I was in Wakkanai in February, up early for coffee at Seico Mart and as I was leaving I went arse up on the snow and ice (it happens). Getting up and brushing off I continued on. Two blocks and several minutes later I hear this honking behind me and glancing around I see a large front end loader (snow plough). Waving him past (I see you) I kept going. But the honking persisted and looking round again I see the driver waving my wallet in his hand (I hadn’t noticed it was missing). He had seen me go tits up from a block away and my black wallet go flying. He collected it and chased me down in his snow plough to return it. He was all smiles as I collected it and thanked him as best I could with my extremely limited Japanese. I cannot imagine anywhere else but Japan where this would happen but it was indicative of my whole experience in Japan. I can’t wait to return soon

This is probably the best way of learning about life in Japan, without actually being in Japan!

The number one issue of the Assassin's Creed game is the awful ubisoft pricing. Also after they made a comment about how we should be comfortable not owning the game I don't even want to touch anything ubisoft anymore.

I live in Suginami-ku along the Zenpukuji river. There's so much green, a lot of birds, temples and shrines. I don't feel like I'm living in Tokyo, but accessibility to the heart of Tokyo is great from where I live.

When traveling in Japan. I always withdraw money from the ATMs. 7 years ago when I first went the 7-11 Bank ATMs (they are always in 7-11 and if you fly into Haneda there ATMs right outside the doors when you exit customs) were the way to go the exchange rate was always competitive and the transaction fee is marginal. Nowadays any of the ATMs at any of the convience stores are competitive. I haven't notice a huge difference between them all. Just check with the terms of your ATM card if your bank charges foreign transaction fees. Cash is still king but more and more places accept credit cards too. It is always a good idea to have cash on hand. And for those places that accept credit cards using your card there will stop you from using up all your withdrawn cash. 17:33

I really couldn't care less about any Assassin's Creed game. Ubisoft is one of the least competent developers in video games. They've also become egregiously greedy in recent years, even when compared to other AAA publishers. You want a good open world game set in historical Japan, then play Ghost of Tsushima and Rise of the Ronin. Both are amazing, immersive open world games and neither will try to sell you microtransactions.

never knew about this podcast even thought i'm a regular viewer of abroad in japan! lovely to see more content

Chris, did you look at noise canceling tools for the mic feed? They can filter out the constant drone of a fan or motor sound. Might be worth a go.

I get the sentiment of not being suited to living in a city Chris, its much my reality. The serenity of greenery and wildlife brings inner peace.

When I was in Osaka, I was going to walk from Ryokuchikoen station to Umeda as I love a good walk, but I'd met an 84 year old gentleman while taking photos in the park, and he really insisted I take the train. We'd been walking taking photos for probably an hour already, and he took me to the train station and paid for my ticket there as well. He spoke no English and I only had enough Japanese in my command to say that I was going on a jolly Sanpo to Umeda, and to understand where he was leading me! I only have two photos of myself from that trip, he was thoughtful enough to take one with my camera, the idea hadn't even crossed my mind but thanks to him I have a small record of my time in the park and a lovely memory our interactions.

All well and good to say "Don't waste food", and indeed in our first hotel there was a series of tips for travellers that featured that one, but my gosh they throw absolute piles of nosh at you at both of the Ryoukan I've patronised! We made a point of not eating anything during the day (potentially missing out on some local treasures) because we knew there was 8+ courses of fine dining to go back to in the evening. Delicious all, but I was stuffed to the gills and sending back at least the soup largely untouched (the broth was bloody good, but apparently late winter is wild mushroom season, it was served at EVERY meal and I'm not big on the ol' fungi) both morning and night. For the most part though, the serving sizes in Japan are generally much smaller than your average Westerner is probably used to, so it wasn't an issue anywhere else. But at a Ryoukan, I'm afraid I couldn't feel bad about not finishing every bite, it simply wasn't feasible.

