Japan's Problem with Marijuana (Japan Q&A)

[@LucyPyre]

vtubers??? this is the first time i'm hearing about them, but i looked them up and it sounds like a pretty easy get-rich-quick scheme. maybe i should jump on that train before the market gets over-saturated and become watashi wa suta thanks for helping me find my new career path, dogen-sensei! i will find a japanese oshi and become just as jouzu as u one day! :D

[@Bobbias]

I know, right? Easy money.

[@Dogen]

マイ・プレジャー です

[@userrelkjwrweefdggfdgsagsadgw]

Mommy Lucy a Dogen fan

[@_-pf_gd-_]

Lmao dude

[@MoarCowbell69]

Holy shit! Was not expecting Lucy to be a Dogen fan 😮

[@wraitholme]

This is precisely the combination of information and exquisite dry humor that makes this channel really stand out.

[@SaltpeterTaffy]

The 'shoboi' punchline relating to the students' weed use was perfect.

[@dogchaser520]

People using weed as a substitute for an identity is hilarious. But yeah, weed has been part of Japanese culture for thousands of years, grows their natively, and was only made illegal because of the Little Brother status incurred after the WW2 defeat, put in place by the US. Smoking weed in Japan makes you feel like you're a kid again, defying the law, because of such heavy penalties. Definitely shoboi.

[@thalanoth]

all of em were hahahahaah .. haha... dammit..

[@donywahlberg]

A brief look into the history does show the ban was put in place under US supervision but the historians hardly agree it was primarily as an anti-drug movement. The US was also cultivating hemp at the time for war purposes and there are sources cited on Wiki claiming the original US led ban did not ban inhalation or consumption, it was strictly an economical agriculture policy. Further supporting evidence shows amphetamines were legally available under US supervision until the 1950s, hardly an anti-drug initiative there. Japan themselves have since independently strengthened penalties for consumption and as recently as 2021 the independent Japanese government proposed to alter parts of the original US led ban to explicitly make consumption illegal. I think it is not in good faith to blame the culture around marijuana on the US when Japan was already going through a rapid modernization and has subsequently not gone back on that US policy for nearly a century. US influence also brought whisky to Japan, should we blame the US for the rampant *legal* alcoholism and related sexism prevalent in Japan? I struggle to think a group of students minding their own business, smoking, in the common area of their community is less socially acceptable than over indulging in alcohol with co-workers or working yourself to an early death for your controlling boss. I mean we don't even know if the anecdotal victims of this story were good students. Maybe they had all finished their studies and homework and scheduled some time to relax. Tons of successful people smoke weed across the globe. I guess when the socially acceptable thing to do is be a stiff corpse who never takes a hair out of line working 12+ hour days and getting blackout drunk while your wife raises your kids and mentally suffers at home -- yeah smoking weed is super awful. Wait...am I maybe assuming too much and being too stereotypical about Japanese people based on small specific examples of the culture I've seen? Gosh I'm so sorry who would even bully someone based on limited information. I feel awful. I take it all back since I know nothing about the people I am talking about I shouldn't insult them or their way of life. Food for thought.

[@iambakuhatsu]

Man Dogen, you are really coming into your craft. I really like your content lately, more than before. Your comedic timing has slowed down a little bit and the cuts are a little longer, the stories a little more drawn out, such that I forget there's a punchline coming. I'm just so interested in listening to you tell a story and then you hit me with a shoboi and I'm surprised and laughing again.

[@animotiondesign]

The "demure" line was perfect lmfao

[@jaminbenjensen]

After this 8 min explanation on what しょぼい means I think I finally understand

[@OrangeC7]

Dogen is so 上手 at keeping his videos from becoming しょぼい with the times. Must be all the blazing he does, since he's an アメリカ人.

