外国人が日本を愛する6つの理由 | Two Gaijin 【二人の外人】

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Okay...
Hello everyone.
Today we'd like to talk about why we love Japan.
We're back everyone.
So, just want to start by saying thank you to everyone who watched the first video.
We had such amazing feedback from it.
Some amazing suggestions, some really good ideas of what to make videos about.
And also some great places to visit in Japan.
We want to come back next year and make more videos in Japan,
so we're gonna make a bit of a travel list of places to see while we're there, so thank you everyone.
Yeah, one thing we noticed from our first video is that there are a lot of people looking to learn English
and there were quite a few suggestions of adding English subtitles to our videos,
so that you can follow what we're saying in English with the English words.
So if you go back and watch our first video again,
that'll have English subtitles now if you want to read along and practice your English with us
and we'll put them on this video as well.
What we want to talk about today are some of the reasons that we really love Japan.
We've put together a list of six reasons why we really love the country and we want to share them with you today.
The first that I noticed when I went to Japan is how friendly the people are.
It started before we even landed in Japan, didn't it? With the two ladies on the flight.
We actually got our tickets separate from each other, so we didn't sit next to each other on the flight.
We both sat next to these different Japanese ladies.
They didn't know each other either. They claimed they didn't know English very well, but they were so helpful.
For about six hours they were talking to us about places to visit in Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara and Osaka.
It was just an amazing first impression, certainly for you because that was your first time traveling to Japan.
Yeah, it was incredible.
We had a list. Temples, shrines, restaurants, so many different things that we needed to go and see.
Would we have gone to Todaiji in Nara if...?
Maybe not. Would we have gone to Todaiji in Nara if...?
And that was one of the most impressive things for me.
Nara and Kinkaku-ji in Kyoto, for me, were two of the most impressive things.
So that lady who told me to go there, thank you very much if you're watching.
I told you to watch out for Leicester City Football Club,
I hope you did because two years later we won the Premier League.
Hopefully she enjoyed that as much as I enjoyed Todaiji.
Exactly, fingers crossed...
Even when we got off the flight, our first impressions of people in the city of Tokyo were so positive.
Yeah, we were on the Tokyo Metro and we were trying to find our apartment.
Which was near Yoyogi-hachiman.
We were on a line and we didn't know which line to get.
And we were tired, we had been up a long time.
Near 20 hours, probably.
We had been up nearly a whole day. Near 20 hours, probably.
We had been up nearly a whole day.
We were a little bit lost.
In the train station, we walked in and there was a gentleman stood in front of us,
he turned around and looked at us and what did he say, Nick?
He asked us if we needed any help, I think.
Yeah, "do you guys need some help?" He asked us if we needed any help, I think.
Yeah, "do you guys need some help?"
And then proceeded to not only tell us where we needed to go,
but actually walk with us for about 10 minutes.
I think longer than that. I think about 15 minutes.
Maybe 15 minutes, but he didn't need to do that. I think longer than that. I think about 15 minutes.
Maybe 15 minutes, but he didn't need to do that.
He could have just told us which direction to go and that would already have been super kind.
The fact that this guy took 15 minutes out of his day to walk with us was staggering.
That would never happen in any other country I've been to.
Not just in England, I would never expect that in Europe or America, even.
Probably not.
He looked about 60 years old and we started talking,
we were walking and he was asking us questions
and when he said "how old are you?" we said 24.
And he said "ah, you're younger than my son."
And I was like, okay, "how old is your son?"
He said 50, and I was like "oh, my God."
"Sir, if you don't mind me asking, how old are you?"
And he said "I'm 85."
And I just thought, an 85 year old man has just walked us 20 minutes across Tokyo,
taken us to the right station on the right line,
told us which way to go,
put our money into the machine to make sure we had the right money in there and the right ticket
and then he showed us to the right platform, as well.
It was absolutely amazing.
I didn't know what to do.
I didn't know whether to shake the man's hand, I just ended up giving him a hug,
because I just thought "what a legend!"
