[Life in Japan Theme Song]

Before we start this video, I just want to mention we got a very special package that we're opening up at the end fo the video

It's our silver plaque, so make sure you stay tuned until the end to see us open and celebrate our silver plaque.

OK, let's talk about 11 things we've grown to love here in Japan.

Number 1, taking off shoes in the house

The house stays so much cleaner when everyone just takes their shoes off right in the entryway

And it's just nice.

[Singing] and the shoes go off!

And when we go back to America, it's always so weird to go into homes and you're walking on carpet and have your shoes on

It's just like "Whoa!"

Alright, number 2, drumroll...

The Japanese toilets.

That's mostly you That's mostly me.

I love the Washlets, oh my goodness!

Once I started using them it was game over, they're the best, Japan makes the best toilets.

And whenever I travel, I miss them.

I do! I can't wait until I get home and I'm like "Yeah! Alright, I'm back!"

So today is the day we take possession of our brand new building

Hey Mister! What's up Dude?!

Whoa! This are over here is going to be the Cafe...

And then down on that side here is going to be our stage...

Large bathroom...

This toilet has more options than just about anything...

You have a regular flush, a light flush...

Stop, for the rear, for the front, ladies...

Privacy — music — just in case you're making too much noise

You can turn up the volume, you can turn up the pressure,

Wand sanitizing...

And if all else fails, you can call for help. Oh, let's not call for help!

Alright, and speaking of things that Japan has perfected, it's not just the toilet, but it's the whole bathing experience...

It's onsens

Oh! Our whole family loves a good onsen

We do, and they have awesome public ones that you go to, men go on one side and women on the other side

You get changed right here, and after you get changed you come over here...

You shower off. Japanese always shower off before entering the onsen.

And then right here you take the top off and enjoy!

You can go outside, you can be inside, they—oh my goodness—have all kinds of amazing things that we just love

And even at home, the way that they do it

They have the toilet and the bathroom separated,

So that when you're getting clean, you're getting clean and when you're doing your business, you're somewhere else.

Well, we're heading down to the onsen now,

I don't know how much I'll be able to show because, well, you get in naked...

Girls and guys take turns so that they're not in at the same time,

But tonight there are no girls here,

So it should be cool to have some onsen time

This is the onsen that we were just in and oh! It just feels so good after a whole day of hiking.

Alright, number 4 here it is

Pedestrian transportation in Japan, especially in the big cities, is phenomenal.

You got the trains that are great, everything is so compact so it makes it very easy to walk everywhere, ride your bike

It's just very convenient for getting around everywhere on foot.

Number 5 was inspired by Ruth and when she said it I was like "Oh yes, this is right!"

It's great parks and hiking paths.

In every neighborhood you can pretty much find a park

And it's so great, because it doesn't really matter where you live, there's going to be a park closely

And it's just a great space for the kids to play in after school and run off with their energy

And one thing that I discovered that I really like here is hiking

And there are a lot of great paths. There's one around our river.

There's always ones around the seashore or the mountains,

There's just great hiking everywhere

We have some videos on here about hiking near Mt Fuji that are great,

And down Japan's deepest canyon, that was quite a hike, my goodness.

Number 6, Mamachari! We love our little electric bike.

We did we wait so long to discover how great Mamacharis are?

Well, because we had twins and I couldn't take the same size of kids in the front and in the back.

But then when Sarah started kindergarten and I only had one kid to transport, then I got our Mamachari.

What do you have here?

This is my mamachari.

It's very nice because I can put Joshua in the front,

And we actually fight over who gets to hold the handle bars because he thinks he should drive it.

And then Sarah sits back here.

To get it started I have to first unlock it.

Unlocked.

Turn on the on button.

It's on automatic.

And to charge the battery, you have to take it off, take it inside and plug it in.

Pretty much, I get on and I go.

Hey guys! Oh my goodness, what are you doing?

Are you driving the bike, Joshua?

Yeah, we fight for hand space. Ringing the bell?

Jingle bells. Jingle bells all the way!

Oh boy, that is convenient... Have we used it!

Number 7 is convenient stores in Japan

This is another thing that Japan has perfected, I would say.

Is they took the idea of 7-11 in the US and then they made it a lot better.

Look at this view here, just gorgeous.

Thanks to the 7 Eleven

I have my coffee. I got a good drone flight in. Now its time to head back to the camp.

What makes it so handy here? Oh, you can do everything at the convenience store.

I pay our bills there, I buy stamps there,

I buy tickets for Disney there, well before the pandemic...

Make all our photocopies, print photos, buy snacks and buy meals

Quick "combini" lunch today with Mr Potato Head it looks like... and the girlfriend.

