I'm a software engineer in Japan and can tell you that the tech is still 10 years behind in every conceivable way and it's not to do with Kanji but institutional inertia and cautious attitudes towards new things but most of all the low quality of software engineers. I now work for a foreign company in Japan and it's like night and day between the quality of engineers. I wouldn't have hired a single person from my past roles as they were awful engineers.

Whenever Chris or Pete talk about Katakana being "imported words" it's makes me laugh. I always image a boat loading into a Japanese port and just filled it giant boxes of paper filled with words from other countries. I imagine a bunch of Japanese kids staring at the boat super excited like "Guys! Guys! We are about to get new words!"

A fellow sinus sufferer from the US here... They do sell Sudafed here, but you have to go to the pharmacy counter to get it and sign a paper letting them know you aren't going to make meth. There are limits to how much you can purchase.

One of the kindest experiences my dad and I experienced when we were in Japan was dad hadn’t realised as we got off the train for a hotel near the Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea that he'd dropped his wallet, which had both our passports in it and a random Japanese man chase after us, with us not even realising til caught up, for 10 minutes to make sure dad got his wallet back. We were very grateful to him

When we visited Japan my wife had to get a pharmacist to help her buy distilled water from the pharmacy for her CPAP machine 😂

Having seen many "behind the counter" vids on another channel and seen the grim state of some of the kitchens, setting the place on fire was probably the easiest way to clean it.

I heard about this ramen shop that caught fire the other day, damn sure i wouldn't have continued eating my meal 😂

Hall & Oates, music for a dental office waiting room.

17:00 Kanji/Hiragana/Kana do actually have a benefit of being able to read faster, as each alphabet types are often categorized by "Kanji=nouns/verb" "Hiragana=grammar/connectives" "Kana=foreign words/proper nouns" so if you've mastered it you can just take a glimpse at a wall of text, ignore everything but Kanji, and quickly get the gist of what it is saying. Not to mention most words are minimized to 1 to 3 letters due to having multiple language systems, so it's much easier to read and not get lost whilst reading.

10:58 I think it maybe the day to day comparison of asking a stranger on the street vs asking a service staff. Service staff such as hotel or restaurants worker are friendlier in my opinion in comparison to a normal stranger but its understandable. Also whether you can understand a little bit of japanese or not usually give such a wildly different reception. One example that sticks in my mind was how I was treated differently from another foreigner who could not speak japanese at all. We both queued for the same restaurant, I was given a seat when I requested for a table in my broken japanese, the other guest was just told No no no and they refused to attend to them. I tried to help by translating here and there but they refused to give the other guest a table. I also think asking a stranger in tokyo vs outside of tokyo are such a different experience. Those outside of tokyo are much more receptive despite usually being less able to speak english but I wonder is it also due to the pace of life. Those in tokyo seems to walk faster and more immersed in their own mind. Though I was lucky at all count and had mostly positive experience whenever I was in Japan, I have had friends who were stalked or another one that could not get any help when they were lost even after asking direction from the local koban.

Another day asking Chris to Speedrun temples in Tokyo !!

Dang. Sorry to hear about your ramen shop Chris…

You can forward your luggage in the UK if you're walking Hadrian's Wall. There is a service you can pay for that'll take your bags onto the next stop.

Last AIJ video was fun, need a audio clip on Natsuki singing Dragon Ball theme!

Luggage forwarding saved our ass in Japan when we ended up having to buy a third bag for all our souvenirs. Trying to get all our bags onto a local train to the shinkansen would have been a nightmare.

Rental cars sometimes stink of cigarettes. The usual recommendations are to drive with the windows rolled down, or try to mask the smell with dryer sheets/fabric softener sheets or coffee beans.

Oddly enough, I started and then paused this video and went and got some snacks to eat whilst watching. :-)

I’ve checked for but not tried luggage forwarding services within the UK. Several companies seem to be in that space. It certainly would be nice to ship your luggage from, say, London to Bath or London to Edinburgh and have it waiting for you at your hotel.

