don't allow photography of any kind - so if you want a memento, you have to buy merch from the artist.
And if you do record a concert you get comments telling you "your being disrespectful! take the video down" which would like n e v e r happen anywhere else
@@slyderace i thought streaming helped a lot of artists especially in music, where they were bled dry by label companies.
Physical media means there are still huge music stores like Tower Records in Shibuya. Although things are sadly changing and the largest Tower branch in Osaka recently closed down.
I know several Japanese musicians and they would not be able to do their work without physical media sales.
@@retired-s5h from what I understand, the main issue is the miniscule pay per stream on the most popular platforms:
Apple music: $0.01 per stream
Amazon music: $0.004
Spotify: $0.0033
UA-cam music: $0.008
The polite vs friendly concept was such a great illustration! I never thought about it that way. Amazing insight
I'm from Finland, the promised land of black sense of humour and (sometimes brutally) honest culture, yet somehow I've made some really good Japanese friends. I must say it was difficult at times. I felt very frustrated because I couldn't understand their little nuances or honne/tatemae culture, and they probably thought I was a barbaric caveman for not following the "etiquette". Now that we've been buddies for a while I'm shocked how roasty little villains they can be lol
Wow!!!
Interesting point on Finland. I’m from Poland and I think we kinda see Finish people as quiet, polite and not very social like. I’d never thought you are the land of black sense of humor. Now you really got me interested :D
Also its funny how many misconceptions people have about other countries and cultures. This, for me, makes it even more important to get to know others. We’d be all in much better space if we just grab a drink with our “biggest enemies” and figure out that despite some differences, we’re not that different after all.
I'm from Finland too and I have managed to make way more true and real friends in Japan than I ever did in Finland. And far quicker than I expected. I feel like the honne/tatemae thing too is pretty Finnish thing (at least when you grow up in the countryside) in itself so that has not given me too many problems, mainly I have sometimes panicked and over-reacted, that "shit, was this one of those situations and was I rude without realizing it!?" and when I go to apologize my friends laugh at me and tell me it was nothing like it and everything is fine. "そこまでに日本人にならなくてもいいでしょ！" 笑
Only one advice to anyone; Learn Japanese. Not even for the sake of "making friends" or any other goal, but for the sake of everything in your life. I don't have many foreigners for friends besides few people I really like, but mostly what I have seen them do is just hang around in their own groups and be loud in foreign. I'd imagine that might stand in the way of getting to know people around you, but I don't really understand humans too much anyhow, which is why Japan suites me perfectly I guess.
@@SumaSummarum While usually quiet, most Finns are brutally honest when they decide to open their mouth. The stereotype I've heard is that Finns are seen as rude as they don't partake in small talk and don't sugarcoat too much.
Naturally, as a Finn myself, I see the lack of small talk with strangers and generous personal space sizes as politeness. It might just be that depending on your own culture Finns are seen as either rude or polite.
As Finnish I feel that Japanese way to get familar to someone else feels very familar and I think it is in the same way also in Finnish culture. I think most friends come from school or working life or some kind of hobby where you have longer time to get familiar with someone else.
I think westerners think Japanese are very robotic and cold, which is a huge misconception from what I noticed. While work hours are very focused on order and efficiency in the streets, most shops close early and the locals let loose and enjoy themselves. I especially noticed this in Kyoto
My impression is that they’re just paralyzed by anxiety. Any time I needed help or interacted with anyone, that dropped and they really opened up.
The Kansai region is generally seen as more loose and friendly in comparison to Kanto
It's also because Western culture values extroverts over introverts. So even in the US, if you're more reserved, and soft spoken, people can think of you as cold there too
@@ADragonNerd I am a bit of both an introvert and and Extrovert. (Note: I am diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome which is part of the Autism spectrum) I can be a bit uncertain at first with people, but once I find a connection I open up all the way.
Going out to drink with colleagues is an expected part of the culture even if they don't want to. Also as mentioned being under the influence calms their anxiety
The last point is so true! Politeness/hospitality is NOT the same as friendliness! People can be superficially nice to you and smile but if you try to know them on a personal level, you quickly realize they don't really care. Korean society has the same thing. Yes, Korean people are very polite and hospitable, but they don't care about having any meaningful relationships outside of their close-knit group.
Funnily enough Sweden has a very similar culture people will be nice to you but will for the most part try to keep to themselves unless drunk. A great story has to be about how this one Swedish guy working with my dad would work overtime everyday when asked why he said that there's nothing at home and most people will not talk to you and the only time you could interact and have fun was when you were drunk.
I've said the same thing even about Midwest in the US. Very hospitable people, will give you a meal, a ride and the shirt off their back. But they're very closed off to change and opening up to their true selves. Very, very true that there is a difference between hospitality and true friendliness.
All societies have the same thing. But I will always prefer mutual respect and manners, compared to the opposite, even if there is no bond going to be created, which in all of your life is rarely on a substantial level for the majority of people you get to know.
But yeah, there are cultures who are more likely to be friendly and open in heart and mind.
Though I seem to find these folks always in the countryside and rarely in any more crowded areas. Individuals who live within the city are more unlikely to be friendly and respectful, depending on the situation.
People going to get mad when I'm saying this but - I do think there are a thing with especially Americans coming to either Europe or japan and they expect/demand this "experience" where the local population should pander to them so they can fulfill some sort of instagram friendly dream they they made up in their head before traveling. The reality is that most people that they meet are not on vacation and are not especially excited to show this loud American "the secret spots of their city" - I'ts just another tourist.
