12 Things in Japan That DON'T Make Sense

[@AbroadinJapan]

Ok I'm ready. I'm ready to know what Chucky Cheese is. Merry Christmas everyone! Thanks for watching Abroad in Japan in 2024 - looking forward to doing it all over again next year 🍻🎄 Get ANYTHING good from Santa?

[@churchren3899]

you don't wanna know what chucky cheese is. it's best left in the 90s

[@ananasplamenomet]

Merry to you as well!!!

[@BronzedPug]

Merry Christmassss Chris!!!!!!

[@barrettngr]

Holiday in Japan 😊

[@Metal_Maxine]

Chuck E Cheese was a kids' restaurant/arcade chain founded by Nolan Bushnell (who also founded Atari) and its animatronic mascot Chuck probably inspired things like Five Nights At Freddy's.

[@vadimttv]

16:45 - The editor got tired so they decided to drown out Chris' voice-over with music. Edit: Have a Merry Christmas, everyone!

[@Iord]

lmao

[@JohnDoe-f7v8s]

I was expecting a joke of some kind... but no. It's just an audio error lol 😂

[@SoyLuciano]

I remember that during my trip to London in February 2024, the ambulance was so loud that IMO it even beats those earrape videos.

[@KiyokaMakibi]

I noticed that too. They must of fallen asleep on the volume button xD

[@davey_davey_dave]

noticed this too. lmao

[@None.ink.4321]

16:45 can you turn up the music here , i can almost hear your voice.

[@IEgOImkAwx]

Was seeing if someone would point this out hahaha

[@eoinoconnell185]

I was expecting 'loud music' to be one of the 12.

[@dbcher2869]

What? What?... Quit trying to talk over the music!

[@davecook8378]

The sound design fits with the theme of cluttered, visually noisy websites.

[@aroalgezion5299]

"There's a commentary in your music" vibe

[@archaeopteryx981]

4:48 Sorry, Chris. You can’t blame Japan for the band name Seagull Screaming Kiss Her Kiss Her. They were named after the song “Seagulls Screaming Kiss Her Kiss Her” by the band XTC, from your own home country.

[@kiryubelmont3222]

I came here to point this out. One of Andys greatest works.

[@falxonPSN]

​@@kiryubelmont3222that name whether it is for a song or a band is breaking my brain

I did not know that, but I do think it is a fine name and I can't understand why he included it with absolute crap like "Maximum the hormone" which sounds even worse pronounced in the Japanese fashion.

[@cjrains6022]

lol 😂 as a song or band name, they got into the good stuff that night didn’t they?

[@programmer489]

Sounds like something from the little mermaid

[@soulnestahn114]

I'm told Bump of Chicken chose that name because they thought that "chicken" meant "coward" (which, admittedly, it can mean that) and bump was just a literal translation of "hit" or "strike". They wanted their band name to mean something like "the cowards strike back/rise up", which is kinda charming to me, despite how unfortunate the resulting name may be!

[@honkytonkinson9787]

Coward Strikes Back would be a cool band name

[@Elesario]

I'm reminded of "The worm that turned".

[@DJPatesBlog]

It could be better translated as "Revenge of the Underdog"

[@ヘスリングマイク-j2i]

My guess was that "goose bumps" is "chicken skin" in Hawaii. They wanted to convey "our music will give you goose bumps", but somehow they got them mixed up. By the way, "goose bumps" in Japanese is also "chicken skin". 「Torihada」

[@elgoog-the-third]

Huh, when considering "Chicken" as in coward, the name indeed becomes cooler.

[@AnAwesomeHobbit]

as someone raised on english speaking rock music who has fallen in love with japanese indie over the past few years, the band names is one of the best parts! sometimes they are really stupid, but they are almost always memorable and usually pretty funny

[@rabbit251]

To lease a parking space at my condo costs 30,000 yen. At a restaurant I asked to have the sauce on my hamburger changed to just ketchup. The waiter had to get the manager and we asked him and he thought for a moment and then agreed. If you go to a bakery they will put each item in its own plastic bag and then put them all together in a plastic bag. Buying a dozen bagels once I told the clerk to not do that and just put them in the one big bag. The look she gave me was like I had asked her to cut off her arm.

[@mrexpatman]

it depends if the staff are use to foreign customers. I think. I went to Sendai, there are lot of tourist there. Before I took the early Shinkansen, I went to queue at a very high-class mall before it opened to get some japanese sweets as a souvenir. When I saw a store that had the most popular local sweet in packs of one, I immediate ask if I could get just the one. She immediately ask if I want to eat it here or take it home. I said eat it here. She handed it to me without any bags or wrapping. I obvious have to leave the premises before consuming, or it could be considered very rude. Another Time, I went to Kyushu, Hakata. I was brought a cat shaped Loaf of Bread, it's already packaged. They ask if I want a bag to go with it. The sales was a young lady, and the other time was a middle age lady. So I think the culture has change quite a bit, especially after the government has introduce more public holidays.

[@kennyc587]

Your bagle story made me have a revesre flash back. In the states you get a dozen donuts they come in a big display / share box. Well I had to take these donuts on a flight. So I asked the counter preson to pack them in 6 bags (2 to a bag) or 12 bags if tehy preferred that. He gave me a deer in headlights look. "Sir I can only put 1 per bag, you ordered 12. I have to give you a box". I didn't have time to argue so I asked him to give me the donuts in a box, and then a dozen bags. He was happy to do that and gave me gloves to pack the donuts myself. This was in Kansas 2024. LaMars Donuts. To this day I have no idea if I was trolled or if he really couldn't comprehend putting 12 donuts in 12 bags.

[@brianh.000]

Once asked for ketchup for my fries at a Becker's Burger in Ushiku. The cashier looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language! I wondered if my Japanese was really that terrible. I tried ケチャップ、ケッチャプ、ケッチャップ、ケチャプ。。。 Nothing worked. Finally, she got a manager, and I asked him. He promptly provided me with some ketchup. 😅

[@gabbadd5840]

That’s because they take it as a criticism of their customs…and it’s a mix of guilt and affront for them…best to let them do what they know and appreciate it. Love Japan and Japanese!!