Great episode

Oh boy im early, cant wait to listen to another british man like myself for 30 minutes lol. Big fan chris keep the content coming

I'll be doing the one in Shizuoka this July! Hopefully it won't be too hot.. ;D

sudafed is easier to access than actual ephedrin because it is way harder to chemically extract the good stuff from sudafed

Go to Japan and try the Spartan race Pete- it will be fun, like the long bike ride. As for the ramen eaters, they managed to "Keep Calm and Slurp On" .

Chris! You inspired me to start training for a spartan race! Now I’m stronger than I’ve ever been! I still can’t do the monkey bars either though

>Boglins< I thought that toy in the background of Pete's studio said "Boggins" 😆🤭. I than found out that Boglins were a rubbery hand puppet toy from the 1980s and the box usually had fake (and usually bent) cage bars across the opening. Since I know "Boggin" is an insult, I was naturally curious.

You can do Sudafed in America. You just have to show your ID. 2:39

I guess I'd love to have a bowl of ramen I like so much I'd stay in a burning building for it, but to be honest I'd probably just pick up thet bowl and step outside lol

Chris is right on the nose for changes in the writing system in Japan. Put simply, if the extremely complicated and convoluted development of the kana system for keyboards wasn't enough to substantially change how written Japanese works, no one should expect it to ever change... xD It's of course not only about that, but the Japanese written language in Japanese culture also carries a lot of cultural, religious and historical significant that cannot be overlooked for practicality alone. Like, remember that calligraphy is a form of art there in shodo, so you can't just discard it because it's harder to learn in comparison to other languages. I watched a doc on the kana system development, and it's nuts. Huge corporations spending tons and tons of money prototyping all sorts of keyboards and input methods just to make computers work with Japanese somehow, they all knew they were getting behind. Some consider this also the time when Japan tech really got left behind in general... it's back in the 80s and early 90s, Japan was already an industrial and tech powerhouse, but it missed the bus on computers, and it never quite recovered from it.

I don't know how Japan could be classified as the rudest in a whole where the French exist.

They likely didn’t continue eating due to wanting to finish, but because of their collectivistic tendencies [Read: Everyone Is Waiting On The Other To Act] (with a dash of their preference to not waste food as well). FYI: All humans have a bit of that issue though to be fair (think the bystander effect/diffusion of responsibility). It’s just REALLY exacerbated, especially to a fault, in Japan.

I didn’t appreciate Pete’s passive aggressive comment about magners cider. Magners is fucking delicious

1:37 this is not true. Only in some areas (usually poor and with high crime) there are specific items that are locked up behind a glass cabinet in Walgreens, most of the items however are not behind glass.

there are a couple conbini with pharmacy, in tokyo at least. I made use of one last time I went to Japan bc I got sick. They might have different hours than the rest of store though.

Pete, you can get real Sudafed in the US! You just have to get it at the pharmacy counter, present your ID, and sign a thing saying you will not use it to make crystal meth. 🙂 Also, I think that Walgreens locking things up must be specific to certain areas. I live in San Antonio and have never seen that. I think it is just in areas with a lot of issues with theft?

Pete… epinephrine is what you’re thinking of. Not ephedrine. And you can buy Sudafed in America lol not sure where the confusion is from there!

You actually CAN buy sudafed in America. But you have to ask for it at the pharmacy counter. Don't need a prescription for it or anything, but you do have to sign a waver saying you're using it for it's intended purpose and not making meth out of it instead.

Yacht rock was mentioned in this episode. I am personal friends with one of Japans most famous Yacht Rock artists who has featured in Japanese TV ads and many anime soundtracks, would you like an interview? He has lived here since the 80s and has many tales to tell.

Ramen Jiro, so good you'd die for it! 😂🥵🔥

You can get Pseudoephedrine in the US you just have to sign for it. It is the best medicine when you have a cold.

