Food, places and things. Everything is up for grabs as we chat with @CDawgVA. 🍜 7 Most Overrated Things: • 7 Most OVERRATED Thing... 🍿BEHIND the scenes Patreon: / abroadinjapan Feat. @AbroadinJapan
NOTIFICATION SQUAD: We should've just called this video "Man Tries ROBSTER LOL" What did we miss though?! Share your wisdom below and help me bully Connor.
There is one severely underrated thing I noticed when I visited Japan. The engineering involved with simple cheap convenience store food. Like it's amazing how almost every package is designed so your hand never touches the food, or how with onigiri there's that small little plastic film that keeps your seaweed wrap crisp. Microwavable bags of edamame that magically turn into bowls, pudding with an air release valve on the bottom so you can easily get it out. This list just keeps on going!
@@whannabi Yep, gotta agree with you, Japanese packaging is way overdone and rarely account for its environmental impact. I mean, they mostly incinerate their garbage in combined cycle power plant, but they definitely could do better with less.
As an Irishman, I have to say, Chris' Irish accent is probably the best I've ever heard from an Englishman. They usually murder it. Impressive stuff, Broad-san.
I would say that was a pretty decent list. The 'Shipping' one was probably one of the last things I learned from lugging baggage all around Japan with a rail pass. Eventually my friends way down south in Kyushu put me onto the service that takes care of your bags for you and that changed things a lot! Simply walk to the JR station, board your train, sit back and enjoy the trip, in the full knowledge that your bags will be waiting in your hotel for you when you arrive. Perfect way to travel without stress or strain!!!!
The struggle is real haha I'm currently studying Japanese in college and when I come home from conversation class I also mess up the two consonants sometimes 🙈
@@lynn9265 Right?! When I was taking classes, I lived, breathed, ate, and slept Japanese language. (I labeled all of my ingredients, listened to Japanese books in my sleep, etc) It came with the unfortunate side effect of struggling SO hard to keep my Ls & Rs straight when speaking to my family. 😅 And accidentally slipping between languages while talking, which made me feel pretty rude.
the shipping thing is spot on - my first trip to Japan we went skiing in Hakuba, then shipped all our ski gear to our hotel in Tokyo, while we went to tour Osaka, Kyoto and Hiroshima. it was cheap and reliable and super easy.
When Connor was going on about how easy shipping is, I was pleasantly surprised. But when he said about able to easily ship things back to your home, in another country, my interest peaked!
Another thing is that they require you to sign off on the delivery. None of that nonsense here in the US where they just dump packages in front of your door and you hope nobody steals it
@@Zydico The Amazon locker solves this but that is more of a rare use. And like they said in the video, the fact that you don’t get packages late and have to be home all day to make sure no one steels it is amazing. Also I feel like in Japan, there will never be something that the earliest shipping time is 1 month later. I have had that happen way to many times, but I guess that is the penalty of being very far away and disconnected from the rest of the world. It is like everything in Japan is perfectly optimized for you except the workplace.
The 24 hour cities sound really cool actually, I wish there were more options I could go to get food in the middle of the night where I'm at. It'd be perfect for when you get the munchies.
Even during covid in south carolina I have lots of options for late night stops. QT is open 24/7, the taquito's are generally good and if it has the 24/7 kitchen then even better. Mc Pilots (mcdonalds & pilot gas station combined) are open 24/7. Cookout is open until 3-4am. Most every bar within a 25-35 minute or less drive away is open past 12 although I find the drinks to be hit or miss at night sometimes, probably due to tired or slightly plastered staff who knows. There are plenty of other places but I have already written to much.
I always wondered about shipping items as a tourist. I knew I wouldn't be able to contain myself from buying every Godzilla figure I encountered if I ever got to go to Japan, but I really didn't want to drag luggage around with me, either. Very good to know.
I never thought of Japan and cycling, being from Denmark and living in Belgium and the Netherlands where they quite literally build the roads for cyclists. Then I visited after highschool and learned about the Japanese using bicycles in WW2. Really nice to cycle there.