It was amazing. It's a theme we've noticed whenever we've been to Japan.
Whenever I've been to Japan as well, certainly.
Everyone is just so kind and helpful and I think that radiates throughout the whole country.
We hadn't even reached our apartment and I was already in love with the country and the people.
I mean, after traveling for so long,
being shown in the right direction
and having a list longer than my arm of places I needed to go is just...
A crazy experience.
It could not have been a better start.
Yeah, great start to the holiday.
And on top of that, when we were flying into Tokyo
we also got an amazing view of Fuji, which leads us onto our second point.
One of the most wonderful things I find about Japan is its culture and history.
I think Fuji is kind of symbolic of all of that.
That is the typical picture of Japan abroad.
Yes, there is a lot of Japanese art and culture that almost worships Fuji.
Yeah, all of the Hokusai pictures like The Great Wave off Kanagawa and that whole series of Fuji.
It's so symbolic of the country and so popular worldwide, everyone knows those images.
Not just that though, also the juxtaposition between traditional and modern Japan.
I loved that, when we went to Ginza to see the kabuki.
It's something we really wanted to do.
It was a really beautiful old building.
I think it's a new building, actually.
Is it?!
It's a new building built in the style of...
It's a new building, but it's... It's a new building built in the style of...
It's a new building built in the style of...
very traditional Japanese architecture.
It was just in the shadow of these skyscrapers.
I think that's fantastic.
One either side, one behind it.
Having the old surrounded by the new.
It's kind of normal and I love it.
There are also areas that are so well preserved, that really maintain their rich history.
Like Gion in Kyoto has a really rich history to it and it embraces that.
Yeah, so you're talking about the older kind of areas, the more traditional places.
It's great to visit, but what I loved about our first holiday
was we had that with Kyoto, and we also had cooler and newer places with Osaka.
Like Dotonbori and we had Akihabara in Tokyo
where it's just mental, it's just crazy.
A whole street full of buildings that are huge and lit up and it's all so colourful and
a little bit alien to us, because I can't read hiragana, katakana or kanji,
so for me, it's one of the few places in the world that I've been to where I look at a building and have no idea what it is.
Even when you come out of Shibuya station,
the first appearance out of there is ridiculous, almost like Times Square.
Times Square, but on steroids.
Yeah, it's just crazy.
Piccadilly Circus times 100.
It's funny you say that, because I went to New York two years later.
I went to New York in 2016 with my family.
The first night, we got rid of our luggage, went to Times Square...
and I was stood there...
thinking "well, this is cute."
"Is this it?"
It probably is amazing if you haven't been to Dotonbori,
if you have been to Shin Sekai, if you haven't been to Akihabara.
Maybe it is amazing, but for me it just doesn't compare.
I've been spoiled. I've been spoiled.
And New York only has Times Square that is like that. I've been spoiled. I've been spoiled.
And New York only has Times Square that is like that.
Japan, well certainly Tokyo, has areas like that all over the city.
Like Shinjuku, Shibuya, Akihabara. They're all full of high-rise, neon buildings like Blade Runner.
Yeah, I mean, there's Godzilla coming out of the cinema.
It's just crazy. It's funny, though. I love it.
Also, one of the things that we haven't done that is still on my list is visit an onsen.
I've done onsen.
You've done onsen, I've not done onsen yet.
I'd love to do Japanese onsen and I'd also love to do a day of walking around in a yukata.
Yeah, it would be great if we had a festival to go to.
Yeah, it seems like such a lovely thing to do and a tradition that has been kept so well for so long.
Like sumo wrestling has been preserved and it carries on.
We kind of lose traditions over here a little bit.
It gets a little bit diluted, watered down and it just disappears.
In Japan, they're so good at keeping tradition alive.
Well, it's not rare to see groups of girls in the Summer walking around in yukata.
I think that's really beautiful. It's wonderful dress wear.
We've seen it quite a lot. I think that's really beautiful. It's wonderful dress wear.
