I've been to Japan, but haven't been to Tokyo. It was back in 1991, when I spent a semester studying Japanese at Kansai Gaidai University in Osaka. While I was there I visited Kyoto, Kobe and Nara, but didn't really have time to see other places. Thanks to your videos, I've been able to explore Japan from the comfort of my little house in Wales. I applied for the JET Program, but wasn’t accepted. Instead I got a scholarship to study Chinese in Taiwan (I did a degree in Chinese and Japanese at Leeds Uni), and ended up working for the British Council in Taipei.

Indonesian here. So far we have sent 120k workers to Japan and 500k is the target number because they needed that many apparently.

Last summer in Tokyo, I walked into a random 7-Eleven (near Ueno Station), and the cashier was a 20-something British guy. I had no idea how to react; I was just so surprised. It is still very rare to see foreigners working in shops, but yeah. Happens.

The cups are indeed called "Stanley", though no relation to the hockey. The reason they took off is because of a recent video that showed a woman who's car had burned, and when she went to look at it after it was ruined, the only thing that had "survived" was the Stanley thermos cup in her cup holder. Stanley rode the publicity of the TikTok video by sending a ton of merch and buying the woman a new car, and the internet basically went crazy and started buying them out everywhere.

I had no preference or expectations when I came on JET. I was placed in Nabari (western Mie prefecture) and I couldn't have been happier. I had an amazing time.

Some background on the "flasks": 1. Yes Pete, they are called Stanley Cups, apparently because its cups/flasks made by a company called Stanley. 2. There was a video of it surviving a car crash, which the company then used as a marketing push. 3. It basically became a status symbol amongst teens/kids/girls/adult women (idk which demographic exactly) to not only own 1 or even 2 cups, but I legit saw videos of people having 20 odd stanleys on their shelves, like people actually queued up overnight outside Target for getting one. 4. A video from like last year about the insides of these cups were found to have lead traces inside them, and then all the people who got them doing the tests and getting positives for traces of lead. That's the last I heard about it, idk they fell off or sumthin. Wild scenes though, there were actual videos of kids crying with joy to get a stanley cup. Consumerism at it's finest

I never let anyone talk to me when I am shopping. Chatty stores will try to talk you into things you won't want to do. I like going to places where people don't talk to me other than taking my order.

Reason that there are a lot of foreign workers from Southeast Asia is because of the "internship" program. They call it "internship" but in reality it's a foreign worker program. The agencies would train them in the Japanese language at least up to N4 level, Japanese culture, and other skills necessary for the job that they are going to do. Only those who "graduated", those who are up to par, get to go. The jobs are mostly in farms, factories, and nursing, perhaps some in hospitality. I think Filipinos dominated the nursing and hospitality sector, though Indonesia is getting more into nursing. These programs used to be riddled with controversies, but now it has gotten way much better because I think it has now become an actual foreign worker program rather than being in the guise of "internship".

Love the podcasts btw ❤

My town, Kuji in Iwate had a sister city with Frankin, Indiana, which is where I went to college in the States. Every year two graduates got to live in Kuji as part of the Kuji Exchange. We taught some English at elementary and JHSs but mostly we were cultural ambassadors and assisting with foreign visitors from our other sister cities, taking Japanese kids from my town to America on language learning trips and participating in activities with the Rotary Club and other organizations. I was also an interpreter on NHK TV for the international women's judo tournament that was in Kuji every two years. I got to take six Japanese JHS kids to America (NYC, Washington DC and San Diego). Iwate had several sister cities; there was an ALT (not JET) in the town nearby from Ohio. His college also had a similar program to mine. My foreign friends were JETs, but a lot were a tad jealous I had four months paid vacation every year, free car, free house, free gasoline, free Japanese lessons. Of course, I didn't complain 🙂 I stayed for four years.

Being put back in hospital joy thankyou for your video, ❤, also I've been reading your book to kill time whilst learning Japanese on duolingo thanks for saving my sanity ❤

I noticed in Tokyo that alot of the fast food chains such as McDonald’s have filipino chashiers. In the Philippines schools, all the lessons are taught in English hence alot of them go oversees to look for work. Its smart to have english speaking workers in popular fast food chains to help serve tourists.

I would suggest Matsuyama as a destination. Really underrated city.

"Chris Broad & Jon Daub" are perhaps the two finest examples of Gentlemanly "Brit & Yank" in Japan on YT !

Funny coincidence. I almost applied for the JET program some years ago (found new job just before mailing app package in). And two of the places i had requested was Yamagata and Sendai.

"How the devil are you doing?" I'm glad you said it again! It felt so wrong in the previous videos or whenever you don't say it. 😱

Feel the Pete struggle with the century. Currently in the process of shipping my BMW from the US to Saudi Arabia and its been very stressful. The ship is current somewhere around west Africa and I'm not looking forward for the customs/registration process once the car arrives. Love the show, keep up the good work.

Think u meant the cable car in Hakone 😊 Great little trip to take.