I mean, it's just endless possibilities... Take out money from the bank there!

Yes! That's where we go to get our money, yep.

Number 8, if you know our family, you know we love conveyor belt sushi!

One of our first stops for our foreign travelers... conveyor belt sushi.

Very important in Japan for society.

The sushi that comes out on the conveyor belt, you pick it up, you can order it by tapping on the iPad.

This is some of the good stuff... tuna!

When you put your dishes in you put them in here with the dirty dishes.

And when you put in 5, you can play a game and you can win something.

Up here at the top.

But we do love our conveyor belt sushi, something we would miss if we weren't here. Definitely

Number 9 — Ruth san! Momma chan! Oh ¥100 stores!

What would I do without my ¥100 stores?! I love them! I buy a lot of stuff at them.

So this is one of my favorite stores to come to because, for one thing, I can afford everything. Ha ha!

Also there's so many useful and unique things to Japan that I find here.

Right now it's halloween. I don't decorate for halloween, I decorate for fall.

But it's great because you can buy these little bags for candies and for plates,

And they have — oh — cookie cutters.

But I love the pumpkin, I'm not a huge ghost fan.

I wish they sold just the pumpkin, actually I might just buy this because I like the pumpkin.

OK I might buy it.

And they even sell live plants. Look, you can buy tiny little cactuses,

So cute!

But one thing we do buy a ton of here is pencils and markers and erasers

Look at this! Who can resist all this glitter tape — for a dollar?!

And then I buy a lot of stuff down this aisle.

It's all paper supplies and I do crafts with the kids

And all the origami papers and box cutters and scissors and mats and tape and play doh and...

Markers and paint!

Oh my goodness!

We have a couple of videos on this channel about that — check them out!

Alright, number 10 we haven't been able to do the last couple of years because it's the seasonal festivals.

Japan has awesome seasonal festivals, each community has some sort of festival and usually its unique for some sort of reason...

But a lot of times they'll have a matsuri, a festival, they'll have fireworks at night and it's just—oh!

We all ready for fireworks guys? Yeah!!

How is it? Ah, it's so good!

Salty. Salty but good.

What are you eating?! Popcorn.

Are we ready for it to start big guy? Yes? Yea.

During COVID they've been really restricted a lot, so we're looking forward to getting back and seeing a lot more of those.

Yea, because street food at those matsuris, they're ridiculously expensive but oh so yummy.

Our little local ones are not so expensive, I always buy like the Yakisoba and stuff when it's at our park,

But the bigger matsuris, you can [really] pay for your food, but it's so worth it.

That was awesome Dude!

Spider webs? Yeah, like spiders!

They're pretty! Oh! There's a whole lot of them!

Wow! A lot of them! Dude! Was that the best so far?

A number 11 is the Sakura, the Cherry-Blossom Blooming time.

This in Japan is something awesome.

In our part of Tokyo here it happens at the end of March, early April — but it's just beautiful.

And Japan, as a nation, they love Sakura so you can find it all over the place.

And it is just something special when it comes.

It's beautiful.

Everyone gets out, they take a bento, a picnic with them.

They go out under the Sakura, it's usually starting to get warmer so everyone's tired of the winter and they want to get out

And sakura's coming up here soon, we're excited for it.

We want to show you some more great places here in Japan,

Discover some more sakura places

Do you have any favorite Sakura places, maybe you could tell us here.

Yeah! Let us know! We want to explore new places.

And that does it! How about on your list?!

What would be on your list — number 12, number 13?

Did we miss something? Feel free to comment below and let us know

And now let's see the celebration.

So we had a very special thing come in the mail!

We have Ryoji and Miruka over here as well they're going to celebrate with us because they're a big part of our journey here

Let's start opening this up! OK, pass the camera.

Pass the camera.

Ok Here we go, guys!

Get closer, get closer! Come on in, guys!

Drumroll... where's Anna?

[Drumroll]

Ah! Not what I was expecting.

Oh!

Let's get it out! Whoa, look at that! Life in Japan - it says Life in Japan.

Let's take it out guys! It says Life in Japan.

Whoa! Congratulations!

Hey, pass it around, let everyone see it. Wow, how cool! It's a mirror!

It's mirror! Ha ha!

Joshua's going to get ready in it every morning.

Now it's go Joshua's thumbprint all over it. Is it heavy?

Oh not so much, not that heavy.

Oh my goodness, my kids already got it dirty.

That was Joshua. Ruth's like "this is going to be a bear to keep clean!"

Yeah! Oh my goodness! Now we've gotta go for gold.

That's right. And then diamond.

Next stop, one mililion.

And thanks so much for watching and subscribing to Life in Japan, we'll see you next week on Life in Japan.

Bye bye!