Chris and Connor should do a Japanese conbini wine tasting session. There's a grape variety that's unique to Japan: Koshu. But to be honest most other Japanese* wine is pretty disappointing. *A bottle of Japanese wine only needs to be 5% local to be considered 'Japanese'
@@in_sun4746 I live in Chile, where a 75 USD high quality "Japanese" wine equivalent costs no more than 5 USD xD I would definitely feel like it's poison haha
I agree with Connor about shipping! It helped make my trip in Japan back in 2017 so much easier. I was able to send my luggage to my next hotel and not have to worry about having to lug it around onto the shinkansen or up the stations' many flights of stairs. It was especially helpful while my sister and I cycled the Shimanami Kaido. We started at Onomichi, cycled the entire route in 2 days, and then we arrived at our hotel in Osaka to see our luggage waiting for us. It's so awesome!! I wish we had a service like this in the US that is just as painless.
did you just pack some necessities for the night in between? was there a decent option for places to stay? I would like to do it, too, but prefer over 2 days instead of 1
@@OldSchoolAnni between 10 and 20 bucks, we used it about 5 times when going around Japan, we just took a backpack with clean underwear, socks a t-shirt and bathroom items with us, its so convenient..
@@dohtje5029 Damn, that's pretty cheap! Especially considering it's so reliable and efficient. Will keep this in mind once we're able to safely travel again 👍🏼
I'm really happy that midnight diner was mentioned. It was a habit of mine for a while to get my dinner and set on that show almost to make it feel like I was enjoying my dinner with everyone at the diner. Good way to wind down from a day of work or errands that's for sure.
I love Midnight Diner! I've been rationing episodes, so I haven't watched it all yet. If you don't know, it's based off of a manga called shinya shokudou. The art style is pretty unique, but the stories are just as good and it's still ongoing!
Agreed, I've binged all five seasons and two movies waaaay too many times! It's the perfect show to relax to, and it really captures that special mood one might have being up late
For food I'd say Kushikatsu is underrated. It's kind of just simple fried food, but going with a bunch of friends and just getting your favorites and a few drinks - so chill and good! Even better if it's in one of those small booths in between other shops, where you sit in front of the chef's, and get to have a conversation with them, and maybe exchange a few words with the always cheerful Japanese regulars. I miss it so much!
Greetings from Japan. The "shoyu ramen" on the counter looks really good. It's hard to find "shoyu ramen" in Tokyo these days, as it's all "tonkotsu" and "seabura". Still, as a Japanese, I've always been happy to know Japanese casual food is very popular overseas ありがとう、皆さん！
Japanese casual food is popular outside of Japan, but overseas it is pretty expensive and not ‘casual’! A normal bowl of ramen in London would be ¥1200 at least.
@@Bonyari_Boy Yes, I know. It's especially expensive in London and New York, right? furthermore, the price of a plate of pasta in Tokyo is also too expensive, with the exception of Saizeriya and the like
Yes it’s one of my favorites. I have family in the Nagoya area so when I would visit we’d always get it multiple times in the trip. There’s also a Hitsumabushi restaurant in the Nagoya/chubu airport.
@@kaldo8907 I have had unagi in Tokyo, Osaka, and Wakayama, but Nagoya takes the cake. Hitsumabushi is a little extra compared to just regular unagi-don
As someone who was placed to live in Fukushima, I am incredibly happy about the mention cause Fukushima is so beautiful and if you love the outdoors, there are so many mountains to hike, and Inawashiro is beautiful for skiing, and there are so many beautiful lakes to swim and kayak in! Please visit
I like the video dinamic when you two guys are on it toghether. It really fun. Cdawg has the energy necesarry to complement Chris's not so energetic style.
@@whannabi He never said his opinions about it changed, just that he stopped thinking about it (maybe because it's a pain in the ass to get a visa or because of the amount of money you require). Obviously moving to another country is not something to take lightly, don't get me wrong.