[@ootts456]

Even at McDonald's in Japan, I ordered a McFizz and asked them to make it without ice since it was takeout and I didn’t want the ice to dilute it. The worker said, "We can't do that." I was super confused, so I asked if they couldn’t do it with regular drinks like Coke or Sprite, and she said they could. I kept trying to convince her for a while, and then she went to talk to the manager. The manager said it’s company policy, so I had no choice but to go with it.

[@SpareMango]

Imagine having the worst day of your life just to be woken up by a propaganda truck

[@AbroadinJapan]

It's literally happened to me haha

[@Meikitamemo]

I would be like! Omaida , Shingeru :D

[@DJEylisium]

Could be worse..could be having the worst day of your life and then Keir Starmer is the prime minister

[@MVM.7]

Does everyone remember the GTA mission with the propaganda truck

[@LuigiTheMetal64]

Japan would be better off having the Japanese protest against the government when the latter made criminal aliens thrive in Japan.

[@Minastir1]

Maximum the Hormone is the perfect name for the type of music they make

[@benjaminforman8901]

Absolutely. What's Up People and Zetsubou Billy.🤟

[@slyn4ice]

Mr. Children is a right pedo name :D

[@freeculture]

I vote for Judy And Mary, it was only one person 🙂

[@RomanticAtrocity]

Yeah, honestly it's a great metal band name for western standards.

[@ZeroXSEED]

Honestly that sounds like something Natsuki would say offhand.

[@hmsverdun]

A small thanks for the content this year and I hope you having/had a good Christmas

[@sanashi27]

I read online that the band name Bump of Chicken was supposed to mean something like Coward Strikes Back but they ended up using the word Bump for Strike and Chicken for Coward. It makes sense in context, I guess, but the name they got sure is memorable. Merry Christmas, by the way!!

[@psyOmicron]

I've read somewhere about this non-japanese manager who is obviously not subscribed to the Japanese work culture, he would often feel bad that if he had extra work and needed to stay late, his entire team would stay with him when some of them have family to care for. So if needed to stay late, he won't tell anyone, clock off on time and go to a cafe to chill till everyone is gone, then return to the office

[@freeculture]

Yes, there is a stupid work culture in Japanese companies where you must never leave before your boss. At least that person was being mindful. Another thing is the souvenirs, if you ever tell your co-workers you are taking a vacation in some country, you absolutely must bring a souvenir to every single one of them. So they often lie and say they will stay home instead, to avoid that nightmare...

[@wilburwood8261]

@@freeculture It is a CULTURE after all. Please do not call it stupid.

[@tallulah7243]

​@wilburwood8261 if it's bad for everyone involved, doesn't that make it stupid? Something being culturally standard, doesn't make it good.

[@ARKSAAXX-ys9gz]

@@freeculture It depends on the company. I work for a Japanese company, but it's not an obligation to give souvenirs. It's interesting to see the comments on these videos that many people work for stereotypical old-fashioned Japanese companies from Showa-era.

[@LaoSoftware]

Greetings from Laos. As an American living in Vientiane, I don't mind staying late at my job if I get paid for the overtime. My time is very valuable. Here in Laos, the work culture is very laid-back and relax. Nobody is in a hurry. It is very quiet here.

[@emma_nutella58]

For me the thing that will always cease to never make sense is gambling is illegal in Japan, but everything in Japan has gambling, wanna go to a concert? Good luck it’s gonna be a Gacha pull

[@jeffkleist9679]

Not anymore. It was legalized for the olympics. There's 3 casinos just around Shinjuku station.

[@VulpesInculta-h2b]

Gambling is as immoral as usury fr

[@walker-zero9255]

Why does this not make sense to you? Gambling is a part of being human. Why do you think that when a country bans gambling people just find loopholes in order to gamble?

[@carleoz2039]

@@walker-zero9255 Bro made gambling his personality 💀

[@tyranitararmaldo]

Not to mention the tons of different trading card booster packs, which are all essentially gambling. Hell, even Games Workshop made randomised space marines in booster packs specifically for the Japanese market, because they can't get enough of it.

[@t00194]

Oral Cigarettes is also an impeccable band name choice. They really do stand out in the sea of other, normal, non-oral cigarettes.

[@DemstarAus]

Well, I don't smoke but if I ever did, I'd choose Oral Cigarettes over the alternatives, any day.

[@wilsonchan9768]

Eh. Wouldn't be surprised if someone already tried smoking through their other 'holes'.

[@SpaceWizardCosplay]

What about the musical duo known as CREEPY NUTS?

[@VoidVerification]

Five Star Comment ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[@scmarshtacky]

I was waiting for him to mention them XD

[@frankmaclow2709]

I had an old fashioned Japanese toilet in my apartment in Osaka and I loved it. It feels much more natural in terms of body position.

[@lzh4950]

Maybe the anus opens wider when you're squatting than when you're sitting, but my legs definitely felt more sore afterwards

[@Aghul]

I was recently in a hotel that had those 'beanbag pillows' and I gotta say that I LOVED them. I even sneakily took one of the pillows out of its casing for a moment to look up the brand on the label so I could buy one for myself at home. As someone with a bad back, these things are a lifesaver for me.

[@ernihuse]

what is the name of the brand?

[@YujiUedaFan]

I went to a hotel once with a pillow SO full it felt like I was lying on a big rock.

[@ThroatSore]

I'm registered blind. I was Iin Tokyo and came across road works. A very kind worker guided me safely past. Super.

[@akobitoma7452]

Why would you with the trouble of the registration process just to make yourself blind?

[@amlannanda1581]

How did you watch this video?

[@street1111]

​@@amlannanda1581he can hear

[@XZ1.]

@@amlannanda1581 a very kind worker described the visuals to him

[@amlannanda1581]

@@XZ1. how did he type out that comment?

[@mindmachinepsy]

As a german who lives in the countryside, Nr. 3 would be heaven. We have streets too small, buildings to high (these days) and too many cars per family. It used to be one car per household, now it is 2-3 cars per household. Half of them being stupidly oversized SUVs. Match that with small streets and bigger buildings with little parking space... it is a fucking nightmare. If all of them had to prove they have dedicated parking space... we'd have 1/3 of the cars right now. Man that would be such a dream.

