Hello again folks,
Day 10 was one of the days I was looking forward to the least, for one simple reason: Nagoya, the infamous mega-city that I've ranted about endlessly over the last decade.
My first ever experience of the city was getting stuck in a traffic jam for almost three hours during my first year living in Japan. My second experience in Nagoya involved switching trains at the train station and eating some chicken wings, the local dish, which admittedly wasn't too ...
2024-04-12 16:54:19 +0000 UTC
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Hi Guys,
I won't lie — I was actively dreading this day more than most: 90 kilometres across Kansai, through the mega cities of Kobe and Osaka. After a thoroughly pleasant day cycling with PewDiePie to Himeji, today was going to be an onslaught of cycling, heatstroke, sun, and mountains.
While I love Kobe as a city to explore, I'd never wanted to cycle across it given the fact Kobe is built into the side of a mountain — a mountain I knew we would have to partially asce...
2024-04-09 18:48:14 +0000 UTC
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Hi guys,
Of all the places we've started our morning cycle Onomichi was one of the nicest, with the sea breeze blowing in my hair as I made my way along the coastline with Connor.
We must have been the only people in the town with bikes who weren't cycling the iconic Shimanami Kaido and I almost felt sad that we weren't, as we passed the bridge that symbolises the starting point of the journey.
Still, the day took an intriguing turn as we were jo...
2024-04-06 19:58:29 +0000 UTC
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Hi Folks,
Some of these days are pretty damn relentless, cycling all day and through all elements. I’ll be sharing updates with you guys every few days, as we conquer each prefecture across our route. So for this one, it’s another day, another prefecture and another guest!
Day three of the never ending cycle, we find ourselves in Hiroshima and, after many years of viewers asking for it, Garnt and I are finally in a video together. Admittedly under not so very pleasant circumst...
2024-04-04 15:54:26 +0000 UTC
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Hi Guys,
And we're off! 2 days down. Waking up, bleary eyed in Shimonoseki, I won’t lie, I was very nervous at the prospect of cycling 85 kilometres. The only preparation I’d done was not sleeping for two days straight (due to a previous work commitment), and a 10 kilometre cycle the previous week. What an idiot.
However, after sitting down on the bike and turning the pedals over a few times, our route was underway and my legs remembered how t...
2024-04-02 14:16:56 +0000 UTC
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Hey guys,
I'll keep this short and sweet as in 12 hours time I'll have begun the biggest physical challenge of my life cycling with Connor to Tokyo for 14 long, nightmarish days.
In the last 48 hours we've released a ton of videos (my apologies). Half because I wanted to get the videos up before I'm on a bike and in prolonged physical distress and half to build up some hype for the cycle.
First off in case you missed, yesterday we released the long awaited Cyclethon 2.0 v...
2024-03-31 14:44:23 +0000 UTC
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Whenever I hit a milestone on Youtube I’m always reluctant to post about it at first as it seems to good to be true. You half expect to lose a ton of subscribers all of a sudden and send the numbers back the wrong way.
Hence when we hit 3 million subscribers a few days ago, I decided to wait until it seemed ABSOLUTELY SURE we’d got there.
And we have!
Thank you so much guys for being a part of this wild journey to get here; for me, mi...
2024-03-29 04:51:16 +0000 UTC
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First off guys, we’ve just released an epic bumper Abroad in Japan episode on How Expensive is it to Travel Japan in 2024, covering everything from hotels and transport, to attractions and food. It was also a great excuse to make it up to Natsuki, after the island camping nightmare (Connor’s treat awaits).
🍿 Watch: https://youtu.be/bpGO7ZZoJAM
Now you may recall we covered this topic...
2024-03-08 14:17:56 +0000 UTC
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I'll admit, I've had something of a re-awakening this month. Somehow in the last few weeks I've consumed more Japanese related content, than in the entire previous year combined.
On Netflix, I watched ‘Age of Samurai’, an impressively produced show about the Sengoku period that ignited an interest in Japanese history. Then I watched the new Godzilla film (Godzilla Minus One) with an impressive and terrifying take on everyone’s favourite l...
2024-03-01 04:01:51 +0000 UTC
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Wahey! He's back.
We sit down with the great Natsuki for a long awaited Patreon Q&A featuring your questions!
Thank to everybody who sent them in - we weren't able to get them all in but we'll be holding a Patreon Q&A again soon.