[@thst37]

the しょぼい facial expression change right at the end was so funny hahaha

[@g_y.rtz420]

i cant with lumping both uni and weed together its so obvious yet you ended with an unexpected punchline unbelievable

[@frankyboy98]

こういうスタイルのビデオがいいと思います！色んな経験から習うのが面白いと思って、またこんなビデオを見たいです！ Thank you for sharing your experiences ^^

[@rileyninja9733]

I didn't expected lucy pyre to show up in this video. Who would have guessed she was also a fan

[@Elfyja]

That caught me off guard too I had to pause and squint lol

[@DaVince21]

Lmao I didn't even notice. That makes his response even better.

[@weebaboo268]

@@Elfyja I swear I just read squirt instead of squint

[@Elfyja]

@@weebaboo268 lmao

[@ValkyrieTiara]

I never expected to see Lucy Pyre featured in a Dogen video in any capacity. I feel like I hit my head and am going to wake up from a coma at any moment.

[@Bazilisk_AU]

I know right ? That whiplash hit me outta nowhere

[@Hoppitot]

Holy shit hahaha ホーム comes from プラットホーム lmao. I never even thought of it, just a quick "thats weird" and moved on.

[@hk20000]

Weirdest thing was that they would write "home" when they write the English underneath....

[@bobbyslickton4742]

Yo same… at least this will help reinforce it in my memory

[@PlatinumMadLad]

I'm losing my damn mind over here

[@AkomishTiddies]

This is why I call platform doors homo doors

[@nekogami87]

15 years I've known that word, never occured to me ... mind blown.

[@hypersonic12]

Thank you for leaving in a few stutters and mistakes. It’s encouraging to know that is happens even at your level

[@Nathanael_Forlorn]

The man manages to make even a regular Q&A into a comedy routine. The framing, answering two questions together, the callbacks. Well played. Shoboi janai desu.

[@PowerSynopsis]

I *did not* expect to see Lucy Pyre when I clicked on Dogen's video! I'm actually heading over to Neuro's stream after this to watch her and Lucy! What a coincidence

[@moropikkuu]

Dogen... at this point I am convinced that you have to have spent some time learning/practising 落語 during your time at university... this build-up for that final 落ち… very reminiscent of 落語 imo...

[@carmelopappalardo8477]

Actually I think the hair does look better.

[@katiahrvth8483]

hairline is daijobu

[@randxalthor]

Tatemae or honne?

[@briddenattech]

Yeah, I thought so too. Honestly, I thought maybe the reason he went through his bald period was because he had a hair transplant. (like other youtuber's I follow) He's looking good.

[@rice_frying_shrimp]

might just be how he combs it lately. that can do a LOT for the look. also we're definitely not used to seeing the hairline anymore because we had bald Dogen for so long...

[@tams805]

He needs to get on the fin or dut if he really wants to keep it though. So long as he's not trying to have any more children that is.

[@Sawaedo]

Hahaha, Thank you for partially answering my question Dogen-san 😂 I'll be looking forward to that future long format video, those long format ones are really good.💪

[@GameBoiLight]

Saw the last one coming a mile away and still lost my mind, great video!

[@SukoSeiti]

You should do a music breakdown of different japanese songs, one great example is しかのこのこのここしたんたん. I'm sure it would also go viral.

[@Hondavid.]

I'm taking a linguistics class rn and actually learned vowel sonority and stuff and understand dogen's videos better, thanks!

[@rice_frying_shrimp]

Dogen is my favorite Rakugo performer

[@PortlyPete]

your callbacks are on par with world class comedians

[@taki80skure37]

最後のオチ、うまいです!!

[@DavidCruickshank]

"How's my hairline? Demure?" Absolutely perfect response 🤣🤣

[@DouglasWatt]

Sophia University grad here. At the time I was there, the general feeling was that while the people who were in clubs did prioritize the club experience over their studies, but the students who weren't heavily active in the club system did actually study seriously. Also, Daily Yamazaki is way better than its reputation. But yea, they always seem a bit dingy compared to the big 3, even when the store is well maintained.