This is true. I work in tokyo however. I like living in kanagawa more. I still live in an urban area however 10-20 min drive can get me to nature.

As canadian traveller in japan last year, I found it best to exchange a bit of money early like say $500-1000 so you aren't screwed if your cards don't work right away. Afterwards the bank fees at the ATM's in convenience stores are not that bad and just make sure to take out in similar amounts of 500-1000 so you make the flat fees worth it while not risking all your savings by losing your cash somehow. Travel cards are nice but a lot of Japan was still cash based so they won't do you much good outside Tokyo and Osaka I found.

I also had a similar interaction as well. I was staying in a random neighborhood in Tokyo, one with a small metro station. As it was my first time in Japan, I had failed to get a IC card and had to buy tickets all the time. This is much more complicated than anyone can imagine, because in top of knowing where you are and where you want to go, you also have to know the company that runs the train line and use the appropriate ticket machine. So I was looking at the map, everything in japanese, trying to make out which ticket I should buy. Right there a middle aged japanese woman approached me and asked if I needed help. I told her where I wanted to go, she gave me all the information and proceeded to try to issue my ticket herself. Of course I refused, she insisted and as she was trying to get her money out, her purse tilted and all the loose change were scattered on the station floor. I felt really bad for her, and somewhat embarrassed because I was the one that caused it. Without knowing how to react, when she had gather all her money I just thanked her and walked away...

For the money question: my husband and I went to Japan twice last year. The first time we got a ton of yen from our bank, almost enough for the whole trip minus hotels, but my husband kept using his card when we could in fear we’d run of cash, and then we had a bunch of cash that we were trying to spend at the end of the trip. So the second trip we just took a couple hundred in cash because we thought we could mostly use card. Ended up running out about halfway through and tried withdrawing from multiple ATMs at different types of locations, but our card wouldn’t let us. Luckily I had $100 US and we were able to find a currency exchange shop. The main issue was buying train tickets and bus fares. Idk if there is a way to buy them with card, but we only saw cash options. I know other people are able to withdraw cash from ATMs, but I just wanted to tell my story as a little warning in case someone else has the same issue we did.

It looks like Yamanote line video came yesterday. Always nice to hear Japan!

In the end you forgot to answer the part of the question when Pete is planning his next trip to Japan. 😉

ghost of tushima was fantastic. Hopefully 2 comes and brings a bunch of new stuff to the table. We already know its gonna be stunning

Ive adhd and i both hate and love being in a city after movinf here from a small town 😂 sometimes the noise and volume of people is super overwhelming, sometimes i adore how busy and active life is here

The one thing I miss about Japan is Pocari Sweat. I got addicted to that stuff.

Tokyo is mostly a concrete jungle for sure, but there are many nice parks to be found. Especially next to the riversides. I'd recommend visiting Higashi-Ojima's park. Very chill place without tourists and you might spot some veterans playing with RC mini sailboats.

Best way to get yen is to get a bank account or card in your home country that has zero fees for foreign transactions and ATM withdrawals, then use that with ATMs in Japan whenever you need a bit of cash. Out of habit I stick to 7-Eleven ATMs as they're everywhere and I believe years ago it was only them and Post Office ATMs that were free to use with foreign cards. You'll be prompted whether to be charged in either yen or your local currency, always choose yen.

chris, how fluent would you say you are at japanese, rate yourself from 1-10 and or using the JLPT 5-1. also did travling to japan and staying there help with learning the language? (interactions, and as such). Just recently found out you had a podcast, I have been loving it so far! cheers!

I live in the uk, but I found a shop selling Pocari Sweat yesterday, I was so stoked to try it for the first time! I'd gone to a Chinese supermarket to stock up on miso and fried tofu products and there it was, among the vast selection of peach teas, the iconic blue bottle gleaming temptingly in the fluorescent lighting 😂 it's actually pretty delicious.