Patreon Q&A feat. Natsuki
🍿 Watch:https://youtu.be/8KNy5N9Kg6A
Natsuki and I wrapped filming on a big Abroad in Japan vide...
2024-02-25 03:08:11 +0000 UTC
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Hey guys!
Hope you've had a great week - it's time to catch up here at the tail of February with the launch of two videos next week and as I prepare to get into shape before the next megacycle nightmare with Connor.
We'll talk all that and more in tonight's (or tomorrow's for most of you) Patreon live stream.
Join: https://youtube.com/live/ybcUbTWh1Vs
ALSO the Patreon Q&am...
2024-02-25 02:47:40 +0000 UTC
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You know, for a while this week I thought my career was over after a post by megatech YouTuber Marque Brownlee revealed a company had started selling AI chatbots of YouTubers and Abroad in Japan was on the list.
After all, in the absence of my real self, I need never talk to anyone ever again.
And yet, any plans for retirement I might've had for retirement w...
2024-02-17 04:38:22 +0000 UTC
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Hey guys,
Hope you’ve all had a great start to the week!
It’s now officially been a week since the dust settled on the final episode of Journey Across Japan: Non-Stop North and I’ve been able to sit down and reflect on the series for the second part of the Patreon Behind the Scenes videos exploring how we produced the show.
First off in case you missed Part 1 which came out halfway through the series, definitely watch that first, where we reveal the log...
2024-02-06 15:05:05 +0000 UTC
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Hey guys,
Hope you've had a great week so far and been able to sit down and enjoy the epic finale to Journey Across Japan!
I'm pleased to say our first Patreon live show of 2024 will be on January 31st for most of you (Feb 1st at 10:30am Japan time).
Times listed above in the thumbnail with the link to the liveshow!
Our first catch up of 2024 arrives on the tail end of Journey Across Japan and the dawn of a new era!
Come w...
2024-01-31 14:17:31 +0000 UTC
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“Every morning, generally without fail, I get woken up by a hawk.
At least I think it’s a hawk. I don’t know a lot about birds and I don’t really care for birds much.”
The first ever sentence uttered on the Abroad in Japan channel finally gets spoken once again, in the exact same spot 11 long years later!
(2012 - back when I wore colours)
2024-01-30 14:16:52 +0000 UTC
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DR JELLY IS BACK!
And he’s come armed with an obnoxious song about himself.
Those of you guys that’ve followed Abroad in Japan long enough now, know that I’m not a fan of putting out videos that don’t meet a certain standard of quality. Sometimes in previous seasons of Journey Across Japan, entire episodes have been canned outright and wiped from history.
Perhaps due to boring content, bad weather, ...
2024-01-25 07:50:18 +0000 UTC
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Dogs, demons, and Natchy Ruinard.
We venture into Akita for today’s Journey Across Japan episode.
In our previous outing, Joey and I didn’t so much as journey, as drive in circles around Hirosaki solving crimes, like a shitty Scooby Doo (armed with a pig instead of a dog).
In stark contrast, in today’s outing we had one of the lengthiest road trips of the entire series.
2024-01-19 13:33:20 +0000 UTC
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There’s crime afoot on today’s Journey Across Japan tonight.
At last Dr Jelly himself has arrived as the 5th guest, however the fun is soon put on hold when we examine the massive scratch on the front of the windscreen.
Was it a harmless mistake or something more sinister?
Journey Across Japan returns at last, with the team having spent the la...
2024-01-13 16:18:54 +0000 UTC
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HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!
No matter where you are today in the world, I hope you've had a great start to 2024 🥂
(Just as I was about to post this, Japan had a major earthquake on the west coast with a tsunami warning. If you're in the area of Kanazawa / Ishikawa / Toyama, please be careful around. A not so great start to the year).
Every New Year’s on Patreon, before we plunge head first into the next year, I like to take one last look back over the last 1...
2024-01-01 08:56:11 +0000 UTC
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Well guys 2023 is almost over!
And now there's one thing left to do - our final Patreon live show of the year.
Join me tomorrow as we catch up, discuss what REALLY went on while shooting JAJ, take a look back at the good, the bad and the ugly of 2023 and peer ahead to see what 2024 might bring.
We'll be kicking off 7pm UK time / 2pm EST / 11am PST and you can join here!
🍿 PATREON LIVE:2023-12-30 07:15:50 +0000 UTC
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Hey guys,
I hope you’ve all had an amazing holiday season so far!
