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  • Okay...

  • Hello everyone.

  • Today we'd like to talk about why we love Japan.

  • We're back everyone.

  • So, just want to start by saying thank you to everyone who watched the first video.

  • We had such amazing feedback from it.

  • Some amazing suggestions, some really good ideas of what to make videos about.

  • And also some great places to visit in Japan.

  • We want to come back next year and make more videos in Japan,

  • so we're gonna make a bit of a travel list of places to see while we're there, so thank you everyone.

  • Yeah, one thing we noticed from our first video is that there are a lot of people looking to learn English

  • and there were quite a few suggestions of adding English subtitles to our videos,

  • so that you can follow what we're saying in English with the English words.

  • So if you go back and watch our first video again,

  • that'll have English subtitles now if you want to read along and practice your English with us

  • and we'll put them on this video as well.

  • What we want to talk about today are some of the reasons that we really love Japan.

  • We've put together a list of six reasons why we really love the country and we want to share them with you today.

  • The first that I noticed when I went to Japan is how friendly the people are.

  • It started before we even landed in Japan, didn't it? With the two ladies on the flight.

  • We actually got our tickets separate from each other, so we didn't sit next to each other on the flight.

  • We both sat next to these different Japanese ladies.

  • They didn't know each other either. They claimed they didn't know English very well, but they were so helpful.

  • For about six hours they were talking to us about places to visit in Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara and Osaka.

  • It was just an amazing first impression, certainly for you because that was your first time traveling to Japan.

  • Yeah, it was incredible.

  • We had a list. Temples, shrines, restaurants, so many different things that we needed to go and see.

  • Would we have gone to Todaiji in Nara if...?

  • Maybe not. Would we have gone to Todaiji in Nara if...?

  • And that was one of the most impressive things for me.

  • Nara and Kinkaku-ji in Kyoto, for me, were two of the most impressive things.

  • So that lady who told me to go there, thank you very much if you're watching.

  • I told you to watch out for Leicester City Football Club,

  • I hope you did because two years later we won the Premier League.

  • Hopefully she enjoyed that as much as I enjoyed Todaiji.

  • Exactly, fingers crossed...

  • Even when we got off the flight, our first impressions of people in the city of Tokyo were so positive.

  • Yeah, we were on the Tokyo Metro and we were trying to find our apartment.

  • Which was near Yoyogi-hachiman.

  • We were on a line and we didn't know which line to get.

  • And we were tired, we had been up a long time.

  • Near 20 hours, probably.

  • We had been up nearly a whole day. Near 20 hours, probably.

  • We had been up nearly a whole day.

  • We were a little bit lost.

  • In the train station, we walked in and there was a gentleman stood in front of us,

  • he turned around and looked at us and what did he say, Nick?

  • He asked us if we needed any help, I think.

  • Yeah, "do you guys need some help?" He asked us if we needed any help, I think.

  • Yeah, "do you guys need some help?"

  • And then proceeded to not only tell us where we needed to go,

  • but actually walk with us for about 10 minutes.

  • I think longer than that. I think about 15 minutes.

  • Maybe 15 minutes, but he didn't need to do that. I think longer than that. I think about 15 minutes.

  • Maybe 15 minutes, but he didn't need to do that.

  • He could have just told us which direction to go and that would already have been super kind.

  • The fact that this guy took 15 minutes out of his day to walk with us was staggering.

  • That would never happen in any other country I've been to.

  • Not just in England, I would never expect that in Europe or America, even.

  • Probably not.

  • He looked about 60 years old and we started talking,

  • we were walking and he was asking us questions

  • and when he said "how old are you?" we said 24.

  • And he said "ah, you're younger than my son."

  • And I was like, okay, "how old is your son?"

  • He said 50, and I was like "oh, my God."

  • "Sir, if you don't mind me asking, how old are you?"

  • And he said "I'm 85."

  • And I just thought, an 85 year old man has just walked us 20 minutes across Tokyo,

  • taken us to the right station on the right line,

  • told us which way to go,

  • put our money into the machine to make sure we had the right money in there and the right ticket

  • and then he showed us to the right platform, as well.

  • It was absolutely amazing.

  • I didn't know what to do.

  • I didn't know whether to shake the man's hand, I just ended up giving him a hug,

  • because I just thought "what a legend!"

  • It was amazing. It's a theme we've noticed whenever we've been to Japan.

