Hi guys, we're back, fresh from a short holiday in Portugal.
As you might have seen on our Instagrams, it's fair to say I picked up a fair amount of sun,
but fortunately my skin has just about stopped peeling in time to record this video!
You never learn do you, Nick?
I remember the first time we went to Japan together,
we landed in Tokyo, we were both exhausted after a long flight,
and we fell asleep in Yoyogi park for a couple of hours.
After that, your face was peeling for the rest of the holiday!
Haha, it was awful.
Maybe one day I'll remember to put on sun cream BEFORE I get burnt and not two days after...
Sunburn aside, Porto was a beautiful city
and I'd definitely recommend a visit to anyone travelling around Europe!
Definitely, I think I found my new favourite European destination
and I'd love to go back at some point!
Anyway, on to the topic of today's video,
we'd like to talk about things that we've seen when visiting Japan that have shocked us.
Yeah, even though I feel like Japan and England are relatively similar in so many ways,
there are still things I see in Japan that surprise me.
Some things good, some things not so good,
but we thought it would be interesting for you to hear our take on some things
that might be considered totally normal in Japan,
yet be quite different to what we're used to over here in England.
And to kick it off, first we want to talk about smoking in public places.
I still remember my first time in Akihabara,
walking around the game centres and just being shocked
by how all seven or eight floors were filled with smoke.
Likewise when you visit izakaya or other small restaurants.
It's just something that we're not used to any more in the UK.
Since 2007 there has been a full ban on smoking indoors in public places and,
personally speaking, I think it's made such a huge difference.
Yeah, I remember when we used to go out clubbing.
You'd come home and your clothes and hair would stink from all of the smoke,
and your shoes would be covered in sticky cigarette ash from the club floors.
It was disgusting.
You'd be lucky if your clothes didn't have cigarette burns in them as well!
I used to get home and find holes all over my t-shirts!
I think my hangovers used to feel worse back then as well.
I'd wake up with a sore head and throat even though I hadn't been smoking myself!
Going out now definitely feels healthier without the second-hand smoke.
Definitely! It's kind of nostalgic going out in Japan.
It feels like the good old clubbing days from when we were at college,
but I definitely don't miss the smoke!
All that said, I've heard that the government have started to enforce more laws on public smoking,
so maybe this is all changing!
The second thing we'd like to talk about are the lack of rubbish bins in the streets of Japan, especially Tokyo.
Here in England, you can find bins everywhere, yet you'll still see some rubbish in the streets,
whereas in Japan it's rare to see public bins, yet there is almost no litter at all.
It really speaks for the culture of the people in Japan.
Yeah, it's definitely a cultural thing.
We've mentioned it in the past, but as a foreigner visiting Japan,
it's always remarkable to see how clean everywhere is,
and you feel an added responsibility to make sure that you never leave a mess anywhere.
If some rubbish flew out of your pocket, you'd chase it down the street!
Definitely. But at the same time, I feel that it could perhaps seem inconvenient to some people visiting Japan.
I remember times when I've walked around holding an empty can of coffee for what seemed like ages looking for somewhere to put it!
I was worried I'd end up having to take it back to England in my suitcase with me!
Sometimes it can definitely feel like a bit of a pain hunting for a bin, but it strangely seems to work.
I can't imagine how much rubbish you'd see in England if we had as few public bins in the streets!
There would be a lot more,
and it just goes to show how much respect the Japanese people have
for the cleanliness of their neighbourhoods and the consideration of other people.
It really does, and it's one of the main things that makes Japan such a pleasant place to visit!
The next thing that really surprised me was how you'd go about ordering food in Japanese restaurants.
I remember one of the first meals I ever had in Japan.
Me and my brothers walked into this nice little izakaya and were taken to our table,
where we then sat for about 15/20 minutes like...
We started to worry that we were being ignored!
We finally managed to get the attention of a waiter who apologetically directed us towards this small plastic button on our table.
Yeah, in England, or most other countries I've visited,
when you're in a restaurant and you want to order food or drinks,
you usually have to sit around waiting until you catch the attention of a passing waiter.
That's right, but in Japan, certainly in a lot of chain restaurants anyway,
it's really common to see these buttons.
It's amazing!
Push the button and, almost out of nowhere, a member of staff appears.
It's an genius idea and I really wish we'd see this adopted more over here!
I agree, it really seems like an efficient way to place an order.
I also noticed how much more direct people are in attracting the attention of the staff in restaurants.
You can almost always hear someone shouting "sumimasen" to draw attention and it's totally normal,
but I think that would be seen as quite rude in England.
Yeah, I think you're right,
but it saves so much time when it comes to ordering your food and also when you're ready for the bill.
I've also been to restaurants that have tablets on the table that you can actually place your order on!
Oh, really? I've never seen that before! I guess that's Japanese efficiency for you!
Next up, we have love hotels!
A really interesting concept that seems to leave most British people puzzled when they first hear about them!
Could you ever see yourself visiting one, Bas?
