Let's Talk About Weird Japan 

"children's hentai anime" is a group of words i never would have imagined being said in the same sentence

Japanese society: Calm freedom within cultural limits, serenity, nature. Japanese television: PURE DREAD AND HYPERACTIVE DYSTOPIA

"I went to a dumb school" Always nice to find common ground with foreigners

"When you're being mischievous from behind". Ha, got'em.

You have really upped your game. Your production values have always been good, now they're better. Same with content, which is thoughtful and thought provoking. Any big city is not that country. New York is not USA, London is not UK, or Moscow is not Russia. These cities are real, valid, and functioning in their own rights. But they are not the whole country. Same with Tokyo. And within each of these cities, it is not hard to find people and situations that are weird, and especially weird things that make good pictures. Alongside of the weird are the vast armies of rather ordinary people who go about their daily lives in seemingly unrenarkable ways. What makes them weird? Because they are not usual, normal, or commonplace. They stand out in the crowd. One day in Tokyo, I got off the subway surrounded by men in dark suits, white shirts, and dark narrow ties. Like a river of people we flowed up to the streeet where we were met by other rivers of men in dark suits. Then, there he was. A man walking towards me. What made him stand out? He wore a brown suit! Did he represent the whole? Not likely. No more than with the maid cafes, or any other "oddities."

Living in NYC, I wish we adopted the mask thing here. I get sick way too often.

"so have you ever slept in school before" .."yes just did that today" ..rock on man

14:06 so basically the equivalent of laugh tracks in western sitcoms?

i never really write comments on RU-vid but all your videos are just fantastic, so informative and professionally done. I hope you see this comment because there are a lot of people out there that are extremely happy to see a video of yours pop up in their sub box :) can't wait for the next one!

Very educational video! I'm Japanese myself, but growing up in America I've noticed most of the points you've mentioned, but I never considered the double standard when Americans talk about the "weird" Japanese tv shows whilst having the raunchiest music videos. I guess it's all about what you're used to.

Who’s weird for wearing masks now, world?

in the uk we have the rent a boyfriend/girlfriend thing, they are called escorts.

Great video. In high school I was an exchange student and was really let down I didnt see all of "weird"Japan. Recently I took my wife to Japan for our anniversary and took a few detours into those niche cultural areas and was still underwhelmed. I think the internet paints this unfair image of what Japan is like. I think the weird stuff most westerns will find is how quite things are, how clean things are, how quickly trains board and how efficient things are. It's a great speed of life.

I wish people here would wear masks, once someone at school gets sick we all get sick smh

13:38 japans has been doing reaction skits way before youtube i swear they live in the future

Talking about the masks in 2020: they're not weird, they're clever

The nudity thingy is actually exactly the same as in Finland. Even many finnish family movies have full nude sauna scenes and japanese bathing rules are almost identical to the finnish sauna rules.

Such a breath of fresh air in the ocean of video presenters. You sir, are a great example to your kids with your respectful attitude. Thank you for your inspiring videos which I have started sharing to students and teachers alike.

The floating head phenomena is something not only on Japanese TV, it's also in Eastern literature in general. You always have a chorus, just like the Greek plays, which cue you into how you should behave or what the "crowd" thinks while watching/reading the current scene.

Honestly, I love almost everything about Japan. The food is amazing, the rules make me happy coz of the structure they provide. The fact that the conveinience stores have reasonably healthy foods in them for lunch options and stuff makes me happy too.

Some things about Japan that seem unusual to me are the availability of cigarettes and alcohol in vending machines, the fact that men are not afraid of "cutesy" things, and the fact that there seems to be a process to everything that MUST be followed. Also, I've noticed how openly Japanese people tend to talk about bodies, even commenting on things that might be frowned upon in other places. I've heard people casually talk about someone being "fat" or they have "big ears." They aren't necessarily being rude or mean, but pointing out flaws doesn't seem to be a sensitive topic in Japan. In Australia, some things that others might find weird include our habit of shortening words (we do it a lot-almost excessively), the fact that we are so casual with colleagues, bosses, even university teachers (it's not uncommon to call your boss by his first name), the whole "byo" thing, and the fact that it is perfectly acceptable (with exceptions) to go to a store, fast food eatery, or voting booth shirtless, shoeless or wearing swimwear.