[@georedegerloch1570]

💚

[@tokyotidien]

where in the countryside do you live? in the the German countryside close to my hometown (Saarland), streets are super wide and there is space everywhere

[@EliasFabricius]

I agree!

[@balabanasireti]

I live in a city in Germany but I agree. I can't park my own car because of all the trucks and larger cars here and every family has like 2-3 cars. It also doesn't help that my neighbors get visited by their family members every 3 days and that the visitors also park their cars here.

[@Omelliwasherehavenofear]

Amen. 3 should be an absolute rule for Germany these day.. god these streets are too full.. 🫠

[@VorpalSnickerSnack]

16:36 No it's not an editors mistake, Chris' leaked DM said to give the audience a taste of those damed propaganda trucks.

[@lilstjimmy]

3:12 bump of chicken is actually really good though. they've done some amazing anime openings

[@latviandragon2718]

also their song was used in the 40th anniversary of transformers special

[@JamesBond-qv2ht]

I experienced Japan for the first time this year and absolutely loved it. For me, it was the people and their kind and generous nature. I also found the country itself beautiful and amazingly orderly and clean. I can’t wait to return.

[@RigasUT]

I used to listen to a lot of Japanese metal, here are some of the most interesting band names I can recall: - Imperial Circus Dead Decadence - Ikd-sj - Coaltar of the Deepers - Guerrilla Incendiary Sabotage Mutineer

[@cocoaswann2095]

and don't forget - Baby Metal!

[@XmarkedSpot]

c.s.s.o. comes to mind (clotted symmetric sexual organs)

[@blancange1872]

Love icdd

[@jessevaladez3448]

Japan will always be know for D-Beat,Raw Punk and Crust Punk before metal

[@len1241]

There's also the other band which has members of icdd, vermillion d alice syndrome. Or maybe it was a side project idk

[@emma_nutella58]

Yeah if I was woken up for political propaganda, I would actively choose not to vote for them

[@southcoastinventors6583]

That basically all politics since it not about fixing the social ills its mainly about self interest and tribalism

[@Venicilia]

I've been living in Japan for just over 3 months now, and there were elections coming up not far after I arrived in Yamaguchi for either municipal or prefectural elections, or something, about 3 weeks after I arrived. Honestly I began to just tone it out and barely notice it after about a week, except if the truck passed directly past me. Luckily, in any case, it only lasted for about a week and a half iirc.

[@demo2823]

​@@southcoastinventors6583 Btw tribalism doesn't mean 'caring for your own,' as you seem to imply. It means 'electing temporary leaders based on current needs.'

[@megimargareth4015]

in their defence its 9am, which a normal people alive hour, lol but yeah politic propaganda is sucks regardless how good they are

[@zam023]

@@megimargareth4015 But those vans are usually at busy areas like in front of train stations, street markets, etc. Unless Chris lives right next to one of those, he should not had heard anything from them.

[@DanielAlejandroFuentesToro]

The Shako Shoumei thing makes a lot of sense to me. That sounds awesome, here in Colombia everybody leaves their damn cars in the fucking street.

[@nothanks3236]

Hell I live in America in a nice suburban neighborhood where every house has at least a two-car garage (and most have three-car garages) and most of these MF'ers leave their cars in the street too, it's maddening. It's like they're all using their garages for storage instead of, you know, the cars.

[@wlodekgoldsztajn662]

same, I would love to have that system in my country as well

[@nothanks3236]

Weird, I guess KZbin doesn't want me to point out that we have this problem in America as well? They deleted my first response...

[@capitalb5889]

Interesting. In my country it’s the other way around - people leave their fucking cars in the damn street.

[@ElDorito]

On #6, food allergies. I really struggled to eat out in Japan due to my celiac disease (no wheat, malt, barley, rye, or derivitives) and intense dairy sensitivity. I did my best, and so did waitstaff and restaraunts, but I do wish there had been more flexibility for that reason. Now, I didn't go to Japan for the food, so my expectations were where they needed to be, and I had a life-changing time.

[@YujiUedaFan]

Yeah, in the UK they always ask if you have allergies in restaurants.

[@janusmcgee8909]

What would you eat? Was eating out ever an option?

[@SilentGig1]

Old subscriber returning again after long hiatus. Congratulations on everything, just scrolling through your videos and their view counts - youre not a stranger to the 1mill view count mark and i find that incredible! Youve come so far and as a fellow UK 🇬🇧 man with interest in japan, this is amazing! Congratulations again and merry kurisumasu.

[@zed-ex-six-are]

As a side-sleeper with a heavy melon, i do use a buckwheat pillow as once the height is sorted, it doesn't move. Most other pillow stuffing material tends to fuck off to the ends and leave me with a crooked neck. Not trying to dispute your experience Chris, just hoping my experience will help someone, neck pain isnt fun and it worked for me

[@koro-koro-dango]

Yeah, my experience too. Five years living in Japan and many shorter trips while using a sobagara pillow. Also, a side sleeper with broad shoulders and most of the other pillows in Japan are too thin or as you experienced the filling moves to the sides of the pillow and I wake up with a crick in my neck.

[@Zephiren]

I completely agree. Have been sleeping on buckwheat for the past 10 years. Fantastic stuff.

[@_hayt_]

I actually got a buckwheat pillow (voluntarily) for years now here in the west. Best pillow ever. There are very few occasions, where I would want a traditional soft pillow back. With "normal" western pillows I usually end up folding or squishing them a lot until they are hard anyways, so I just get a more harder pillow and it keeps your head nice and level with you spine when you are a side sleeper. Though usually you can adjust hard/softness quite a bit by adjusting the amount of buckwheat in it, though I can see that not being the case with hotel room pillows.

[@tales_of_tygrlylie]

Same! I love my buckwheat hull pillow...and I did indeed remove a portion of the hulls so it's more like a contouring pillow that never loses its shape. I find it hard to sleep without it now. Everyone is different!

[@capitalb5889]

Same - I think they’re great. I think they give great neck support as well.

