So many things to do when you arrive in Japan. So many choices! The only question
that remains is...Where do you begin? That was unnecessarily dramatic wasn't it.
Might alienate new viewers...Roll that script. Wow! It's easy to arrive in Japan and
feel somewhat spoiled for choice on where to start. So it got me thinking
about all the different places and things you can do to kick off your trip.
And I ended up going on Facebook and Twitter and asking viewers: When you come
to Japan, what's the first thing that you want to do? Then after posting it I went
off into town for a bit, just you know, for a stroll where I came across the
greatest PlayStation game that you've probably never heard of. A game known
only as "Let's go bass fishing!" Can you imagine the sheer exhilaration
excitement of catching a digital bass? I mean, fuck! Games consoles are practically
made for simulations like that. Anyway, afterwards I returned home slightly
depressed that I don't own an original PlayStation and thus, can't play "Let's go
bass fishing!" To find that hundreds and hundreds of people have responded to my
questions, and sharing their stories and experiences, hopes and dreams of things
they'd either done or plan to do when arriving in Japan. So today I'm going to
share some of them with you and rate them on a scale of 1 to 10 so that
you can find some ideas and inspirations for your trip when you come here. And near
the end of the video, I'll talk a bit about what I did on my first day five years
ago because I don't think I've ever talked about it actually...So um let's err
let's dive in! When I went to Japan and checked in at my hostel, the staff member
said, "oh I bet you want to sleep now." Instead of sleeping,
I rented a bike and just cruised around for hours. Yeah, screw you hostel staff
with your pitiful assumptions. Who needs bed time when you can cycle across a
bridge? To be fair, cycling is probably the best way to see Japan because pretty
much everyone here cycles. The country is very favorable towards cyclists. Unlike
the UK where drivers actively run over cyclists
for fun. One of the best places to render bike and cycle around in the Tokyo area is
the ancient city of Kamakura on the coastline. Whenever I take people there,
we grab some bikes in the station and just cycle around the back streets and the
temples. But cycling is a great idea and I'll give that an 8 out 10. Go to a
7-eleven and play "onigiri bingo!" A game I made up to try new flavours where I grab
a random flavour without looking what it is, and eat it. Well, if its got food in
it, it's instantly a good idea. If you don't know what onigiri is, it's
basically just a rice ball with different filling in it. All convenience
stores have big sections with onigiri, and my personal favorite flavor is tuna
mayonnaise but there's all sorts. There're fish eggs, salmon, sour plums: avoid that one.
And you can find yourself standing there sometimes for ages, spoiled for choice not
knowing which one to go for. So grabbing one randomly isn't a bad idea.
So give that a 7 out of 10. Grab some real pudding. I only ate pudding in Japan.
Every local pudding here (Singapore) is utter crap. Yeah, real pudding 10 out of 10.
Every, again, every convenience store has a dessert section as well where you can
find everything from yogurts and cakes to kind of traditional Japanese sweets. I
urge you to check it out, if not to eat a dessert, then for research purposes. Sleep.
And then climb Mount Fuji with bottles and bottles of Pocari Sweat.
Naah, it's way too ambitious for your first day. 3 out of 10. Laugh Out
Loud! Sleep? Me and my friend didn't sleep for 4
days when we arrived due to excitement! Alice sleep....Ha ha ha. To which Alice
replied, "ahahahaha...sleep" You rebels. Absolute bloody rebels. Don't know what
they did though. 0 out of 10. Onsen. Definitely. Then I'd go about town and
try to make conversation with the locals. Optimistically happy face but
also anxiously sweating face. Why not make conversation with the locals in the
onsen? After all you'll be sat naked side-by-side in nature's hot tub. It
seems like a pretty good place to start and break the ice with the locals. But if
you don't have a chance to go to an onsen resort out in the countryside,
which i highly do recommend, the next best thing is Onsen World, Ōedo
Onsen World in Odaiba, Tokyo. It's an onsen theme park with an Edo era
styled street and you can wander around in a colorful yukata, eat and drink in
between dipping in the onsen. It's a bit pricey but if you can't get out to the
countryside, I highly recommend it. And you have to go to an onsen whilst in
Japan. 9 out of 10. Kiss the ground because I will have just survived a long
flight with a three-year-old. Then onigiri and a train platform beer. Yeah,
nothing says role model like watching your dad down a beer and a rice ball on
a station platform. That said, I wouldn't expect anything less from somebody who's
nickname is simply "Drinking in Japan." Good thing about Japan of course is it's
okay to drink in public. You could walk down the street or train station
