Well guys, we're currently a week into the epic Cyclethon to Tokyo. Thanks to everyone who's watched along and helped us raise an incredible $390,000 so far! Connor and I filmed this episode just before setting off - hence the not so ideal backdrop, haha. Ideally this would've been a discussion for the Abroad in Japan studio! Still hope you enjoy our chat and thanks again to Sakuraco for sponsoring the episode. 🍡Grab your own box of tasty mouthwatering Japanese treats over at team.sakura.co/abroadinjapan-SC2403

I actually experienced a situation similar to the one in number 2. I remember being at a train station in Tokyo trying to get to that island with the Gundam statue that is sadly being removed and I had trouble because I accidently left my Japanese money back at my hotel and the station wouldn't accept cards for tickets. Some Japanese salaryman who didn't even work at the station, all done up in a suit and tie, saw that I was in a pickle and in broken English asked if I needed help. When I explained to him the situation he told me to follow him to a nearby store that had an ATM and showed me how to use it (it didn't have an English option, I think). He gave me more of his time then I would ever expect a complete stranger to. He took like 10 minutes out of his probably busy day to help some idiot gaijin like me and I'll always appreciate that.

As some comments already stated, I can vouch for point 2. 2 weeks ago I was in Osaka with family and we were at the JR Osaka station and we were looking at the station board and our phones. A sweet old lady asked us in broken English (was still good though) if we were lost and it turns out our destination was via underground, not rail. I thought that was the end of it but no, she insisted we follow her. What we didn't know was that the underground station was a good 15 min walk away via a maze like underground mall. I felt guilty as we followed her but she was so insistant on helping us. Really appreciated her help.

One thing that many foreign residents of Japan don't know is Furusato Nouzei, or hometown tax. You can donate your income or residential tax to a regional area, rather than the area in which you actually reside. And then, these regional areas will provide “gifts” as a show of thanks. You can choose which areas you want to donate your taxes to based on what "gifts" you can get in return. We use our tax money to get high quality fruit and unagi, but there are lots of things you can get. You can actually get something in return for your tax money.

I had a similar situation like Connor, when I asked our airbnb host for help with a ticket for a rave, after he offered guidance and help after we arrived. He immediately went ahead and called the service hotline of the event host for me and eventually figured out how to print the tickets. Then this absolute giga chad RAN TO A 7/11 to print the tickets for us!!! I didn't even know that he was doing all that, until he came back... Luckily I brought a bunch of candy from Germany in advance, so I could thank him at least with a gift. Will never forget how much he did for us that day and how kind he was!

One thing I noticed in my limited time there: Keep your suica card loaded! It's hyper convenient to be able to travel with or buy stuff from konbini.

Oh God, the second one. I was once lost in Osaka in Namba station (or trying to get to it, I forget). Some woman tried to help me, out of her own will, I didn't ask. Time was of the essence, because I had a concert to get to in like half an hour. The woman run around the endless underground passages with me and when she was unsure how to proceed she then got ANOTHER person to help us. So some salary man, her and myself spent like 10 minutes in search of my thing. I was mortified. But in the end I made it in time so I was so thankfull for their help.

#2 has been true for decades. When my dad was in high school his family was stationed in the Philippines at one of the US military bases there. This happened in like the late 70’s. His sports team took a trip to Japan. At some point, he ends up getting separated from his teammates in a station on the way to an important destination, but gets on a train alone anyway. After what seems like forever, he starts to get nervous, thinking he should have arrived at his destination by now. Well, as he’s sitting there sweating, starting to panic, the middle aged salaryman sitting next to him taps him on the shoulder and says, “You lost.” My dad confirms that he is, in fact, lost, and shows him on a map where he’s supposed to go. The man chortles and says, “Two hour, other way.” This man not only got off at the next station with my dad, but also rode the train back with him to make sure he got where he needed to go. It’s one of my favorite stories he tells.

