Fan meet up at Show Club Manilla tonight at 9pm. See you guys there!

I'm Japanese, some additional information. ・This town is a typical “town where young people have left due to aging, inconvenient transportation, and concentration of affluence in the city”. It is not so rare (not even many) to find such towns dotted with ruins and many closed stores. Rather than saying that western Japan is deserted, it is more accurate to say that towns with poor access to cities are dying out. ・Because the sidewalks are kept clean and there are a number of people and cars, stores with shutters in the city center may not have happened to be open on business days. (Of course, it is more often the case that shops are closed in these cities.) ・This Itoigawa city is the starting point of a large fault called "Itoigawa Shizuoka Tectonic Line" which has a very important geological significance. It is said to be the place where the Eurasian plate and the North American plate collide. It is also famous as a production area of ​​jade, which was treated as a valuable trade item in ancient Japan. Compared to other towns, there are tourism resources because there are fisheries resources and famous scenic spots, It is true that the city is desolate, but it's hard to say "worst". ・I think that the "worst city in Japan" is as follows. · Yubari, Hokkaido: The only city in Japan that went bankrupt. The population is down to 7% of its peak. · Nishinari, Osaka: Most famous in Japan as a so-called "Doya" town where day laborers and homeless people gather. Staying at a 500 yen hotel might be a good content (beware of ticks!).

I watched BALDs video first then came to watch yours I love how you both separate what you film for the most part so we can all see it form both views and it's not the same.

I have 2 more videos from Japan including a saucy night in the love hotels with Mr Bald thanks for watching!! all comments, likes are much appreciated 😎

if you are wondering about that abandoned hospital .its called Himekawa Hospital opened in 1987 and played a central role in providing medical care in the region. However, management deteriorated due to a reduction in medical fees and a shortage of doctors caused by changes in the structure of the clinical training system. In 2007, it went bankrupt with a debt of about 2.2 billion yen.

Ben said they were kicked out of the place but the guy was simply saying they cannot serve tea and coffee around 18:30. The place seems to be a local izakaya. The place mostly serves Japanese traditional foods (sashimis/grilled fishes etc) and people go in to get alcoholic drinks. It was still a daytime so the izakaya probably had some japanese style set meals for lunch. The guy probably thought the Bens want some "western style" light meals (like sandwiches)/or were looking for cafes (and get coffee and cakes) and insisted on saying "No" because they clearly cannot fulfil the demand. The guy, however should have explained more (even in japanese language) and said something other than just "No."

Nice seeing Ben happy and not fearing for dear life for once!

Ben & Ben, epic adventures!🇯🇵🙂

Great video, my friend! Thoroughly enjoyed it. Looking forward to the next Japan episode

It strikes me watching this after following your other travels just what a difference keeping a country clean and tidy makes to the overall feel of a place. Even run down towns on a cold rainy day don’t seem as bad.

I watched Bald's earlier. Great vids. I like seeing things off the beaten path and not the usual bollocks other channels show!!

You’re my favourite KZfaqr nowadays for regular content. Genuinely look forward to new videos. Obviously lots of love for Bald too. 😀👍

Not sure why the hell I've not come to your channel after watching Bald for some time now... It's really cool having 2 different perspectives on the same trip!

Great video as always. Enjoyed seeing the additional perspective and what Bald omitted. Hoping to see some videos from Tokyo as well.

Loved it! Loved it! Was waiting ,you two are awsome and even more together! And wherever!

Thank you Ben for sharing this maybe legendary trip with Mr. Bald in Japan 🇯🇵 Japan is a unique country with their own culture, language and history. Look forward to visit it one time.

Yet another brilliant upload Ben, keep up the great work 👍🏻

I like watching youre vlogs when you two get together. You do provide good info added the bantering that goes back and forth, hilarious mosts. Thanks for putting these out. Cheers Myles from Canada. 16:09

Ben, wife and I are so happy to see you traveling again! Video of Japan was well done as always. To see the empty buildings and towns was interesting. Was in Tokyo 5 years ago and never thought about empty towns…sad actually, because my wife and I really enjoyed our visit to Tokyo. Keep up the great work and continue to go to “OooHoo” places.