platform with a beer in hand and you don't have to worry. And when friends come
over and visit the first thing we usually do is actually go to the
convenience store buy a few drinks and then just wander around the city for a
few hours. And it's a great way of checking out the city so yeah can't
recommend it enough 9 out 10. My boyfriend and I are going in late September,
and he doesn't know that the first thing we're going to do is a Japanese love
hotel. Hahahah, sly face. Well, providing he doesn't watch this video, your secret is
safe with us. 6 out of 10. Do make sure you get a good love hotel though as it
can be the difference between having a bath with a jacuzzi and a bath with a
cockroach. And unfortunately, I've experienced both. Who knows if
you're especially lucky, you might even get a teddy bear cave, or a questionably
small cage. No doubt it'll be giving my boyfriend's Mum a massive overly
friendly westerner-style bear hug at the airport. Will be meeting his family for
the first time this year in Sapporo. Then going to her Izakaya and EATING
EVERYTHING. Brilliant! I'm not sure what will alienate your boyfriend's mum the
most. The westerner-style bear hug or the sight of watching her son's girlfriend
single-handedly eating everything. But nonetheless, going to an Izakaya is an
amazing idea. No matter where you are in Japan, it's an incredible place to soak
up the atmosphere, the food, the drink and meet the locals all at once. So Izakaya,
going to an Izakaya, 9 out of 10. Try to find the increasingly
dwindling arcade machines where you can play Cho Chabudai Gaeshi. Yeah, you
can't go wrong with an arcade. You can find them in pretty much every shopping
street in Japan. My two favorite games are good old Mario Kart and taiko
drumming game where you beat the shit out of the drum in time with the music.
Very good stress relief.
Unfortunately though, the game Cho Chabudai Gaeshi
has become quite rare, it's pretty hard to find it. The expression literally means
"To flip one's table." And in the game, you play the role of an angry father having
a mental breakdown. As you sit around the dinner table with your family annoying
you more more, you hit the table again and again until eventually you lose it, flip
the table over, and destroy your family in one fell swoop. And then you get to
watch it over and over in slow motion replay. I actually featured it in a
video, one of the first videos I've made because I stumbled across this game and
I was so in awe of the concept. I've never seen anything like it. So visiting
an arcade, 9 out of 10. That Frog Bar. "That Frog Bar." One of the strangest and most
disturbing experiences you could probably have in Tokyo.
I couldn't imagine doing it on your first day, but it involves a bar and a
somewhat peculiar owner who does everything from dressing up like a frog
and use puppet teddy bears to deliver drinks. And of course tossing off a
newspaper. I'll give it an 8 out of 10. It was pretty memorable thats for sure.
Funnily enough, the first thing I did when I arrived in Japan, was actually
meet Chris Broad himself in Tokyo during an Odigo event. Meeting me,
I'll give that a 1 out 10. Yeah, I always feel sorry for viewers who bump into me in
Tokyo or Sendai or wherever because you can actually see their initial excitement
quickly turned to an expression of disappointment.
My favorite encounter recently was in Shibuya station. I was running to get a
train, that's right, running. And the guy that I ran past quickly looked up at me
and shouted, "All Right Youtube!" And that is the sort of exciting and thrilling
encounter you can get on an almost daily basis if you become a Youtuber. McDonald's!!!
McDonald's, why?? Don't you dare say, why? It's so fresh, way different, and all the burgers
have egg in it. Happy Face. And to prove his dedication to this plan,
he's even attached 4 photos of this groundbreaking revelation. McDonald's
Japan does have a few unique menu items like choco fries, god forbid. But for the
most part, it's pretty much just your standard McDonald's so I'm going to give
it a 4 out of 10. And anyway why go there when you can try something different
like Mos Burger or Freshness Burger or Wendy's? Not gonna lie, the first thing I
want to do is head out to Shibuya or Shinjuku to look around and be
surrounded by the lights. Given that my first night was in Shinjuku, actually,
this was the second thing I did. And it didn't disappoint. Having never set foot
in Japan before, I would say Shinjuku is the most culture shock inducing spot
when you're surrounded by all the light and neon, all the crowds and the noises
and the heat of summer, if you come in summer. I do recommend
Shinjuku over Shibuya because I think there're more bars and restaurants and
things to do and I actually hate Shibuya. I actively avoid it, I do.
It's very touristy. I can't stand the crossing, the overrated crossing and yeah,
I just don't like it. There's more adventure to be had in Shinjuku for
me, and yeah but either way the lights will blow you away.