I have experienced number 2 a few times when i went to Japan. I was lost in the middle of the street trying to look for my airbnb at 12am because I arrived Tokyo late at night, a kind lady who seems to be just off work came to me and asked if I need help. At that time I wasn’t able to speak Japanese so I showed her the map, she took the map and asked me to stay on the spot, while she go around the neighbourhood looking for it, and came back to bring me to the doorstep of the apartment. Really grateful for what she did ❤

Happy you're posting regularly again with fresh new content! Happy cycling!

This video really highlighted how different aspects of living and being in Japan can be equally intriguing yet challenging. The part about point cards really resonated with me. I totally understand the struggle with disposing of large items in Japan too.

Four years in Japan taught me to stay until the credits were done in the cinema - took it with me back home to Denmark and now I’m the weird one getting side-eyed by the staff…. I actually never had issues with not having a hanko. Everyone was very accommodating and let me sign instead. Maybe that’s the joy of the Tokyo suburbs? My #1 issue when I moved to Japan was that I needed a phone to open a bank account and I needed a bank account to open a phone…. Fun times…

Connor talking about getting up and leaving the cinema during the credits and people following him got me laughing for an hour! Well done, Connor!

Number 2 is spot on! When I was visting Kyoto me and my friends were out for karaoke, but I was drunk and tired and wanted to go home early, so I decided to make my way home on my own. I didnt have maps or anything on my phone, so I asked a random guy getting on his moped for the way to the hotel. He offered to give me a ride, which I gladly accepted. We zoomed through the neon-lit traffic at night, and he let me off at a totally different hotel. Turns out two hotels in the city had the same name. So now Im drunk and lost in a completely unknown part of the city, but I didnt have the heart to tell the guy who just took a huge detour to help me that he had the wrong hotel, so I thanked him, waited for him to drive off, then tried to find my way home again. Cool experience though!

no.11 is so true. I went to Japan in 2009 and I remember watching your video about the architecture and when you said that the train station at Harajuku had been upgraded. I was devasted. It was so beautiful before and really showed Japan's charm and now nobody can see it anymore.

No such thing as too much Connor. We know how much you enjoy spending time with your boyfriend.

As a person that naps a lot, I’m glad Japan are ok with napping because I wouldn’t be able to cope on those long shifts without a nap

Keep David on Chris, he did a great job putting this video together! Love the editing

The idea of Connor being the maverick for leaving the cinemas whilst the credits are still rolling which vigorates others to do the same even if they think it’s wrong is hilarious

With regards to saying English words in a katakana accent: I have a similar experience talking with Spanish-speaking friends living here in the UK; when I'm speaking Spanish with them I end up pronouncing English words like roads and place names etc with a heavy Spanish accent because: A) It's way more natural than awkwardly breaking out of the Spanish pronunciation into English for one word and then straight back to Spanish. B) They do it too in conversation. C) Often if I pronounce it 'correctly', there's a much higher chance of them finding it harder to understand what I said.

28:30 HOLY MOLEY!!!! When they waved goodbye the lightning stuck in the background :O !!!!!

Was a fun watch & I continue to enjoy your edits. That ending XD

I dont like to comment but I had to for the second one: Day 2 arriving in japan and exploring after getting dropped off to our airbnb the previous night. We were in the Shimbashi station probably looking confused on how to get Suica cards. An elderly japanese guy came to our rescue, helped and waited till we got a Suica card through his (broken but perfectly understandable) English. He took way too much of his time to help and we were very grateful just having started our Japan Honeymoon. I would say I had a blast trying to communicate with the locals, whether they knew a lot of English or not.

Chris and Connor Fans eating good since last week even until up to next week. Love this duo so much

Mansion is actually apartmentbuilding made with concrete. While Apato is steel or wood frame apartmentbuilding. A nugget I gleaned from the channel friend Tokyo Portfolio, in interview at Unpacking Japan.

I love the idea that Conner is leading a free thinking movement of leaving the theatre before the credits finish rolling xD

I just took your book on holiday to Wales - I've nearly finished it, but I don't want it to end. Absolutely loving it. Thanks!

My God what timeline are we living in where Chris has posted 3 videos in nearly the span of a week AND at the same time is doing a 14 day long Cyclethon!!!

