Jim Heisig, the author of the Kanji book Chris is holding, is a really great and sharp guy. He wrote the kanji books based on a method he developed when he had to learn kanji very quickly after moving to Japan. Nowadays he's a retired professor of Japanese philosophy (although he still basically works every day at the university institute he retired from, even now that he's in his eighties), and if I remember correctly he donated all the right/profits from the kanji books and lives a very modest life near his university in Japan. He's also a catholic priest, and ministers a small congregation there.

As much as I am against the “Japanese only” establishments, saying “we only speak Japanese here” seems like the most reasonable explanation for that. After all, English speaking staff does not come by default in Japan and there’s so much you can do with machine translation, especially with those hand-written menu that changes every day. If I can’t speak Japanese and I know the establishment can’t accommodate English then why would I want to go in and risk misunderstandings and embarrassments? As someone who’ve been told “sorry we speak English here” multiple times in US and Australia I find it so hypocritical that people are so offended when Japan does the exact same thing.

Daughter and I were riding a train home after a longer journey to visit Shimoda, she had a stuffed dolphin from the aquarium with her. An extremely red in the face, reeking of booze Japanese man stood up to move next to us and was captivated with her stuffed animal. Just a ton of smiles and pointing at her and it, no words spoken. He was also only able to stay upright thanks to support of the train door. Next stop came (which I assume was his) door opened and he just staggers out and on his way. It's never not amazing just how functional the Japanese remain while drunk.

Japan has some beautiful snakes :) about 50 different species to!

Pete saying he went to a dog park cause he missed his dog is so sad and I feel bad for laughing lol Also, Chris me and my mom just finished up Connor's RV trip video and you should wear your glasses more! I think you look quite dashing when you wear them.

I gotta say... One thing I noticed when I visited Britain is that they had WAY more flavours of various coke/pepsi products than Canada. Weird to hear Pete say it's not a thing there, but maybe I was lucky. I remember a dark berry Dr. Pepper that was really interesting. Maybe it's just Canada that has no selection lmao

I live in japan with a dog. She's a mame shiba and only six kilos so I can bring her on trains or in most buildings as long as she's in her carrier. It's actually surprisingly dog friendly across japan. Big dogs are harder though. You do still see them, but mostly in rural areas. Akitas are massive animals. But I will also mention that bringing an animal overseas to Japan is expensive and tedious. Expect to pay about 2k usd and plan vet visits out for 2/3 a of year ahead of leaving

the seinfeld tee pete is wearing is hilarious

Ive watched every abroad in japan video, give us the cyclethon video. I have no life lol

Chris: "Wow." Many story ideas for videos. Any kind of travel video with Natsuki? YOU HAVE GOT IT RIGHT HERE: "Snakes on the Train." (Yeah, already mentioned before I got here, but still.) Though, I would always rather see just more of you and Sharla together. From all the way back to the original Journey Across Japan, you two have always had a great time together, and we enjoy being with you. And then Ellen was ABSOLUTELY DELIGHTFUL when she was with you. No doubt, one of my favorite videos from Non Stop North was Sharla's video, when she ran around with Ellen that one night. Just great fun. However, look at things like James May and his "Our Man In Japan" and his subsequent locations. And you with Kazu in Matsuyama -- "you said it." A series with just you and the people you meet along the way is a recipe for a very interesting adventure. I suppose "we've seen Chris and the usual folks many times already" -- and it must be a challenge to do whatever it would take to line up some folks ahead of time, and build an interesting series from it. Good luck -- we always look forward to whatever you'll come up with next!

Pete talking about the commuter snake makes me think of the worm in Richard Scarry stories

Video idea: dogs of Japan. What are the most popular breeds, what have been the historical trends, what are the rules of ownership, where are they allowed to be in public spaces? Assistance dog recognition? I met a lady in Okinawa who had a seizure-alert dog and apparently it wasn't recognised as a bona-fide assistance dog by Japanese airlines and they wanted him to be transported in the hold area (not very helpful for being able to alert for a seizure) but an Australian airline did and gave him a free seat.

Chris, Pete.. love these shows. Thanks🎉

Great Channel. I'm a fan of your channel.

Good news Chris! Im almost done with my time machine, and ill see you and Ryotero on the beach for Journey Across Japan I. Im thinking of doing a different dive. Love ya guys, keep up the great work

I live down the street from a Japanese gospel church in Canada. I often walk past it with my dog who is 70lbs of slobber and fur (half shar pei half bloodhound) One day a mother and her child were just existing the church as we were passing. The poor kid shrunk back saying "kowai" which I recognized as "scary" I don't speak Japanese, I only know a few words, so I patted my dog and in a reassuring voice said no worries, she stays by me. The mother smiled at me and repeated this to the boy in Japanese (well, I assume she did) and I passed by without incident. The only one who was sad was my dog who really loves children and would have loved to slobber all of his face lol.