I think that's really beautiful. It's wonderful dress wear.
You just don't see it over here.
So, another reason that we really love Japan.
It's such an important thing when I visit, to try all of the food I can.
We really love Japanese food.
Always, the first thing I do when I get to Japan, is go for yakiniku.
I absolutely love it.
I mean, there are so many dishes I love in Japan, but I can eat yakiniku every day.
It's so good...
Not just that, everything from ramen, gyuudon, curry rice.
Karaage chicken.
Karaage, even just food you get in an izakaya.
Nanban chicken. Karaage, even just food you get in an izakaya.
Karaage, even just food you get in an izakaya.
It's absolutely wonderful and leagues ahead of the Japanese food you get in England.
Yeah, oh yeah, so much.
The Japanese restaurants you get in England don't really taste authentic.
Some of them are still okay,
but when you try the food in Japan, you realise it's a really rough approximation of the same food.
There's one or two places in Leicester that are good. but when you try the food in Japan, you realise it's a really rough approximation of the same food.
There's one or two places in Leicester that are good.
Yeah, there are some that are okay...
One of the biggest differences for me between our 2014 trip and our 2018 trip
was the food, because we had Chiaki with us.
She knew what she was doing, she knew where she was going and she knew what she was ordering.
When we went in 2014 we were a little bit shy,
we ate a lot of Yoshinoya and a lot of Sukiya.
The food on this second trip was a hell of a lot better.
We got a lot more authentic Japanese food, I think.
Yeah, Japanese food is just absolutely awesome.
Yakiniku was definitely a revelation.
Yeah, I would keep coming back to Japan just for the food, if I'm honest.
And the sushi in Tsukiji as well was awesome.
That was an experience.
Yeah, we went to Tsukiji Fish Market just the week it was closing.
I don't know if the restaurants are still there. Maybe they are, or maybe they've moved to the new market.
I have no idea, we'll have to find out.
But we went to one of the restaurants around there and it was absolutely phenomenal.
It wasn't even that expensive, was it?
Not really.
It was really quite reasonable, but the fish was so fresh.
It was a real experience watching them make it in front of you. It was like an art.
When the guy was doing some prawn.
He was doing a prawn sushi for someone else.
The head was going on there and the whole body. It was just art.
All of their chefs are just so meticulous.
Like I mentioned the other day, a lot of people dedicate themselves to one dish.
Like a restaurant serves a certain type of dish.
You specialise in that one thing and you make it as good as you possibly can.
Japan always feels very safe when you're walking around.
You never feel threatened or intimidated.
You never feel like something's going to happen.
You don't feel like you could accidentally walk into a bad area.
A lot of Western cities have areas that you just don't go into.
If you have the knowledge, you don't go in.
But in Tokyo, you never feel like you'll end up anywhere that will be bad for you.
No, you don't feel like you'll get robbed at any point.
Even the smaller things, like if you go to a Starbucks,
it's not rare just to see a phone left on a table.
Someone will just leave their phone on the table, walk away and order their drinks
and not worry about it.
I don't think you'd necessarily lose your phone immediately in Europe, but no one would dare do that.
In Japan, you run the risk of it being handed in. In England, you run the risk of not seeing it again.
Yeah, I just think that...
The safety in Japan, of your personal health and belongings, couldn't be higher compared to the rest of the world.
So, as a tourist you're not likely to get into trouble.
Like you do in other places.
Capital cities especially, across Europe.
There are pickpockets walking around and stuff.
As a tourist in Japan, you're not likely to get into trouble,
unless you either go looking for it or you end up in a bit of a dodgy bar.
I think the only way you're really going to get into trouble is if you're naive enough to follow someone into their establishment.
Yeah.
So, another thing that we really love about Japan, and I think anyone who has ever been there would agree,
is just how efficient everything is.
I mean, that is evident as soon as you land in the country.
You land in Tokyo Haneda and you see the efficiency of all the trains going into the city.
They're never late, they're never early.
