I got married to a foreigner, so I spent the first few years with my former family name. My husband naturalized to Japanese, so we had to have the same family name. Because it was really weird for him to have a Japanese name, I changed mine to his. (good that his family name wasn't too long) I liked my former name because it matched my first name perfectly! I had to go through tones of paper work and phone calls to change all my ID's and stuff. I still use my former name at work and for when I take reservations, cuz that's way easier than using real name. :D

Watching these travelling in Japan videos made me realize how expensive everything here in Canada is. Currently Yen to Canadian dollar is almost exactly 100Y to 1CND so the conversion is pretty easy. In Ontario (the most populated province) there is currently a housing and cost of living crisis so food and housing costs have skyrocketed in the last several years.

COMING TO JAPAN FOR 21 DAYS IN MAY!!! I've only recently discovered your Abroad In Japan channel. And what would of been a Tokyo only visit. You've inspired me to hit spots from Amori down to Hiroshima with a bunch of stop at spots you've featured in your videos. I've been to japan back in 2004 and fell for all the trappings of a first timer. Thanks for giving me a incredible resource to experience the real Japan! Me and my son are gonna pull this off on the thinnest of budgets so heres hoping we get to the end with a few yen to spare!!! THANKS CHRIS!!!!

Chris is officially Japan's tourism minister

Dave & Pete sure do a great show!

I've been listening to the podcast for a while. I really appreciate Pete. Pete is very talented!

Pete is 100% correct : I always swing by Lawson on the way back from the bar and buy way too much shite, and there's always an onigiri in the fridge in the morning along with something weird like dried squid or cod that I thought I'd be brave and try but just ended up eating Hokkaido Milk Roll instead

... and as soon as I book a ticket, hotel tickets go up! ... and it'll probably be worth it regardless !!

Plane tickets and hotels are crazy expensive though, in my last 3 trips i spent $1600USD each roundtrip flight, it used to be $900USD pre pandemic

I'm pretty glad I figured out a way to use my name in my channel (Jasper + Experience)

A friend of mine is exceptionally proud of his Porsche, every time I see it, he gets cross because I hoot with laughter at the registration plate. - It's 100 Yen.

A word of advice to anyone who is considering going to Japan... GO! GO NOW! The exchange rate is incredibly favorable right now, especially from the US Dollar $. It is like everything is discounted 30% off (accommodations, food, trains, etc.)

As a chef who deals with admin and management with head chefs and executive chefs. Him giving away 1k of anything is a death sentence. I hope he gave a very good discount to at least make up for the margin cost even without profit, but let me tell you one thing. I feel like this is a an amazing publicity stunt. I have no way to follow up on that particular location, also because I'm lazy, I work too much as is, but I have no doubt that he multiplied sales that day and triggered a mental state for people to consider the place in future. It's actually super smart. Even if it was true, that manager chose super well. Maybe corporate aren't happy, but I'm sure the sales shut them up hahaha

Finally got a copy of your book the guy at Waterstones says it keeps selling out I got one of the last 2 copies in the store

Kokoro genuinely slaps. The sweet chilli chicken is great.

Currently doing what I can to get my 30-something-year-old son on a plane to Hokkaido. He needs to see it for himself.

Japan did introduce a digital nomad visa just recently. But it's much worse than most other countries. It's only for 6 months, which is nothing because you need to find long-term accommodation and get settled. 1 year should be the minimum for these things, but preferably long-term as long as you have work and pay taxes.

For the one looking for cheeky things during the honeymoon, near Kanazawa in Toyama, the castle experience can be had with dressing as a soldier and having yourself saluted with the staff in part of a role playing (including horses). That was 2019, but I missed out due to leaving the next day.

I’ve been travelling to japan over 20yrs on the Ozzie dollar. welcome to my world, at least yr on the US dollar /pound and still way ahead of me😢

I would recommend trying Kibou restaurants. Our son, who has spent over a year in Japan (so far) said food was very authentic, if, unsurprisingly, more expensive.

I agree with the message : bus drivers in Japan speaks a lot, and really softly. the reason is probably to avoid waking up the sleeping people, while still providing many information like "starting the engine", "turning to the left" etc... to avoid old people falling off or something ?