Not sure if you read these, chris, but a BIG project (that I don't see any of) is a series or a few documentaries covering tokyos various underground cultures. I know theres a bunch of different subcultures that conglomerate there (for example, i like the techwear fashion/subculture). This would also be a good opportunity to meet new people.

Remembering the Kanji is a great book for learning. I got away from it but I did learn the meaning of the first thousand. I think something that is under emphasized about when learning Japanese is keeping a goal in mind. Is it to pass the JPLT? Do you plan on working in Japn? Or do you just want to be conversational? If you plan on passing the JPLT and/or work in Japan then you are probably want to start learning Keigo. If you just want to be conversational then you don't really need to learn Keigo imo. You can learn a little Keigo since hospitality staff will often speak it you when you are a customer. I think the best tip if you want to be conversational is learn some grammar and find someone you can speak to in Japanese. My problem is that I don't speak/listen to enough Japanese. My reading and writing skills are ahead of my speaking /reading. I only really get to speak Japanese once a week with my tutor for about an hour.

It's been a while since I went to Japan (2010), but Black Boss + Pocari Sweat got me through a month of Summer sightseeing. I still remember the news repeating to mind the intense heat (厳しい 暑さ) every single day 😅

Why was it so easy to picture the Snake w/ a top hat and newspaper? Must have been in a cartoon somewhere... Great EP, lots of chuckles

Plot twist... The snakes on a Train ARRREEEE Samuel Jackson!!

The snake was booked for not paying it’s fare..

Hey Chris and Pete, love the podcast! Chris, I have a question for you. Your channel features a lot of Japan-related content, showcasing various places to visit and things to see. With the influx of tourists, as someone who lives in Japan, do you find it challenging to balance creating great content about rarely explored spots and the need to keep certain places a bit more private for personal enjoyment? How do you navigate this? I imagine it must be quite difficult. Also, i came to Japan for a month recently and visited Kochi - it is wonderful! Do you see yourself doing something on the channel where you explore Shikoku? As someone who doesn't live there I would love to see that and live vicariously through you! All the best, Nadia

What they eat depends on the snake. Take my ex-wife for instance, she ate my bank account and half my possessions.

Tokyo Llama's great akiya reno content.

I read up on the news about the snake. It was a Japanese rat snake. I guess after the first search, they continued running the train but with that car closed to passengers, until it made it back to the depot. So no one sat over the snake 😹

I sometimes fall asleep on the bus and train here in Seattle but our system has it so they call out the next stop, making it easier for people to not miss their stop. I have, however, woken up in time for my stop on buses but missed it because no one else needed it and I didn’t get to pull it in time.

Nice shirt Pete

I remeber the first time we got to see good old Pete,standing in the water and saying that a fish stole he's hat. What a day

I was asleep on the train from Otaru to Sapporo (and on past Chitose) and it wasn't that late but I'd been touring the Nikka Distillery and also Otaru Brewing and fell asleep as soon as I got on the train. Somehow I snapped awake just before we got to Sapporo station. Maybe it's genetic?

I found that dog park by accident and saw a samoyed the same breed I have at home.

Pete is so right there about the different varieties .... I have always been kinda annoyed by the big brands not trying out anything at all in Europe ... I wrote to Coka Cola a few times in the last 20 years first asking why you can't get Cherry Coke in my Country and they told me noone would buy it ... a few years later we started to see it in every supermarket ... funny enough lots of restaurants still only sell normal coke. Also I asked them why there is no Melon Coke as I always had Melon Soda and Coke mixed up when going to Japan even long before they had the machines that automatically mix them together but again "noone in Europe would want that" -.-V only difference is that this time there still isn't any Melon Coke in the Shops yet. Same with Pepsi Cherry ... I asked them why we don't have the Wild Cherry version in Europe again they said "noone in Europe wants it" ... when it finally hits the shops it was always sold out everywhere for a long time now you can buy it in most shops and it seems that people actually like it. Now all those Energy Drink Companies do exactly what the big Companies didn't dare, they try all sort of variations and its exactly what people want !

Aloha from Maui 🌈 I love the show. Keep up the great work. I am looking forward to your video on learning Japanese. I've been learning Japanese at UH Maui College for the last year and I will be studying at Meiji Academy in Fukuoka for three weeks in June and July. While there, I will be researching on how to best move to Japan in the next year or two. Thanks for the tip on the Kanji book because that is what I am currently learning. Maybe I'll bump into you or one of your cohorts.

5 hour energy will rock your world 🥲

5:00 Either Chris is colorblind or the lighting in the studio/color balance on the camera is making that "blue" book look very purple to me.

Instead of shop bought coffee recommend making your own Japanese style drip coffee. Tasty and cheap and easy to take out in a small bottle/ water tight cup.

I have the same brand of inhaler as Pete does, you always get the same looks,

The Tokyo Llama KZfaq channel is a good one to see the renivation of a akiya.

alternate title: The Back-Handed Compliment Sponsorship Hour

'Snakes On a Train' Starring! Chris L Jackson!