The assasin creed game gets critiqued because Ubisoft's pricing schemem is insanely greedy. The games tend to have an ingame real life currency shop (even though they are single player games), tons of DLC that give advantages and overall just bland gameplay. Ontop of that 1 of the 2 protags isent a native to the setting which is (to my knowledge) a first for the setting and there are debates if Yaske actually was a samurai at all. The historical documents arent very clear on that with some claiming he was only a retainer or a bodyguard. People are changing the wiki to suit their narratives and alot of mud is beeing swung around by both sides of the aisle. Its overall kinda weird to see if you ask me.

In the fall of 2019, we spent two weeks our very first two weeks ever in Tokyo. And sometime during that trip, do not remember exactly but we were looking for a specific store or specific place for this one time was failing us. we were in a store buying something anyway so my wife again with her limited broken Japanese was asking if she knew where this place was and simple directions. I can do that in Japanese and English went out to the street and said it’s just down there and you make a right. we said thank you and she took my wife and she walked/place and we were so shocked and surprised and we thanked her many many many times.

I can't eat miso (I have a soy/pea protein allergy so somehow soy sauce is okay but miso/tofu/TVP/etc. are too concentrated) and honestly at a cheap/mid-range place where they give me miso without asking I don't worry about it and just leave it on the tray because sometimes a) you don't communicate with your server and just order stuff in a set, or b) there's no guarantee you'll get it or not so asking for "no miso soup please" at some places feels weird if you don't even know it's coming, but sometimes you'll order an entree that doesn't say it comes with anything and you'll end up with miso and salad without asking, at which point it feels too late to ask them to take it back; in those cases it's a little awkward but they won't say anything about it. They'll likely chalk it up to you being a new customer who didn't know what to expect; it's definitely not the worst thing you could do. The obvious things like being loud/impatient/etc. is certainly going to upset them more than not finishing your miso lol. If you go to the same place again you can ask for no miso. That said, if it's clearly included in a set and you're ordering from a server you can definitely ask them for no miso soup please and that's not rude either.

For money one of my favourite ways is to just pre-pay your credit card by slightly more than the amount you want to withdraw, and then use it to take out cash at the 7-11. Two reasons for this: Every 7-11 has an international ATM so it's always the easiest bet find anywhere/anytime. And debit cards usually have foreign ATM fees, whereas credit cards "fees" are usually just disguised as higher interest rates rather than set transaction fees, so if you pre-pay your cash advance, you won't get hit with that cash advance interest.

I had an immersive experience with Chris’ hot studio lol our ACs been broken for two days and I’m waiting on the HVAC guy while listening

for the Money question, you can get money at the ATM and depending on your bank you only pay the ATM fee which is somewhere between 200-300¥ depending on the ATM and the time of withdrawal. My bank takes 0% and I usually go to 7 Bank as the limit is higher so I can get 100.000¥ at once for ~300¥ fee and telling the ATM that my bank will do the converting so I pay not a single cents more than the 300¥ fee. (choosing the 7 Bank to so the converting they take about 5% or something like that)

I lived in Setagaya for a while, and I'd say it's decently green there, but if you're closer to the city center, there surely isn't enough green. Personally I quite like the suburbs of Tokyo (Machida, Tama, etc.). Still close enough to the city so it's convenient, but a bit more green and quiet :) For cash I usually used the 7-11 ATMs. I usually got good rates there.

That black samurai controversy is really paying off for Ubisoft. So many people talking about a game that's probably just going to be next bland entry in the never-ending series of Ubisoft games that all largely play the same.

When i was in Japan last year, the currency exchange booth at Haneda was very close to the actual exchange rate

I lived in Tokyo for two years before moving to another city in Japan (that I won't name to avoid attracting tourists). The quality of life difference is insane, I can walk to most places easily, catch taxis cheaply, restaraunts aren't packed out the door, people are friendlier, the sea is nearby, the mountains are nearby, every road has greenery on it, lots of trees and randomly open green spaces, it smells better, and I feel I can just walk around easier here without the judgement I get from the tourists in Tokyo who seem to be upset I'm ruining their ideal Japan image by being another non Japanese in their way. So yeah, sadly I need a second home in Tokyo for my new job. Not gonna move back though; I'm done with Tokyo as my main residence.