@@abdiabdi3225 The Swedish guy your dad worked with where probably just depressed.
i’ve been here for 15 years. you nailed it. especially the whole “Japan is so futuristic!”yes, there is plenty of cool and “futuristic “ stuff here but also a lot, unfortunately mostly in business , that is so old and out of date it takes forever to do anything.
It's not "futuristic" but it's also true there are many technologies and fields Japan leads and has a big share in market even if it's not visible in daily life.
Everytime I have to send a damn fax to a Japanese company, I curse them, their company, and their ancestors
@@LIIIIIFE
You visited
@@v.d.2738
You visited sir
So this is why there are so many "filing for anything is a nightmare" stories? I was just watching stories of people buying akiya in Japan and struggling enormously with the legal and clerical side of things.
I think this is the best "Lies about Japan" video I've ever seen. And, these food chains really need to hire you to write their ads Chris. I was really hankering for some Japanese food after hearing about all the "healthy" Japanese food.
I’m right there with you…”oh no this food would be so…terrible…for me, where can I get some right now??”
Honestly, the way you've been utilizing your set is amazing. You've come up with such unique ways to use the space. I feel like it's a different place in each video. Well done.
Can we all appreciate that "ramen shop next door" editing?? That was clean, looked great!
Politeness vs friendly, such a good observation. I've noticed the social hierarchy seems so ingrained in the culture that many "other-world" anime tend to keep it or make it even stronger. It's another world and still the authors can't imagine a society without the politeness and hierarchy.
Yeah I've always wondered if Japan's ingrained social etiquette is why there are so many anime/manga stories set in worlds where there are social classes and nobility who have to follow specific conduct. It's just a concept that is easy enough for them to convey while also throwing in cool fantasy tropes too for the Western flair.
I think that's similar to "Minnesota Nice".
@@ericswann1417 Yer spot on there bud, doncha know.
@@natefunk1 Love that I actually "heard" this Minnesota accent in my head. Love, a person with a Chicago accent.
To be fair like 99% of isekai is set in a pretty generic medieval fantasy world and extremely strict hierarchies are a central feature of feudalistic societies. Then again the fact that so much isekai feels like a carbon copy of all other isekai is its own problem.
Chris, I think this may be your magnum opus. The storytelling, the editing, the jokes... Very well made!
yes 🙃
Thanks
Thank YOU! 🙏
Considering the history of Japan overall, this really doesn't strike me as a weird list, especially when you look at the histories of all other cultures. Japan is one of the few, if not the only, cultures that has literally cut itself off from the outside at one point in time and they really cling to that. I find it fascinating how that manifests, even if sometimes it does so in bad ways.
It's true, Japan was an isolationist country not just for a little while, but for thousands of years. It really wasnt until the late 19th century that they started opening their doors to foreigners, and it wasnt until the early 20th century that they started adopting technology and modernizing. Its hard to forget that western countries have had this slow steady march towards modernization, whereas Japan did it in the last century or so.
I have to unfortunately go "Uhm, actually" on this one and make a few notes regarding the Kaikin policy. There is nothing to indicate that Japan was completely isolationist as far back as the Jomon period (in fact, there's evidence of exchange and cultural influence from the Korean peninsula in the late Jomon period). The general assumption is that a lot of knowledge regarding metallurgy and later writing in the Yayoi era also came through the Korean peninsula. The point where Japan really becomes isolationist (although that term should be taken with some reservation as, while foreign travel was strongly discouraged, private trade with the Chinese mainland and Korean peninsula was still kept up) is 1639 when the Kaikin policies start being enacted. This was primarily a result of the 1637-38 Shimabara rebellion and the role played by Catholic converts in rallying the populace against the Shimabara clan and seizing Hara castle. It's not like people had lots of freedom to travel before that (Hasekura Tsunenaga being a rare exception), but the seizing of a Daimyo's castle by, among others, Christian converts and the suspected Portuguese involvement was really the catalyst for maritime trade restrictions. Fun history tidbit: the reason the Dutch were allowed to maintain trade links was because they supplied a ship and two dozen modern guns to help bombard the castle, showing that my people have always been willing to commit brutalities and or war crimes if there was a business opportunity at the end of the line.
@@DiggingForFacts I see, like all things historical, there are multiple layers and it's more complex than you would think. Tbh, we learn global history in America, but the overall lesson was that Japan was basically off limits until about the 19th century. In retrospect, they may have meant from an American perspective that Japan was isolationist, even though they were trading and maintaining relationships with other Asian countries.
@@A_Lion_In_The_Sun You also have to remember after being Open to countries like Britain they closed there borders again and only opened them when America decided they can dictate what a country can and cannot do and forced them to open there borders again
@@mk_gamíng0609 That is the result of losing a war that they themselves started.
I read a story of someone who wrote a 30 line python code that automated employee check-ins, which they used to do manually. Naturally everyone loved it, except for the higher ups who approached the employee and criticized his attitude about 'not respecting the rules and attitudes that the elders set,' 'trying to stand out beyond his position' and 'placing too much trust on machines' and fired him, and reverted back to the old manual system where they had someone whose job during that time was literally to check people in.
What a nightmare.