Hey another turbohaler user - get involved!

If a place says "go away and don't come back until you speak my language" I'd go away and never bother with it again regardless if I can speak the language. Also doesn't Japan have anti-discrimination laws? Seems actionable.

Colin Furze's tunnel videos are amazing, though.

Now that Pete is all about the monster energy drink scene his new name is Kyle Donaldson

chris broad competes in proffessional tourism

The her.atlas channel has a large dog Gus. She and her husband have been in Japan for 4 or 5 years.

Doing RTK1 while listening to this :^) On extent, kanji #960... 20 new kanji and 200 Anki revision reps a day... Also, I notice your cat has regenerated post-earthquake! Eight lives left?

Snakes tend to eat rodents. Some specific ones eat eggs, but those are from Africa.

5 hour energy tastes like cough syrup and I remember it didn't really do anything for me, when I tried it.

I used to spend a lot of time in brewpubs and my favorite was in the industrial area. Met a guy who owned a small trucking company and he had a story about his buddy breaking down so he hooked up to the trailer to take it to the destination, a beverage distrubutionj company in another industrial area just across the river. He pulled up to the gate and they said, "Wait here a bit," and after a while he saw people with full on hazmat suits ready to receive the shipment. Trucks in the US often transport things we call "Methyl-ethyl-bad-shit" which can kill you if you say the name three times so he was a bit worried. He finally asked what the heck it was he was transporting and he was told it was concentrated Monster Energy Drink. Pete, remember that when you're drinking that stuff. People who deal with it in the concentrated form put on hazmat suits before they touch the barrels it comes in.

in a why, I'm kinda ok with signs saying 'japanese speaking please' cause I too am someone whos too akward to deal with misscommunication. I don't want to impose especially if its really busy. our first trip to japan, and my bro experiend a student falling a sleep on his sholder. i think he's ment to go to afterschool as a number of school students left 2 stops before he woke up. We didn't know if we should wake him up?

Venomous, not poisonous! Oh no, I'm that guy. :p

Does anyone remember what GBP to yen company he used where they sent it in the post to his address

Would love to see the "too angry" cut of the Racist Japanese Bar video 😂😂

No more Google podcasts...

What's the best way to contact you?

#faxmachine STORYTIME hello cucumber Chris and pepper Pete , I have a story for you, last year me and a friend went to Japan in April and we went to the Fushimi irani shrine in Kyoto . Once we'd done the never ending climb to the top my friend decided to go off the beaten track back to the bottom and we ended up going through a dark deserted forest with nobody around except for 1 man we thought we'd never find a way out and we'd be lost forever until we came out onto a residential area in the back streets of Kyoto, it was nice to actually see the residential side of Kyoto instead of the hustling streets with tourists. It was a trek but we eventually found our way back to the main road thankfully and on the way there it started to rain but I didn't have a umbrella and some really lovely Japanese grandma offered us a umbrella she didn't speak a word of English but I thought she was so lovely and the hospitality she offered made me smile from ear to ear! Have you ever got lost and ended up in a area that was accidentally the best thing that happened Many thanks love the podcast and channel Tiffany from Manchester UK

Pete im sure ive seen you in the local weatherspoons, are you ok with fans or is it a matter of do not disturb.

"poisonous"? XD Well if it was, than there really wasint anything to worry about anyway, was there? XD Bonus points if you can name a snake thats actually poisonous with out googling!

#faxmachine Hello cucumber Chris and pepper Pete. Tiffany here from Manchester UK . I travelled Japan and Korea last year with a friend but at some point I want to do it alone , is it safe to solo travel Japan as a young female as I am scared of getting around speaking the language etc Also from my last trip it took me months and months to get over the trip as it was the best trip of my life and I suffered witt depression what do you suggest to get over the holiday blues? Thanks much love the podcast and the channel Tiffany from Manchester

Does anyone have the ISBN for that Kanji book?

If he has asthma the monster drinks will not help him. Give up monster crap

I tip my own Bricanyl Turbuhaler to you as well, Pete 🫡

Venomous *

are they native snakes?

If knowing a language is not based on race, how is restricting something to speakers of a certain language racist?

Pete’s description of the Business Snake made me think of the World of Richard Scarry. The wave of nostalgia was nice.

Out of all the ghastly disgusting disgraceful canned coffees, I have to admit Tully's is the least worst of the bunch

So they found a snack on the train ? Why the drama? ;) ☮️

It could have been worse for that kid. It could have been a drunken man.

8th!

2nd

& a happy victoria day to you fellows! oh… it’s tomorrow there, isn’t it…? ok. happy ordinary tuesday… from those of us existing in… yesterday. 👀📆

Another time requesting A quick visitation of nearly every main temple in Tokyo

1st 😂

Pete please let Chris talk now and then.

Dang that's so true about Tully's coffee. It's a love hate thing for me. It tastes awful, but delicious at the same time... but it sure wakes me up. Hahaha. IDK what's up with it lol.