[@GaosenKinetics]

If you were at Sophia's FLA (or the 'ol 比文 depending on the era) then it's a bit of an odd duck, since it's a lot more of an American-esque environment and with more expectations of actual participation, instead of minimal effort to get 単位 for a couple years then full effort for 就活 etc. which you see at other schools/学部. It's similarly odd because it takes a much more diverse group of people instead of a relatively narrow band of 偏差値 that you see at other schools, so you have some really capable students sitting next to some really poor ones as well. Reality is there's serious students everywhere in Japanese unis but since there's minimal punishment for poor grades (both in the sense of academic probation and for future prospects) there's an unfortunate race to the bottom insofar as academics goes. But at the same time being bad at academics *in university* in Japan doesn't actually mean they're bad students. Many of those who did little besides 部活 are quite smart and just concentrating their time and effort on doing what's liable to be most effective for their future and will get them stable and relatively well paying jobs. As someone who both took academics relatively seriously as well as did 部活 I think a lot of outside observers really miss this point.

[@DouglasWatt]

@@GaosenKinetics That's a fair point. I was indeed 比較文化 when it was still at Ichigaya, but I took a lot of classes on the main Yotsuya campus too. So I got to see a fair amount of the reality I think. I wouldn't hazard a guess as to what % are serious and what % are focus on non-academic stuff, esp. given how much has changed (I got so many weird looks for taking class notes on my Sony Clie, but now that would be considered normal), but I do think there's more serious students than the common image implies.

[@-----------nobashi-----------]

しょぼいを滅茶苦茶擦ってて笑った 本音と建て前については僕がしょぼいのでよくわからんから日本人のみんながわかると思わんで欲しい

[@bitfreakazoid]

Whoa! An almost 9 minute long Dogen sketch video! Awesome!

[@user-ll4mr7xi6l]

デミュア！？oh help this is hilarious

[@Zucchurro]

These punchlines after all that setup had me SCREAMING. Amazing video Dōgen!

[@TheYoutubeUser69]

holy shit the word for part time job is literally the german word "arbeit" pronounced in a japanese way. hilarious :D

[@la.zanmal.]

It's a loanword from German. Tons of loanwords are from languages other than English.

[@Vortexcube]

Until they shorten it even more into baito

[@iambakuhatsu]

they use 'Rentogen' to mean x-ray as well

[@Akuryoutaisan21]

It's also エネルギー for "energy" because it comes from "energie" in German and クランケ for "patient" from Kranke

[@肉骨粉]

In Japanese convenience stores, arbeits make fries. Just saying.

[@Thekowaikaiju]

Partaking and browsing KZbin and see the thumbnail of this... Did a doubletake to make sure I was actually seeing those two things together. Nope, not just stoned it turned out! 😅 Always good to see an upload from this channel!🎉

[@lastnamefirstname8655]

nice q&a, thanks dogen!

[@runningriot7963]

このビデオのおかげで「口説く」という言葉を学びました。これは役に立つ！ありがとうな！

[@floflo1645]

I did not expect to see a lucy pyre in a dogen video...

[@aegisxor]

Reading the English questions in Japanese is such a casual flex

[@Flare2-3]

that ありがとう thing really helped ありがとう！

[@TheMrMusic4You]

ざいまいした*

[@DDranks]

​@@Flare2-3not sure if you watched the video past the three minute mark x) he was attempting a joke, not a serious correction

[@Flare2-3]

@@DDrankso

[@Nightraven26]

What does the zaimaishita in the end mean? 🤔

[@DDranks]

@@Nightraven26 it's just sloppily pronounced ございました, as in, ありがとうございました

[@laxminarayanbhandari855]

動画ありがとうございました。面白かったです All the manga reading was worth it. I was able to understand quite a few of the sentences. 語彙力はまだまだですけど

[@casualweekday-ytshadowbang2469]

Actually I was surprised that there was hair under the beanie.

[@MartialManiaK]

6:36 I really miss the old videos. Vote up if you also want more of the old intro and 「今から日本語のレッスンを行います」-style videos again.