Jesus that is horrible
I'm American and would agree with you on the baseline, but always doing what is most expedient does have an eroding effect on culture and social institutions --- the flip side to this, is that even under intense pressure from American globalism, Japan has remained a strong and vibrant culture that has a real sense of itself as Japanese (perhaps moreso than any other nation in a similar scenario).
you might say, well you can just automate the thing and still retain a strong sense of culture (and in this isolated example sure), but overall you have strong hierarchies like Japan which does enable them to bat way above their weight in many industries, and these strong hierarchies move slowly, or you flatten hierarchies like the west does (which can move faster but has its own host of problems, namely it becomes overtaken by bureaucracies and becomes increasingly hostile to greatness/merit).
I'd say the real nightmare is how routine automation of social interactions has lead to the dystopian present of most industrial consumers becoming increasingly isolated, and vulnerable to corporate mass media and general alienation.
@@chrisc7265 I think it should be pointed out here that America isn't interested in globalism as an economic system. Its interest is security. If you have been paying any attention at all you will have noticed that America is going the other way (governmentally). Right after WWII the U.S. basically made an offer to the world. We will patrol the worlds oceans and keep trade open and in exchange those countries would help contain the USSR. Things started to change right after the USSR fell and the U.S. is going to get more isolationist as time passes unless something changes here in the states. This is going to put even more pressure on our "Allies" as we stop trying to keep the peace world wide. Think about the U.S. position, we have Canada on one side and Mexico on the other (with Two very large oceans east and west) who are allies (well, in general anyway). We are capable of manufacturing what we need. We don't have the issues that say a European country does. Surrounded by other countries who may not be friendly and due to internal capabilities not have the resources to produce enough to be self sufficient. If our older politicians continue as we are now, things are going to get even more chaotic and destabilized.
People need their BS jobs in this economy...
Having lived in Japan for 22 years and now living in my western home country; I miss the food and I miss the onsen (hot spring) culture, And one thing Japan still does better than any country is service. You can see the service mentality in everything they do.
@awnx ruyv dunno where you live, but japan is quite hot, over 35-40°c in summer with high humidity, and they still have garden.
..but nature overthere is always green, high humidity no draught thanks to pacific air...
if they need fresh stuff they can hole inside their climatised place, or visit a climatised one, like shopping place, subway...
and if they have free time they also go near water, river everywhere, sea also...and theres fresh air too in foretst in mountain.
about the last aspect, the friendliness, Sora the troll (japanese youtuber that makes content in english) covers it: there's basically three factors that are at play here:
1.- Japanese people mostly keep to themselves while on the move: most Japanese people rarely talk to one another on the street unless they already had plans to get together, because they're laser focused on their task at hand, getting somewhere, go buy something, going to or back from work/home, so literally no time for chat.
2.- Japanese are actually pretty introvert: the major reason for why is hard to form friendships in japan is because unless the situation calls for, Japanese people hardly interact with each other, the only places that happens is at school or works in which is pretty mandatory to communicate with someone else, and THAT'S were most friendships are born over months or even years of pretty much forced interactions with your fellow students or workers/kohais/sempais, although the work aspect is also hard as most people keep it professional and just interact with you due to work so, students are the easiest way to form friendships.
3.- Free time is somewhat rare for the average japanese: Japanese culture is one based on work and study, students usually also partake on club activities after regular class hours, meaning they could be coming home at night, employees are the same, working until night time, therefore what little free time a japanese person can get is usually reserved for themselves (games, manga, tv shows/animes) or time with family or lovers, friends are the last person people think of when thinking how to spend free time.
Now this is not a mandatory rule, each person is different but are ruled by a common culture which pretty much operates like this, bottom line is unlikely (not impossible) that you will make a friend or find the japanese love of your life on a night out in japan, even if you dominate the language, as usually going out with friends is yet another thing Japanese people can do with weeks of anticipation, even if a japanese person calls you his/her friend you'd probably spend months without hanging out once.
As a Canadian, I take umbrage with your "slow news day" quip. In fact - a new stoplight was just installed and it's running on the national news as we speak. We also got a bowling alley last month. 😉
That's probably one of the most Canadian sentences I've ever read in my life. No offense :D
i profoundly disagree, my mom took a camera shoot of a falcon that day! We are still talking about it 3 months later, oh, and the weather that day was just perfect!!!
lol
;)
I'm actually surprised there's not a similar Paris Syndrome for Westerners after going to Japan. I found the interesting mix of old and new all around was cool, so I wasn't super shocked. It was fascinating. But I feel like a lot of anime fans are expecting just a densely packed place of oddities. I ended up liking it a lot more because it was more than the oddities everyone showed me. I learned a lot more from visiting than I did from videos.
Chris has reached the size that spammers think its time to put bots in his comment section *rolls eyes*.
I think there is but it's reversed with French people hahahahhaahah, I swear, no joke, I think both countries have a mutual appreciation for each other but when they experience the real thing for the first time there might be a lot of disappointment. But I have to say most Japanese nowadays, in my opinion, have gotten over the the fake fantasy of Paris and can now appreciate it for what it really is, one of the best French bistros I've ever been to in Paris was run by Japanese immigrants and my favorite UA-camrs on Paris stuff are Japanese
There is something similar, as someone who've lived there and still return every year, each time I bring some friends I witness it.
It's not quite the Paris syndrome, and is even closer to being the opposite. To make it short, most foreigners I know feel discomfort at having to go by the rules, and feeling like you need to do the extra effort when in public to be respectful and mindful of others makes them feel uneasy. Not saying that they're selfish pricks, but going to Japan is like living in a house full of rules with strangers, you can, sometimes feel like you're lacking freedom if you're not used to it. Most of my friends have said that was the main reason why they probably wouldn't be able to live there.