[@lroke2947]

Same! My wife has been using a buckwheat pillow ever since her first trip to Japan approximately 20 years ago. I don't actually care myself what's inside the pillow myself, as long as the size doesn't exceed the buckwheat one in the video. Impossible to find in hotels, regretfully.

[@prussellea]

Came here to say I ordered one as soon as I came home! Being able to mould it into a little mountain is great

[@zam023]

I agree about hard pillows as I would prefer harder foam pillows, but I would give buckwheat pillow a pass ^_^

[@OldMan_PJ]

Speaking of Japanese productivity I worked in IT for a global company centralizing all of its servers, whenever Japan was asked to modify or install anything it would always take a week or two longer to do so. It wasn't that they couldn't figure it out but they levels of management they had to go through for any little change that only would approve the change if it made them look important.

[@mrexpatman]

marketing, I am amazed people in Japan would remember what someone in a 500-2000 people company would have done in 15-20 years ago in time for a competition for the promotion. living a life of so many restrictions and insecurities, make them really crazy on platform or circle which has some kind of anonymity, where they pick apart someone social life for their own enjoyment in an overpowering authoritative manner, which further highlights their insecurities and suppressive nature of their current environment. It does reflect on the culture as a whole with gravure turn to prostitute. gravure are minors, their clients are largely suppressive insecure men wanting some simulation of control in the physical reality not just the psychological realm of Twitter and other SNS platforms. I really hope inflation and increase in wages might increase upward mobility for current workers and help student pay for tuition so that they won't resort to becoming sex workers, because as the yen weakens in 2024 and sex tourism has been on the rise. I wonder what is the current sentiment for Foreigner Go Home, I hope your daily life and holiday travel hasn't returned to normal.

[@NomadicIslanders]

Yup. Sounds about right. When you request a day off it’s the same. Some places you have to request permission from so many random people (including the security guard). It’s what we call over-efficiency (usually makes processes super inefficient).

[@VoidVerification]

Making it harder to buy a car and putting it at a premium by requiring a designated parking spot in dense cities is actually really smart urban policy to make using public transit more appealing. I am so pissed off at the local government here in Berlin slashing public transit budget measures while doing nothing about reducing public subsidies for parking spaces.

[@dreamersmith3924]

All the people in SoCal who have a garage and park on the street!! 🤦‍♀️

[@tarrison]

Thanks for all the great content. I lived in Japan as a student back in the 80s and will be trying to get back as a tourist as often as I can going forward. Discovered you earlier this year and am very impressed with what a great job you do informing/entertaining. Wishing you a terrific 2025!

[@ToastAndJellyfish]

The shako shoumei is a brilliant idea. I’m currently stuck living somewhere you have to access your house via a very narrow alley. The garages are also small, so the alley is completely blocked up by people with massive trucks that don’t fit in their garage, or else they already have too many cars to stick the damn things in their driveway. I would LOVE to see them just not be allowed to buy the overage of cars and massive trucks.

[@BlackLionRampant]

The Philippines absolutely needs this.

[@MrAnimeAlex1]

3:18 "Maximum The Hormone" is actually goated! They made the Chainsaw Man ED 3 and Death Note OP2😂

[@Jimhearne]

came here to mention this was the first time i heard their name in like, a decade 🤣

[@codeninja100]

idk that one and Crispy Camera club actually makes sense to me lol

[@firenter]

I knew I'd seen that name before!

[@silis_pap8473]

MTH are goated. Probably the best ED of the Chainsaw anime

[@package_hunter]

Today, after i checked this band on Spotify, I realised I know 4 songs, not just the "What's up,people" ...... one time, me and my classmates found a video , where a guy talked about "what is anime,where is it from, etc....", he used some Maximum The Hormone song, but i never checked the credits, I always thought it was some random metal/rock song :D (The video was uploaded 16 years ago....feel old now.... )

[@ricahrdb]

3 would be very useful where I live. I live in an old neighbourhood in a historical city in the Netherlands that was never designed for car use. Because of this parking space is at a premium: not just in the sense of availability but also in the sense of size. Some people still find it necessary to buy a large car that doesn't really fit in a parking space which causes all sorts of problems. A permit system with regard to size would be a great solution to this.

[@videoextrodinare1]

That "For you" record is SO GOATED. I have a copy and every time I spin it up for my friends who have not heard citypop, they are HOOKED

[@mikanova.]

One thing in Japan that surely doesn't make sense are how some of the english signs are worded I saw one that said "Don't touch anyone except the staff" The japanese one was actually "please don’t touch unless you are the staff" 😭

[@misterwhyte]

I think it's funnier they need to specify the staff is allowed to touch whatever the sign refers to. If it didn't I'm guessing no one would ever touch it ever. 😂

[@sneer0101]

​@misterwhyte Yeah, you've clearly not met Brits, Americans or Chinese people abroad then

[@88porpoise]

That makes perfect sense as to why it happens. Three big reasons I can see: 1) Japan has a fairly small amount of English speakers relative to the rest of the developed world. So many of these translations are just done by some guy at the company with a small amount of English and others don't know any better. 2) Japanese uses a very different sentence structure than English. So when someone with some basic English may translate the words more or less correctly, they often end up in a very wrong order. 3) Japanese cultural aversion to criticism likely means that even when someone does notice they are unlikely to point it out.

[@AnnaMorimoto]

The caveat of 'unless you are staff' probably exists to prevent some entitled Karen from complaining "How dare that staff member touch the 'no-touch' object!" or worse, "If the staff ignore the sign, it's clearly unimportant, so I might as well follow suit and touch it too!" Edit: For context, we have ridiculous Karens in Japan, but signs somehow stop them, so we have ridiculous signs saying "To avoid dehydration, employees will drink water while working at the till per store policy. Please understand." I know, crazy. What monster complained about a poor shop clerk at the cash register drinking water!?

[@sailormoon5760]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@TheShrededward]

The only problem are those damned politicians! It's not just that they're noisy, but what they say is stupid. "Taro Suzuki here. Taro Suzuki! Please be kind. Taro Suzuki! Thank you. Taro Suzuki! Taro Suzuki!" repeat for about 20 minutes until they leave my village, and then the next idiots drive by. If I did that, people would think I'm mentally unstable.