  • Whenever I've been to Japan as well, certainly.

  • Everyone is just so kind and helpful and I think that radiates throughout the whole country.

  • We hadn't even reached our apartment and I was already in love with the country and the people.

  • I mean, after traveling for so long,

  • being shown in the right direction

  • and having a list longer than my arm of places I needed to go is just...

  • A crazy experience.

  • It could not have been a better start.

  • Yeah, great start to the holiday.

  • And on top of that, when we were flying into Tokyo

  • we also got an amazing view of Fuji, which leads us onto our second point.

  • One of the most wonderful things I find about Japan is its culture and history.

  • I think Fuji is kind of symbolic of all of that.

  • That is the typical picture of Japan abroad.

  • Yes, there is a lot of Japanese art and culture that almost worships Fuji.

  • Yeah, all of the Hokusai pictures like The Great Wave off Kanagawa and that whole series of Fuji.

  • It's so symbolic of the country and so popular worldwide, everyone knows those images.

  • Not just that though, also the juxtaposition between traditional and modern Japan.

  • I loved that, when we went to Ginza to see the kabuki.

  • It's something we really wanted to do.

  • It was a really beautiful old building.

  • I think it's a new building, actually.

  • Is it?!

  • It's a new building built in the style of...

  • It's a new building, but it's... It's a new building built in the style of...

  • It's a new building built in the style of...

  • very traditional Japanese architecture.

  • It was just in the shadow of these skyscrapers.

  • I think that's fantastic.

  • One either side, one behind it.

  • Having the old surrounded by the new.

  • It's kind of normal and I love it.

  • There are also areas that are so well preserved, that really maintain their rich history.

  • Like Gion in Kyoto has a really rich history to it and it embraces that.

  • Yeah, so you're talking about the older kind of areas, the more traditional places.

  • It's great to visit, but what I loved about our first holiday

  • was we had that with Kyoto, and we also had cooler and newer places with Osaka.

  • Like Dotonbori and we had Akihabara in Tokyo

  • where it's just mental, it's just crazy.

  • A whole street full of buildings that are huge and lit up and it's all so colourful and

  • a little bit alien to us, because I can't read hiragana, katakana or kanji,

  • so for me, it's one of the few places in the world that I've been to where I look at a building and have no idea what it is.

  • Even when you come out of Shibuya station,

  • the first appearance out of there is ridiculous, almost like Times Square.

  • Times Square, but on steroids.

  • Yeah, it's just crazy.

  • Piccadilly Circus times 100.

  • It's funny you say that, because I went to New York two years later.

  • I went to New York in 2016 with my family.

  • The first night, we got rid of our luggage, went to Times Square...

  • and I was stood there...

  • thinking "well, this is cute."

  • "Is this it?"

  • It probably is amazing if you haven't been to Dotonbori,

  • if you have been to Shin Sekai, if you haven't been to Akihabara.

  • Maybe it is amazing, but for me it just doesn't compare.

  • I've been spoiled. I've been spoiled.

  • And New York only has Times Square that is like that. I've been spoiled. I've been spoiled.

  • And New York only has Times Square that is like that.

  • Japan, well certainly Tokyo, has areas like that all over the city.

  • Like Shinjuku, Shibuya, Akihabara. They're all full of high-rise, neon buildings like Blade Runner.

  • Yeah, I mean, there's Godzilla coming out of the cinema.

  • It's just crazy. It's funny, though. I love it.

  • Also, one of the things that we haven't done that is still on my list is visit an onsen.

  • I've done onsen.

  • You've done onsen, I've not done onsen yet.

  • I'd love to do Japanese onsen and I'd also love to do a day of walking around in a yukata.

  • Yeah, it would be great if we had a festival to go to.

  • Yeah, it seems like such a lovely thing to do and a tradition that has been kept so well for so long.

  • Like sumo wrestling has been preserved and it carries on.

  • We kind of lose traditions over here a little bit.

  • It gets a little bit diluted, watered down and it just disappears.

  • In Japan, they're so good at keeping tradition alive.

  • Well, it's not rare to see groups of girls in the Summer walking around in yukata.

  • I think that's really beautiful. It's wonderful dress wear.

  • We've seen it quite a lot. I think that's really beautiful. It's wonderful dress wear.

  • I think that's really beautiful. It's wonderful dress wear.