On a side note, most also feel uneasy about the culture of service and attention Japan has. Going in a shop and instantly getting approached by a vendor is something they're not used to. And when asked, most of the people from western country will say "I''d rather them leave me make my shopping alone, and if I need help I can ask" or something like that.
Probably because having that much attention and care is usually something reserved to the more wealthy in those same western countries. I mean, it's the same kind of un-easyness I can sense when they go to a gastronomical restaurant and have a waiter constantly taking care of them...
I personnaly went through the Paris syndrome, and even now, I still don't quite get the way western people live, not saying it's bad... it's just different.
@@malinaanaho paris is the trashcan of europe, going there is the worst place you can go. Only the architecture is still great. Its more like a fancy looking ghetto
I think this may in part be due to the way the country is set up. You don’t notice how much it falls below your expectations because everything is cheap, the public transit is absolutely ridiculous, only surpassed by Switzerland (and not in punctuality either), and there’s plenty of fun stuff to do if you’re down town or have a tourist book.
When you actually have to live in the country, you become much more apathetic and wary of the weeabo mindset, and you can’t help but roll your eyes when people praise it considering how it’s not nearly as advanced, clean, or respectful as one would hope. Granted, it has these qualities, but it is highly exaggerated overseas, and it primarily applies to highly developed urban areas. The same diversity of services and access in Tokyo isn’t available in the rest of the country like it is in most other developed places.
I’d be interested in a documentary about life in Japan, how people of different ages deal with life’s challenges. Most of the videos I’ve seen on UA-cam are about anime/manga, cuisine and travel.
Yes!
The more #Nihongo you learn, the more the true variety of #日本 Tube available..
Well, I’m admittedly not as entertaining as Chris, but I do make videos on a range of topics that you don’t see much in the ‘Japan vlogsphere’. Check some out if you’re interested. 🍻
I'd be interested to see Chris' take on the work-life balance. Maybe interview some people?
@@sarahwatts7152 #忙しすぎ
I know this sounds crazy but an unfortunate amount of financial businesses in Canada, USA, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK still use fax. Often for incredibly important things like the transfer of shares and account balances.
In Germany as well
Here in Germany you can transfer some things by fax and it is legally binding as signed and delivered as long as you have the transfer record. It is less of a hassle than working with courier services.
Why is it unfortunate? Wait until you learn how much healthcare is still run with fax.
This is what I've been trying to tell my friends. I worked with Japanese companies selling them spare parts.
Took them 3 days to re-issue their PO due to price change. Reason? Because their company must approve each purchase with physical signature (from dept head downwards). And this is just one example from one company.
chris you're the reason a lot of people want to go to japan/have gone to japan. thanks for always bringing your uniquely you style of story telling to the masses.
I gotta add to the misconception of japanese friendliness: bullying and humiliation are an uncomfortably common occurence in many places. You ever do something wrong, and you can bet your ass your neighbors and coworkers will never, ever let you live it down. And by wrong, I mean something THEY take offense to, not something that is inhenretly the wrong thing to do. Also, japanese politeness is deeply rooted in the hierachry of respect, which grants anyone who's been around for longer a certain superior "Senior" role. And if you talk back to or disagree with these seniors, you're pretty much on their shit list forever.
Even in entertainment (particularly "slice of life" animé/manga), there are many of these "gags" where the new guy in the office is pestered by his seniors to get them stuff, and to take over parts of their workload. And while it certainly doesn't get that playful and cheery in office jobs, the pressuring and exploitation of new employees is far more real than people might think. Additionally, working extra hours, while not explicitly required, is expected of you as a show of loyalty to the company. Now, this isn't the case everywhere, obviously, but it's still very much a problem Japan as a whole refuses to acknowledge, just like many mental issues running rampant (depression, burnout, social anxieties, hikkikomori, excessive escapism/otaku culture, gambling addiction).
After watching the serie "Tokyo Vice" I can´t imagine someone wanting to work for a Japanese company 😟
So what your saying is Japan is just like literally everywhere else on the planet.
no need to be so negative about us
@@cheezeofages i feel like Japanese mentality is a lot more close minded and not as willing to tackle these issues in an open manner. Definiteky a problem everywhere, but it’s a tabboo subject in Japan
@@superwatcher456 That's all good. If I know Japan, I know that eventually they will address this. For now, I am glad Japanese people are keeping all foreign influences away from the country.
I don't have problem making Japanese friends, but it's wrong to think everyone's friendly, like anywhere else. Polite unfriendliness is better than impolite.
The friendliness point I've heard about Swedish people too that people are quick to help people in need but extremely difficult to make friends with and if Japanese people has the same reason as Swedish people do then maybe this might help shed light to why that is. Swedes tend to take friendships with extreme loyalty and the friends we do have we usually met in school and as we become adults it's difficult enough to have the time to maintain the existing friendships that we aren't quick to make new ones if we can't see ourselves getting along for the next 30+ years since friendships end up being kinda like mini marriages. For that reason you better click on a meaningful level through some kind of common interest or something, like gamers are probably the fastest "make new friends" examples I can think of but the common interest can be anything. You can't just small talk your way into the friend circle, unless you are language exchange partners with equal interest in language learning or something. Oh, and be thoughtful af.
You just taught me something about the Swedes. Friendships with extreme loyalty. Sounds great. Thanks.
I feel attacked for some reason
I think this is kind of true for Japan as well! Many groups of people i have met here have been friends since they were students and they rarely go outside of that group. Even for sports teams that i have practiced with have all been playing together since high school and most of them are around 40 now. its a very interesting thing to see, but it can be hard for foreigners to make any type of true friends.
