The Best Place On Earth To Visit Or A Total Disappointment!?

The Best Place On Earth To Visit Or A Total Disappointment!?

you’re coming with me to Japan I was told that this was the best country to visit as a tourist on the entire planet And I was skeptical because well it’s a right bull lake to get to from the Western world and there’s a hell of a language barrier with the locals But let’s make up our minds together over a few days We start in the chaos of Tokyo and finish in the beauty of Kyoto We ride the bullet train We stay at top hotels We go to award-winning light shows We drink whiskey with the locals We eat in the best restaurants We get sunburnt We visit temples and we’ll be pulled through a bamboo forest by a ridiculously fit young Japanese lad And above all else we’ll be blown away by the cleanliness of their public toilets and all of this while jet-lagged So please come on the adventure but let’s start it back at the beginning Back at the airport we’re at Heathrow Airport terminal 3 for the nerds and it’s middle of the afternoon Better than that usual 4:00 a.m rubbish that we have to go through for this post We get inside sit down and I’ll tell you the plan for this rather long journey But don’t worry you won’t have to suffer it You’ll whiz through it in a few minutes I’ve got 18 hours of misery ahead You can tell it’s middle of the afternoon and I’m fully awake cuz I chanced my arm on an upgrade to business class which they said “Yes of course you can upgrade to business class It’ll be £2,400 which is of about £180 an hour of the time I’m in my seat.” So uh yeah a bit rich for my liking [Music] So here’s the plan We’re in London Cafe Pacific of all people are going to be the ones charged with our safe carriage to and from Japan Uh we’re getting on a flight here to Hong Kong which is going to take around 12 1/2 hours and then a flight from Hong Kong to Tokyo which is 4 hours We are flying on the two long legs premium economy Get us I know that’s because um I’m doing this whole trip as a sort of a brand trip for my Tik Tok and my shorter form stuff but you’re not going to get involved in any of that Don’t worry This post is not an advert Although they are sorting out all of the activities the full itinerary we are well and truly seeing and doing Japan Lucky Japan [Music] Passengers are reminded that smoking Okay I’m mad excited about the premium economy For those of you that don’t know premium economy is slightly more premium to normal economy but it’s nowhere near as good as business class Costwise I think it’s about 50% more 60% more roughly Um we’re going to get on I will show you everything in sort of brief detail Um but I’m not going to talk to you on the plane because I don’t want all of my fellow passengers thinking I’m a [ __ ] [Music] [Music] Okay Okay [Music] Light will not depart at today And boom we’re in Hong Kong a beautiful 12 and 1/2 hours in the air that was enhanced even further by the amazing Heathrow airport holding us up for an hour and a half on the tarmac at the start which was really greeted with singing and cheering by all the passengers involved Um premium economy seats absolutely love them Um you basically recline a lot further You’ve got much more leg room Still couldn’t sleep on the bloody thing Everybody else was asleep If you know how to sleep on planes and you’ve got a mental hack to help me then please let me know And no getting blackout drunk at the airport beforehand isn’t one of them I’ve tried that before It doesn’t help a trip in the long run The time currently here is about 1:30 in the afternoon but for me it’s about 7:00 in the morning And like I say I haven’t slept a whole lot And we’ve got uh we’ve got we got a bit of traveling ahead to do But it’s fine It’s good isn’t it I’m enjoying myself for you [Music] The compartment so that items inside do not fall out and we’re in Tokyo I’m honestly excited but I’m honestly exhausted You’ve just seen the whole trip in a little montage of probably about three light-hearted and entertaining minutes hopefully But it’s actually been a right hoo-ha It’s been about 20 hours And we’ve got to get to the hotel as well which is about an hour’s drive away across one of the busiest cities in in the world But uh luckily my hosts have arranged a car so I’m not going to have to mess around with buses or trains or any of that in my tired state Thank you very much Cheers I really appreciate it Cheers Oh thank you Let me get my bag Yeah Have a good evening Cheers Oh just run across the road [Music] [Music] compliment giving a little a little juice Excuse me Oh doors are closing [Music] Oh wow Okay this is a bit special Let me spin you round This is the room 24th floor We are cooking We are absolutely cooking The last time I went away I was moaning A little bit of a mini bar going on I’m going to have to be disciplined with that The price list is there My kind host Sarah Lo have left me out an assortment of goodies Uh and oh my god I was complaining There I am pillow air up the top there Nice of them One of the toilets and Japanese toilets We will come back to these Um and then bathroom and everything there Look at that To think the last trip you and me went on we were in