I really want to visit Japan one day. My cousin studied abroad there for two semesters and absolutely loved it.

I love how authentic your channel is you genuinely love doing what u do

What I liked when I was over there were what I call "everyday life" shows where they'd have these really slow-paced, relaxed, detailed shows about gardeners, or visiting someone's house etc. And Shin-chan is awesome! He's the Japanese Bart Simpson!

I love every part of Japan. The weird, the niche, the normal, the mundane. Every country has their weird niches I think. The difference in Japan is that you van really - really - get into something even if it is weird. That's where I think a huge gap is in understanding between the people who go to Japan for the weird and the people who are for some reason very against others being happy with their love for weirdness. I love anime and cute stuff and when I go to Tokyo I find myself in Akiba for days. You can find *anything* and not only can you find anything, but your love for anything even if small, you can find A LOT of it. I wonder if it's because Japan treats hobbies differently than we do since they have such limited time to enjoy them, they choose to get really into them . I feel like their work, life and overall environment breeds creativity. And obviously there's some large market for all this stuff and it's usually not foreigners. Thank you for doing this in a way that doesn't put down the people who DO like weird. So many other videos (and the comments section) seem to have this complex against those who like the Japan weird. Japan has their unique quirks like every other country and it's wonderful! But what I love most is that even daily mundane life is somehow magical. Love Japan :)

The mask thing gets on my nerves here in the US, I dont have a spleen so I have to be super careful about getting sick and when I wore a mask to school in highschool I was told by teachers to take it off and people would be so rude but I'm just trying not to die because sick people wont just stay home. I don't understand how its weird??

So the image of Japan we are presented with is full is stereotypes and sensationalized to sell but rarely true to what is actually daily life for most Japanese people. Thanks for your videos they are very informative.

The mask isn’t weird anymore.....😭

I saw a Maid Cafe video from Simon & Martina I think. It occurred to me that it was kind of a modern iteration of Geisha culture. In as much as a Geisha is a restaurant hostess and entertainer who guides you through a meal and leads games and conversation, the Maids seemed to fulfill much the same role.

Love the nuanced tone you used on this topic Greg... I often talk about this but in a way more sharp tone. xD Put simply, the stuff you usually see on international news coverage, specially for countries like Japan on a western publication, is often times sensationalized, exaggerated, or made to look weird/unique on purpose. There is a secondary intention there, and it's often not a great one. It changes at times, but sometimes it's demeaning (as in, our culture is superior to theirs), sometimes it's fetishization, sometimes it's targetting specific subcultures to make it look like it's a mainstream thing, sometimes it's for the clicks or for the views... And it's also often in a judgemental tone, not to provoke discussion or to make people think, but rather superficial and one sided. Which is quite unfortunate. I often say that if your own culture was seen through the lenses often applied by international news about Japan, or other foreign countries, it'd look as "weird" if not weirder. You don't even have to go that far I guess... tabloids will usually give a sense of how that goes. But still, tabloid news is not the same as international news because at least on tabloid news you have the full expectation that it's purposedly made that way for the clicks. International news often portray themselves as serious, composed, when they often actually are not. It gets to a point where a whole ton of these weird things that are often covered in international news are there mostly for tourists instead of japanese people. The weirdest thing most tourists will think about Japan when they visit there will probably be how not weird Japan actually is. It's a really good exercise to go through all these supposedly weird and unique things that are often talked about Japan, and see if there isn't something there in your own culture that looks or sounds extremely similar. Look hard enough, you'll often find that there actually is. I'll just talk about one thing that came up recently that is not an example of weird thing, but how international news tend to distort things, in this case by shallow coverage: the "Fukushima disaster". Fukushima is actually the 3rd biggest prefecture in Japan, the Daiichi power plant tsunami flooding and subsequent meltdown was bad, but the plant is located on the west coast of the prefecture, and the area that is still dealing with problems around ionizing radiation is a radius of a few miles around the plant, not much more than that. It was catastrophic, I'm not trying to diminish how severe the whole thing was, but it affected an area much smaller than most people imagine. The vast majority of the prefecture was not affected all that much, and it's a prefecture that almost reaches all the way to the east coast of Japan... it has lots of mountains, lots of onsens, lots of interesting stuff to see, different terrains, lots of cities and culture, lots of stuff that even most tourists don't see (because most tourists only go to Tokyo and Kyoto)... because it's a huge prefecture, not only a power plant. And yet, as it was labeled "Fukushima disaster", people specially from outside Japan thinks the entire prefecture is condemned or something, when not even the capital city of Fukushima which is located more towards the north of the prefecture didn't change much. :P I don't think many people realize this, but the capital of Fukushima, that has the same name, never saw anything related to ionizing radiation out of the Tohoku 2011 disaster. They had problems in infrastructure and public transportation because of the earthquake, but that's mostly it. So I think it's awesome that Greg often makes videos de-mystifing Japan... I think it's needed, because it's something you don't see a lot on traditional media.