Exactly.
Ambi Cahira Very interesting. As a Swede I can agree and understand what you mean.
As a German, I find it interesting that there are quite a few similarities between both nations. While no one in their right minds would call German food healthy, we too are usually seen as a technological sophisticated country…when in reality, people overwhelmingly still pay cash and fax machines still rule the office.
Just like Japan Germany is a mechanical culture. And as such it has and will have difficulty progressing to Electronic and Information age. That will belong to China that is original information civilization.
I can think of one similarity...
@@SimFoxSim that's because it started perfectly at the time computers were first entering the scene. I mean heck a place like Somalia everyone uses their phone to pay nobody really use cash for anything even the random street vendor only accept payment through your phone.
At least in Germany, many more e-mails are used than fax machines.
@@ronanevans2678 LOL....that was 80 years ago.
Chris, I have an impression that this difficulty of making friends in Japan is also closely related to their club/circle culture.
Most of my wife's friends are just people she met in her musical circle during her college years.
This is correct
It is like that everywhere
I love that you clearly haven't lost your British sense of humour
I've recently moved back to Japan and I've had the experience of having someone draw me a map for directions, and boy it was an awkward one. One time, out of the blue, I got pinkeye and after going to the eye clinic I went to find a pharmacy to get my prescribed medicine. I tried one store that I thought could provide me my medicine, but it turned out I was wrong (ironically, it was a store called "American Drug"). The staff member I talked to called for another staff member. With a panicking voice that sounded like she was about to cry (because she probably have never dealt with a foreigner before), this other staff member drew me a map and even took me outside to point me in the right direction. The whole exchange was awkward. The language barrier really made communication tough (my Japanese still isn't the best). I tired asking yes or no questions and she couldn't even answer those properly. In the end, I tried to say sorry for being a bother and went my way. I tried another store where I eventually got my medicine.
Japanese people are generally nice. At first, it can be awkward, but being nice yourself and speaking Japanese will make things a lot better.
I'm Japanese, but I'd like to say that it is almost impossible in the city center of major cities that staffs panic and cry. It is more likely to happen with housewives and students who have never worked or in rural areas where never seen foreigners, though.
@@TT-kq9vr new employee maybe, it happens
you could've made it less "awkward" by getting your google translate out and typing what you meant on there.
you're in a non-english speaking country so it's up to you to accommodate them, not the other way round.
@@TT-kq9vr I don't live in the big city. I live in the countryside, a small town where the foreign population barely exists.
@@lowkeyconvert8971 I know I'm in a non-English speaking country. I wasn't speaking English at all in this situation. I was speaking Japanese the best I could.
I lived in Japan 10 years, from uni all the way to disgruntled English teacher. I was lucky enough to make life-long friends there, half of them were Japanese, and the other half were a collection of international mates from all around. I miss those days and look forward to the day I can go back to visit them all.
I've lived in Japan about 2 years now. The biggest lie I was told was how expensive everything is. Lodging is expensive... Food and transportation, are incredibly cheap compared to California or even most other US states. Even before the exchange rate went crazy I could take my family of 5 out to dinner for $30.00. Cant even get Mcdonalds that cheap in the states. I can get from Sagamihara to Tokyo for $5.00 the equivalent train ride would be $20 in California.
Almost anywhere in the world is incredibly cheep compared to California
my family of 5 can eat good meals for 3 days with $30 here. so yeah its expensive
Groceries are still cheaper in USA, not sure which country is cheapest.
@@arlekin1976 agreed
@@gshrdy5415 Really depends on where in the US you're talking about, but I do think as a whole, groceries in the US are cheaper
Making friends as an adult, especially as you approach middle age is not easy even here in America. As you get older and commit more time to your career and family, it leaves little time for other activities. With that little time left over people often invest in friends they already have. Although I have noticed at this age friendships can develop with the parents of the children your child is friends with since you may seem them regularly. All in all, making friends (real friends, as opposed to just drinking buddies/activity friends) after leaving university is quite rare. Perhaps it's not Japan, perhaps it's just that you're older.
The crazy thing about fax machines is that it actually helped me and my dad out one time. Insurance company tried emailing info on our work insurance so we could do contruction in the hotel and it would never send and we asked if they had a fax machine and they did. Told them to fax it and it took less than a minute. So sometimes old ways still work lol
Not going to lie, Fax machines are still useful and quicker when it comes to share documents that need to be printed quickly
When it comes to signed legal papers often faxing it is the preferred option. Safe from sending it by the post. As a fax document you can't really temper with. A email you can.
Governments all over use the, .Drs, business use them.. they are more secure
I bought my first desktop computer in 1993 and it had a fax-modem and I became fascinated with faxing because I never did it before --- I was literally faxing stuff to random small businesses and even getting those "fax on demand" services to send me technical documents and such --- it was a lot of fun in the early 90s!
@@allentoyokawa9068 In IT in the West and this is completely not the case and most western fax services now just end in an email mailbox anyway, but with the fax protocol just sending everything out in plain text. Medical services using them aren't for security but typically due to archaic government requirements that haven't kept up with email standards.
One part-myth I was surprised about was Japanese efficiency. Public works things like transportation usually are very efficient. But without living there, you probably won't hear much about how insanely bureaucratic Japan is since it's a pretty boring topic. But sometimes just trying to get simple paperwork done is painfully convoluted. And workplaces as well. Of course, everyone knows about the long working hours in Japan, and one effect of that is that workers are often too tired to be very efficient.
