Placeholder Image

Subtitles section Play video

  • Audience interaction is the cornerstone of success on YouTube

  • But because I'm rubbish, I think the last time I did it was three, about three years ago. So today, to celebrate the upcoming

  • 2000 kilometer cycle across Japan

  • You can even see the.. just realised you can see the tire of the bicycle in the background. Should have, should have thought about that

  • earlier

  • but today I'm gonna be reading out your questions guys. Questions you've sent in, deep, personal, far-reaching questions that will challenge me both intellectually and

  • and philosophically as well.

  • Does pineapple belong on pizza?

  • If you were a fish, would you eat donuts?

  • Would you rather fight one horse-sized duck or a hundred duck-sized horses? Hehehehe

  • There's pineapple belong on pizza? You know, there was a time when I used to love ham and pineapple pizza

  • There's kind of saltiness of the ham mixed with the juiciness and sweetness of the pineapple

  • It was beautiful was like a taste explosion of flavors in my mouth

  • But that was when I was 7 years old, and I was an idiot by all accounts. Now, I know better it doesn't work

  • It's a stupid combination and I hate it. Get out

  • if you were a fish would you eat donuts? You bet I

  • fucking would. If I were a fish I'd take whatever I could get, if some human was stupid enough to throw a doughnut in a lake

  • I would be the first one to get it and nothing, NOTHING, would stand in my way

  • Would you rather fight one horse-sized duck or a hundred duck-sized horses? Hehehehe

  • I think one horse-sized duck. I think if you're looking at a hundred

  • duck-sized horses. It's going to require a 100 to 150 rounds to take them down

  • potentially whereas with one

  • horse-sized duck you could do it with at least two to three rounds to the head

  • I think it'd be a lot more, a lot easier

  • But if we're talking about one-on-one fistfight, I would flip that around and I would take down a hundred duck-sized horses. With my shoes

  • Definitely

  • Could I survive in Japan being a ginger person? No, you'll be incinerated. Yes, you'll be fine. Just remember to wear lots of sunscreen

  • And take an umbrella in the summer months. Otherwise, you'll end up looking like this.

  • I learned a valuable lesson that day

  • What inspired you to be a youtuber? I remember before I came to Japan

  • I started going online, on YouTube, and looking for vloggers, people that were living here

  • And so I could kind of get an insight into life in Japan

  • And I came across this video of a Canadian girl slowly, but passionately eating some bread

  • And I saw that this groundbreaking act had been watched by over 1 million people

  • It was then I thought I know I could probably do that as well

  • Although I could never have imagined that I'd become friends with the aforementioned bread girl. This is quite cool, isn't it?

  • You can watch someone on the screen and then then you can become their friend exciting world we live in

  • What is your favorite board game? My favorite board game is Monopoly

  • Nothing beats the thrill of kicking your family's ass by having an empire that spans the board of houses and hotels

  • Unless I lose in which case I hate it. It's the worst game ever

  • What's an activity or hobby you have in Japan

  • you would never have considered doing at home in the UK? Walking down a dark alleyway at night. Seriously,

  • I don't think I'd ever do that in the UK.

  • Yeah, I guess doing YouTube in general

  • I'd never have started if I didn't move here because I would have felt like I'd have nothing to vlog about

  • I don't think me myself

  • I'm not interesting enough to ever warrant doing it

  • And so yeah, probably YouTube and alleyways what's a video or topic you want to do?

  • But haven't had the funds connections or time to accomplish it

  • I think if there was no limit to what I could do, I would produce a video

  • comparing Japanese convenience store Fried Chicken

  • So, you know, we'd look at Lawson's Fried Chicken Family Mart Fried Chicken. 7-eleven Fried Chicken

  • I'd eat it all and compare it

  • You know within the space of an hour everything that's worried me as health considerations and certainly in the run-up to the psycho

  • I've been trying to be healthy and not eat things like that

  • I'd also love to make an 80s style music video with a kind of Blade Runner

  • Aesthetic I'd probably do that in Osaka or Tokyo. I just haven't had the time to do it

  • Well there we are passing through Osaka during the cycle so could do it then

  • I'd also love to make some short films as well something. I'm looking at doing next year making some short films

  • But yeah, the main factor is always just time having the time to write it, script it, produce it

  • It all takes so much time. How long did it take for you to be able to hold a conversation in Japanese?