Well done Pete on the car! Followed the updates with interest. Also thanks so much for sharing my Onsen story last week. 😂 I am back in Japan again this week. Went to a the fab Thermae Yu today in Shinjuku. Heaven☺️👍🛀

We've got a similar sentiment here in Yorkshire when it comes to food waste: "Waste not, shall not"

Literally watching this in Japan after getting cheap plane tickets and now taking massive advantage of the Swiss Franc to Yen exchange rate. Things are like a third to a fifth the price here compared to at home 😂

Chris, I really like your voice! :D

booked my flights in December pumped for my October adventure over 30 years in the making.

I worked with several male coworkers in Kuji, Iwate who took their wife's last name because she was an only child or the family only had girls. I thought that was pretty cool. As for different last names for kids, I disagree with the "inconvenience" Pete mentioned. I was never married to my daughter's father and she has both our last names and interchanges between the two depending on her mood that day 🙂 (she's 11, so that changes often). Never been an issue traveling internationally or domestically on planes. It helps that she looks like each of us. The bigger issue with traveling with kids is when airlines hassle and accuse parents of child trafficking because the kids look different, especially if their parents are of different ethnicities.

Oh my god, I think I had last April in Kyoto the same bus driver!!!! I remember, I sat in the bus and melted because of his soothing voice😂. So I'm glad somebody noticed this too! 😅

My wife and I went to Hokkaido in September for a couple weeks and I couldn't believe how inexpensive it was. The last time I went to Japan was in 2008 (volunteered for an archaeological dig in Aomori and was there almost the whole summer) and it was much more expensive. Now is a great time to go. We even stayed at a ryokan in Jozankei and spent less than we thought it would be.

I got on the wrong bus in Kyoto as well, I was thinking the bus was like the trains and always on time and just went on the one when it arrived at the right time without checking and ended up in a quite part where I had to get another bus to return me to my starting point as it was night and not many buses.

I think I know which bus driver Matt and Elly had! I had the pleasure of riding on his bus in Kyoto as well and he had such a silky voice 😂

had good laughs this episode again, love the podcast guys!

My friend and i are coming to japan in 13 days for 17 nights. Strange number i know but we wanted 2 weeks and it wound up being a lot cheaper to go for longer so you can bet we are taking advantage of that. Hotels and flights total came to £1635 each all together. So excited for this and if i happen to run in to chris i am going to give him a hug and thank him so much because if it wasnt for him we probably wouldnt have bit the bullet and decided to finally go to our dream destination

I am currently planning my next trip to Japan, and I'm glad that things are so affordable right now. The airfare from the U.S. has doubled since my 2018 trip, and I'll need those savings to even it out a bit.

Literally sat in the airport returning home from 2 weeks in Japan while writing this. Everything was so cheap, it was awesome. A part of me felt bad for taking advantage of their recession though lol

Chris, you seem happy and I'm very glad for that!

Brian Chopsticks is the real name of so-called Chris Broad-Abroad. 🙃

Always wondered if Chris name was May or Way would it be called Away in Japan.

there is a muscle girl bar in Tokyo which seems interesting

Congratulations pete ❤❤

Maybe in the next few episodes, could you take a few minutes to talk about the downsides of the yen being so shit? I've heard stories of stores pricing their own Japanese clientele out of the market in favor of raising prices because tourists are just so lucrative and shop with so much money. Obviously I'm not blaming the tourists, if anything, the shop owners shouldn't be doing this. But, if the yen is so weak, and there are a never ending supply of tourists in Tokyo, what keeps things affordable for Japanese people?