  • You just don't see it over here.

  • So, another reason that we really love Japan.

  • It's such an important thing when I visit, to try all of the food I can.

  • We really love Japanese food.

  • Always, the first thing I do when I get to Japan, is go for yakiniku.

  • I absolutely love it.

  • I mean, there are so many dishes I love in Japan, but I can eat yakiniku every day.

  • It's so good...

  • Not just that, everything from ramen, gyuudon, curry rice.

  • Karaage chicken.

  • Karaage, even just food you get in an izakaya.

  • Nanban chicken. Karaage, even just food you get in an izakaya.

  • Karaage, even just food you get in an izakaya.

  • It's absolutely wonderful and leagues ahead of the Japanese food you get in England.

  • Yeah, oh yeah, so much.

  • The Japanese restaurants you get in England don't really taste authentic.

  • Some of them are still okay,

  • but when you try the food in Japan, you realise it's a really rough approximation of the same food.

  • There's one or two places in Leicester that are good. but when you try the food in Japan, you realise it's a really rough approximation of the same food.

  • There's one or two places in Leicester that are good.

  • Yeah, there are some that are okay...

  • One of the biggest differences for me between our 2014 trip and our 2018 trip

  • was the food, because we had Chiaki with us.

  • She knew what she was doing, she knew where she was going and she knew what she was ordering.

  • When we went in 2014 we were a little bit shy,

  • we ate a lot of Yoshinoya and a lot of Sukiya.

  • The food on this second trip was a hell of a lot better.

  • We got a lot more authentic Japanese food, I think.

  • Yeah, Japanese food is just absolutely awesome.

  • Yakiniku was definitely a revelation.

  • Yeah, I would keep coming back to Japan just for the food, if I'm honest.

  • And the sushi in Tsukiji as well was awesome.

  • That was an experience.

  • Yeah, we went to Tsukiji Fish Market just the week it was closing.

  • I don't know if the restaurants are still there. Maybe they are, or maybe they've moved to the new market.

  • I have no idea, we'll have to find out.

  • But we went to one of the restaurants around there and it was absolutely phenomenal.

  • It wasn't even that expensive, was it?

  • Not really.

  • It was really quite reasonable, but the fish was so fresh.

  • It was a real experience watching them make it in front of you. It was like an art.

  • When the guy was doing some prawn.

  • He was doing a prawn sushi for someone else.

  • The head was going on there and the whole body. It was just art.

  • All of their chefs are just so meticulous.

  • Like I mentioned the other day, a lot of people dedicate themselves to one dish.

  • Like a restaurant serves a certain type of dish.

  • You specialise in that one thing and you make it as good as you possibly can.

  • Japan always feels very safe when you're walking around.

  • You never feel threatened or intimidated.

  • You never feel like something's going to happen.

  • You don't feel like you could accidentally walk into a bad area.

  • A lot of Western cities have areas that you just don't go into.

  • If you have the knowledge, you don't go in.

  • But in Tokyo, you never feel like you'll end up anywhere that will be bad for you.

  • No, you don't feel like you'll get robbed at any point.

  • Even the smaller things, like if you go to a Starbucks,

  • it's not rare just to see a phone left on a table.

  • Someone will just leave their phone on the table, walk away and order their drinks

  • and not worry about it.

  • I don't think you'd necessarily lose your phone immediately in Europe, but no one would dare do that.

  • In Japan, you run the risk of it being handed in. In England, you run the risk of not seeing it again.

  • Yeah, I just think that...

  • The safety in Japan, of your personal health and belongings, couldn't be higher compared to the rest of the world.

  • So, as a tourist you're not likely to get into trouble.

  • Like you do in other places.

  • Capital cities especially, across Europe.

  • There are pickpockets walking around and stuff.

  • As a tourist in Japan, you're not likely to get into trouble,

  • unless you either go looking for it or you end up in a bit of a dodgy bar.

  • I think the only way you're really going to get into trouble is if you're naive enough to follow someone into their establishment.

  • Yeah.

  • So, another thing that we really love about Japan, and I think anyone who has ever been there would agree,

  • is just how efficient everything is.

  • I mean, that is evident as soon as you land in the country.

  • You land in Tokyo Haneda and you see the efficiency of all the trains going into the city.

  • They're never late, they're never early.