[@pyther9852]

man the more i learn about how other countries do campaigns, the more thankful i am for my own countries approach (small billboards on lamp posts for a month or so)

[@2712animefreak]

IIRC, that's because of another campaigning restriction. They aren't allowed to talk about policy from the van, so they just say stupid generic stuff.

[@Zagareus]

The car one is actually an incredibly good idea since it makes the roads safer and useable for more things than cars. Urban Japanese roads are very narrow and don't have space for on-street parking. It allows everything to stay mixed-use and keeps everyone from exclusively using cars when one, the public transport is more than good enough, and two, it just makes everything less polluted.

[@laurencefraser]

It certainly beats the idiocy that is American parking minimums.

[@peterww3241]

They don't have room for sidewalks either so pedestrians and their dogs, cyclists and motorists all share the same narrow space. What could possibly go wrong? Add to that the fact that, at intersections, pedestrians, cyclists and motorists are all given the green light at the same time and you start to understand why so many in Japan are killed or injured at intersections every year. At night, many streets have zero lighting and, on those that do, the light is barely strong enough to reach the ground, let alone provide a safe environment for pedestrians or anyone else. The Japanese understanding of what constitutes public safety is very, er, strange.

[@JustinPrice-r8j]

But cars are good and public transport is bad.

[@tokyotidien]

yeah but that only applies for major cities like Tokyo and Osaka, so that rule should be adaopted depending on the location

[@peterww3241]

@@JustinPrice-r8j There is zero local public transport where I live.

[@angels4u]

The names of these Japanese clubs are hysterical. Touch my secret??? How can one not laugh??? Yes, who knows what they mean? Randomly picked??? So silly, laughable as it is crazy outlandish antics and enhancements that makes this video truly enjoyable and quiet silly. Thanks so much your animations! You are quite adorable and while entertaining, as I am sure Charlotte knows first hand. These videos are entertaining, and really awesome! Thank you Chris and all contributors that make these videos. I truly enjoy learning about Japan while I laugh my ass....off. ! There is no better way to smile than by experimenting your videos on Japan Many blessings to you ALL.. for the New Year!!! ..😂❤

[@antzerobooks]

honestly the proof of parking is such a good rule. in jakarta everyone rides giant SUVs and people often have multiple cars because of the even odd car numbers vs even odd days. and those are all often parked on the street, blocking the road

[@isekun]

The plastic usage in Japan is actually quite crazy, I was quite shocked to see how much plastic they use to wrap small treats and snacks and even fruits and vegetables. Japan might've a very efficient garbage disposal system but there is no way so much single-time use plastic can be recycled. I hope they make changes to slowly pivot away from plastic to more sustainable alternatives.

[@AnyoneSeenMikeHunt]

Gotta wrap the whales and dolphins in something.

[@evanseifert8858]

*might have

[@MrKoothrappali]

Actually, burning plastic to create energy is categorized as recycling in here. That said, they're actually "recycling" most of it!

[@ragsdale710]

The big reasons for this is there was mass poisoning cases in products as well as stuff being wrapped like that keeps it going bad cos of how humid it is =.

[@nanifa6082]

@@AnyoneSeenMikeHunt FARKER EUW DOLPHEEN, and a FARKER EUW WHALEEEE

[@Naryoril]

Another thing that makes NO sense at all: This autumn during a Japan trip, my phone utterly and completely broke. As that is a huge problem nowadays, i wanted to buy a new one. But i couldn't, i wasn't allowed to. They were not allowed to sell me a new phone without me having a residence card. And that was just the phone, paid in cash right there and then, no SIM card. They were not allowed to sell me a new phone. A second hand phone however, was no problem...

[@DavidCowie2022]

My guess about this: you can't buy a new phone without the right ID because someone was worried about criminals buying "burner" phones. However, the law was carelessly worded, and shops (who want to sell things) realised that the new law only applied to new phones.

[@Naryoril]

@@DavidCowie2022 I get that, it makes sense, and other countries do it too. But that is for the SIM card, not for the phone. There is no burner phone without a SIM card.

[@max3446]

That's interesting. I wonder if you would have been able to order a new phone online from Amazon or whatever?

[@sakaraist]

@@Naryoril E-Sims are VERY common these days, unfortunately sort of makes sense to restrict the hardware instead now.

[@Naryoril]

@@sakaraist It doesn't really make sense, because you could easily import the phone from anywhere. And i doubt there are easily accessible Japanese eSIMs with a phone number.

[@cyberneticghost755]

I was just in Japan and accidentally stumbled on one of those propaganda vans in Tokyo having no clue what I was witnessing. I explained what I saw to my Japanese friend and he laughed like it was an every day occurrence and called it a "fascist mobile". While I was there I also saw another one of those things driving around Shibuya blaring that "proud to be an American" song from a van with large photos of Donald Trump on it, and when I say "blaring" I mean when it drove past me it genuinely hurt my ears. It made no sense to me that a culture seemingly so centered around being courteous in public would allow those things to drive around harassing the public.

[@AnnaMorimoto]

We don't like it, but freedom of speech, I guess. Noisy motorcycles with customized mufflers and horns that drive around at midnight racing eachother recklessly will get the police on your tail. Buskers can also get in trouble for making too much noise or not having the right permits. Perhaps the political vans (including the imperialistic extreme right-wing black vans) get permits beforehand, like marches, demonstrations, and protests do?

[@cocleum]

Nope we don't 😒

[@TheRamblingSoul]

Permission to be obnoxious and loud within certain societally predefined confines?

[@gmalcolms]

The black vans ("facist mobiles") driven by extreme right-wingers are not the same thing as the vans driven by political candidates. The right-wingers drive around on days that are not usually related to elections and tend to drive around the parliament or cetain countries' embasies, not through ordinary neighborhoods. They don't have people standing on them and in addition to blaring slogans they also play WWII-era facist music. These people are trying to be offensive and intimidating, although they end up looking comical.