Always such great content. Thank you for sharing it.

Great video. Backpacker Ben has very quickly become by second fav youtuber. After Bald of course

You and bald can make one documentary together on these trips.. Great videos

Japan is my favorite country I’ve ever been to. Great weather, cold dry winters, stunning springs and autumns (fallls) but never went on summertime and heard it’s hot. Super expensive, like ridiculous. Found the cheapest place as was in Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore and to save time, travelled with no winter clothes and bought them there. Found Uniqlo which, according to all the Japanese and expats who we encountered, was the cheapest place. It was not cheap, but not too bad, £30 for a zip top but great quality. The Japanese were embarrassed that we went there and took us to designer store first which would’ve been £300 for similar top. Street vending machines with hot coffee were everywhere and worked which blew my mind (this was 2003 after all). Great cities, clean, crazy like New York on steroids, but also great temples etc. only went for 5 days first time, and 7 days second. Was withdrawing from opiates first time and loved it still, the only place that’s happened, the closest being Barbados were the weed was so good, with a secluded hammock just off the beach. Detoxed in Malay, Thailand, also and was hell, until found they sell Valium in Thai pharmacies over the counter cheap, but that led to waking up with a prostitute with no memory and freaking out and kicking her out (what can I say? I was young and a drug addict). Ahh the memories. To guy I took, because the first time I went, I wasn’t expecting to, and his sister had lived there (Osaka. Went by Bullet Train from Tokyo) pfor 20+ years, so he came with me the next time I went to Asia where my dad worked in Ipoh, Malaysia, and we stayed with her (first time spent a day with her and her whacky Australian boss). Her apartment was comically small. All the houses were but had porches etc parked outside. My Dad paid to upgrade us from KL direct to Osaka to business class… first and only time I’ve ever flown long distance (8 hours if I remember correctly). That was like a holiday itself. I could’ve stayed on that flight happily for 18 hours easily. Anyway, my mate died of a heart attack in 2020 at 57, the whacky Australian died in hid 40’s about 10 years ago, and my mates sister had cancer and last time I saw her, she had come back to England while she still could physically. Don’t know if she’s still alive as I lost contact after my mate died and they were a bit wary as I took drugs, but also I took their son/brother to Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and to see his sister for a week in Osaka Japan, all travel and accommodation paid for. So they ‘put up with me’ I think. I also helped him renovate a house in Scotland (Dunoon) that he just about finished before he died, and they inherited and I got sweet fa. I’d known him for 25+ years, since I was in 6th form and took days off to play golf where I was a member and he worked as a Greenkeeper. I wasn’t expecting, well anything, but looking back, a token gesture would’ve been nice. But nothing. His brother who I got on with, and actually sold me his morphine, got his new car he’d had 2 years at the very most, when he died and his van, which you could stand up in and was renovated with a makeshift kitchen and fold down bed with mattress. His own kids don’t speak to him, had 3-4 wives, real and common law, all left him. My mate always complained to me he kept having to bail him out, like thousands at a time, so we bonded over having brother who were always not just a financial burden, but absolute bullshit artists, telling everyone how successful and awesome they were to their kids, when neither were true. They both ignored their kids, but were around, and spent beyond their means only to keep getting bailed out by family. And I was the ‘druggy’ cos I took heroin, went to rehab, but carried on dabbling, like Hunter Biden I guess. Semi successful- using too much to be a real success but never enough to ruin everything so was maintainable, or ‘sustainable’ to use a contemporary buzzword. Sad, but life does end. Lost many friends, and an insane amount of acquaintances as you have to get heroin off the same people as everyone else, which is the argument for legalization… a question I really don’t know the answer to, but it’s not black and white, something creative and truly revolutionary needs to be done, tested small first, then wider scale, then take the results and take it nationwide… the USA being the perfect place to do that with the States being thought up in order for them to have the autonomy to do stuff like that easily. But, fentanyl seams to have completely changed to game over there, so I don’t see a solution (or trade off, as no solution doesn’t involve trade offs as they’re never perfect). Anyway, I’m bored so gonna play some internet golf. WGT. I’m getting pretty good. My addictive personality could land me with trips to the monthly finals they have with the DP World Tour (the old European Tour, but with Dubai and couple other Mid East oil rich states holding tournaments there). Been to Dubai, too, which I kinda enjoyed. Bought my girlfriend a gold cross, as we were both Catholic and gold is very cheap, mainly due to zero tax. We ‘were’ both Catholic, not are as she committed suicide almost exactly a year after my mate had his fatal heart attack. Sad indeed. But the party must go on…right?