I really like the interviews, it's so hilarious and fascinating coming directly from them.

Thanks sir, good documentary. This is high quality.

japan is more than “weird”. it’s a nation, a gem like no other.

You do really good videos

Thank you for the hard work you put in these videos , and please keep more informative content coming!

I love watching your videos! You have improved SO MUCH over the last few years. what started as simple recordings of your family are now professional documentaries. I learn so much every video. I wish there was a channel just like yours for other some major countries like China or India

I would hate that "reaction TV thing". It is like American sit-com "laugh tracks" or "canned laughter", taken to a highest level. It is patronizing and yes I could go off on a rant about that as well.

I dont think its weird, I think its unique. Like every other country.

What a wonderful video! It was well produced and thoughtful. It made me really miss Japan.

Your Documentaries are next level! Super High Quality.

I always learn a lot about the Japanese culture from your videos, thank you for providing us with great, high quality videos!

I love this video. I took my family to Japan for the first time last year. Before we went, I explained a few things they would see that they should consider "normal" for Japan. You've covered most of them in this video. We really enjoyed watching you go over them in detail. Everyone in my family was like, "Yeah! I saw that a lot!" The kancho thing made everyone crack up really bad. I taught my children to kancho from a very early age so they knew exactly what that was. Thank you for another very fun and informative video.

Thank you for this eye opening video. To see what is truly going on in japan

I love your channel !!!! Thanks for the great work you do !!!

I wish wearing masks was more common in the west! It's so polite and considerate! Great video as always!

I just subscribed today, I am loving this channel

2018: YO JAPAN WHY YOU WHERE A MASK! 2020: *laughs nervously*

I've always known Asia used masks if they were ill and had to leave the house. I tried it once, 5 years ago. I got to the office and my coworker laughed at my face. She said I'm just asking for people to laugh at me and that I'm attracting embarrassment to myself.

I personally think that what can be called “weird” can also be called “interesting” 😁💜💜

So a Kancho is basically what Kakashi gave to Naruto when he was off guard during their bell test. So it was a thing common in Japan

I love everything s about this video! I’m grateful for people to understand that you can’t label a whole entire community based off of the odd and rare things that happen every now and then

Recently discovered your channel, love your viewpoint on all the things to do in Japan and the culture, keep up the great work!

5:00 *Vsause music plays*

Your videos are excellent, one of the best Japan based channels on RU-vid

This was great to watch! Thank you.

I like the faces in the corner because sometimes you see funny reactions like the japan man who won a prize and the bell dinged and he went "Hooooooo!" or something.

If an aliens ever come to Japan, they will have the wrong idea and think the world is so much cooler than it is.

I hope you get million subs soon you deserve them you videos have great quality and i want to shift to japan in my retirement time and it might seem wierd but i already saw a house which i will take XD anyways keep making great content love from India

The react window is the visual equivalent of the laugh track. Just as with the laugh track, the idea is that if the person in the window is laughing and having good time, then the audience at home should be enjoying it as well. It's essentially a mind trick. If you walked into a room where everyone was laughing hysterically, you would probably be inclined to start laughing yourself or at least start smiling even if you had no idea why everyone was laughing.

the quality of your videos are so much better than any news agency videos in my country have made so far

As im from Mexico, one thing foreigners find strange is the fact that we eat bugs like ant eggs, grasshoppers and other kinds of bugs. They are actually amazing and filled with protein. You can find them in markets but there are a lot of mexicans who also find it weird! I agree that you say that what looks weird for others maybe is not for the whole country. Love your videos!! been watching them since forever.