[@ClaroKirari]

日本人も理解できませんよ、怖いから近寄らない

[@LanguageCrab]

The wrapping thing is also about the foods not touching. At Christmas dinner this year, a Japanese guest (his first Irish Christmas dinner) appeared to me to have taken very little food. Then I remembered him telling me about how "his brother" wouldn't eat anything if it was touching another food on the plate. Lots of Japanese dishes come in separate bowls, or segments of bento box (just ignore that hamburger patty on a bed of ketchup spaghetti...), and I'm pretty sure it's for this reason. Very well adjusted chap with a mint career, so it definitely was not a mental disaster thing.

[@janneimmonen752]

For me the soba pillow was the best. Won’t get hot during the heat and is nice and firm. Had to get one home as well.

[@kolinka84_]

HEY CHRIS, I think you didn’t mean to have the music so loud at 16:50 ?

[@Slimetendo_Hub]

What!!!? I can't hear you over this elevator music.

[@SpiritboundNeo]

I was about to say - did you feel like you were droning on and you or your editor was amping up the music to drown you out? 😁😅🙇‍♂️

[@LaoSoftware]

Greetings from Laos. As an American living in Vientiane, the cars are parked all over the sidewalks. The pedestrians have to walk on the roads with traffic. I almost got ran over by semi-truck last week.

[@zuur303]

Natski at the faders I THINK I CAN'T HEAR

[@chrisgrr]

He had to drown out a passing propaganda truck

[@JollyTVance]

7:55 Yes! When I went to Japan it seemed like there were 4 people doing a job at the same time which could be done by one person. The funniest moment for me was at the Imperial Palace Gardens in Tokyo. There was no entrance fee, however, there were two people sitting in what appeared to be a ticket booth. Once we approached them, they just waved us through. I couldn't believe that they'd hire two people to sit around and do nothing

[@freeculture]

You are supposed to fill a form online to be able to get in straight away. I think you were just lucky. A bunch of tourists who didn't pre-fill the form had to do a line last time i was there a few months back...

[@orroz1]

When I visited a few years ago, they searched my bag at least.

[@2712animefreak]

That just sounds like security guards.

[@manu.yt25]

5:30 That's the best idea ever that Japanese got honestly, no more "I buy 10 crappy cars and expect to be able to park them for free on the street", makes people more responsible.

[@EliasFabricius]

I completely agree!!

[@SkylinerAE100]

Contrast this with the UK where motorists' freedom to dump their private property on public land makes cities congested, polluted and the roads more dangerous.

[@SeanONeill-ef5vb]

I remember watching Clive James on a Travelogue in Japan. He went to bed and said I was so tired I fell asleep before my head hit the pillow. I woke up when it did 😀

[@animetwilight75]

The heating thing reminds me of how things are here in socal. I think my building might be older, but we have no heating system whatsoever. No central air, and no radiators. Most days are mild but at night/early mornings we have to use a plug in heater that we got. Since we also get earthquakes here as well, I wonder if it’s for similar reasons. Also, as for not being able to customize food in Japan, what if you have certain food allergies? Do they still give you a hard time?

[@PragmaticAntithesis]

I think Shako Shoumei is a great idea. The public space should be for everyone, not just drivers.

[@NeXtdra42]

Right. That rule discourages car use and kei cars instead of normal cars. That's a net benefit for cities.

[@tek87]

I like being able to drive and park anywhere.

[@tcochran312]

@@tek87 and i like being able to exist in urban environments without parked cars taking up inordinate amounts of space

[@buildinasentry1046]

@@tek87 Well that means making movement harder for everyone else. So no

[@nanifa6082]

@@tek87 the rest of the world likes if you never existed

[@Esajas11]

16:59 is that an audio mixing mistake? Why is the bgm so loud

[@アレックス-l7j]

Heard that too, I expected he was going to segue to that as being a problem in some regard

[@RazulLD]

As a someone who studied for a tour guide I can tell you from my experience that Chris is right about having a good pillow can make or break your traveling experience, when its time to rest and take a nap, so always when possible carry a comfortable pillow or clothes that are fluffy enough to use as a pillow because good rest is essential when traveling. You may look stupid caring a pillow but you will be the one smiling in the morning compared to those around you, trust me on that.

[@kristina855]

As having lived in Japan since 1988, I have enjoyed every one of your videos. Spot on! Keep up the good work. I would like to add though that the obsession with plastic in Japan is quite often overkill, I think that it is necessary to keep bugs out. I live in an old house and bugs get into everything so I appreciate the packaging.

[@binchyaube7885]

Thanks, great video as always. I would love if you could make a video embracing Japanese spiritual concepts/traditions such as Kintsugi, Ikigai, WabiSabi and Chinmoku in order to better understand the base of Japanese thinking. This would be tremendous. Greetings from Germany

[@PrefireGN]

An abroad in japan video was on the top of my christmas list, thank you

[@TravelGeeq]

MERRY CHRISTMAS ABROAD FAM!

[@tHaH4x0r]

6:33 Amen my man. When I came to japan to do an internship at a well known company, they provide housing for new employees and interns. One thing I didnt count on was the goddamn bean pillow. I told myself I would be able to 'tough it out' or 'get used to it', but all it did was bring horrible sleep and neck pains until 2 months later I gave up and bought a new pillow (which by the way are ridiculously expensive in japan for some reason). Also 20:20 is extremely familiar. The times I have seen (especially elderly) coworkers just stare at the same email for literally hours, before deciding to press 'send' is mind boggling. Yet they don't dare to open a news website to catch up on news for 2 minutes during work time. It is almost a caricature that pretending to look busy is appreciated over actually being productive. A very skewed perception into what is a good working attitude and what makes for productive workers. On that same note, it is even more ridiculous how lazy older workers can be. You see the young people slaving away as expected of them and not getting a grain of recognition, whilst the older people do literally nothing, yet are praised into the heavens (and im not talking about just managers). Society dictates older/longer at company = more respect, which just leads to hordes of these older workers doing jack shit and young workers kissing their asses. Also (luckily) many of the more progressive, larger multinationals (including the one I worked for), don't allow interns and new hires to do overwork. They even had designated days where nobody was allowed to do overwork. Crazy that that is actually a thing.