[@five-toedslothbear4051]

I also had a convenience store on the corner, and they gutted the building it was in for redevelopment. We're supposed to get a new convenience store and an Italian restuarant. I really want a Japanese style 7-Eleven like they're supposed to build in the US. Is there a kami for konbini that I can set up a shrine to?

[@8__vv__8]

The real kami was the onigiri we ate along the way

[@bmanpura]

Just set up one yourself, it's probably doable.

[@serflord]

This comment will be the setup for a pun in Dogen's next video using "kami" (god) and "kami" (hair), mark my words.

[@tams805]

@@8__vv__8 もし一粒の米に七柱の神様が住んでいるなら、おにぎりを食べるときには何柱の神様を食べていることになるのでしょうか？

[@8__vv__8]

@@tams805 あのね、公案に違いないです。道元先生の？

[@thexenoist3493]

The holy trinity of fighting male pattern balding. Minoxidil Finasteride Microneedling

[@gokiguni]

or just go to turkey and get a cheap (with a 50% chance of getting a botched) hair transplant surgery

[@pastelshoal]

@@gokiguni You need to be on meds to maintain after a transplant or it ends up looking patchy

[@Marsofearthh]

weed: 新宿. friends: 高田馬場駅 . 日本語： Priceless.

[@dianagula8101]

You are hilarious and brilliant! Looking forward to all of your uploads. I can't wait to live in Japan! Moving to Oita area hopefully by April 2025 🤞🤞💚

[@Schaddn]

I love your delivery

[@chrisaltec2992]

3:00 I was waiting for the punchline and you still got me

[@Sardoniic]

Seeing you joke about minoxidil reminds me of a very old video you did - Insecurity Inhibitor. And the song you had on that video (Animal Collective - Brother Sport) reminds me of Korea every time I hear it. Looking good dude, you're killing it and I couldn't be happier.

[@IJethrobot]

1:17 I misheard your error as 飲んでいるので and thought it was a clever joke about how thirsty the commenter was lol

[@kakahass8845]

You have no idea. She made an... interesting song about how she feels about anime girls.

[@coolbrotherf127]

I would say a good way to translate "しょぼい" would be dull. When used to describe a place, it usually means the lack of quality of the atmosphere of the location. Things such as bad lighting, dirty floors, unorganized products, or uninteresting branding make a place feel uninviting and purely utilitarian.

[@tams805]

So it still perfectly describes weed smokers.

[@SisterSunny]

man these videos are always so nice for japanese listening practice!! And they're hilarious as always lmaooo

[@FlareOfLegacy]

I wasn't expecting to see that guy from Perfect Blue at all.

[@Dakotaro]

アクセントは関東と関西で異なる場合もありますね

[@LukasVokrinek]

That 僕は知らないですけど was a great opportunity to sneak some VTuber merch into the frame. Maybe next time

[@51imo]

日本語の教科書的にも使えるし、日本のお笑いについても学べる動画です

[@DaVince21]

Dogen still never fails to make me laugh hard at the end of the video.

[@gengoop3056]

really enjoying the exact same thumbnail reation face, please do it more I love to see it

[@51imo]

1:47 急に専門家の顔が出てきてキュンとしちゃった

[@ベル-z2p]

良い芸風ですね😂。 「しょぼい」の意味と使われ方がよく分かりそう😂。 …面白かったです、チャンネル登録します！

[@orti1283]

Daily Yamazaki: Best bread and fried goods (besides famichiki and 7/11's 梅しそささみ揚げ) Secoma: Hot Chef, best bentos Ministop: Best soft ice cream

[@kydeanderic]

Another masterpiece.

[@スペード-z9c]

デイリーヤマザキしょぼいは草

[@MrSaywutnow]

That shoboi punchline was great. The style reminded me of Norm MacDonald.