Hey Chris - not sure if you are a regular sleep sufferer, but you should check out Andrew Hubermans podcast on sleep optimization. He's got few tips like taking magnesium and apigenin, as well as some breathing techniques. Just anecdotal - but added a few hours to my sleep

I don't know where Pete got that idea of how medication is sold in the US, but it is hilariously incorrect 😂 You can go into any store and freely buy ibuprofen, aspirin, acetaminophen, cold meds, stomach meds, allergy meds, any medication you want without asking anyone permission or having any "buttons" to press. They are all sitting on regular shelves like any other product would be. Sudafed is pretty much the only over-the-counter medication that you would need to talk to a clerk to obtain. Some places will ask for an ID if you're buying a cold medication with dextromethorphan in it because it will make you trip in high doses, but places that will ask for ID are super rare, I've only ever experienced it once in my life and I think it was just a policy of that specific store.

10:50 I think it’s the difference between people that aren’t from Japan trying or not. If you try your best it’s more appreciated than if you’re a mouthy gaijin arsebiscuit.

Chris needs to drink some water when he does these

The way Pete pronounced Bumble in a Japanese accent reminds me of 'Bunbury' in Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest. Bunbury(ing) is the excuse used in the play to go off to the country to misbehave under the guise of visiting a fictitious invalid called Bunbury. I could see Bunburying being popular in Japan, with the relaxed attitude towards extramarital affairs (for men at least).

Here's a question I'd love to get some info on - I was watching the nightlife video from the Abroad in Japan channel and when chopstick etiquette I cringed a little - My manual dexterity is bad and I am absolutely useless with chopsticks. Sometimes stabbing or scooping is the only way I can accomplish anything... Will I be in trouble in Japanese restaurants? Are they likely to have alternatives? I recall at one restaurant (though, in here in Canada), a staff member saw me flailing and produced some kind of elastic-and-napkin contraption to hold a pair of chopsticks in place, which did make it so I could actually eat my meal without making a mess. I wonder if it would be possible to arrange for something like that.

Do they not get headaches in Japan?

the tweakers ruined hte good stuff.. man I actually miss it I remember there was a point where just ephedrine was legal in a packet like some Tylenol or whatever & they sold redbull.. those were the days.. & then people who were OD'n & making drugs out of it, they ruined it for everyone who was using it as it was suggested to be used... easy a cup of coffee right.. but I know you're talking the nasal congestion stuff but its the same thing really as far as why its all restricted

(Pseudoephedrine is basically a steroid analog that is sold against allergies and athsma if you can't get the more sphisticated stuff by prescription. It is still available over the counter in a weaker form than it used to be but it's probably too expensive to ry and make meth out of anyway when people might just have athsma.

That article is nonsense, if I was in a train station looking at maps confused I had people coming up to me asking if I needed help. A girl actually tried to help me carry my suitcase down a long set of stairs when I was rushing to the airport. I don’t think I’ve experienced a place where they are more helpful.

ramen is the only noodle you can survive on in Antarctica ... if the world were to end ... because it's all that's left & plenty of water.. albeit frozen

That's crazy to hear Japan is rated as the most unfriendly. Just last week when I was there for a visit, I stopped a guy on the street for directions and he literally took his right hand, reached inside his own abdomen, and pulled out his kidney to give to me. I didn't even need it either. He just wanted me to have it.

Competitors, probably conspired to take out the better business.

If you’re missing tums, just eat a few swizzles….

Sauce was too spicy.

You can just walk into Matsumoto kiyoshi and buy painkillers?? What you on about Chris

you tried so hard and gotso far but in the end...

I've heard that in Japan the women don't show their faces in the apps, which makes it hard for both sides. Because men rather scroll over those profiles.

Again another podcast where some non Americans talk about America 🇺🇸

To get smell out of car use an ozone generator

Japanese drugs are weak, 1 American pill would do the job, but in japan it'll take 5 pills to do the same job as 1 american pill. I wonder how bad the kidneys are trying to filter 5 pills instead of just 1.

Trump 2024 🇺🇲