all right I don't know exactly where to
start with this so we're just gonna kind
of go for it so I was pickpocketed right
here in Japan and this is that story I
want this to be balanced so I'll start
by saying that I've definitely been
helped in Japan by more people than I've
been hurt by and pretty much everybody I
know who's been to Japan has at least
one story of someone who has gone above
and beyond to help them but that doesn't
mean that bad stuff doesn't happen bad
stuff happens every day I say it all the
time but in the end Japan is a country
with humans just like any other country
the ironic part of me saying all that is
I cut out this scene from my last video
I'm still by far one of my favorite
things about Japan is this I can just
leave all of my stuff there while I do a
bit of a sea change on this machine I
cut it out because of how naive and
stupid I felt about having that scene in
there when my wallet had been stolen
just like an hour before that so the
story is I had just come back from Italy
and I typically don't like to carry more
than a hundred dollars on me but one of
the companies that I was working with
was a very cash and receipts tile
company and so I had the entire payment
right there in the wallet it was one of
those wallets that you keep around your
neck so it's on your person at all times
so what happened was basically a false
sense of security when I arrived in
Japan I was super tired I'd been
travelling something like 20 plus
straight hours and I was heading
directly to my next job I was tired but
being in Japan I felt the same so
keeping my passport and ID on my person
I felt okay enough to safely tuck the
wallet filled with cash into my backpack
that was my first mistake I boarded a
bus from nutty the airport to a hunted
airport and I sat right in the front so
I could hopefully get some of those
driving shots I got to the airport I
checked in for my flight shop at
humiliatingly naive scene boarded the
plane and it was somewhere mid flight
when I was putting something into my
backpack that I realized the wallet was
missing now this point has been
somewhere near 24 hours of straight
travel I was absolutely exhausted and
made the honest assumption that I'd
probably just dropped it somewhere along
the way so I called
I called the bus company the airport the
airlines
I even filed reports with a couple
different police stations in Japan has
this lost ins found style system that's
basically run through the police it kind
of works sometimes but to be honest
considering how much money was in the
wallet I wasn't ever expecting to see it
again even if I had dropped it but the
more time that passed the more clarity I
started to feel in my mind and the more
I started to think that there was
absolutely no way it could have dropped
it considering how deeply I had tucked
it into the bag it just it didn't feel
like the only moments where I could
think that anybody else would have had
any access to that bag it all would have
been that scene where I just left it
there like a genius or on the bus so I
called the airport and the bus company
the airport was surprisingly helpful
right from the beginning the bus company
took a little more work but eventually
check the tapes and that's where we
found it now you've probably guessed it
already but it was this guy right here
you see there was a second fairly large
mistake that I made that I've left out
of the story so far and that is I fell
asleep on the bus I have fairly strict
personal rules about sleeping on public
transportation but I knew as soon as I
arrived at my final airport I would need
to get to work right away so I kind of
broke my rules tonight and grab some
shut-eye you remember how I was sitting
right at the front of the bus well the
bus had a camera right here after a
couple days the bus company confirmed
that they had footage of the gentleman
sitting behind me reaching through while
I was sleeping undoing my bag and
pulling out the wallet what a lovely guy
and while they weren't willing or able
to share that footage with me they did
send it to the police I wonder what his
reaction was when he opened it up was he
like yes look at all the money I got or
was he like old despite him and I being
the only people on the bus the police
weren't really able to do anything with
the footage and no I don't know what
country he was from but again regardless
of nationality people are people
everywhere the record I am well aware of
the mistakes that I made I've had well
over a year to play them in my head get
in it and
I'm comfortable in saying Japan is still
quite safe in comparison to many of the
places in our work but it doesn't mean
that terrible things don't happen I'm
starting to feel another video coming on
but I do want to end this on a positive
note so I will say that far more good
things came out of that trip than bad
things in fact he was on that trip that
I was introduced to the company that
made that beautiful custom desk for me
and having the opportunity to document
that level of craftsmanship was one of
the best experiences I've had in my life
let alone my time here in Japan you lose
some you win some I don't know I guess
it all kind of balances out anyway hope
your day is beautiful
[Music]