I saw both,Both are brilliant in there own way....Bald dramatise every situation...deep and commanding voice

Hey Ben, Watched both yours and Balds video and enjoyed them both! From what I can tell you're using a dji pocket 2 and Bald has a sony fdr x 3000? I think the color looks a tad better with the sony but more importantly... why does Balds video look 60fps while yours appears 30fps? Genuine question as I'm thinking of buying a pocket 2. Are you filming in 30fps in this video?

At 30:45, the machine that also measures your body temperature recognized that you don't wear a mask and so it begs you to wear one ("Masuku wo tsukete kudasai"). I was laughing out loud.

My god not what one expects to see in Japan. Brilliant video once again Ben. I love the ones you do with Bald. You blokes are a riot.

Just watched Bald's Vid so straight over to the Backpacker, well done interesting viewing indeed. Keep it up

great video - informative and funny. brilliant

22:43 Get crabs for 2200 in Japan. You can get crabs in Philippines for 2200 also, but different kind of crabs. But more fun to catch. LOL

Really enjoyed watching this 👏

STUNNING! Juno? Lovely tour ! 🌋🏯

Wow, I stayed at my mates sisters apartment in Osaka and that rail crossing at 16:18 is just like one near, and had a station on the left, as it’s shown here. There’s so many as Osaka is unimaginably large, yet is completely dwarfed by Tokyo which makes LA’s urban sprawl seam quite small scale. It’s insane!!!

Very nice video Ben! I enjoyed it a lot. You should be more cautious using the videocamera in Japan, the first bar you went to the old men were probably mad at you because of the camera and of the shoes, the second place was great btw and yeah, prices are high af

EPIC as well! Edit: Honest mistake as everyone was checking those two out, TwoPie is where I was going in my head as well.

Love this video cheers lads

I'm going to come to the defence of Itoigawa, and by co-incidence I was there with my family at almost the exact same time as you (30 November to 3 December 2022) visiting relatives in the area.😳 You came at a bad time weather-wise which colours human perceptions of any place. And yes, it was pissing down rain the day we arrived too but it didn't last and cleared up soon after. Shuttered shop fronts are common across Japan which has always been a mystery to me but even in the busiest arcades of Osaka or Tokyo you'll find the same. Of course three years of pandemic have devastated many businesses and in all of the arcades of Melbourne where I'm from, many shops have now closed for good. Pretty sure this is a common sight around the world. And as somebody else commented, the drift of young people from rural areas to cities with jobs is not unique to Japan. I find it sad that many perfectly good houses in the Itoigawa area and all over Japan are being routinely demolished because the owners have grown old and moved to nursing homes which younger generations not around to care for the properies. This is likely to happen to my mother-in -law's house in the future. Because it's in a hilly or mountainous area, it is considered to be a hazard after heavy snow falls. In Itoigawa we stayed two nights at two different Onsen hotels - one on the beach and the other up a mountain valley. Both were magnificent. At the latter we awoke to beautiful blue skies and fresh snowfall. Our breakfast window view down the valley with the snow-covered mountains as a backdrop was probably the best I've ever seen. You visited the famous seafood market in Itoigawa and saw the magnificent spider crabs. I was shocked when you then proceeded inside a building to eat Ramen or something equally bland when you had the opportunity to taste the incredibly fresh crab or other seafood on offer. Prices start at ¥1,100 (less than $10) but you ignored them! For me it was a highlight to feast on this crab (as we do every time we visit), the sweetest and tastiest of all. The market has large communal rooms there for customers to eat the crabs straight after purchase (which we did). The relatively new Shinkansen (bullet train) station at Itoigawa makes travel there easy now so hopefully that may improve the tourism to the area for it's scenery, seafood, Jade and snow resorts.