I love Cities, living in Bangkok the last 5 years. I lived in London for 40 years, 20 of those years in North Islington ( respect to Jeremy Corbyn).

I would probably make friends with all the available parks in Tokyo if I were there.. just mix and match visits and spend time there just being. Living in Sheffield, I'm probably in one of the greenest cities in the UK so "green" is something I would probably be quite active with, although I have nothing against concrete as such - Every Tokyo Station vlog was fun and I loved the look of Komagome!

Chris, similar to Charlottes old video about buying a second home, how about a weekend home in the country that you can both commute to from Tokyo easily. I live in the south of the UK near the beach which we love and it’s quiet. We have a shared family flat in Camden and I just can’t sleep very well there.

Hashashin is an Arabic word or Persian, the killers for hire were an order and they lived in the Persian mountains, the word originates from the hashish (a potent weed, you know which one) that they smoked in order to feel closer to heaven.

Actually, your around Tokyo video came out before this.

Really wonder if Chris or Pete have ever played the Like a Dragon Ishin Remake from last year. As it's basically like the Yakuza games just that you run and slash around in 1867 Kyoto. Also based on a real story.

google has gotten pretty good with using the train system plus the signs are in english (digital signs). funny enough, we did help an elder japanese man with some change to get the train (300 yen).

Always have a 10,000 yen bill in your pocket! Those smaller restaurants and bars sometimes don't take credit cards and it'd avoid an awkward trip to the nearest 7-Eleven.

Pete can help take people around in his Japanese Taxi. Plus make some extra coin at the same time.

If the guy who asked about the Ryokan in Hakone is in the comments, I too booked a night in a Ryokan in Hakone on my last trip. I am allergic to seafood and emailed the Ryokan before hand to let them know. They were very happy to source beef and chicken for me and asked the chef to create seperate menus for me and my partner, who is fine with seafood. They would much prefer you let them know in advance as generally the meals are quite large, involving several courses and a lot of them will be fish.

Pete rocking the serj tankien beard

No Chris he was indeed not a samurai

I was in Kyoto, got caught in the rain while walking and needed an umbrella. I saw a bunch of them hanging on the front of a kiosk. Thinking they were for sale I asked the old lady there how much for an umbrella. She handed one to me and said "プレゼント". I kept that umbrella for 10 years hoping to return it to her one day but never got the chance.

Largest controllable variable for general health is diet not exercise.

Come back to Sendai!

What Chris mentions in the first 3 minutes about the effects of eating or working out only showing weeks or a month later is very much not true. What a person eats will have an effect on the body, generally speaking, within 12 to 48 hours. Most food has long since been digested and expelled by then. Nutrition is about regularly keeping oneself fueled to produce energy and keep all the biological components running as best as one is able. Working out is also something that should show effects within a couple days normally, and also has cumulative effects. Aerobic exercises like running burn whatever calories that they are going to burn immediately, whereas anaerobic exercises like muscle building may actually show results with a short delay. What happens when a person challenges their muscles is not that they "become harder", we are actually counter-intuitively breaking our muscle fibers down in microscopic ways, and proteins in our diet (among other nutrients) help rebuild those gaps in the broken muscle fibers ultimately making them bigger, and if a proper routine is in place, breaking and rebuilding in all the places that continually increase the strength those muscles pull. Ideally I recommend people that are just beginning their workout journey, or beginning anew, to convince themselves to give the process at least 6 months, and at least twice per week on average. Workout as much as one is able, record the numbers of the various workouts (weights, distances, etc.) and just try to maintain or slightly beat them each time.