Oh yea, the paperwork drives me nuts.
My wife took 2 hours to open a bank account in Japan, and she's a local. The bank gave her a roll of plastic wrap as a consolation.
Naa japan was never supposed to be efficient. It has always been effective though. No matter the amount of work and resources needed if japan wants something it happens just often at an incredible cost. Look at bonzai trees, traditional sports or the fukushima cleanup.
If you want efficiency go to germany.
@@badcat9096 efficiency in germany? I would know that!
Just look at the BER airport drama or the Elbphilharmonie. Billions of tax Euros are wasted every year, just feeding the corruption.
If you want efficiency better go south to Switzerland.
There's a joke that tells you everything you need to know about Europe:
In heaven
the cooks come from France
the policemen from England
the car mechanics from Germany
the lovers from Italy
and everything is organized by the Swiss.
In hell
the cooks come from England
the policemen from Germany
the car mechanics from France
the lovers from Switzerland
and everything is organized by the Italiens
Japan is not efficient at all. The Japanese are similarly frustrated by the large amount of paperwork and multi-step, complicated administrative procedures.
I find it interesting that the futuristic image of Japan exists, almost as a leftover from the economic boom of the 70s and 80s.
So, I've been to Japan a LOT and the way I always explain it to people is.
"It's like the most advanced country in the world, from the 1980s." Everything is still that NES plastic grey that browns over time and push button instead of LCD etc.
Advanced world in the country…😆
@@ThomasintheMind When its so retro its future, semantics don't matter anymore
And that is one of the many reasons why I like Japan so much.
Many Western countries have way to much useless "innovation“ that actually complicates daily life and is usually much more susceptible than approved older alternatives.
@@stielimusterman3066 like what?
@@Shinkajo he's nuts lol. It's hard to even find a grounded outlet in Japan. Frustratingly on the cusp of being amazing when it comes to tech but then stubbornly dug into their place when it comes to actually doing it.
20:12 The cash thing is so true... I was pretty shocked to learn that many hotels outside of Tokyo don't even accept Visa/Mastercard. Adding to the experience, I had just gone to Japan from China where even the food hawkers on the street use QR codes and look at you weird if you offer cash.
I think it's probably true more so for tourists or the older generation that's not comfortable using cashless transactions. It's not as widespread as other places but I almost never use cash living here in daily life (going to the supermarket, gas station, cafes, bills etc) or even traveling anywhere within the country.
Ironically, it is derived from that Japan has few counterfeit banknotes, while China has many.
In Japan, the older people are, the more they consider electronic things as "insubstantial" and avoid them.
The exact opposite seems to be happening in China.
I will let you know one common reason why we are conservative about this that I often heard is because of natural disasters. When a serious earthquake happen and it cause electric power outrage, you will not be able to buy food or water etc if you rely on card or E-cash. Same reason for low spread of electric vehicles.
Thailand has these QR code based payments. They're highly convenient.
And QR code was invented by a Japanese company, DENSO WAVE in 1994.
Breaking the fourth wall in the flying car -brilliant. When the Canadian news anchor introduced you as a "Britsh film-maker" I was like really? But after getting to the end of this video, yes, you really are a film maker and those films just keep getting better. Thanks for the entertainment.
And no Chris, you are not the only one who struggled to create relationships (I have been here 10 years and my Japanese friends can be counted on one hand). And is it me, or do they (especially elderlies) also have this cultural habit of laughing whenever they are unsure what to say or feel out of place?
Example: Last week my cat died and when the temple dude came to pick up the body, the old lady living nearby came to say hi to him (she is the one that introduced me to this temple and knows the dude). She smiled and almost laughed all the time while the dude and I were very seriously filling in the papers and putting the body in the car... it was so so awkward...
I'm sorry for your loss.
Laughing is a very common response to anxiety or being nervous in eastern cultures.
@@winterTripicactually laughing at awkwardness is an inherently human genetic trait. Everyone is wired to laugh when they feel awkward. The reason you may notice it more in eastern culture is because sharing our problems with strangers pretty much doesn’t happen, so when you do it it’s incredibly awkward
@@winterTripic It's also common for people to giggle when unsure what to say in eastern cultures. I am sure she meant no harm, probably just ran out of words to console you
I would argue comedy and it's inception came out of literal tragedy
The truth is, Natsuki is a needle in a goddamn haystack without a doubt. It's exciting to see someone who's personality transcends his culture's introverted nature. Sometimes I feel like hanging with Natsuki would be a lot like watching an episode of FLCL 😆
what’s flcl
@@ChaseR206 Fooly cooly
The truth is you're hanging out in the wrong shopping malls. I made plenty of friends in Japan with people just as 'extraverted' as Natsuki. A shared passion makes all the difference (not anime), I spent my time with skateboarders, musicians and artists in underground clubs and on the streets late at night, people I knew for 6 months that I'm still friends with years later.
@@ChaseR206 FLCL is an anime from 2000 AD. It's only 6 episodes long, but it's generally considered to be a masterpiece. Also, it's very, very weird.
@@ChaseR206 pretentious bullshit, or rather the way people regard it turned it into that.
Just want to say a quick "Congratulations" to you and Sharla! What a nice surprise to hear the news from her Q and A vid. Best wishes to you both. 💕
What?
What?
@@lukasloh2509 What part about that do you not understand?
@@GollakotaPrithvinath What part about that do you not understand?