All the videos and clips from this week have been great mate. Can't wait to visit Japan this year.

I started a sakura co subscription back in december because of your channel! I'm loving it :)

Similar to point number 2, in a train station I asked a woman if she knew where the bus station was. Not only did she walk me over to the bus station, she got on the bus with me! I was so perplexed, as I felt fairly certain she had no plans to take the bus, and I kept saying "daijoubu, arigatou" but she stayed on the bus for two stops and got off. (And spend 200 yen)

I've had a very rough week, and I can't tell you how much I need to laugh as hard as I did at the end of this video. Thank you so much for making something that was both informative and joyous. I truly appreciate it.

Regarding Connors question if Swedes were Vikings: In my Swedish town we have runestones literallg all over the place, famous viking-king graves just outside town and everytime we construct a road they have to stop for weeks because they stumble upon viking stuff. So it is safe to say that vikings lived here.

Yeah, someone at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo experienced the Stockholm Grand Hotel "smorgasbord" [smörgåsbord] in Sweden in the early 1950's. And liked it enough to want to import it to Japan. But then there was that name. The name however is genuinely Swedish, not Danish, while in the UK it is for some reason generally assumed "smorgasbord" is Danish. To be fair, the concept of a "smorgas" is a shared Nordic one. Originally it referred to a piece of bread onto which one spread lumps of butter - and these lumps were referred to as "smorgas", literally "butter geese", because when churning the cream these lumps would start rising to the surface of the cream, and float around there looking a bit like geese swimming on the surface. Then in modern Swedish "smorgas" has come to just generally designate "sandwich". (The Danish and Norwegian word for "sandwich" like that is "smørrebød", "butter-bread", so "smorgas/smörgås" is distinctly Swedish.) The concept of "a table of butter geese [sandwiches]" is a Swedish idea of what a buffet should be like. (The Danes are masters of the savory sandwich otoh.) And that is old, 16th c. or more, when inviting people to a feast, given the problems with travel an communication RSVPs tended to be an inexact art, so invitations tended to say something like "between Wednesday this and Thursday next week". Good hosting otoh required the host to be able to immediately offer these guests that tended to drop in over the week something to eat - and the solution was the original cold-buffet "smorgasbord" - bread, butter, some cold pickled herring, lingonberries etc.

22:20 As an American, I WISH we had the ability to actually walk places more often. Most places in our country are so dependent on driving to get ANYWHERE because everything is so spread out, public transportation is limited, and accommodating foot traffic seems like an afterthought in a lot of places. The idea of an actually walkable community feels like a fantasy for a lot of people, it's so frustrating 😞

Just finished reading your book, it was excellent! I really hope you're planning on writing another

3 Abroad in Japan videos in quick succession we are eating good

i didn't really expect the architecture to come up, but it made me think... id be really interested to see you do a video on the famous Japanese architect, Tadao Ando. i think you've already seen one of his designs, with that Buddha statue thats set down inside a hill.

Excellent video, thanks for sharing your insights and experiences.

Loved the energy in this video 📹

My word, I can't believe you're able to post so frequently whilst biking. It is truly a feat capable of only the most affable.

I lived in Japan before the gas attack in Tokyo. Bins/trash cans were a common sight then. They sometimes had some fun English on them: "Push dust in." 😅

Really good energy in this video !!

Have been in Shibuya for 2 weeks. Just came back a week ago. Now doing everything to return to Japan asap. Gonna live there for at least a few months in the near future. Tokyo is magical.

Relating to the last point, about the credits. There's a korean drama I watched about a woman who translates films, and when she goes to see her work she stays right until the end to see her name which is the final credited name. After that I started letting the credits roll, it just seems nice to appreciate the language skills that have allowed you to watch this foreign media. I guess that extends further here towards everyone that worked on the production, but same kinda thing.

4:30 as a Silesian, I finally see some connection with Japan! Though to be precise, we use arbajt to refer to any job (not just part time) and also to refer to a work uniform/clothing

iNTERESTING 23:17 lightning strike behind the building in the window.