[@Venicilia]

I had a sneaking suspicion before hand that the apartment I would be staying in (University exchange for 1 year) would have one of those pillows, and I was correct. So glad that I brought my feather pillow. The futon they gave me is just as bad, like basically non-existant, and even with the duvet on top as a second layer its not much better. Luckily, with my previous work background, I can sleep basically anywhere for extended periods, so I actually found it pretty comfy despite it. My roommate however... took him 3 weeks to start being able to sleep full nights without waking up 7-8 times.

[@mrexpatman]

you should have got it from amazon jp, I've seen people take the hotel pillow. I don't say you should do it, I won't either just saying. desperate people do desperate things. you should read the newer post, someone posted. if you really want to do overwork, you should leave at appointed time, then wait until everyone leaves the office. Then go back to work and do overwork. Sounds insane. I can see it. For me, my work is on my laptop, so wherever I have my laptop I can do work, not a probably for me. There are many solution where you can work from anywhere and connect to your office computer, even if the company is concern with security there is product for that and at many different price points for a peace of mind. For a young person, I say you go live your dream life and not worry with reality too much. They probably never accept you for who you are, they won't even accept their own for who they are either. If you really want to say in Japan, you should stay for 3 years and think what bucket list you got left to do. Redo it after 2 more years. Then think if Japan is right for you to stay for 3 more years. Many people move out of the city into the countryside, either they leave and never comeback or stay 3 months in the year just to keep their passport validity.

[@TheAppletinee]

Another thing my wife and I found ridiculous was the etiquette of "which side to stand on" because in Osaka it's one way, in Kyoto it's another, in Tokyo it literally changes inside the stations which side and they need signs to tell you which side to stand on. Then when you get on the streets it is like no one has ever driven on the left side before and they just indiscriminately walk whichever direction or side they like 😂

[@ExodentalCADAcademyofNorth]

I love buckwheat pillows :D My favorite quirky band names in Japan is "Mr.Children" 😅 Bunch of older men with t-shirts Mr.Children going to bands concert didn't look properly but still very funny 😂

[@Turtlpwr]

4:56 honestly though “seagull screaming kiss her kiss her” is a band name that hits hard

[@NachtAngel]

After I took my Dad to Japan back in 2014 he bought one of the pillows and has used the same style ever since ! I don't mind them when its got a soft one on top they are very supportive for your head :)

[@LinariaFreeze]

I got a little stuffed melon kuma hanging off my bag at all times that I bought in Sapporo Tower. I love him so much 😂 Thanks for the new video

[@Hrafnskald]

8:12 Chucky Cheese = Imagine a place you could take your kids for a birthday party that was cheap, would fill them up on pizza, and there were games to play (like arcade machines). Fun for the little ones, at an affordable price. Nothing fancy, just a place where the kids can run wild. Kind of like a scaled down version of Wacky Warehouse, with carnival games.

[@al1395-y3d]

When my son and I went to Sado he very much enjoyed their bird mascot lol They had a giant stuffy of it at the dock

[@HailHydra27]

I think about the parking one almost daily. Every morning i have to squeeze down a packed street of cars from 2 car households that moved into townhouses with no car parks

[@SoyLuciano]

13:42 Here in Chile, like in Japan we are also a very seismically active nation (to the point where it was home to the strongest earthquake in the world that even caused a tsunami in Japan, which originated from Valdivia back in 1960, and also felt in Japan is the 2010 earthquake, which damaged my apartment in Viña del Mar, and made me live in Maipú for nearly a year and a half, before moving to Valparaíso), yet we still have radiators. Same thing for Mexico (which also had a strong earthquake back in 1985, which IIRC even impacted the headquarters of Mexican media giant Televisa).

[@freeculture]

Yes, the "1 hour earthquake" (it was a chain) and the infamous human sacrifice some indigenous people did to "stop it"... Chile is the only place on earth with higher seismic activity than Japan.

[@StreetofCrocodiles]

Beyond this, there are plenty of central heating options that don't require hot water being piped through your house.

[@Croz89]

New Zealand doesn't have much in the way of central heating either, or at least it didn't 10 years ago when I visited in winter.

[@XZ1.]

"televisa presenta 🎶 el programa número 1 de la televisión humorística"

[@andywarne963]

Speaking of bands: Not seen any KZbinr cover the gig experience in Japan which is different in many ways. Best is the way in which people queue up in ticket number order at gigs without seat allocations, so the early ticket buyers get in first. Also nobody ever chats during gigs or holds up phones for the whole time which is great.

[@freeculture]

Because demand is often above capacity, in many events they raffle the tickets so not everyone willing to buy is able to obtain it. I read nowdays its often done online. Some artists have the same concert two days in a row to split the attendance.

[@Bunnybananabunny]

Yes!! And regardless of genre, there is always coreographies everyone seems to know😅

[@MightyGodlikeG]

5) is something i experienced myself when visitng Japan last year. On the other side of the road of the imerial palace in Tokyo there where 4 (!) men shielding people on the sidewalk from passing cars to a hotel drive inn. Or in Hiroshima i saw two guys escorting people over a crossing with a street light. There is no way there would be something like this here in germany. But on the other hand i really apreciated it and in times of never ending growth it is relaxing to see probably non profitable service for service reasons for fucking once so yay japan on this one

[@darcyhodge535]

Great video Chris! Quality on this one was top notch!

[@jazznik2]

That Chris Broad campaign truck looked very realistic!

[@djled1013]

As far as Bands go, I absolutely love "The Pillows". With that name you would think it's calming music, but no, it's alternative rock and while they are old now, they are still very good.

[@buildinasentry1046]

Fellow pillows fan, my man

[@MiketehTV]

FLCL

[@PowerSynopsis]

I think you _could_ make an argument that the candy is wrapped like a Fabergé egg if it's packaged exceptionally beautifully, but I think what was meant is that it's similar to a matryoshka doll. Matryoshkas are the stacking dolls with a larger doll hiding a smaller doll inside of it and an even smaller doll inside of it and so on.