I've been in the Specialty Coffee industry for almost 20 years, coffee can definitely be this expensive and is an amazing thing to experience... obviously not as a daily drink haha. It's just like splurging for a higher quality/rare wine for example.

Hoshino coffee has great pasta!! Also souffle too

As someone that loves speciality coffee while $30 sounds high, when you compare it to a glass of wine it is line. There are many farms and co-ops that put a lot of work in cultivating the coffee. Then on top of that you got the importers and roaster that has overhead to take care of. Tokyo is a wonderful city to try speciality coffee with shops like Leaves Coffee Roasters, Glitch Coffee and Onibus coming to mind. I'm guessing the story of the week writer went to Glitch Coffee in Osaka.

Make your own coffee if the café is too expensive I've worked with a Japanese barista before, she did love coffee

I think the 6month nomad visa is helping. I'm considering it.

i LOVE the long hair....rock that 80's Chris! As for the Stanley cups, they are no different than many others....but have mercy Americans LOVE to 'keep up with the jonse's' on the stupidest shit....

If I was in my 20s now, I’d apply to Jet program and probably would go to either Hokkaido or Kyushu somewhere. But I couldn’t because in my 20s, my accent was not English now but more Eastern European. So, never tried to apply but probably should’ve. 😅

With the new work visas being offered, it will continue to rise. My wife and I are debating if we want to take advantage of the 6 month work visa to film content and explore.

24:11 Sister Cities. Every major city in the West has one in Japan. Weirdly mine's Osaka. 😳

The coffee must have been some geisha coffee ... it is indeed very expensive and really good. It's more common to find this coffee in a top coffee place in Japan than anywhere else.

Nah, Pete's right, they were Stanley Cups. Same name as the hockey trophy. No relation.

💜💜💜

Foreigners are probably getting the not-so-desirable jobs that only take basic education. Like cleaning, restaurant staff, and such. I'd imagine Japanese employers to be more likely to hire a Japanese person rather than a foreigner for the more specialized jobs. Maybe software engineers and such are in demand, but I'd imagine they'd still need a certain level of Japanese language proficiency.

Not a really long question, but related to the Jet programme and the girl who left as it wasn’t a party town like Hong Kong. Chris, do you think the abroad in Japan channel would have existed if you were in more of a “party place” like Osaka or Tokyo? Or would you be too busy propping up the bar in the local izakayas?

My kei car is from the 90s and the m.o.t was no problem. How odd 🤔

It's a surprise that there are so many Vietnamese in Japan, considering their history. Vietnam got hit really hard by the Imperial Japanese during WW2 and there was a lot of resentment from the older folks there. I know because my mom is from Vietnam and fled after the communist takeover. But Vietnam has a massive population, somewhere around 100 million, and a lot of Vietnamese look to emigrate to find work in other countries. Maybe not as much as the Philippines, who's economy is pretty dependent on their people working overseas. But in any case Vietnamese tend to be hard working and ambitious. And maybe it's the fact that Vietnamese people can blend into Japan easier than many other foreigners. Vietnam people have a lot of Chinese blood, so many (particularly from the north) have that distinctly East Asian look look compared to other South East Asian peoples. This is purely speculation, but maybe Vietnamese people appeal more aesthically to the Japanese.

me literally flying jp at months end to work lol

Is Jet program in Okinawa? I think being an English teacher in Naha or on Ishigaki would be fun.

I'll come over if I can work in a conviny

the MOT on the car before 2000 thing might be because its a 'classic'?

Japanese coffee can be a bit meh (for the record my worst coffee ever was in Paris at the Louvre followed closely by the Bunbury Dolphin centre) Vending machine coffee is great for a caffeine & sugar hit but not for actual taste. I found cafe coffee to a be weak and too hot. But, given that my drink of choice is a short or long mac two thirds topped up (regional give away there) when out, or an espresso at home with a dash of milk most coffees are underwhelming. 9:41

Wow new video

Pete has gone from a "Lumberjack" look in the last show & after hearing his Yorkshire Ripper jibe Chris then I think Pete is pulling off that "Dickie Davis" look from 80's Saturday "World of Sport". Some might say he's more Des Lynham from BBC Grandstand but Im sticking with Dickie Davis myself...🤣

So not only are there hustle bars in Japan there are hustle coffee shops

I am all for the long hair. You look good with it, Have you seen I am waiting 1957Japanese film? It was great! Also Kurasawa's last film Madadayo was also amazing! Pete looks more like the Yorkshire Ripper.

I've really fallen behind on the podcast and didn't even realize it! Time to catch up, but I would love to visit Japan in the near future, however I'm not too sure about working in Japan based on the stories of the office culture. On the flip side though, I'd rather pick up a non-office job if I was going to live in a foreign country the sad thing is my unfortunate student loan problem. Yay being an American lmfao

Question: I am a kind of traveller who doesn't like to book things such as rooms in advance but rather decide a day before on the trip as to what city I am going to next and then book the rooms, is japan a country that is easy to do on the spot bookings in? As a solo traveller it would be convenient if I wouldn't have to worry about booking things in advance

MOT is needed for cars up to 40 years old. That MOT tester is a cowboy

Have paid $100 for a cup of coffee!