Did anybody get anything good? (Any Abroad in Japan books by any chance? Hehe).
As for me this Christmas, I received a Terry’s Chocolate Orange (my favourite chocolate), another pile of brand-less black T-shirts and an eerily realistic remote control snake that will no doubt frighten some cats.
I’ll level with you, this is the first December in a while that’s felt rather long for me (...
2023-12-28 10:02:07 +0000 UTC
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Well guys, It’s time to introduce the next guest on our epic journey, Sharla from Sharmeleon in Japan or something - to be honest, I had barely even heard of her before this. As mandatory with any guest on my channel, each video must start with an offering of doughnuts - and so as we tuck into a well balanced breakfast of sugar and sprinkles, we discover our challenge for today, as sent in by you: Take your guest to the scariest place you can find.
Not content with my...
2023-12-19 19:20:10 +0000 UTC
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Hey guys!
Hope you’ve all been enjoying the series so far. We're now roughly halfway through our journey across the North of Japan and the first Patreon Exclusive behind the scenes video is finally ready to share with you.
You've seen us survive hypothermia and endless amounts of Ramen, as well two days in the company of Ryotaro and much more, all whilst travelling around in a tiny Kei car. It's been a wild ride. 3 guests down and 3 more to come.
2023-12-17 18:44:56 +0000 UTC
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Folks, today we’re going on a pilgrimage.
To the tomb of Jesus Christ. At least in an alternate universe, where Christ fled to an obscure village in Aomori
But our journey starts in Miyako on the picturesque Sanriku Coastline, one of the most beautiful stretches of coast in all of north Japan. The area holds a difficult history though, given ...
2023-12-16 14:53:19 +0000 UTC
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Thanks for all your positive comments on the last video guys!
The Journey Across Japan: Hypothermia Special was definitely one of the high points of the series and a credit to the entire editing team. It was a big challenge, what with the extended run time, so I'm glad it's gone down so well.
I know we may not have hit my lofty and foolish goal of daily vlogs, but what’s been achieved with this series has been far more impressive -...
2023-12-14 14:11:25 +0000 UTC
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Hi guys,
Imagine you’ve won the lottery. How would you spend your winnings? Shop for a new house, splurge on a sports car… or buy a private island?!
Well, today’s episode may give you pause for thought.
We’re joined by the ‘great’ CDawgVA of Wacky Weekend fame and together it’s time to live out our pirate fantasies, discovering it’s not so much treasure and ‘shiver me timbers’ as much as shiver me hypothermia. Oh, and there’s a ...
2023-12-12 14:40:04 +0000 UTC
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Strap yourselves in folks, today we venture into Ryotaro’s lair!
To prepare ourselves for the house tour of a lifetime, we made a pit stop in Izaka Onsen, the Gyoza dumpling capital of Japan. Three years ago I ate the best gyoza of my life here, and I’ve been dreaming of returning ever since.
Here we meet Yoshiaki Sato, the proprietor of Danihiru, a tiny retro styled ...
2023-12-09 15:17:24 +0000 UTC
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Back on the road and joined by a tyrannical new guest! Journey Across Japan: Non-Stop North continues!
Last episode we revisited the Fukushima Nuclear Exclusion Zone and explored some of the great work going on. Honestly, it made me wish we had longer to spend there but I’m glad we were able to visit at all. Thanks for all the kind words though guys - it’s fantastic to hear you enjoyed the episode.
For tonight’s episode we hit the road once more, hea...
2023-12-07 14:05:20 +0000 UTC
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It’s been four years since making the documentary Inside Fukushima: What Happened After the Nuclear Disaster?
Back then a gigantic effort was underway to reduce radiation levels and repair some of the damage caused during the catastrophic events of 2011. Hundreds of trucks and diggers were at work terraforming the landscape, and thousands of black bags of contaminated soil piled high and blanketing the luscious countryside.
2023-12-05 13:48:18 +0000 UTC
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Well guys, it’s our third day on the road and we almost ruined our tastebuds indefinitely.
At risk of wasting away on this trip, we got up at an ungodly hour to visit the ramen shrine of Kitakata, AKA ‘Ramen Town’.
And despite Natsuki paying tribute to the ramen Gods, they certainly weren’t kind, as we received the formidable challenge of the day; ‘Eat at least 3 different types of ramen in a day’.
2023-12-03 13:30:45 +0000 UTC
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