That's part of the reason why I love how my grandparents live in the 'countryside'. I always get to the see the un-industrialized buildings :') Tokyo & Osaka have some nice areas but there's nothing like driving through the twists and twirls of the Japanese countryside, through all of the mountain tunnels and mountain sides (Nagano for example) where you see rice fields more often.

Great job on the Cyclethon Chris! Thanks for the uploads mid-journey :)

As a person that works on movies doing vfx, we are extremely appreciative of those people that stay for the end credits. Many times we will be under paid for what we do and so the only shining light we get (not always anymore) is our name in the credits. I understand that the credits keep getting longer and harder to sit through, so that makes it even more amazing when people will spend their time watching them.

That leaving the cinema bit kind of reminds me of the whole leave work late culture in Japan. Its not like they don't want to leave, but they just dont want to be the FIRST to leave.

Great job on the cyclethon so far guys!

Your videos is such a treat especially with CdawgVA its makes even better. I been watching your videos for 5 years. Stay safe with your cycle.❤

Nice timing with the lightning at the very end. Excellent art direction!

Excellent video! Thanks!

22:49 I never understood how people can say that rice keeps you full... We (Czech rep.) call rice "hungry food" as you eat it and you get hungry just a bit after it :D Not sure if we have some genes that just.. ignore the "filling effect" but.. ya.. I never feel full after rice dish.

Its actually kind of nice watching it slowly turn to night during the course of this video.

12 things they don't tell you about cdawgva

Happy you're posting regularly again with fresh new content!

Been a while since I watched abroad in Japan content I see Chris has been working out 🎉

Love seeing you two together, so fun.

Glad to see you are posting regularly again Chris! Best of fun on your bike trip!

I was about to say that I would love to know more about Shimonoseki ... and then you started to describe the architecture and that probably explains why I haven't seen a video about it before.

Congrats on 3 Million subscribers by the way!

Paperwork and asking for help go hand in hand sometimes and have to be the two worst. Trash separation sucks. The perfume one is probably what most tourists, myself included Aren't aware of

This was a really good video, much enjoyed. This format is cool rather than the usual abroad in japan podcast. What would be super cool is while doing all this riding and general adventures you did random podcasts with people not always Pete.

As a person who signs 100+ documents per day with my full name, the stamp sounds absolutely amazing.

i love vids with both of you another great video best wishes

Love watching your videos, Mr.Broad. I have watched them for years and even listen to the podcast sometimes. Keep up the good work !

This type of video is always good for a laugh. Brilliant work with the fundraising. Good luck for the rest of ride.

What a fun video this was 😊 loved your chemistry in it.

Baikingu is going to be my go-to Japan fact next time it comes up in conversation. Fantastic.

We had Swedish vikings too but the Norwegian and Danish ones did a lot more of the traveling far and wide so they left a bigger impression. We have a lot of rune stones and artifacts from the viking age in Sweden and so many burial sites, ships and what not. Right away when I heard the word I immidiately figured out the meaning.

I just wanna take a sec to say that daaaaaaaamn Chris, you are looking great! Your health journey is really showing in your latest videos! As someone also trying to be a bit healthier and fit, thanks for giving me some motivation. Keep it up!

Simple video but one of the ones I've enjoyed recently. Chris you're looking very well lad. Nice one

I love you guys and your English accents! Hope you visit Las Vegas one day and give your reviews. You always brighten my day!

Love a Japanese point card! When I was in japan there was a Mr Doughnut right next to where i parked my bike at the train station who were giving away ceramic plates, dishes, mugs etc for every 20 (i think) doughnuts purchased. I ate a lot of doughnuts over 6 weeks and went home with 3 dishes as souvenirs

When me and a friend visited japan, I had a very nr 2 situation. We were looking for a certain store chain, so we thought, hey lets enter 1 of these stores nearby and ask for directions, like point us in the right way. The dude inside, decide to just go with us, for I think 10min walk, to show us where the store we were looking for is, while his co-worker managed the storefront alone. Also it was raining outside. Was a surreal experience and we felt so bad and did our best to thank him, but wow, that memory is burned into my brain about being careful when asking for help, but also try my best to always be respectful and kind while in Japan.