The problem with Assassin's Creed Shadows isn't that there's a black samurai. The problem is that it's a Ubisoft game. You know it's going to be a half-baked mess at launch.

💜💜💜

Chris, sun's out guns out!

Yes, all types of strangers--have paid for my meals, bought me random things

6:02 Maybe it was for a fireworks festival.

Pete going by the cyclethons I think a chris calf muscle thumbnail might do better then him being shirtless thumbnail

Did you also play the DLC for Ghost of Tsushima?

Please people (and Chris), do not expect a good game out of Assassin’s Creed Shadows. As nice to have it FINALLY take place in Japan, these days the Assassin’s Creed franchise has been incredibly lazy in game design and monetization. If the gameplay works, characters had compelling stories and background, it’d be a win. But knowing Ubisoft, I have very little faith. Note, it should be a red flag since they never showcased a single gameplay and it’s set to release this November. Hmmmmm…. I wonder.

I’m not a city person either. I’d love to retire in the Japanese countryside

Tell all the Japanese guys who are very disappointed that they cannot play a male Japanese protagonist for 17 years, that they are being "gamer gatey"for objecting to a black retainer non Samurai being cast instead, common Pete... I think they have a valid bone to pick with the game, it should have had 3 protagonists if they wanted to shoe horn in a retainer. Keep everyone happy I say. But then there is the over priced, under developed and borderline racist nature of Assassins creed Shadows. Really best to avoid these controversial games guys.

TL;DW he does

wtf oO when I visited London I hated it so much as there was only grey and dark grey everywhere and living here in Tokyo everything is green there are flowers and trees everywhere... oO Maybe it depends a little bit but I ma living on Koenji but I walked 150km in April and 145km in May and I am super surprised each time how there could be so much greenery everywhere

I took about 50000 yen in cash and just used the ATMs at the combinis after that. Very straightforward.

Ghost of Tsushima was amazing

I certainly do. They only reason keeping me here is a contract. Otherwise wouldn't have lasted even for a year.

just turn the air con on brother

The thing with Yasuke is that he wasn't specifically a Samurai as everyone has been told he was, but rather as most sources actually say he was, a retainer to the Daimyo Nobunaga. Also it's Ubisoft, they're gonna fumble this as they have fumbled everything for the past 5 years.

As a picky eater that hates seafood and mayonaise. Both staples in japan, its hard to find food i can eat especially since menus rarely include ingredients. As a result if i cant gurantee whats in the food i just dont eat there cuz it isnt the resturaunts fault im as picky as i am.

Both non-Japanese and Japanese fans are mostly disappointed with the choices made with the newest AC game. Not only the pricing is absurd, but the main character choices. They basically put one African servant as samurai and made most people angry when they could have made him a likeable main/side mission character as he should have been. Also Afaik the people they have consulted aren’t really fit for the job from what I heard. Just sad really, after all these years this is what AC Japan looks like, I miss the old ones so much :(

Have you heard of any expats who move over to Japan that were military veterans? If so, did they mention how they find their pensions hold up living in Japan? If not, definitely a potential podcast topic. I'm in Canada, I'm both a Canadian and Maltese citizen and I have to be honest, looking really hard at moving elsewhere. I'm a disabled military veteran so I'm looking for places that can look after my needs while at the same time helping my pension (can't believe I'm saying that at 48....) stretch as much as possible. There's a lot of us ready to leave North America. Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

Assassin come from Arabic originally and meant " hashish-eater" ...😄

Stay there in Japan, you belong there, besides the earthquakes, Japan is much better than most countries, and you grew up there in the last 11 years

13:45, my only ghripe about it being Yasuke is i bet you they're really gonna play down the racism. Like if i'm playing a historical game as a black character i want to experience that level of unrestricted hatred and racism, i hate when its glossed over and revisionist history etc. Like Afro Samurai is an amaazing anime

Hashashiin means "hashish users. It's the Arabic equlilevant of saying "crackheads" or "methheads". The original Assassin order (or Hashashin) supposedly employed drugs in their rituals. So they were called by that deragotary name as insult because they were conasidered a cult. Hashish itself means just grass or weed, but it's an euphemism for cannabis.