  • I think it took about a year to have a conversation that was good. Sure after a few months

  • I could say basic phrases like hi. I'm Chris. This is a pen. I like pens

  • Do you like pens? Took me about a year to transcend that level of breaking conversation? Have you ever met Yakuza? You bet I have

  • Actually, I mean no

  • But I've probably spoken to somebody who's been a member of the yakuza who just didn't tell me, who wasn't open about it

  • But yeah, they're everywhere, you know

  • But I've never spoken to anybody who said "I'm a yakuza" and then talked to me about it

  • So I guess no. Is the plant in the background real or fake?

  • The plant in the background? It's actually it's actually real - a real fake plant. I'll show you why it's here

  • I'm gonna let you in on a little secret, don't tell anyone. It's actually there

  • To mark to hide the mark on the wall. Look at that. This was left by the leather sofa

  • I don't know how that happened

  • Somehow the leather rubbed off on the crappy cheap wall and did that so we put the plant there and nobody's any the wiser

  • clever eh

  • It's just a secret between me and you don't tell anyone

  • In your opinion, what's the one thing from Japan that's worth bringing back as a souvenir the most?

  • Sense of self worth and the new sake Kit Kat flavour. It's amazing tastes incredible. Definitely take some home with you

  • It'd be a crime not to. What is the meaning of life? -To be subscribed to the Abroad in Japan channel

  • ..and probably something about being happy

  • It's so inspiring having easy access to positive people like you online, especially when I'm having an off day

  • What life lesson experience has made you such a positive person?

  • Yeah, yeah positive. That's me. I like to start every day with a smile

  • Yeah... it's not convincing is it? I wouldn't say I'm actually that positive I just don't let negative things get to me

  • I think it's less about being happy and smiley and positive all the time and more about just

  • Not letting crap things get you down. I think I've been lucky to surround myself with good people

  • friends family

  • Who never have

  • stood in the way of anything I wanted to do.

  • It amazes me how many people I've talked to who complain about the people around them

  • You know, there's always somebody who

  • Puts them down or makes them feel bad or stands in the way of their dream or goal if you have anyone in your life

  • Like that cut them out and get rid of them. Don't ever compromise on the people you choose to spend your time with

  • Life's too short for all that crap. That got serious very quick. Didn't it? bloody hell. Oh, why do we exist?

  • Seven years ago. I went to the Caribbean and I laid down in this hammock

  • Oh my fuck it was a revelation floating in the Caribbean breeze with the Sun beating down upon my face

  • I realized this hammock

  • Personified existence better than any sentence ever could and not a single day has passed since then that I haven't thought about that

  • Moment seven years ago in that hammock. And so that's it. That's the meaning of existence for me

  • You know, we've all gotta find our kind of a unique hammock moment

  • And I think once you do, the the puzzle of existence will kind of all come together, fall into place. Like that

  • Have you had any experiences where you felt like you made a big difference to someone's life

  • Ryotaro and Natsuki. They'd be nothing without me, NOTHING. probably works the other way around as well

  • Honestly, I don't know. I get a lot of messages of people saying the videos made them want to come to Japan or teach English

  • Which is awesome that's always really rewarding. I must admit I did once by my ex Japanese girlfriend

  • Some post it notes and I've always wondered if she put them to use if she put them to good use, you know.

  • in a compelling way, you know, I think if you use post-it notes in the right manner

  • There's no telling what you can do, it unlocks a whole different world of

  • Possibilities so, you know, hopefully it changed her life in the way that my post-it notes change mine every single day

  • I''ve got to get some new socks, shit. Forgot about that

  • If you could bring one aspect of Japanese culture or technology to Britain, what would you choose?

  • Well, I think the obvious answer would be to bring back trains that aren't shit.

  • Also the concept of respecting other people's possessions somebody close to me had their bike stolen in

  • London the other day

  • And they had it chained up and they went off of 10-15 minutes and somebody'd sawn off the whole fucking train bike had gone

  • Whereas in Japan people leave their MacBook Pros, just lying there on the coffee shop table

  • They go to the bastard midget golf and walk somewhere for 10 minutes and their MacBook Pro is still there

  • And they don't have to worry about it that level of trust

  • I know it's absent in most of the world but it feels like something the world could certainly learn from Japan

  • And yeah

  • I think that's the one thing I would export to the world if I could but I can't and I don't think I'll ever be able to.