Greenland and I the hotel was utter misery from the staff to the cleanliness to the quality of the room But that was Greenland This is Tokyo Um I know what you’re thinking How much is the room I have no idea but I will endeavor to find out Okay let’s turn this light out and have a look at the view out onto Tokyo That is insane Oh my god Okay that’s a little bit weird H Yeah we are high We are high I mean obviously you know it doesn’t bother me because I’m I’m a I’m a I’m a brave boy I’m I’m harder than a coffin nail when it comes to heights but God we are high We We are seriously Oh my god Okay that’s fine That’s fine You’re from London Uh yeah just outside London Yeah Yeah but London Yeah but London Yeah that’s the most London answer I’ve heard in the world Sorry is Yeah Yeah that’s pretty much everything [Music] A thousand apologies I did that completely in the wrong order It was absolutely chaos from the moment I got to the airport And you weren’t allowed to film going through all the customs checks And the customs checks are severe They don’t want you bringing in any food any drink anything fun at all And when I got through that the car was there waiting for me And she didn’t speak any English at all So I just kind of sat there quietly as we whizzed across Tokyo Okay I desperately need to try and get some sleep while being this high up in a city which is no stranger to earthquakes So um yeah I’ll be fine I will see you in the morning where we will really get going with this adventure which for me will be in about 7 hours but for you is now And hello it’s the morning Well at least on the clock it’s the morning To me it’s now about 10:00 in the evening So I’m in a right muddle But let me spin you round because Tokyo is uh wet today which is a problem because I thought it would be sort of sunny and but look at this Tell me that’s not incredible And this room is sensational I didn’t go into it last night cuz I’d already sort of got into bed but you’ve got all sort of mood lighting and you can tell it what lights you want And I had had it going like a disco in here before I went to sleep last night Room Absolutely amazing Today um we are going sushi making Don’t worry I won’t tie up too much of your time with that Uh we’re going to the fish market which might be quite interesting And then we’re going out into sort of the the night spots We’re going to go look at some bars and get the price of things and hopefully have a few drinks as well So that’s the plan for today Let’s go get some breakfast I don’t normally have breakfast but I feel like I should And there’s a 7-Eleven as well which I want to get some stuff for the room for Let’s get going [Applause] The sh [Music] [Music] The breakfast in the hotel I’ll show to you tomorrow because my body clock’s all muddled up and I only had a piece of toast and the breakfast was amazing So I wouldn’t be doing it justice The lovely people in the hotel said as I left “Do I want to take an umbrella with me?” I told them I was from London and this is what I’m used to I was forged in the fires of this perfect weather For those of you that care this is where I’m staying in the city in uh Shabua or uh Shabia Shabia Like I say do not start getting angry about my pronunciation otherwise it’s going to be a long video We’re going to go meet the other people on this trip I don’t know any of them And as I said earlier this is a brand trip but this video that you and me are enjoying together Now this isn’t an advert or anything like that This is all just a vlog of my trip and hopefully you’re enjoying it So hit subscribe um and leave a comment and like and all of that kind of stuff But it’s not only for fish We have everything there We will walk to the market from the sushi restaurant It’s about 10 minutes ceremony narrow street and long queue for some So the good news is everybody is very very nice The bad news is something has just occurred to me I’ll tell you in a sec So the issue is we’re going to make sushi I ate sushi once and I enjoyed it so much that I never ate it again Um so this might come across a bit like a bush tucker trial So jaywalking isn’t allowed So I’m guilty of that What’s the fine for jaywalking You know no idea We don’t know what the fine is but um Sorry Hello This seems quite informal This seems fine I was nervous that I’d be on like a stage in front of everyone having to make it easy which I would do I I have been given a thing You’ve got your You’ve got writing down your We don’t know what it says It could be absolutely brutal Don’t laugh I look like I’ve got some kind of illness and I’ve been quarantined or something like that Um the other thing is not only am I not crazy about sushi to me now it’s 2:00 a.m and I don’t eat anything at 2 a.m in the morning normally So we will get through this you and me And sugar and something something I’ll give it a go I’ll give it a go Yeah I’ll kill the awkwardness Oh yeah Thank you I think that means quicker Okay [Applause] Thank you Normally when I’m away with you I have to worry about looking like an idiot filming in public But luckily today I’m surrounded by people who idiots filming in public I am really hungry [Music] Yeah So good Also had funny veggie options So