DEI brain: resident evil 5 :white straight man is killing zombies that were african → very bad ac shadows : black gay man is killing living japanese people → perfect!

Whatever you do Chris, don't preorder assassins creed or any ubisoft game for that matter

Chris I can't blame you for missing the Japanese countryside: you inspired me to take a drive through the Japanese back country during my first visit last year, and it truly is spectacular. 🏞️🚗

No acts of kindness? What about that woman who gave you the biscuits on the side of the road and invited you to a party?

"TOPLESS WEEK" on the Abroad in Japan Podcast!

if you really will play assassins creed game. please do stream it chris.

It gets worse as you get older for staying fit.

I think assassin is from Arabic but I could be wrong haha

Oooo I'm looking forward the the Assassin Creed game, and with release date in November, it's the perfect time of year in the UK to just be indoors, play video games and forget that we only get a few hours of light. I get it regarding the living in a city, although I would 100% choose Tokyo vs living in London, at least Tokyo has a nice flow whereas London is just chaos. Awesome podcast video as always!

Just eat the damn food (unless you have allergies)

Take a look at the Japanese videos for the new assassin's creed, Japanese people are NOT happy. To encapsulate the majority of them "oh, ok, you're culturally sensitive about everyone except Japanese people!" Previous assassin's creed characters. Middle East: Arab character Italy: Italian character North America: native American Greece: Greek character Egypt: Egyptian character Japan: Black guy

There is no Assassin's Creed Japan.

You definitely look like you've shed weight, looking lean these days Chris.

Yes, the authenticity of their woke checkbox.

Chris does not understand how you lose weight AT ALL lol. You dont just power through something and then lose your belly. You have to change your lifestyle and exercise every day.

hashassin aka guy high own hashj weed killing

No. Cos he avoided the utter shitshow of Brexit.

Ubisoft.. sorry have my first down vote.

If you think it’s hot in Japan, you should make a trip to Death Valley, and Furnace Springs at the peak of summer. We don’t get humidity, but, it can get to 130° F(54.4° C). That’s hot.

Yasuke was not a samurai, he was a servant of Nobunaga based on historical records, and every other AC protagonist has been a native of the region the game was based in, these are the issues people have with it. I’ve never played an AC games but I understand these complaints and they make sense, when every other game has been accurate in its history until the Japanese one, which is the one most requested for years.

the issue is not that ubisoft is putting a black person. the issue is that every part sofar had an authentic figure that is born in that region. only in japan they need to get more DEI points and put a quote "legendary samurai" yasuke instead of any sengoku heros there.. go outside and iterview people in japan if anyone knows even who yasuke was. over 90% will have no clue. because he just carried a sward *which was usually done by kids that time how can someone who just lived in japan for 3 years become a legendary samurai, and how it is depicted wearing a shgun mask? its absurd and coltural appropriation. you can see the like dislike ration in the japanese trailer, because those who know what the whole agenda is for, know that it is active racism against japan and its history. same thing was for stellar blade, we had bolderssgate 3 where you could have intercourse with bear, but showing some cleavage of a real live based korean model character is a no go? those double standarts are more than absurd. politics should be outside of entertainment. because of those DEI hunter parasites many amazing gaming studios were closed and are closing down. no wonder why ubi is on the front page of sweet baby inc.

Waiting for the video Chris and Sharla testing out all the love hotels of tokyo. :)

The cup noodle looks piss poor when the vent is facing the camera.

Chris you wont regret speedrunning every main temple in Tokyo

I'm looking forward for the next ubisoft game that takes place in Africa where we play as an Asian and do...some things

I’m your ghost Kris brawd