Rural Japan is mostly depressing like this. The west coast of Japan in particular has a tough climate, with a shit load of snow in the winter (100-200 inches per year even at sea level), which makes it even harder to inhabit.

Your trip to Matsumoto castle has made me rethink where I want to visit on my next Japan holiday. It is in the middle of the country's interior miles away from the coast unlike most of the town's and cities I have seen in Japan. An interesting town to visit is Shizuoka on the southeastern coast between Nagoya and Tokyo. There is Sunpu castle (part rebuilt) which was Tokugawa Ieyasu's home for at least one stage of his life, and he was buried on a hilltop right by the sea. You also have Toro ruins museum an ancient archeological site with reconstructed buildings dating back about 2,000 years in an open plot of land in a residential area on the southern side of town.

Came over to your channel from B&B! You make a great team.

Im back and ive joined you! Miss watching your videos like before again 😁✨

I'm glad that you have come to japan. I'm looking forward to seeing you in the city😆

Your content is superb, Ben. Cheers!

thank you guys! you both helped me through cancer! I'm cancer free 2 years now! ty again!

Looking forward to more videos about Japan 🇯🇵

So good to see you view of Japan after watching Balds

I am in Kawaguchiko often, so probably drove past you lot enjoying Mt. Fuji!

Have to say I've enjoyed your video more than Mr Bald's 😊 Well done. You'll be surprised by how many towns like that are in Japan ( just explored one like that today). Honestly, I found them more appealing than the hustle and bustle of the big cities, although I live in one of them 😂.

Great that you are travelling with mr Bald again! Also, this is a side we never see from Japan, it's always the technology from Tokyo. I like it!

Great vlog. Ben I'm worried about that nail, I hope you don't have lockjaw in the next video. Also, I think you would benefit from taking vitamins with all your travelling.

32:22 Ah Japanese Salisbury House in better condition than most I've seen, didn't think they would have those ;p

Fascinating country I would definitely try and spend a day at the sumo if i ever make it out there .A tournament has just finished unfortunately so you may be out of luck .

hi Ben i can wait to see the Tokyo footage one of my fave cities in the world! Also for dangerous areas and slums you need to go to Osaka - south Osaka to be more accurate it's the Glasgow/ Liverpool/ Naples/ of Japan! Meaning it's a great city with very friendly people and osaka has an edge to it unlike Tokyo

Funny to see Mr Bald from a 2nd person view. You two are a funny duo.

Hi Ben I really like your channel and have you ever been to golden triangle on the borders of china Laos and Thailand.? Would like to invite you visit there 😊

Looks great, I hope to go there one day

Well done Ben for driving, and the pink car!

Oh! Mate your back with Mr. Bald nice to see you again. Keep safe

Best vlogging team of the year

What was the song starting at 8:54? I'm sure i recognize it

Welcome to Japan. Thank you for providing us with some not-so-common images along with Mr. Bold. Rest your body for the long drive with jet lag. The scene where you borrow an umbrella is fun and gentlemanly no matter how many times I see it. Itoigawa had a big fire in town in 2016. Enjoy Tokyo too. Try to use the train too.🚅🚋

Awesome video, you guys are legends! x)

Ta-Pie Taiwan...I hear its nice this time of year ;) Great video mate

T'pie, isn't that what they eat in Wigan?

came from bald, i must say i see the camera quality difference, atleast in the fps! still great video (24fps, instead of 50 or 60 just look akward in movement)

You both compliment each other....a die hard Ben fan... But you are finding ground!!! Cheers

Your channel deserves more subscribers

The bridge and umbrella bit was hilarious

Facial recognition thing took your temperature (98.4F). Nice to see you vlogging with Mr. Bald.