literally everyone who’s come up to do the saki tasting are the Europeans Everyone else has stayed at the moment It’s just the Europeans who want to get on it at 11:00 a.m I don’t know how to use chopstick I’ve got a saki in me now I’m fine Hello Hello We’re now in the fish market which is ironic because I look a little bit like a trollman [Music] If you come to Japan and you like fish then you’ve got it made [Music] You’re not allowed to film or take photos in that bit of the fish market But one thing I will say the cleanliness and hygiene here Wow Brilliant [Music] I will do price conversions for you when I need to because I’m a nice guy But for your own interest at the moment the exchange rate is about 180 yen to a pound and about 140 yen to a dollar roughly So yeah if you want to do the math in your head you’re more than welcome Well that was £1,000 on a knife £1,000 on a knife You’d have to really know what you were doing in a kitchen to spend £1,000 on a knife wouldn’t you as many times rather than [Music] I’ve just had a 1 hour sleep because my body clock is fighting for its life So let’s quickly talk about the toilet like an episode of sort of ’90s Blue Peter obsessed with Japanese toilets Here it is in its dormant state with the controller there As you walk towards it it knows you’re here Now the toilet seat those lights there mean it’s on The toilet seat is heated I can’t portray that to you through but trust me it’s heated Then your flush light flush flush When you sit on it a pressure sensor gets going Water starts coming out immediately slowly and dripping around to keep whatever you’re doing moving which is lovely And then once you’re done you have to be sat on it so I cannot show you You then have all the various cleaning modes there If you’re not sat on it the the jet that comes out there just instantly goes back in So you can’t make water sort of go everywhere Um I know that you wanted me to show you water going everywhere in a hilarious way but it can’t That’s a toilet Most of them are like that Brilliant Let’s get out and get a few beers to this crossing we’re on now Every single green light a thousand people cross apart from busy times when 3,000 people cross the road all in one head And it’s calm and everyone’s being polite This is Shinjuku uh station which has 3 to four million people a day pass through it There are over 200 entrances and exits Busiest train station in the world So I’m sticking to my guide like glue So immediately I’m greeted with horse and whale over there Oh god [Music] The way that hundreds of small businesses with their electronic signs have inadvertently created really quite beautiful art is something poetic Uh I’m really enjoying it And then I get twatted in the head by someone’s umbrella Oh sorry in love Well there happens to be a bed here anyway So you do that and that’s the loophole around because you fell in love first Yeah So soap land [Music] So this thing behind me is called a soap land and we’re in really dodgy territory with monetization now Basically prostitution in Japan is a bit of a gray area but basically anything other than intercourse is allowed And what happens here is you go in and you have a bath or a shower with a partner and during that time legally you fall in love and then anything else can happen in exchange for money Um yeah Am I still monetized I don’t know [Music] We had to take our shoes off for the Japanese restaurant So I felt like Johnny Depp in Donny Bras But don’t worry I didn’t kick off because I wasn’t wearing a wire Oh no one got that reference Okay we’re just going through the red light district Filming is sort of a bit of a gray area I’m not going to show you anything of it because I don’t want this video to get into trouble One thing I do have a bit of a problem with and I don’t mean this as a knock to our fantastic Japanese hosts at all is the infatuation with um sort of childfying the girls Sort of they’ve all got to be school girls or they’ve all got to sort of appear as young as possible Don’t know how I feel about that [Music] First he’s the guy we went to the the chicken place So we’re now in the Sinjuku Golden Guy which is a little complex of tiny little bars over 200 of them Let me uh find you one to show you [Music] That’s about £120 a song 10 a song maybe Is it good value Well that’s up to you and how much you want to sing Ryan it’s just the two of us again Some people have gone back to the hotel Some people have gone off on their own But I want to have a couple of drinks just with you So let’s find a bar which has a seat which um is harder than it sounds cuz they are so small [Music] [Applause] I would love to get in this place That was Deathmatch in Hale a tiny heavy metal bar that apparently people come all the way to Tokyo especially for If you did come all the way here especially for that you would be disappointed But drinks were about £350 each which is fine by me [Music] I’m enjoying myself now but eight quid Eight quid Yeah No I’m the same I pocket three Yeah Yeah [Music] And then thank you is arato Yeah I’m destroying that I’m absolutely everyone that I’m saying that to is looking at me like I’ve set their house on fire Yeah With a British accent Yeah