[@brownshoe72]

Both are correct. Pronunciation/dialect changes throughout the country. The way Japanese is spoken in Kyushu versus Osaka versus Kyoto versus Nagoya versus Tokyo versus Hokkaido versus Okinawa are ALL different😁

[@bitfreakazoid]

"another avenue I've been exploring recently is, no I mean..." LOL

[@zorrocafe]

Dogen never misses 🤣

[@maiy8786]

Demure in japanese accent is so funny idk why

[@sage4839]

I love your content so much!! You've been helpful and entertaining to me for over 2 years or so. Thank you for your content!! Love from Orlando, FL

[@arizona_iced_out_boy]

I'll mention this since the bar I go to has a lot of older gen x former-hippies and they told me a bunch about drug culture in japan. It used to be a lot easier to smoke it without any issues, because literally nobody knew about it. Now a days they know and are way harsher about it. You can still smell people smoking it occasionally in hipster areas. Your best bet on finding it, going to the inaka up north and just knowing someone, or make friends with hippies. Big advice they mentioned, never take anything in shibuya/shinjuku. It's almost always a cop trying to entrap you. They mentioned, look for dudes with clean hair-cuts, oversized t-shirts hiding their arms. Those are undercovers. Also some things mentioned, apparently LSD/Mushrooms used to be legal for a super long time in Japan. Again, just nobody really knew about it until recentishly. This all being said....just don't dude. It's like not worth the risk at all. Even the old school hippies have mostly dropped it since it's weak/overpriced/risky. Just go to Thailand if you really want to have a weed vacation.

[@LinkCrab]

As usual, the humor mixed with actual info was on point! I'm curious though: do you, or other people here in the comments, have anything besides 飲み会 to recommenced for making Japanese friends? I don't drink alcohol and worry that I'll offend people by showing up to such an event and abstaining.

[@noseboop4354]

The same way you make friends anywhere in the world, have a hobby and join a club (karate, guitar, gardening, etc.)

[@nork22]

All that anecdotes for that "shoboi" punchline. Have you considered doing Rakugo?

[@Killercreek]

About the second Bing bang boom video, it never popped on my feed, even with the bell clicked

[@rakedos9057]

“Tomodachi no tomodachi” hum … how convenient /joke Very well written video! The humour was very well done!

[@robnotwicz7002]

The extended "shoboi" joke was *chef's kiss*

[@Rosanjo9]

Good structuring there my dude, getting better as the hair line worsens!

[@crispcleanwithcaffeine]

The build up and the delayed deliveries. ngl, now you've become scarily good.

[@saraha6237]

You’re coming across as so chill, relaxed, Dogen 🎉 Smoked some weed to record this? 😇 Greetings from Amsterdam!

[@TokiWithCheese]

This slapped, thanks

[@TheDestino8]

As a couple small additions to the Weed question: - when I lived in Japan most people told me that they have never seen weed, don't even know how it smells and got told in school, that "if you smoke weed, you die" (often in exactly that sentence) - Seriously you shouldn't plan to smoke weed in Japan. The penalties quickly go towards unreasonable prison-time or getting kicked out of the country. Also the most "reliable" way to get weed is through the Yakuza. - I don't know current prices, but back in 2018 it was like $50 per gram. So even if you were to stupidly ignore the above dangers, it would quickly melt your travel expenses.

[@End_Illegal_Apartheid_israhell]

There was a 3 month gap a couple years ago when when HHC was sold in Japan. I grabbed bought some up. Still have two cartridges. Does the job AND SOME. Thank you Japanese authorities.... for always being behind.

[@MrTandtrollet]

OMFG, THE END ... nearly killed me!!! Hazard warning needed!

[@chiedawson]

Where I'm from, arigatou is said with a slight accent on "to" and it seems to me this is the way in most Western Japan. I didn't realize some people said it with the accent on "ri" until a couple of years ago and I'm in my mid 60s.😂

[@yarukineez0]

Oh wow I didn't expect to make it into the video lmao. Look mom! Btw the thumbnail is baller

[@kiyotomiyazaki1668]

OK! Got it! Dogen=Shoboi!!

[@jeffchan67]

"I saw students copying one another's homework...with the copy machine.."