Errr...
You know what, I saw a video on YouTube about love hotels
by your friend Chris on "Abroad in Japan"
and it made it seem like a really cool hotel room to be honest.
Definitely not what I was expecting!
Oh yeah! That room had everything!
A jacuzzi, a big screen TV, karaoke, some strange room filled with teddy bears.
You could even order food to the room, not sure what else you could need!
Ordering a lovely plate of karaage seems like a great way to refuel.
Japan's convenience shines again!
It's not JUST refreshments you can order though, is it?
I think you can order cosplay to the room,
and even some... company, if that's what you're into, Bas?
Haha, I'd rather earn someone's precious time than pay for it, mate!
It does kind of make me wonder who their market is, though?
I guess it could be young couples still living at home, or married men getting up to no good?
Or women!
It could even just be people "getting to know each other" after meeting in a bar or a club?
It's definitely not an idea that we're used to in the UK,
and as far as I know there are no love hotels here.
I don't know if it's a concept that would work, either.
I guess the British would just use regular hotels for this kind of stuff.
Anyway, you never answered my original question...
The jacuzzis and the cool themed rooms do make me want to experience it in person,
but I can't help but feel a little weird about it.
I wouldn't be able to stop wondering how clean the rooms are!
I mean, the Japanese obviously have a great reputation for keeping everything clean but...
Do you know what I mean?!
Besides, I don't think the kind of girl I'm looking to date would be too impressed if I took her to a love hotel!
Tell you what.
Next time we're in Japan, I'll go and check in to a nice ryokan and enjoy roasting in an onsen
while you go around investigating love hotels with your camera and an ultraviolet lamp.
I suppose if you think about this stuff too much you'd never stay anywhere other than your own home,
but if you would like to see me investigate your local love hotel for cleanliness,
please leave us a comment!
Please do!
Another thing that struck me when we were in Japan the first time
was the amount of power lines you'd see hanging over the streets.
In England, we're used to having all of our power running underground...
Is that a cat messing about?
It is a cat messing about. Is that a cat messing about?
It is a cat messing about.
Mew! What are you doing?
We're trying to work here, Mew.
Are you going to come and say "Hey"?
Come and say "Hey".
Are you going to do your lines?
Yeah, let's do that.... come on then.
Another thing that struck me when we were in Japan the first time
was the amount of power lines you'd see hanging over the streets.
In England, we're used to having all of our power running underground,
but in Japan it would sometimes look like a spider web of electrical cables hanging overhead.
Yeah, it's so different to what we're used to seeing.
No matter whether you're in a quiet suburban area or a city centre,
it seems like there are always power lines around the corner.
I actually kind of like the aesthetic it brings, it can look great on photographs,
but at the same time I think a lot the scenery would benefit from hiding these away.
Definitely, I read an article from a few years back
that said only about seven percent of Tokyo's 23 special wards
had underground power networks,
which seems like such a small amount, and that cities like Osaka had even less!
In such a well developed area, I guess it must be incredibly difficult
to change the infrastructure that's already in place.
Yeah, the cost and inconvience of closing roads and pavements
would probably outweigh the benefits of having the cables out of sight.
Yeah, there are definitely some places where they don't look nice,
but there is some kind of old-school appeal
to seeing them running above the buildings in countryside towns.
I've heard that there has been a real effort
to drive power underground in the run up to the Olympics,
which we spoke about in our last video,
so it will be interesting to see how this effects the landscape!
The last thing we'd like to talk about, and perhaps the most shocking for me personally,
are the female-only carriages you sometimes see on Japanese trains.
Yeah, this is one of the first things I noticed after landing at Haneda airport
and it's something that really surprised me.
I had never anything like this before and it got me wondering
whether there is really any need for it?
Unfortunately, it seems that there is.
I read about a survey from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police
and the JR Railway Company from the early 2000s
that claimed two-thirds of women aged 20-40
had reported being touched against their will on crowded trains.
Wow...
Was it really as high as that?
That is such a sad statistic,
but I can only hope that the these gender-separated carriages has helped that number go down!
You would definitely like to believe so!
In fact, I've recently heard about an app that has been released
in Japan to tackle this problem,
which can be used to scream "STOP IT"
to deter people from doing it.
Really?
Yeah, from what I read it's been downloaded over 237,000 times.
Wow. It does make me wonder whether we have a similar issue in England
and whether this kind of system would work over here.
I remember a politician suggested the idea over here a while back,
but it was deemed to not be enough of an issue to action it.
Whatever the case, no one deserves to be touched against their will,
so any effort in reducing that statistic gets a thumbs up from me!
So there we have it! Six things that surprised us when we first visited Japan!
Every country has its quirks, and we'd love to hear from you
in the comments about countries that have really surprised you in the past!
I'm sure England has plenty of surprises for first time visitors, especially in London!
No doubt.
And as always, please follow us on Instagram,
our usernames are at the bottom of the screen now.
So until next time, have a great day, look after yourselves and we'll see you soon!