Flights to Japan much more expensive than last year from Toronto but the cost of hotels and meals still cheap enough I can upgrade hotels a bit this year. I'm taking more expensive direct flights however, could be cheaper with layovers. Worth the extra $ for me, less travel , less chance of losing luggage. Missing the JR pass but flights are cheaper than JR. CAD is worthless as well but if anything, it's 10 % less in CAD x Yen

The announcer impersonations are the funniest thing you’ve ever done on this podcast 🤣🤣🤣

We are very lucky in Perth WA and have good Japanese places to eat. In my suburb there is a place, Omuya, that our Japanese friend says is as good as in Japan . Only a five minute walk from my desk at RPH is a reasonably priced and delicious small shop, Aruhi, that does bentos, bowels and fried food all made fresh everyday. The beef roll (Australian style) at 10am is great as it so fresh and still has warm. 10 minutes from my desk is Godzilla Kare which is the best katsu curry. For lunch these places are cheaper than Maccas. My real guilty pleasure is a small shop called the Quokka Arms ( bit odd as as it a Japanese/ Brazilian place). For $9.50 I get a freshly made katsu sando and a bowel of hot chips. Fat and salt overload so its only a very occasional thing but it is so good

On my way over in the fall! Hopefully it stays cheap

Current airfare and accommodation prices kind of negate the savings of traveling in Japan unless you head out of the bigger cities.

ok chris. connor is a good friend of yours. but no need to be overly envious of his voice. he has a slight lisp, anyway. not that there is anything wrong with that (says the girl who was sent to speech therapy for years as a child). ❤🙃

Yeah I spent maybe 900 CAD (around 660 USD) for 10 days in Japan, it's insane! I think avoiding conbini saved me a lot of money.

I've been married for almost 10 years now in Japan. My wife kept her name. No issues.

Do the announcements on trains in Japan tell you which side to leave the train from? Found this super handy on the S-Bahn in Berlin ,,Aufstieg Links''

I don't think Japan will change the double nationality thing, because Canada used to have that and doesn't anymore. I used to be able to get Canadian citizenship on top of my normal one, but now if I want it, I have to drop my normal one. But of course, if I do get the canadian one and want my old one back, I can just get that again. Which just seems like a lot of paperwork. Just give me both.

I really hope that it can stay weak next year because I can't go this year. I'm waiting on my job to call me back.

Pistol Pete was an old school basketball player

NON-STOP SOUTH 🎉

15:42 Good old Abe Road :)

What do you mean? JAPan #1! Let's go Japan 🗾

We all know Chris' real name is Barry Chopsticks.

I would avoid Japanese food in England. I went to Wagamama's in Derby city. In the big shopping Centre I think it was called Intu or Westfield. Anyways the rice tasted like shit and it was really overpriced. So, the next day I went to KFC and the food was much better.

If you please try Shokudo in my local town, I had a friend who worked there and said the main chef trained in Japan and if its not high quality it will be rejected at delivery in If you do please do a video

My dad has 30+ years of IT experience from France and Canada and wants to move to Japan but he lacks some education requirements so he can't apply anywhere despite being easily more overqualified than anyone else.

What about rural japan? Is it worth visiting? Is more expensive/cheaper?

I only get a cool voice when I'm sick, the rest of the time it sounds like im 12, at least in my head it does 😅

Didn't know that was actually Chris's last name. I worked at a magic shop with a guy who's last name was Wonder, I was CONVINCED he changed it for his career but swears he did not.

The YT Versions seems to be fine, but the audio on Spotify has been miserable for the last couple of episode, constant background noise/static whenever Chris is talking.

Gonna be a week in England soon, damn this shit is expensive in comparison to Japan. The accomodations are all pretty shit. Even considering it takes above 1k euros these days to even travel to Japan it still feels bad traveling the UK

There is the travel cost and then there are the souvenirs and impulse buy costs. 😂

🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉MOT obtained 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

IT stuff may be in high demand, but they pay peanuts. I looked, I properly looked, but I'd have to take a paycut of 50% for a position equivalent to my current one to work in Japan, and that's also considering jobs that don't offer sponsorship, as my wife is Japanese and I could get a spouse visa.

I am coming in April and I have to say the hotels aren’t cheap. I was really hoping for cheaper accommodations. With a family, a capsule hotel won’t work.

#fax machine Hey chris and Pete. Love the podcast and love watching abroad in japan. We are visiting Japan for the first time this coming May and will be spending a day in Sendai. Wondering if there is a must see, must do, or must eat in town and you would recommend since you lived there for so long. Thanks guys love the podcast!