Love this video and I agree with all of it!! I’m also very touched that Chris mentioned about Fukushima. I was a ALT on the JET program in Iwaki City, Fukushima and I’ve been to all the places he has mentioned. I was grateful that I also had the opportunity to learn about the prefecture and it was the best 3 years of my life. It’s true that I feel that we know Fukushima for all the wrong reason and like the rest of Japan, it has its own little gems for you to enjoy, explore and experience as well :) I hope everyone will one day have the opportunity to go there!!! Not to mention, there are wonderful and amazing people there as well! ^_^
Great list! As a foreign resident who’s been in Japan for the last 20 years I agree with all of them. Cycling? Heck yeah, I commute by bike every day and it’s pretty fantastic. (This is quite a bit better in rural areas, though. And yeah, Shikoku.) Bar hopping? Definitely. But definitely watch out for any place that doesn’t have prices clearly listed. There are places known as ‘catch bars’…and I’ve been ‘caught’. One thing I would add to the list, as a parent, is: amenities for kids and babies. Especially in smaller cities or towns, but it’s just way easier to go places with kids here than in other countries. Free, well-stocked community centers, Kid & baby friendly publicly accessible washrooms, clean food courts with kid-sized tables at shopping centers…it’s just really convenient. Life in Japan’s not perfect, but it’s got lots of good points for sure!
From my experience it seems bar hopping is difficult in Japan, but because of covid I haven't had much chances to go. It seems like a lot of bars have a cover charge and some of the ones who don't seem to charge more without any increase in quality. For me I lived in a big city in the US so I knew where to go and normally there were no cover charges. Think I just need to learn where to go.
@@Juichi yeah, cover charges suck. Izakayas are usually the safe bet since they’re more casual and almost never charge a cover. (Well, some of them give you a kind of ‘welcome snack’ to go with that beer you’re going to order. But they’ll never charge much for it because izakayas are in the business of repeat customers.) Also, as you said, the pandemic has made bar-hopping a lot less fun. A lot more drinking at home these days…
@@sarthakkrishna3492 yes, I do have have Japanese friends, although as a lot of people will point out, it’s not always an easy thing. I’ve managed to make Japanese friends mostly through common activities - in my case, co-workers and music friends (I play in a rock band and also taiko drumming group). But to be honest, the only Japanese people I connect deeply with are those who have international experience. As far as being accepted by the community in general, it’s not that hard as long as you follow the rules and take part in neighborhood committees, PTA, etc. Oh, and mastering the language helps. 😅
@@Working_on_life How dare you criticise Japanese culture! That plastic taste has been formed over thousands of years, carefully crafted by ancient craftsmen in a traditional eggshell dojo.
That part about the cinemas was spot on. I saw a movie in a 4DX cinema in Roppongi before and it was an experience (a bit scary though coz it turned out the shaking also came from a M4~ earthquake near Tokyo).
Hey I just wanna say your videos have always brought a smile to my face, been watching for years. Congrats on the new studio, excited for the next vid of Fukishima!!
I'd heard that the freshwater eels used for Unagi are a threatened species and that we should order Anago, the saltwater eel, should be ordered instead. That said, they're both delicious.
Yeah the freshwater eel industry is notoriously dirty and unsustainable, which is an actual tragedy, because unagi is sooooooo good. I feel guilty whenever I get it, but my willpower is not as strong as my desire for one of the best seafood dishes on earth.
I have watched Midnight Diner and I liked it very much. Nice stories about customers who come to eat local place. The main character, Master is like warm hearted chef, who cooks and prepares food from customers ingredients and also gives advices. And usually customers memory or problem is related to certain food.
Yes, cycling was one of my greatest joy while I was in Japan. Especially those river rides from Edogawa cycling path up to Gunma's Watarase cycling path.
There’s a Japanese restaurant near where I live in Oregon that has a great Unadon with egg. The eel tastes quite amazing, especially with the special sauce they cover the eel in. The only thing that throws me off a bit is that sometimes I end up eating a few eel bones because they’re really soft and I can’t really distinguish them from everything else in my mouth while chewing it all. But really, I didn’t expect to find great Unadon near where I live in the region of Oregon that I live in.
That's about the perfect unagi though ... the skin thin and just a little bit crispy, the flesh like light fluffy steak, and just a few of those pin bones in
Pro tip: horror movies in 4D cinemas. My first experience was at one that used smells as well, watching "It". Every time Pennywise was about to appear, you'd get the slightest whiff of something that could be described as a sewer smell. Could have been really revolting, but was light enough that it just worked really well.
About the shipping thing. When I first visited Japan in 2001, I bought a ton of stuff the first week, so I had to ship it home so I didn't have to carry it around (and I needed to make room for the second week of stuff). It was very simple to just get it to a post office and send it off. It ended up costing quite a lot, but it also arrived before I went home so in less than a week.