Car of Theseus

Ride the Cable car

People are explaining it better but indeed they are Stanley cups and they have lead in them

Not related to this episode but it just happened a couple hours ago and I'm watching now. I had a dream where I was scrolling Twitter and I saw a tweet from Chris about how he is selling "Official Pete Donaldson mini TV's!" like the one that's behind him on his camera angle. I am now sad I won't be getting a Pete mini TV.

It is the Stanley cup.

Lol, Japan, about to learn the hard lesson that Europe has learned and are poised to fix.

When I went Japan there were Indonesians all over Tokyo

Have the JET people ever commented on your channel? Was it positive or negative? Did they have anything interesting to say?

miho-no-matsubara is a recommended viewing spot for Mt.fuji.

They are called stanleys and yes it is confusing and silly. Still have no idea why they’ve specifically taken off in the reusable drink container market

People from 300 countries around the world asking what the heck is MOT?

3000 yen coffee is expensive, but I guess if it's good and a one-off experience, why not?

Other than the cuisine, I wonder what other thing Japan and Vietnam have in common...

Honestly expected Philippines not Vietnam

Here's the thing about foreign workers, from Asia, in Japan (according to a Japanese friend who lives there) : Japan gives "student visas" to young people from those countries, like Vietnam, but in reality, it's poly, by the Japanese government, to get workers for cheap. 😐

I had my first BIGGA fruit punch last night after your recommendation. It tasted like sucking on a car battery through a sherbet dip. 10/10.

@AbroadinJapan how did you managed to change Sharla into a meat eater again? or did she change her diet for other reasons :D

Every time Chris looses weight it's always "Nah, it's the camera angle" or "nah my hairs longer and it makes my face look slimmer" Anyone would have thought he was embarrassed. Like he spent too much time with gym bros who laugh "huhuhh 'av you lost weight?! You little wuss!!"

If I ever do the jet program then I'd say Gunma. For the Tonkatsu

I saw a white guy working in a family mart at the Osaka airport. He didn’t seem to speak any English, but he might’ve been pretending

I have to disagree with you Pete, coming from Australia where there are coffee shops on nearly literally every corner. I travelled in Japan for 5 weeks in 2018. I only found one good cup of coffee and that was in Nagasaki. Run by and Japanese lady and her Pommy boy friend. They had both been living in Australia for many years and perfected the best flat white coffee ever.. she even made matcha lamingtons and they were so delicious. The remainder of the coffee I experienced in Japan was very ordinary……… and expensive and they don’t even fill the cup up 🤦🏼‍♀️ I had a cup of coffee in Ginza which was J¥1500 absolutely outrageous, a Japanese friend bought it for me, it was very ordinary and so not worth the money….. Australian coffee is far more superior…..

Stanley has been around since 1938! No lead.

One word for Chris: "Ponytail."

Pete should get in touch with autoalex and do a collab, so he can show off the car and hopefully they can help you fix it.

I was a US service member in Japan for 8 years. In all those years the same was true for the troopsand their families. The ones who embraced being out there all wanted to stay, those that isolated themselves in self-loathing were all just miserable people to be around, and for wives who were brought out there, it often leads to divorce.

*Promosm* 🎉

I would love to move to Japan from US someday 😊

The Stanley cup trend here is embarrassing. Save me.

Pete getting scammed left, right and centre with this motor. It’s definitely not this difficult to get a Japanese car running in the UK. My dad had a Nissan Highway Star for years, zero issues.

Lotta Indians or other SEA working the konbinis now

That is a damn difficult cup to clean! No more than a show piece, not useful at all.

Rich tourists getting milked in Japan

Don't you need a university degree to get a work visa? Why the fuck would anyone want to go through all of that just to work in a fucking konbini lmfao

You're in Tokyo now. No excuse for you now. My two cents: Get a great stylist for your hair. It's lovely hair and it's worth the cost of getting someone who knows what they are doing to style you well.

The population issue in Japan and the rest of the 1st world is due to the cost of living crisis. Immigration (also see “diversity”) as a method to fill jobs with lower paid foreign workers is lowering the bar, not raising it or solving the underlying problem.

Pete. An MOT doesn't involve opening the boot or bonnet. This guy was full of shit. I have a 2003 Celica, MOT's no problem.

Please dont drown puppies 😮

Did they just look up random white guy for the thumbnail (no I’m not talking about Chris lol)

Robot workers.

Maybe those pesky foreigners are just staying for longer… Aichi, 13 years..

Japan should open up more. Every country that colonized others should open up to the countries they colonized in past.

I hope Japan wont make the same mistake as western countries taking lots of low qualified workers and then having subcultures and huge dissatisfaction of Japanese people. Though the language barrier should be a decent filter already.

Nice to hear Japan is getting as diverse as Canada...though hopefully not as racist as some people are over here

next step is give them citizenship and they'll actually stay to repopulate the country.

💜💜💜