They're just always on time, the service culture in Japan is absolutely amazing.
Yeah, I remember when we were in Kyoto and we were trying to get the shinkansen back to Tokyo.
We were wondering which train we have to get.
In the UK, there would be one train every 15 or 20 minutes to the capital.
I remember looking up at the screen and thinking:
"Oh, my god, there is a train every three minutes."
Three minutes!
And the trains are huge.
Yeah, transport is amazing.
Yep.
But the service culture in restaurants, "omotenashi" as it's called in Japan,
just how well you're treated in a restaurant is absolutely ridiculous.
And another thing I love is that you don't have to tip in Japan.
I love that a Japanese establishment believes that their service is worth the price you pay and that's it.
Yeah.
I've heard stories of waiters running after customers with money
because they don't want to take it and hand it back, and I think that is such a good culture.
It's a shame that we've not got a similar approach to it.
Yeah, we're going the other way, more towards American culture, with tipping.
It isn't really necessary.
In the UK, people who work in the service industry get paid a living wage.
Whereas, in America, they work pretty much for tips.
Another thing we love about Japan is just how clean it is.
There are no bins anywhere to be seen, but even as a gaijin
you start thinking and behaving a little more Japanese.
I wouldn't have dreamed of dropping any litter in Tokyo.
I would feel terrible if I dropped something.
If something flew out of my pocket in the wind...
You'd chase after it.
I'd probably chase it down the street. You'd chase after it.
I'd probably chase it down the street.
Everybody does their bit to look after it.
There's just no rubbish anywhere.
It's even noticeable after a night out.
Even if a place like Shinjuku or Shibuya gets messy after a night out,
you can see people in the morning at 5AM with plastic bags picking up all the rubbish.
It is everybody's space so you look after it.
Yeah, you look at the World Cup,
Japan got such a good reputation for going around the stadium afterwards and cleaning everything up.
That was worldwide coverage and I think it's such a good reputation to have.
It extends to personal hygiene, as well.
The toilets in Japan are just...
I love the toilets in Japan.
Absolutely amazing. I love the toilets in Japan.
People at work laugh at me when I talk about the toilets in Japan.
They're like "what's the most amazing thing about Japan?"
I was like, "you know what, I love the toilets."
Toilets and food.
If I could have a Japanese toilet in my house, I would be so happy. Toilets and food.
If I could have a Japanese toilet in my house, I would be so happy.
If Toto are watching this and want to sponsor Two Gaijin...
Absolutely, I will happily work for you for a Japanese toilet. If Toto are watching this and want to sponsor Two Gaijin...
Absolutely, I will happily work for you for a Japanese toilet.
That is all I ask, that is my fee.
I'm always amazed with Tokyo.
When we stayed in Yoyogi-hachiman, it was a little side street two minute walk from the station.
And you're just stood there in a little suburban street.
It's so quiet, there are trees.
You could have been in a little town in the middle of nowhere, but you're in the middle of Tokyo.
That's the thing that always amazes me about Tokyo.
London's a more noisy city and Tokyo's so quiet considering what it is.
It's a big capital city and yet still quite tranquil.
Anywhere in the city, even if you're in the more busy areas,
like Shibuya, you don't get much car or noise pollution outside of pachinko parlours or other attractions.
Mate, the noisiest thing you have in Tokyo are the Don Quijote at 3AM.
Walking in there trying to get our torches for Fuji, like...
Yeah, it's a loud place.
It's bright, it's loud. It's like "I just want to go to sleep. I want to go to bed."
Don Quijote and pachinko parlours.
Gives me a headache. Don Quijote and pachinko parlours.
Gives me a headache.
There are so many things we love about Japan that the video would be too long,
so they are the six main things we love about Japan.
If there's anywhere you've been where you feel the same way, let us know in the comments.
If you've enjoyed this video please give us a thumbs up,
and if you've got any feedback just let us know in the comment section.
We've been Two Gaijin and we'll see you again soon.
See you soon!