Loved this!

Currently on my 2nd trip - agree about the messy/functional cityscapes! Pylons everywhere, wires and electricity capacitors over every street (none of that in the UK), and quirky individual looking messy functional but always detached houses. Haven't seen terraced or semi-detached at all I guess they don't exist here....annoyed I missed that Eye of Sauron as I've just got back from Fukuoka I could have made a pit stop. Next time!

Great video, as always! The Dune mention made me so happy! It's so epic to see my favorite story being talked about by my favorite Japan youtube channel!

the 2nd point brings back memories when i went japan. I accidentally dropped my icoca card at one of the train stations in Tokyo and decided to ask the staff in the booth for help; at least to get another IC card. We were both using translation apps to communicate and he was genuinely trying his best to help me out. He told me that he got his colleague to search at the other station and asked me to wait. Made me feel so bad and it took much longer than I expected. Didn't end up finding it but I appreciated that effort they put in to help like no tomorrow hahaha

Connor may not quite be "Muad'Dib" but he's certainly "Youcan'Leave."

almost 400k raised! Goood work guys

28:04 and the lord said "let the children leave the cinema" 😂

As a Floridian I am so sad you had a bad experience with Pirates Adventure because it's one of my favorites but I totally understand why it'd be off putting now. Love the video!

Wow, that was a treat! Didn’t expect a video from Chris until the end of the cyclathone 😊 happy cycling 🚴‍♂️ and completing the endeavor on time!

9:38 hey, just smash up the stool and tie string around it or if it’s metal you can find disposal centers to bring it to (not ideal but better than doing soudaigomi)

YES!! FINALLY A PLACE TO ASK THIS!!!! Today watching the Cyclethon3 you guys on Himeji Castle we saw a lot of dogs being walked around, and my wife asked right away, worried we might end up moving to Japan in the future for studies.... you walk your dog... your dog poos.... you of course, collect said poo.... then....? I mean... you usually collect your garbage and discard in the combini or take home... so... you have like a poo bag in your bag? Are there any places in the park you can discard that, or you carry the poo home? Or is there any place you can dispose of dog poo? Love, Jessica and Suzana from Brazil

I concur. Cdawg's retail interaction is an important activity!!

These were very interesting points. I'm American and usually sit through the credits and feel awkward while everyone gets up. I like seeing the credits man.

27:48 Connor stood up and parted the Red Seats in the theater.

Thank you for video, quite relaxing and calming for my torn soul. Greetings from Ukraine.

I have a funny story about number 9. When we went to Japan last September, my sister and brother-in-law went shopping in the fabric district. I went and found a café near the train station. When I walked in, a young Japanese lady looked at me and her eyes got wide. She started to go towards the back until an older Japanese woman literally grabbed her by the arm. She looked at me and said “She needs to practice English. She will take your order.” I felt so sorry for her and I did my best to make sure I was clearly understood. But it was quite humorous in hindsight.

Great thinks to keep at the back of my mind When I go some day too.

There's never too much CDawgVA!

5:35 when I got lost in Shibuya and was trying to find a store, some random salaryman speaking fluent English decided to come along and basically GUIDE ME there. But yeah, they do love to guide people out of obligation, not just "oh yeah it's thatta way", but the entire thing.

Regarding the point of asking for assistance, I think this is more common when receiving assistance from bystanders as they tend to go well out of their to help you. I’ve found the staff at designated information desks/counters to be very direct when providing assistance. I think designated information centers (ie, help desks, visitor centers, etc) are a bit underutilized by western tourists since we tend to come from an experience where these types of resources are generally useless.

Chris, I have watched your channel for years, I follow you on IG but I’m not a huge commenter. Just wanted to express my appreciation to you. I learn so much about Japan from you! The Viking breakfast buffet tidbit was super interesting!

Super expensive fruits are a thing in Japan but you can still buy normal fruits at the local supermarket like in any other country, though perhaps still a tad pricier than what you're used to. Those $50+ fruits are only really for special occasions or gifts.