8 out of 10. Take a selfie near the most symbolically Japanese thing in the area
with the caption, "I made it bitches." Well, for a two thousand dollar holiday, I'd
say it's pretty much expected so 9 out of 10. Although as someone who's not
particularly narcissistic, it's difficult for me to relate to that, you know, it's
not something, something that I would ever do. Shut up. Tokyo fish market. Might
as well take advantage of that jet lag...So the Tsukiji fish market is the world's
largest fish market, and it's an amazing place. As you walk through, it feels a
bit like being underwater because you're surrounded by millions of fish and
there's water leaking everywhere and yeah, it just feels like you're
underwater. However it is closing next year so the clock is ticking.
Unfortunately, this year could be the last year you can experience it so I do
recommend visiting this year. I'll give it an 8 out of 10. And if you want to see my
experience of the tuna auctions when I went last year, you can find a video in
the description box below. Drop bags at hotel, eat delicious Katsu at
Coco Ichibanya and then buy choco, magazines, and bath salts at the combini
to enjoy in the hotel room super deep bath. Now that is the routine of a battle-hardened
frequent traveler. You had me at Coco Ichibanya and the bath salts, they were
just the icing on the cake. Coco Ichibanya or Coco's curry house
came up quite a lot actually on people's answers so it's easy to see why when you
actually go there and have a delicious reasonably priced curry. The only reason I
don't go there more often is between the curry and the rice and deep fried pork, I
become pretty much knocked out afterwards. It's like a horse
tranquilizer and I'm done for once, I've had it. But other than that, it's
something you have to definitely try when you
come here and you can find them pretty much on every street so yeah, Coco
Ichibanya, 9 out of 10. The first thing I did (after sleeping off the jet lag) was go
walking! No destination in mind, I just explored the city I was staying in, and
browsed a few stores along the way. This was the most popular upvoted response on
Facebook and I can't find fault with it. 9 out 10. My favorite spot to walk around
in the morning is Shinjuku though. If you get up about 6 a.m. you can watch the
beautifully peaceful streets suddenly become amongst the busiest streets on
the planet because Shinjuku Station is the busiest station in the world. And
it's quite epic seeing that change. The first thing we did on July 8, was to walk
to our hotel room window with this amazing view, gazing at the incredible
city of Tokyo, watching the city go by, pinching ourselves, hoping it's not a
dream. See, why stay in a windowless love hotel dungeon when you can stay in a
room like that? 8 out 10. Although it can't have been cheap. Judging by the
photo, you stayed in Shiodome. You can see Tokyo Tower,
Toranomon Hills Tower, and Mount Fuji in the distance there, which is a district
with some of the best views in Tokyo. If you're looking for a romantic hotel room
though to either impress a partner or take the aforementioned, "I made it
bitches!" photo, then Shiodome or Shinjuku, probably your best bet. And they
don't come cheap though. Those rooms like that, you're looking about 300~400 dollars a
night, which is the cost of about 3 or 4 nights in a love hotel, hmmm.
What not to do! Don't go to Tokyo Disney Resort on the day you arrive after a 13
hour flight! Yeah, and indeed don't go to Tokyo Disneyland on any day. 2 years
ago I spent a small fortune to go there with a friend, and in the space of 8
or 9 hours we successfully got on an incredible 3 rides.
Took 3 and 1/2 hours to get on Space Mountain! 3 and a 1/2 hours
for a 50 second ride. Every minute passed in that queue is a bitter
reminder never ever ever to go to Tokyo Disneyland again. Well, it seems a lot of
people are certainly way more ambitious than I was on my first day. So the day I
arrived, I was on the jet program, the Japan exchange teaching program, and we
got put up in a hotel room in Shinjuku for a few days before we had these
really fun seminars. On the first day you have your afternoon and evening free
so what I did, I walked over to the Tokyo metropolitan tower buildings behind the
hotel, and they have some of the best observation decks in the city. They're
also free, which is awesome! But I went up there because I really wanted to get
a grasp of how big Tokyo was. But I sat up there with an overpriced chocolate cake
in the restaurant, and just overlooked this incredible sort of scenery. This
never-ending sprawl of buildings. And I just sort of sat there with my chocolate
cake thinking, "Yeah, I've done it. I've made it to Tokyo." And
then the jetlag hit me and I fell asleep next to the chocolate cake and was
rudely awakened 20 minutes later by the staff throwing me out. Then in the evening, I
went out with some people into karaoke and that was quite fun as well, but yeah,
there you go! Loads of ideas to go with. I hope you found some sort of idea or
inspiration within to try in your trip. And do let us know what was your
favorite thing, what was your favorite idea. Let us know in the comments section. For
now though everyone, many thanks for watching. I'm off now to have a sleep I think.
I'm feeling pretty tired and yeah I could really do with some sleep. Ahahahah...Sleep.