who don’t like Japan and seem to have an image of here based off of negative stereotypes,

so today I wanted to be positive and share with you guys the five big reasons,

other than Jun, why I love Japan.

#5 The ancient culture

So America’s less than 250 years old.

There were Native Americans living there before we commandeered their land,

but they didn’t build giant, lasting castles or shrines or anything like that.

So, for an American, who sometimes feels like we hardly even have a culture,

it’s really fascinating to be able to go to a country where we can see things

that were built around the 7th century.

The Horyu-ji temple was founded in the year 607.

That’s the same century Islam as a religion was founded.

This is a map of what the world looked like at that time.

America is beautiful, and we have some of the oldest living trees in the world, but

there’s something almost magical about seeing things that were left behind from civilizations

from so long ago. It really takes you to another world.

One of my favorite things to do in America was go hiking through the woods,

but here when I go hiking the trees, the plants, the structures,

everything is so different and new to me.

Here I’m sharing the forest with bamboo and monkeys,

and I can climb trails to reach ancient temples. It’s amazing.

It reminds you how big this world is, and how small you really are.

#4 Food

Food! I’m able to eat so much more food than I used to be able to eat.

I was the pickiest eater in the world.

I probably lived off of pizza and French fries and cereal in America.

And that was like all I ate.

Thanks to Jun cooking for me and introducing me to all these Japanese foods,

now I can eat meat, I can eat vegetables,

I can eat tomatoes, which I used to hate.

I’m probably going to live 20 years longer than I would have

if I had lived my whole life in America, because I eat so much healthier now.

Sashimi, chicken nanban, yakisoba, nabe pots...

Japanese food is awesome!

#3 Fashion

I love being able to dress up, and wear dresses and skirts and heels everywhere.

Where I’m from, in Cincinnati, in America, you don’t really do that kind of thing.

Girls walk around in jeans, or shorts, or sweats.

And if you dress up in a dress and heels you really stand out.

And people whistle at you and make you feel kind of uncomfortable.

So I don't ever wear dresses or skirts in America anymore.

And here I can!

I can wear all the fashions that I like,

like the thigh high tights, where the tights only go up to your thighs.

(Which I'm actually wearing today).

This is reeeally sexually suggestive in America.

I would 100% get whistled if I wore this outside,

if my family even let me out of the house in it.

Here I’ve never been cat-called. I've never been whistled at.

I feel really comfortable wearing what I like to wear.

#2 Chian, or public order

Japan is famous worldwide for being orderly and safe.

It was huge news in America during the 3/11 tsunami

when Japanese refugees would line up politely to take their fair share

of rations instead of looting and fighting.

Most people clean up after themselves.

They follow the rules here.

Sometimes it can be a little annoying when you just want to be like,

“Just bend the rules just a little bit, this one time, PLEASEEEE!!”

and they're like, “Shouganai, that's the rules.”

But honestly, it’s great trait for a culture to have.

It makes Japan a very safe place.

There’s still some crime here, of course, just like anywhere else.

But Japan is one of the safest countries in the world.

A lot of people talk about problems with perverts or groping women on trains and stuff,

but after five years it still hasn't happened to me yet.

So personally, just for me, I feel very safe and comfortable here.

#1 Omotenashi

Omotenashi is genuine hospitality.

It's Japanese people welcoming others because they want to give them good experiences

and they want to share with them the awesome parts of Japan.

So we’ve only uploaded two Shokunin videos so far

(shokunin are traditional Japanese craftsmen and artisans),

but we’ve actually interviewed quite a few.

And every single one has been so welcoming and open,

sharing their day with us, sometimes even multiple days if we have to go back,

and even letting me try making their crafts with them.

After we got to know one of them,

one of them even gave me a necklace that his family made,

and I cried because I was so touched by it.

And it was really embarrassing.

Every single time I finish meeting one of them, I just feel such a love for the people here.

When someone opens up to you and welcomes you into their culture

you just feel such an appreciation toward them.

We recently had the hanami and I got to talk to a lot of people.

And there were quite a few people here who were traveling on their own to Japan,

some who didn't even speak Japanese,

and even they had all these experiences that they shared with me.

And I hope that you guys don't mind that I'm sharing your stories on the internet now

because I didn't ask you about it.

But one of them, she got a private tour of a conservatory from the head person there.

I met with someone else recently who I think he said he ended up

meeting an actor someone who was friends with

a really famous manga artist who had passed away.

And my friend was a huge, huge fan of that artist.

So that actor invited my friend to go visit

the artist's grave with him so he could pay his respects.

And that's just such an insane level of welcoming someone in this country.

More than anything else, that’s the part of Japan that touches me the most

and makes me want to live here.

There are small negative things about every country,

there will always be some annoying things,

and sometimes it's hard to be apart from my family,

but every time I meet someone like this it just reaffirms that this is such a wonderful place.

You see a lot of negativity about Japan online, especially people saying

"It's so xenophobic, they hate outsiders," and stuff

but if they got the chance to experience this part of Japan,

I think they would change their minds.

I really wish I could just show you how incredibly kind

some of these people have been to us.

This is the part of Japan I want to show to the world.

I’m really looking forward to getting more of our Shokunin videos edited.

We have one on taiko drums coming up in the next couple weeks

so I hope you guys will watch it.

And thank you for watching today! I'll see you guys later! Bye.