  • They're just always on time, the service culture in Japan is absolutely amazing.

  • Yeah, I remember when we were in Kyoto and we were trying to get the shinkansen back to Tokyo.

  • We were wondering which train we have to get.

  • In the UK, there would be one train every 15 or 20 minutes to the capital.

  • I remember looking up at the screen and thinking:

  • "Oh, my god, there is a train every three minutes."

  • Three minutes!

  • And the trains are huge.

  • Yeah, transport is amazing.

  • Yep.

  • But the service culture in restaurants, "omotenashi" as it's called in Japan,

  • just how well you're treated in a restaurant is absolutely ridiculous.

  • And another thing I love is that you don't have to tip in Japan.

  • I love that a Japanese establishment believes that their service is worth the price you pay and that's it.

  • Yeah.

  • I've heard stories of waiters running after customers with money

  • because they don't want to take it and hand it back, and I think that is such a good culture.

  • It's a shame that we've not got a similar approach to it.

  • Yeah, we're going the other way, more towards American culture, with tipping.

  • It isn't really necessary.

  • In the UK, people who work in the service industry get paid a living wage.

  • Whereas, in America, they work pretty much for tips.

  • Another thing we love about Japan is just how clean it is.

  • There are no bins anywhere to be seen, but even as a gaijin

  • you start thinking and behaving a little more Japanese.

  • I wouldn't have dreamed of dropping any litter in Tokyo.

  • I would feel terrible if I dropped something.

  • If something flew out of my pocket in the wind...

  • You'd chase after it.

  • I'd probably chase it down the street. You'd chase after it.

  • I'd probably chase it down the street.

  • Everybody does their bit to look after it.

  • There's just no rubbish anywhere.

  • It's even noticeable after a night out.

  • Even if a place like Shinjuku or Shibuya gets messy after a night out,

  • you can see people in the morning at 5AM with plastic bags picking up all the rubbish.

  • It is everybody's space so you look after it.

  • Yeah, you look at the World Cup,

  • Japan got such a good reputation for going around the stadium afterwards and cleaning everything up.

  • That was worldwide coverage and I think it's such a good reputation to have.

  • It extends to personal hygiene, as well.

  • The toilets in Japan are just...

  • I love the toilets in Japan.

  • Absolutely amazing. I love the toilets in Japan.

  • People at work laugh at me when I talk about the toilets in Japan.

  • They're like "what's the most amazing thing about Japan?"

  • I was like, "you know what, I love the toilets."

  • Toilets and food.

  • If I could have a Japanese toilet in my house, I would be so happy. Toilets and food.

  • If I could have a Japanese toilet in my house, I would be so happy.

  • If Toto are watching this and want to sponsor Two Gaijin...

  • Absolutely, I will happily work for you for a Japanese toilet. If Toto are watching this and want to sponsor Two Gaijin...

  • Absolutely, I will happily work for you for a Japanese toilet.

  • That is all I ask, that is my fee.

  • I'm always amazed with Tokyo.

  • When we stayed in Yoyogi-hachiman, it was a little side street two minute walk from the station.

  • And you're just stood there in a little suburban street.

  • It's so quiet, there are trees.

  • You could have been in a little town in the middle of nowhere, but you're in the middle of Tokyo.

  • That's the thing that always amazes me about Tokyo.

  • London's a more noisy city and Tokyo's so quiet considering what it is.

  • It's a big capital city and yet still quite tranquil.

  • Anywhere in the city, even if you're in the more busy areas,

  • like Shibuya, you don't get much car or noise pollution outside of pachinko parlours or other attractions.

  • Mate, the noisiest thing you have in Tokyo are the Don Quijote at 3AM.

  • Walking in there trying to get our torches for Fuji, like...

  • Yeah, it's a loud place.

  • It's bright, it's loud. It's like "I just want to go to sleep. I want to go to bed."

  • Don Quijote and pachinko parlours.

  • Gives me a headache. Don Quijote and pachinko parlours.

  • Gives me a headache.

  • There are so many things we love about Japan that the video would be too long,

  • so they are the six main things we love about Japan.

  • If there's anywhere you've been where you feel the same way, let us know in the comments.

  • If you've enjoyed this video please give us a thumbs up,

  • and if you've got any feedback just let us know in the comment section.

  • We've been Two Gaijin and we'll see you again soon.

  • See you soon!

Okay...

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