Ben and Bald in Japan...Wicked 👍 ❤

Ben bro! How u got me hooked on travel videos! I’ll be honest, you’re bants!! 😂😂😂😂😂😂 it’s like chilling with my most relaxed mate on holiday doing dope stuff 😂😂😂 London tuned In

The torch in the hotel room is there in case of an earthquake and a resulting power blackout.

The whole umbrella situation is hilarious! Watching Balds video, he just goes in and asks to take one....literally borrow one and agrees to one hour of "borrowing time"......and on his way back to you, is laughing about it...meaning, having only gotten one and you not having one. Do you watch Balds videos? I wasnt expecting him to be such a fibber about it! "They only have one"? Watch his video when he grabs that umbrella and count how many others are in the umbrella holder. Just do it lol. Good on him for getting you one too. I think you missed out being the driver though lol.

Your video is so much better than Bald's in Japan lol, you've recorded way more which is good. I love seeing Japan and hope to visit one day.

Unbelievable Partridge describing what happens in the Love Hotel 😂😂👍👍

Hi bald, nice to see you!

Love your stuff man- I used to live in Japan myself. I’m crossing the entirety of Eurasia from Ireland to Japan- in India now. Would be sweet to make a few vids together man.

6:37 Wait those were Bald's old soviet sneekers 😂😂😅😅

Why back to Tokyo? This was very interesting. I‘d be up for more „back roads Japan“. Oh and that torch in the hotel was probably for the event of an earth quake with a total blackout.

smooth roads! roads here in Michigan are on post apocalypse

36,7 is perfect! 😊 Great video, looking forward to Tokyo.

Seeing this just after Bald's video. Brings a new perspective lol

I love the duo and the entertainment that comes, it may not be like India with random people yelling and adding chaos. This is pure, and I really enjoyed it. Japan is a really cool country to explore so I hope there’s more to come. Next stop could be Antarctica and still be wicked entertaining with you two, share with bald please. -Friend

Same as everywhere else when something is vacant people vandalize

Different angle to Bald‘s video. I can finally see how he handles his camera, still not sure what model and how he gets it so smooth & not shaky while walking though. That town looks the same on Street View, probably from a few years ago.

See you in Toopi mate!

Love the car mate great colour

Was the AHA! an Alan partridge reference I wonder lol

A little history of the castle would have been nice

How humiliating is that the "Japan worst town" looks better than "Israel best town". I mean, just the toilet is more advanced than our whole banking system.

That garage you guys walked through(the use of asbestos has been prohibited since 2006) you guys might have still needed your umbrellas.

I've never felt such a sense of pleasure as when I saw the minute mark cross 34:03. Good fun, two Bens.

Did you film any of the meeting with Gabriel Traveler? Epic crossover

Be, you said next stop is Taiwan. I visited Japan last year and now booked Taiwan. How would you described it? safe and easy? Comparable to Japan, modern too?

That was epic. 👌🙏

Thanks to Bald, I’m a new subscriber 😉

Japan where you can be in the future and the ancient past at exactly the same time!

Plymouth city centre is heading that way 😢

Leave it to you Lads to find the Ohio of Japan . Brilliant job Ben . I was not expecting such a dismal bog of a country . At least in Ohio you have people like me standing around . Its pissing down here so a perfect view for a dismal Sunday

Ah, that's why you and Bald Ben aren't in the same screen most of the time. BTW, your hospital exploration section are more intense and creepier. I like it.