[@SniperSnake50BMG]

1:13 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂😂!!!!! The conundrum!!!

[@balus_dagron2535]

I was surprise when I see the title of this video because that is the first time for me, Japanese, to hear about marijuana in Japan, and I thought Dogen will talking about this topic seriously, but I realized it isnt the case when I heard his Japanese lol

[@fluxquantations]

Now I want to know who Dogen's VTuber oshi is.

[@ericlin4189]

天丼上手いですね、他ののアメリカ人と比べ物にならないぐらいすごいです

[@djecchi8768]

I hate the ending but also love it. 😂

[@PDNW]

"DEMURE?" Had me dying

[@julian2719]

Dogen, please don't use Minoxidil without Finasteride (1 mg daily)! Your hair loss is caused by DHT so you need something that reduces DHT levels in your blood otherwise you will continue to lose hair. Add micro needling (stamp, not a roller; start with 0,5 mm every two weeks, then increase depth and frequency) into your routine as well as it increases the effectiveness of Minoxidil. Please let me know if you need additional advise

[@strangemobius]

I swear some sort of cosmic force keeps putting Perfect Blue references in my daily life recently. Also: デミュア！hahahahaha

[@Trainfan1055Janathan]

Public service announcement: When looking up verbs, look up the plain form. Once, I saw the verb 老いる in a song, conjugated as 老いた. I assumed it was a く verb and that the plain form was 老く. Years later, I saw it in another song, conjugated as 老いない and I thought, "wait, it's a る verb?! もう、このくそ動詞に騙されたじゃないか。😂

[@CC-cn9rv]

Very entertaining

[@hitbos6904]

ヘタレ（屁垂れ）といわれなくて幸運でしたねw ショボいはスラングかと思いきや、調べてみたら語源は「ショボショボしている』から来てるみたいですね

[@8bithavok]

あ。しょぼいは「cheugy」です。

[@rociosilverroot2261]

Lucyyyyy 😂

[@five-toedslothbear4051]

Serious question: If I visit Japan, how do I socialize when I don't drink? Actually it's not even recommended with the medications I'm on. Needless to say, I am a lightweight. I totally do open up more if the people around me are drinking. No problem turning off my 'filters'. On the weed front, I had a friend, and he and his wife were considering moving to my area. "...and, [Five-toed], every Saturday afternoon we can hang out and get baked." "Uh, [Fred], I've never used pot." "Are you serious? You're like the biggest stoner I know!" And this guy was a California surfer dude. Yeah, now we have a dispensary three blocks away, and I have some "Vitamin M" and I partake if I want to do nothing but be a slightly animated breathing statue.

[@oooow6861]

Hint: In Japan, 7.8% of people in their 20s have a drinking habit, according to a 2019 survey (12.7% for men, 3.1% for women). In their 30s, the rate is 17.2% (24.4% for men, 11.1% for women).

[@LukasVokrinek]

Get a non arukooru beer (non-alcoholic), or one weak beer and just sip it. You'll still see Japanese people get drunk and open up, and they don't really care if you drink much or not, at least from my experience. And Japanese get drunk very easily, usually, so it's a relatively short period of time before the ice breaks.

[@altobuffalo7]

Go drink with other people but say you’re 下戸 (geko, as in you can’t take in alcohol) and order non-alcoholic drinks. Judging by how they react you might as well decide whether you want to hang around with them or not

[@ryo-kai8587]

@@altobuffalo7 Nice, this is really useful. Like OP, I also don't drink at all (personal choice; I just don't enjoy it). Knowing how to say something like「すいません、下戸なんですが、他の飲み物を飲み嬉しいですよ！」is a good one to have in my arsenal.

[@StopTryingSoHard]

The drinking things are easier now, especially once you start working, ewe haven't had a nomikai since before COVID. You can 100% just drink water - as someone who's known for being a workout fanatic at work, I always drank water and nobody had any issues - also since I always paid my fair share, they 100% happily invited me back.

[@CubanDre]

lol. That perfect blue plug was unexpected