  • What is your pet peeve? Journalists and writers who overuse the phrase tour-de-force

  • That pisses me off that and music by rap singer Iggy Azalea whenever I hear a song by Iggy Azalea

  • It makes me question whether the Big Bang was worth it

  • The only thing that could be worse would be if a journalist used the phrase tour-de-force to describe an Iggy Azalea album

  • That would send me right over the fucking edge. Do you like spending time alone?

  • I mean going to the cinema or cafe by yourself walking alone, etc. I absolutely love being alone

  • It's probably my favorite thing in the world. I like hanging out with people for sure

  • But when I'm alone, I'm at my most kind of creative and ideas come you know

  • I often try to walk for 40 minutes a day somewhere around and when I do that's when the ideas

  • Happen in my head, and I'm relaxed the most

  • I'm usually just driving through the countryside somewhere in a car sitting there listening to music

  • that's what I'm I'm at my most happiest unless an

  • Iggy Azalea song comes on the radio in which case I hate it and all cars and all radio and sound. It's all shit

  • I hate it. What did you do with all your worldly possessions when moving abroad? I liquidated them into incredible wealth by incredible wealth

  • I mean about 300 pounds. I didn't have a whole lot

  • I had lots of clothes and DVDs and things I took them to what's called a

  • Car boot sale in the UK I think in America you call it garage sale is it or is it... I don't know

  • What do people do in America to sell things? That's not eBay?

  • But I basically took all my stuff into a field where there's lots of people and cars and then I sold it all

  • Flea market, maybe that's what it's called

  • I don't know help me out here God if only I could do this live

  • But I had a DVD collection of like a hundred DVDs. I

  • Basically gave it all away. I barely made any money half of them, but it's the feeling of getting rid of everything

  • It was it wasn't so much about raising money. It was just about getting rid of all my stuff and it was the most amazing

  • Liberating experience ever and I absolutely loved it. Just be able to fit my entire life into two suitcases was just awesome

  • How much longer will you live in Japan?

  • And if you do leave have you ever thought about life after Japan this question came up more than any other it was like 20%

  • Of the questions I had and it's a question that I've got every single day now for the last six years not a single day

  • Has passed that a viewer or a friend family

  • Just random Japanese people in the street have not asked me this question as a result

  • I often feel like somebody who's overstayed their welcome at some kind of party Oh Chris Yura is still here

  • I mean originally I came to Japan for two years. The plan was come to Japan for two years

  • Go back to the UK get a career get a mortgage and then die after a few decades or something

  • But I found a connection with the Japanese culture that I didn't think I would have and obviously doing

  • YouTube gave me a sense of purpose as well

  • So there's still so much. I want to do here in Japan, which is kind of what the cycle is about

  • And yes, you can't see the tire now because the door shut nah, that's a naughty

  • Continuity error right there, isn't it shocking in a sense Japan feels like my home more than the UK

  • I have a

  • role here that I play and I have a network of friends across the country that I just don't have back in the UK and

  • As much as I love the UK, and I'm sure I'll move back there someday, even if I did leave Japan

  • I'd probably go and live in another country and start all over and try and learn another culture and kind of do what I did

  • Here there

  • But that isn't the answer you want is it, you want a nice clear-cut hard number.

  • Because you've waited for a few minutes to get to this point and this is what I'll say

  • I hope to be in Japan at least another three years

  • Beyond that I can't say, but I think the Olympics in 2020 are gonna be very exciting that's gonna be an awesome time

  • So I want to make sure I'm around for that the very least that's it for now guys

  • I've got to pack my bags the cycle, 2000 kilometer cycle kicks off in about two days, and I'm not even

  • Ready or prepared? And finally the abroad in Japan podcast is now on Spotify

  • You can find it in the link below

  • A lot of people have been asking about it for weeks or months on end

  • And it's finally there so you can listen and download it on Spotify to your heart's content. But for now guys, that's it

  • No matter where you might be out there in the big wide world

  • Thanks for watching and be sure to tune in for the cycle next week

  • As long as we don't come across any horse sized ducks Iggy Azalea or hammer pineapple pizza. It's going to be fucking amazing

  • I guarantee it

Audience interaction is the cornerstone of success on YouTube

Subtitles and vocabulary

Click the word to look it up Click the word to find further inforamtion about it