“2 statues kissing each other” HAHAAHAHAHAAH I DIED AT THIS COMMENT 💀😂

I love all these videos and enjoy watching them all the time. The quality is great and the episodes are all so interesting. Plus it does help that the RU-vidr is super cute lol

such a great video! realy well done. The complete opposite of all the other " WEIRD JAPAN" Videos I have seen before.

As an asian from Canada and past 30 years of age, I still "kan-cho" my friends 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️

Teapot Genitalia Man 😂😂😂 cracked me up because I'm immature like that. But I love your videos. Sad I just recently discovered your channel, but I have been binge-watching for days now.

Awesome video again. Great content as always :)

Thank you so much..its been fun seeing your kids grow up.

Really enjoyed this video. The narrative style, camera work and narration reminded me of Rare earth, another excelent "travel" series. Keep up the good work!

So i live in rural japan but when i went to tokyo last time i got terribly sick. I noticed a lot of people in public do not cover their faces when they cough or sneeze. One guy actually sneezed right onto the back of my head, causing my hair to fly. While waiting in line for food we were handed menus and the couple in front of me actually just coughes all over theirs. Its no wonder people wear masks when people in such a densely populated areas do not use more caution when it comes to spreading germs.

This was a very instructive and interesting documentary like video. You've truly stepped up your game !j

Well done, I like the improved format and style.

OMG Shin chan is the best! HAHAHA thats my childhood right there

5:55 Neon Genesis Evangelion "A Cruel Angel's Thesis" :D

That bitter melon is popular in the Caribbean as well. It's called corilla. When I was a kid and my mom made it, I hated it. I thought it was disgusting. Now, I kinda like it and I wish my mom was around to make it because I never learned. :(

3:01 if she is his girlfriend, this guy has balls of steel

i love the way they "communicat"

15:46 I Never understood this cartoon as a child. And now I’m even more confused as to why my parents let me see this in the first place.

Great job 👏. Awesome video 😎. Quality stuff 👌

LOL. So far, this is the best video about Japanese culture. Thank you.

"Go on and eat some grapes..." -> *Kid proceeds to peel of the most nutritional part of the grape*

Great video! Offering a fresh and interesting view on Japan

Japanese grapes have a thick skin, so if you eat them without peeling them, you will not be able to eat them deliciously because they are very astringent. Cultivation of varieties with thick skin is suitable for climate reasons. In the case of thin-skinned varieties, there are also people who eat the skin without peeling it.

I’m not sure what it says about me, but I think the “wipe” react screens are a most excellent idea. From my perspective, even if your watching something alone, seeing someone’s expression to the same content is oddly refreshing.

Hey Greg, when I watched the part of your today's video is the mask which it's a 'cultural thing' in Japan. A lot of people used it for fashion, getting a flu etc. That's what somebody told me about it!

I rarely comment on videos, but I gotta say that this was really awesome.

22:31 lol that’s hilarious. During that first monologue I thought “how many times did he have to walk all the way back and do it again?”

A whole Fish on a stick is completely normal, were I am from. I'm from Bavaria. Whole Fish, in general, is quite normal, and on a stick, cooked over charcoal or wood, is called "Steckerlfisch", which quite literally translates to ...Fish on a Stick. Or Stick-Fish. It's one of the most loved summer foods to have. ^^

I love bitter gourd! We sometimes cook it with egg, kind of like omelette bitter gourd! 💕

Nice details! Very informative! :)

I love all of your episodes

When i first went to Japan i got the weirdest culture shock ever.

This is a really good show! I watch a lot of anime and do Doulingo to learn Japanese. If you have any more suggestion, I would love to hear it.

I laughed so hard when you read "communicat" lol lol lol another great video

LIFE..., your observations are accurate & also unbiased so I enjoy seeing what you see.

Greg: I don’t speak Japanese super well Also Greg: speaks Japanese extremely well with no accent at all

omg Japanese TV reminds me of the Mexican TV my grandma would watch when I was a kid

Love your channel.

The 'Freshuness' is the most Japanese thing for me 😅. The mascot thing is way toooo cute!

Wipe is like the laugh track in "comedy" shows.