Your can eat the onigiri days later - just throw it in the microwave for 40 seconds & the rice should no longer be hard.

Just a critical thinker and also for those that hate overtourism ; Sometimes I wondered why KZfaqrs in Japan promoted Kyoto,Tokyo and rural Japan so blatantly, that it is always because of the KZfaqrs that go or live there that Japan comes to overtourism. Again, there is this reflection that they do not like that there are so many tourists but even the quiet places are getting further promotions so that there is no quiet place in Japan (even the most beautiful towns with nature). I know that this is how they gain more viewers and their income but taking it down a knotch would really help overturn the Situation. Just stop making more of those videos like '' if you don't like crowded places check out Shirakawago ! '' 🤦‍♀ now there are tons of people walking with those Selfie Sticks in hand and you just can't take in the beautifull scenery. I Hope it will calm down soon really😂

I always get personalized license plates, but they're more personal than "braggy" or obnoxious. Except in Japan... the US has letters but in Japan it's just numbers. So, my personalized plate in Japan is just "15" haha

I thought Mudan was in Japan on the digital nomad visa.

I recommend Mr. Hedgy.

Really hoping the Nomad visa goes through and they increase it to a year. I'd love to live in Japan but it will take several years for my Japanese to get to a level where I can be proficient enough to get a job.

It's difficult for women having to go through changing all our documents to our spouses name. In some western countries, women can add the spouses name but it's so much work when we get divorced to go and change it again.

Is the $1000 just for 1 person?

Fairly solid kiwi accent hahah

Future news flash “Man left by wife during honeymoon after he tries to shock her in Japan, needless to say he was the one in shock “😂😂😂🤪🤪

My wife has a dual name on our koseki and her Japanese passport. What are you talking about?

I just spent 32 days watching all your videos back to back and have one question if you could please answer: are you youtuber?

YAY FOR CAR MOT!!!! ( or whatever, as a Brazilian, I don't have the f*c#ing idea what that is or why... in Brazil you just say your car is an old collector car and you get a special license plate and you have limited running around but it is understood as driving your car for fun and 01 collector's car won't impact carbon or anything at all ... on the line of... getting gasoline collectors cars will just get more expensive as petrol runs out and it is gonna be a collectors item anyway )....

💜💜💜

#faxmachine. Hello Chris and Pete. This one’s for Chris. My name is H, I’m coming to Japan for a 1 day stay (scheduled extended layover on a separate trip). Can you suggest a d@mend fine okonomiyaki AND ramen place I can easily get to in Tokyo. Preferable around akibahara. But I care more about awesomeness. Thanks. H.

what's an emautee?

Kanada-ya, Machi-ya and Ippudo were my go to Japanese restaraunts in London for dinner, with Wasabi for lunch. Itsu is vile "healthy" food nonsense.

Lets be real, we're only here for car updates

In the U.S., that term is definitely a slur.

Oh be quiet Pete, maid cafes are funny once or twice.

ILL BOOK A TRIP IF I CAN MEET YOU CHRIS. YOUR THE ONLY FAMOUS PERSON I WANNA MEER

Siuuuu

First ☺️

Lies.... the yen may be weak, but does that matter when prices all go up? The bullet train prices are all up. Costs have gotten high as well. Poor local japanese pay hasn't gone up, but the cost of living has risen.

Pete, your take on maid cafes vs wildlife cafes is rather odd. I always wonder why Brits care so much about a facade, rather than what something is. Animals can't consent, humans can and clearly do in these places. Keeping birds of prey in a building is not life. Whether you care or not, you can take the piss at what I just said, I don't mind. Just please don't spread these harmful stereotypes (about regular, consenting, adult workers in cafes) and encourage (albeit maybe not on purpose) people to enable business, that profits off of limiting living beings' freedom, for human entertainment. *These are not domesticated animals.* This is quite disappointing.

Enough with the damned car! Haha And jsyk I cannot stand CDawg's voice. Comes off super pretentious.

Is it me or does pete seem to find everything offensive/even for others these days?