@@xxDxxism It was more of a reaction like whaaaaat than what as in a question. I didn't know they were in a relationship cuz I didn't see the Q&A video
I heard on the podcast that you worked really hard on that 20 second flying car bit so well done 👏
A billion dollars and three days well spent.
I had been working at a shipyard in Kyushu for over two months. The guys I had worked with invited me to a dinner and I paid for the dinner as a thank you for a kind and productive cooperation. One of them brought a square watermelon, and the guys all thought it as much of a novelty as I did. It was a fun night out, and well no one will ever say no to watermelon to square off a meal.. It was fun to see that no one there had really bought one of those before, and all thought it more of a novelty thing than anything else.
Hehe.. "square off a meal"
This video is so well made, ligh-hearted and entertaining in a relaxing way, it makes me almost nostalgic. Just a fun, really well done documentary with a balance of useful information and entertainment. Thanks, Chris, great work.
😊👍
Hey Chris I started watching your videos about 6 years ago in secondary school and now I'm moving to Himeji with the JET Programme in a month! Your channel is a big part of what made me fall in love with Japan so thanks for all the content and please keep it coming:)
Congratulations on being accepted!
Good luck! Hope you enjoy it 💖🏴
Hey good luck mate hope you enjoy your time there
Awesome. Himeji is a wonderful area to be assigned to with plenty of cool things to explore. I spent 1.5 years in the nearby town of Takasago.
Thank you!!
26:22 was speaking to my japanese teacher about this. She said that while "tatemae" was the norm, the reason why many people liked the late Shinzo Abe was because he clearly stated his opinions. The more I learn about japan the more I see these weird contradictions. It's almost like these things are a release from the very strict societal conventions they place on themselves.
Perhaps that's also why channels that talk about Japan's political & cultural issues (like Nobita from Japan or Let's Ask Shogo) pop up in recent years. UA-cam, being an international platform, allows the honne to be heard instead of dismissed through tatemae.
@@anasazmi8554 Perhaps, I watch those channels as well and will ask them if that's the case if they ever open up a Q&A.
Oh boy, the exact same reason people gave for liking some other certain politicians 🤣
People who liked Shinzo Abe are not good people so your teacher is sus. He was awful.
@@lachlank.8270 And (I am in the States) those politicians' apparent fondness for Abe.
You can't help but love how totally honest you were about the food your own place serves. Bravo. And it looked properly delicious btw too 💪🏼👌🏼
This video was excellence. So incredibly produced!!!!!!
From the perspective of someone that has been to Japan half a dozen times as tourist Chris has nailed it. Popular opinion about Japan is full of misunderstood and misinformed stereotypes. Sure there is the quirky and the "weird" but if you know the cultural and social context they're not that strange at all. All contribute to the rich cultural experience that is Japan. I do lose weight every time we go to Japan though, even though I absolutely pig out on nearly everything in Chris' top 10 list of Japanese foods. I suspect it was because we're more active than at home - we walk everywhere for example. 😂
One last popular misconception I hear all the time is that Japan is expensive. That might be relative depending on where you are from but from the perspective of this Aussie Japan is way cheaper than Australia for just about everything.
Agreed on the activity... as much as I pig out on all the great food in jp I actually maintain if not loose weight when I go and it absolutely has to do with all the walking and trekking in parks and such.
@@RocKM001 I reckon if I was to write a diet book it would entirely consist of "Go to Japan and eat everything" 😂
Yeah. I wonder where this "Japan is super expensive" misconception is coming from. Compared to other Asian countries, most of which are still developing, ...sure Japan is expensive. But among the developed countries of the world, it's amongst the least expensive (at least according to this twitter account which releases charts and stats about developed countries - the Estonian PM has quote tweeted the account plenty of times before , so I'm assuming it is reliable)
@@browniebear9282 maybe it's coming from the fact the fact that most countries on Earth are not well developed? Coincidentally, most of the population live in those.
@@browniebear9282 It's because wages are also low in Japan. While the cost of living is low in other cities, Tokyo is where a lot of jobs are so people gravitate there for employment, so rent is also pretty high in comparison to the rest of the country. With most youtubers that live there they're able to take advantage of the fact they're paid in USD and make more than the average Japanese person.
Natsuki deserves even more praise and love from all of us. He is a Japan´s national treasure. Great video, nice script and production as usual. Many thanks.
Just read your book and found your channel this way, loved your writing and greatly enjoy your observations about Japan. It's clear you put a lot of work into your videos and it shows!
I love how chris has slowly evolved past just being a travel and informational youtuber and it's amazing to see the humor he conducts with his unending affable'ness
Chris, the quality of craftsmanship that went into this video, is fantastic. The timing of the edit, the use of motion in the small zooms and wipes, the writing and the grade are all fantastic. Everything's brilliantly put together and it's a very enjoying and informative watch. You said you wanted to make projects you enjoyed again, based on skits and high concepts, and this video delivers majorly
Chris and Natsuki are such legends. True friends cuss at each other harmlessly ^^
Good video! High quality! Thank you for making these! Happy New Years 🎉
this mad, earliest I’ve ever been on a video. Currently writing this in Oxford Uni doing a Japanese course for the summer, I owe a lot of this to Chris, thank you Chris!
That's awesome and very kind of you to say so!
NOW GET BACK TO STUDYING AND STOP WATCHING UA-cam.
Regarding number 4 (friendliness) I think it comes down to Japanese ability. I'm fluent in Japanese, been here more than 12 years, and almost all my friends are Japanese. On the flip side my few foreign friends don't have any Japanese friends, and coincidentally none of them speak Japanese fluently. The few who do speak Japanese have a level between business level and conversational. Just enough to talk to people and live their lives, not enough to really get to know people.