Thanks for the video, always a good time. Midnight Diner is extremely "binge-able", terrific stories and a recipe... I too recommend it. In a perfect "Abroad in Japan World" you would be filming in a tiny bar and in walks Quentin Tarantino wanting to chat and see the night through a RU-vid Contributor's eyes...it would eventually wind up in a FamilyMart or Lawson for chicken at 3 a.m. but still great content. 😊🇨🇦
Agree with Chris here, proper Yakitori is the experience I look forward most to when visiting Japan. Cold beer, cozy place, good hosts and just insanely good chicken is just heaven in my eyes.
11:17 there is actually a company in Japan where you can rent something like a Mazda Roadster, Toyota 86, Lancer Evo, Lexus ISF or even a Nissan GT-R. Of course, it'll be a lot more expensive than your usual rental, but it is pretty cool that the option is there.
I think general overall efficiency in all East Asian countries like Japan, eg public transport or roadworks etc are underrated immensely. I remember in Hong Kong people started getting annoyed if the KCR was running late... (it ran every 7 minutes and that person had been there for almost ten, oooh horror!) And sinkholes are repaired within a day, here in Manchester we had one appear on a main flyover in the city centre and it took nearly a year for it to be finally completely mended. And I think it only happened because too many people started civil action with the council for damage to their car’s suspension!
There was a small accident near my old apartment in Japan, a low traffic residential area, where a long part of a guardrail was smashed in and tore apart by a car. It was already cleaned up some when I saw it so it wouldn't get in anyone's way, and it was fixed after two days.
@@ArisaPD Yeah the reason I mentioned that sinkhole on Manchester was I remember reading about a MUCH larger one appearing on a highway in Japan and it was completely repaired THE SAME DAY! I was astounded!
Took a bit of a break from my Winesday Wednesday, but I'm back and very pleased to have my favorite duo together! I love a good bromance and a glass or two or three of wine. You two should go to a winery in Japan. Omg that would be my dream episode! But another great video and look forward to the next!! Cheers! *Grabs third class of wine* 🍷🥂
the shipping thing is SO true. i used to live in Sapporo and was AMAZED at the convenience of the mail. miss a package ? no problem! just use the automated system to pick a new day and time (even that same night after you get home from work). blew my mind. im back in canada now and getting stuff delivered is such a headache. you’re either hoping no one steals your stuff from your porch while you’re at work or going to pick up your packages at the depot because no one delivers after 4:00pm and you certainly can’t choose WHEN a package is delivered.
Thank you so much Chris and Connor for another informative and entertaining video. Glad to see you both are having a good time and sharing many laughs together! ☺️
I thoroughly miss your journey across japan series mate, I'd love to see a food tour. tell us all the best karage and zangi restaurants and where the best horse meat is. I loved your ep in the 5 star sushi restaurant
I was reluctant to try it because I thought it would be slimy, but it was actually really good! It had the sauce on it, nice kind of sweet and smoky flavor. You have to at least try it!
unagi is absolutely incredible. even cheap unagi rice is fantastic. also i love how you have so many other expats on your channel palling around and doing funny things, it's great
We have smoked eels in Poland, they are delicious. Probably my favourite smoked fish, we also have a salmon smoked so it's sort off cooked in the smoke. It's really good too.
Awesome video guys! I love midnight diner! Everyone should watch it. One thing to note, I'm a bit of a car guy and when I visited Japan in 2019 me and my friend actually rented some cool cars (in our opinion) I rented an r34 Skyline and he rented a mk4 Supra from a company called Omoshiro Rental. Great guys to deal with, some really cool cars available to rent and it was an amazing experience driving on the Wangans and going to daikoku futo parking area in some JDM legend cars ✌🏻
Ahh, robster loll, an acceptable alternative to lobster roll. Also was it pure chance that after filming they went to an Ichiran for a late night supper?