[@Proverbman]

I've only ever gotten the bean pillows to be comfortable by manipulating the beans to contour my neck and head. You can't just plop the pillow on the ground and then lay on it. Take a minute or two to push the beans where they need to be so it supports your neck and allows a divot for your head. After that, never turn or move your head from that position....you now have a custom fit one-position pillow for your sleep.

[@elmerkado]

I recently travelled to Japan and enjoyed the pillow. It provided enough comfort to me.

[@jonlavigne3270]

Bump of Chicken makes sense. In drug culture, if you don't want to do a whole line of coke, you can do a "bump" instead, for a little pick-me-up if coke is somthing that affects you. So, say, you're a little peckish, but you don't want to eat a whole order of karaage, you could just get a nugget or two... just a "bump of chicken."

[@OcularCaviar]

I'd always thought this too except that I've also heard people refer to coke as 'chicken' on many occasions. Sounds like something they'd heard from a Westener and thought was amusing.

[@megangoggans1208]

I actually live in the United States and after experiencing the "bean bag pillow" in Japan I have only slept on that since. It helps with my neck pain TREMENDOUSLY and I'm not as hot at night because of it. :)

[@ripdeyu]

thank you sir affable! Your content on a christmas eve is truly a miracle

[@JamesPawson]

Buckwheat husk pillows-- I can't sleep without one, for more than 20 years now.. as a teenager my parents tried them, they couldn't stand them, so I got thiers-- I held on to them for years and years, I replaced them after a while, after I lost them, one traveling which (made the rest of my trip a nightmare). Wow, so strange you feel they break your neck, they do the opposite for me. I have never been to Japan.

[@OrdinProds]

Thing is, this is nothing compared to the bombardment of endless politics and covert politics and opinioneering we all get constantly, every single day of our lives the second we go on the internet. Half of social media now is covert politics and covert marketing and covert business opinioneering/manipulation of people's thinking etc. s a content writer, the last few jobs I've applied for were all these new weird little companies that hire people (basically actors) to be "influencers" for some new social media channels that are designed to just sell things and manipulate opinions for the benefit of certain businesses (and no doubt political groups and so on too, as we've all seen the sudden influx of with the last elections).

[@riverghost]

Lol, I loved my sobakawa pillow when I lived in Japan; I've been trying to find a good alternative ever since moving back home.

[@AbigailBacker-l5j]

Your videos are always on point, never stop!

[@techytube7764]

why does the music overtake Chris being audible at about 16:48?

[@TeamDriveBy]

Another great video Chris. It seems collecting and selling City Pop, Anime OSTs and Japanese artists on vinyl. I collect too but sellers in the US are buying boat loads and selling at hugely inflated prices now. Also you mentioned about when you were learning the language, I know a few phrases but what tips would you give for finding good lessons or approaches to learning Japanese as I’ve friends I want to visit and they speak very little English.

[@lucianael158]

I think, for anyone with an interest in urbanism and city planning, there are few things that make more sense than the car parking regulation, but I understand how the reasoning behind it all might commonly be forgotten.

[@lemdavefn]

Maximum The Hormone is an awesome band. And to be fair, there are lots of Japanese bands who gained international fame with names that sound unusual - toe, One Ok Rock, The Pillows, buck-tick, mono, or even Radwimps, to name a few.

[@balabanasireti]

They're alright

[@jeffkleist9679]

Chuck E Cheese is a game center with pizza added aimed at under 10 children

[@AbroadinJapan]

Oh dear

[@jazznik2]

Chuck E Cheese ("real" name Charles Entertainment Cheese) was originally a rat but since 1993 is a mouse (still looks like a rat IMHO).

[@firstnamlastnam2141]

It used to have robot performers, but they culled them.

[@mandalore1089]

​@@AbroadinJapan Its also the basis for Five Nights at Freddy's.

[@jeffkleist9679]

@@mandalore1089 That would be showbiz pizza, and if you want to hear the entire odyssey about the two rivals, John Oliver has a wonderful savior

[@LtColShingSides]

Bump of Chicken is pretty good lol

[@pxzos]

Chris! The 3 records you got are absolute classics! Heck yea love all of them! Great video once again thank you for your service

[@emiphoenix5366]

Maximum the Hormone is by far the best and most interesting band I've heard in a while. I love the hell out of Nao, Ryu, Daisuke, and Ue chan!

[@kanac-6098]

Chris i think you fucked up the audio starting at 16:55

[@cjrains6022]

@5:39 we need this in NYC 😅

[@smokeymchaggis73]

Whats not to get about meatloaf. Its a giant well seasoned hamburger with eggs in it to bind like a cake. My favorite food

[@jeffspaulding9834]

Yeah, that part was pretty funny considering it came from someone who doesn't think "spotted dick" is a venereal disease.

[@Nazaru_Lan]

Bananas that are individually wrapped, so relatable

[@Bunnybananabunny]

The sobagara is so gooooood! When I moved to Japan my rental had one and it was the only one they got. I got used to it pretty quickly and absolutely loved it!

[@Frozty]

I'll have no Brit besmirch the good name of Charles Entertainment Cheese! (Or Chuck E. for short), especially when the Wombles are so beloved and equally unsettling.

[@eirinym]

The downside to being inflexible with food customization is that it really screws over people with allergies or food intolerances. What if you go to a place and everything you want to eat they decided to add something you're allergic to? You ask if it can be made without that and they tell you to bugger off. That kinda sucks because that means you can't eat.

[@theasianjaywalker4455]

Much of the world does not have this weird Western white lady obsession with having special allergies 'served and accomodated' by the restaurant. You are not being 'screwed over' but rather 'you screw yourself over' if you are going out to eat other people's cooking like that. It's your responsibility, blame, your right or wrongdoing. not the cooks.

[@ChaosXTheProject]

A CRISPY CAMERA CLUB MENTION?!?!??! IS THIS HEAVEN?!?!?

[@ChamberK-1]

The music slowly getting louder and drowning out Chris’s voice at 16:45 was funnier than it should’ve been.

[@IsraelGutierrez-fv8xo]

Hello dr broad thank you for introducing me to this beautiful country and culture, planning my second trip in 2 years hope to go bi yearly