The weirdest moment in Japan for me was when I gave a 2000 yen note to a 7/11 store clerk and he started to shake like it was a demon I have given him. He then went to his colleagues and started wondering is this real, what is this and then the senior team told him, yes it is. Then I was told in Osaka the note is extremely rare and I had like 10 notes on me.
No wonder I had people look at me in amazement every time I gave them this note from Okinawa.
I was in the USAF and stationed in Okinawa from 2005-2009 and I used to get ¥2000 notes out of a JPOST ATM in Mihama
@@blumax961 so basically you were a terrorist imperialist occupier.
I didn't know they existed.. I've never seen one. Wikipedia says they were originally created to celebrate the year 2000.
I was just in japan and my parents gave me some ¥ as a gift and in the envelope there was two ¥2000 notes. I used one on the first day at a 711 in the machine and didnt think anything of it. I still have the other ¥2000 note, not one place would take it from me lol!
I appreciate Japan for what it is naturally, but I'm tired of these naive people who talk about its inhabitants as if they are absolute angels. I once met an arrogant Japanese girl who asked me to stop watching these videos, but I go where I want. she told me that reading my negative comments saddened her but I was telling the truth about her culture. what if we speak their language badly? she refused to admit that her compatriots have too many cultural flaws! these people have a problem with ego and hypocrisy.
This is 100x better than travel channels and Netflix together. Thank you Chris!
Hello Chris, I'll just add, While Japan in the Sixties was opening up with the Bullet train, here in the UK, Dr Beeching was closing lines which were being ripped up. Now in the UK we're criticised for using our cars. I love the fact Japanese children still walk to school with their friends, people are polite and follow the rules I haven't seen littler outside a fast food shop, unlike in the UK. I'm looking forward to Japan opening up it borders soon.
We can only hope so.
Ahh yes the Beeching Axe era
ua-cam.com/users/shorts5j3rn4-E7aU?feature=share
Chris’s unwavering production value really never fails to impress me!
A lot of people don't know that while obesity is very low in Japan, diabetes is actually pretty high, who knew that diets in blood spiking insulin carbs like rice and noodles isn't very good for you.
This is why simply equivocating health with weight is nonsense.
@@nesagwa it’s more likely that you have health problems if you are obese and have problems with weight, so you are literally wrong. Yes you can have problems with health if you are not obese, but isn’t it obvious?
@@Tennosoul Even in the video it literally talks about the rates of stomach cancer and other ailments being nearly double in Japan compared to other "fatter" countries. No. It is not obvious because it's false.
That's not true.
Excellent video, Gezza. I live in Thailand (for 8 years) and some of what you mentioned about "polite chatter" is true here too. Sometimes Thai people are too polite and don't express their true feelings perhaps because of culture or shyness similar to your Japanese experiences. This is problematic in all relationships at work, socially and in personal relations. But we continue to crack the code! Best wishes from Bangkok.
Japanese streets are not weird, just different. I live in Europe and I loved walking in Kyoto just to see the road signs are different, there are dispensers everywhere, there are lots and lots of electric wires in the air. The sewer plates are not from PAM and are sometimes colored. The architecture is different, the city streets layout is different... The air is not the same, it's hotter and wet. I'm not saying it's better, it's just different and when you take a flight for 12 hours you sure hope it will be different.
To a lot of people, different to what I'm used to = weird. Very shallow thinking and a lot of times the cause of unnecessary conflict......
@@nanaholic01 its really just people from burgerstan that think those things,
if anglos did not take over the world and have pax britannia and then pax americana, then the world would have a more diverse world view
@@NeostormXLMAX not true at all. Talk to some Japanese people and you would often find they thinks a lot of stuff westerners do are weird too. Fact is its human nature to fear the unknown and unfamiliar as we are creatures of habits.
Finally someone made a very honest video about Japan. Our family moved to Yokohama during COVID for a year. We had exact the same fantastic assumptions about Japan. Super healthy diet ,futuristic cities and etc…. We were very surprised when we actually lived there.
still better than china
@@iii898iii still a surprise
@@iii898iii no its not. It's like going back 10 years if you're traveling from a city like shenzhen or even shanghai. He talked about cash being used as a reason Japan is still lagging behind in technology. China literally spearheaded cashless payments. And funnily enough got some backlash from the western critics (until ofc they started doing the same thing) You can go anywhere with no cash in china even low income rural areas operate with mobile payments now. As for transport they literally have 2/3 of the entire world's high speed rail network. That's insane
@@ju5e3
You visited both places
@@pennyyoung2506
You visited
While living and working in Japan I decided to go on a long adventurous hike. I walked from Ashikaga to Tokyo. People were very helpful and one woman even stopped her car and gave me an umbrella because of the hot sun that day. Beautiful people Beautiful place.❤️🇯🇵🇨🇦
Hey Chris. I just found your channel yesterday and I’ve watched a bunch of your videos. Bloody brilliant! I’m a British expat living in Canada and making my first trip to Japan at the end of October. I’m 43 and have been wanting to visit since I was around 17! Your videos have been really helpful and informative. You’ve told me things I never even thought about. Hopefully I’ll run into you on the street and can buy you a beer or two.
When I went to Japan for the first time, I was pretty amazed by how different it was from what I was thinking.
But still, it was a fantastic trip, and I can't wait to return to Japan.