Eel is delicious! (pretty comon in the Netherlands as well, smoked eel on a soft bun is awesome) Also an amazing and underrated feature Japan has, wich I've never seen in any other country and ive traveled quite a bit. "Luggage forwarding" Almost any convenience store and hotel have this service, they send your big ass suitcase to your next hotel for you it takes about 48 hours, so you just take a little backpack with you with clean underwear, socks, T-shirt and your bathroom items for the overlapping day and you won't have lug around that giant suitcase in the train, metro, bus etc and it only costs between 10 and 20 bucks. I couldn't stop laughing seeing all those tourists in Tokyo lugging around those huge suitcases up and down the escalators.
Connor's on point with No8. Cat Eye is a god send when you're traveling. You can drop off your luggage and ship it to a destination rather than carry it on a tonne of trains. Lats time i went to the snow i had to go from Tokyo to Himeji to drop off most of my luggage that i needed towards the end of my trip, then immediately train back past Tokyo to get to Hakuba - i could have shipped my luggage on Cat Eye and NOT torn my shoulder carrying it for 11 hours.
OMG The Jeffrey Epstein experience at the cinema... Super surprised you didn't say how CHEAP alcohol is to buy in Japan because of the lower alcohol tax...Midnight Diner is a great series on Netflix... but the current quasi-state-of-emergency with no alcohol sales after 9PM has had a major impact on the barhopping and 24-hour cities point #10... Great video Chris and Connor! :D
Definitely agree on the 24 city part, especially for me in London in zone 5. Problem here is that buses and trains essentially stop at 1am, and unless you're on a night bus area you're shit out of luck. Bars here close down at 1am on a Friday if you're lucky, some are 2/3am but it's the other side of the city usually. I get it, people want to go home, they can't stay up all night and not be able to get home if they're working in these bars or restaurants. We have night trains but only selected trains and branches, Uber's and Freenow can be expensive as well. Though I did find Berlin had bars open till 8am as well as night buses, but again as tourists we don't know if that's just a central Berlin thing or all over the suburban area where normal people live.
Not in Japan, but I absolutely love unagi. We always order an extra side of nigiri unagi when we go to our fav sushi place. It's very rich and delicious! Edit: I really loved your videos about the Fukashima event and the aftermath. They were really well done.
I think I remember the 4D experience in Osaka from a trip when I was 13 - it was at Universal studios there. I hated the idea of basically all the rides and ended up at a 4D shriek movie - all in Japanese. I didn’t understand anything and it was amazing.
I agree with Connor about shipping in the West (USA/UK), except for Amazon Prime; I’ve never had bad shipping experiences with Amazon Prime. To be fair though, the fact that UPS handles most Prime shipping is likely the top reason why the 2 day Prime shipping is great where I live. UPS really is great though; it’s no wonder why the UPS delivery people are paid so well.
Japanese eels have been endangered since 2014. I do think it is something that should be considered when consuming or recommending eating it. I haven't looked into the Japanese Eel as much as into the European Eel (critically endangered, both in the same family), but at the very least the European Eel doesn't breed in captivity. Just like the Japanese Eel it is a migrating species that spawns at sea but lives in fresh water, so I assume they have the same issues. From what I've looked up, farmed Eel is still wild caught young Eels (glas eel) raised in captivity.
Agree, although unagi and anago are delicious to eat it may be something my grandchildren will never eat. In Sweden eels are almost totally protected, still the state electricity companies kill millions of them with the ill designed energy water dams in all rivers. No, they do not breed in captivity at all. Somewhere on CNN there is a program about a chef in Tokyo who makes delicious fish dishes from fish that is considered "waste", normally goes only to cat food or being just thrown away. I have lived in Japan for years, but getting more and more reluctant to order eel. Not that it changes anything...
Unagi is honestly so good! And I've only ever had it in Japanese restaurants in Germany. It instantly became my favourite food ever, but yeah, it's quite expensive. But how good must it be in Japan if it's already so good in Germany? o-o
The difference between good Japanese food in Europe and a chain restaurant version of a dish in Japan is probably less than the regional variations of the same dish in Japan. Of course you can get food court sushi etc in the west which is pretty suspect. Japan has restaurants that will specialise in particular dishes which are amazing, but you can also do worse on the tourist trail, like in *any* country.
The 24 hour thing is super nice. The best I can relate is when I lived in LA and it was 2 am or something and you're just coming out of the bars and really want food - you go to Korea town, where there are several food places open. Unfortunately Little Tokyo closes pretty early there..