Aracho Arato Arato Ar How am I doing Ar Ar Arato Pretty good Oh he’s just saying that Just shut me up Yeah Arato Arato It’s 1:00 a.m That glass of Japanese scotch was about £12 We should really get going back into the No we can’t No You want to go into a karaoke bar Okay Well just quickly a little more up Well I don’t know if mine you guys can sing but you guys can No no no We do have a slight problem It’s now 20 to 3 in the morning and um I have to be up to go to the team labs No it’s fine uh at um 7:30 But it’s fine We we’ll roll with it What What could possibly go wrong Nothing Hey Phil We’re drinking We’re drinking Cheers Thank you so much I really appreciate it Cheers We’re back at the hotel It’s 3:30 a.m Am I proud of what I did tonight Absolutely not But did I have a good time Yes It was amazing I met all sorts of interesting people So we will go up to the room and we will have 4 hours sleep uh and then we’ll be straight back at it So I will see you in the morning which for me is 4 hours from now but for you is now and way you join me about 3 and 1 half maybe 4 hours later and I’m fine I’m absolutely fine I’m going to hand some washing in to reception We’re going to grab a little bit of breakfast I might not be able to show you breakfast again because we have half an hour until we’re due to go to this this gallery thing Team Labs which is sort of light and music and water Apparently it’s very very good You’ll see it How do I feel Fresh as a daisy I’m good I’m fit ready and raring to go Thank you Cheers Thank you Wo Get you your mama too and your daddy Look at this weather It’s absolutely gorgeous Uh Bill where are we going when the meeting point is back at the hotel Well you that’s us nipping round to the 7-Eleven where I’m going to get a tactical ready B a little bit of a Red Bull Um I I deploy Red Bull in the most dire of circumstances and believe me this is a dire circumstance [Music] Ah yeah Yeah Whatever you guys want Oh no They’re Yeah they’re brilliant Very dark and then very There is no wood Okay so we’re at a thing called Wonder Labs Um I had a choice of three things I could do this morning One was uh Mario Kart driving little carts dressed as a character off Mario around the streets of Tokyo Well I wasn’t going to do that because filming would have been very very tricky The second was a sumo ceremony which I did really want to do but you couldn’t film or talk during it So what would be the point So Wonder Labs is kind of this insane art gallery which we will discover together Um let’s enjoy it Sorry do I seem hung over or not Rooms are hard to find Oh wowee Okay I’ll peel back the curtain on making these little videos I only have a tiny little viewfinder down here like a little screen so I don’t fully know what comes across well on camera and what doesn’t This is spectacular [Music] This is wild This is insane [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] If they put one of these in London it would make a billion pounds a day It would make a billion pounds a day It’s that good I don’t know how well it’s coming across to you guys but it’s spectacular [Music] [Music] Oh my days So the routine seems to be you walk into a new room you both say to each other “This is a bit of crap This isn’t as good as the other rooms.” And then it all lights up and you’re completely blown away again We’re now completely lost Another thing that I haven’t told you is there’s a smell in each room as well They pump in a smell Um I probably should have told you that but I just kind of thought “Oh you’re here with me You can smell it I’m an idiot.” Yeah So we just checked cuz we had those tickets given to us $28 to go in If you come to Tokyo a better $28 cannot be spent Well I don’t know You might be able to find something But brilliant If we if we got an earthquake in the UK I it would be chaos Yeah it would be I’ve just had a 45minute nap a shower and change because we’re going out to do a scavenger hunt for the best ramen in Tokyo which is really exciting Or it would be but I can’t stand ramen Basically the cruise that will give you the next stop on your ramen adventure or the tools that you need to get to your next booking They were the little Mario Kart things that were one of my options to do this morning Instead I went to Team Labs I I feel like I made the right decision Oh hello Welcome to stop two It’s cool It’s cool And that’s really like I’m as good at origami as I am at eating ramen So uh yeah to scan the barcode and what comes up Oh wait like the Asian London How big is his chopsticks No No As usual I’m not going to eat on camera cuz there’s only five people on the planet that look good eating on camera and none of them work for the BBC Hello Oh whose bag is this Oh is that mine No it was Thank you [Music] There’s an old saying that you’ve probably heard which is social awareness is a sign of intelligence And with that in mind the Japanese are are very very clever people says the idiot walking down busy high street talking to a camera [Music] As a bit of a debrief the ramen scavenger hunt ended up being fine I got on with the ramen Okay I didn’t need four portions of it but I got through it and I didn’t show myself eating it because it’s not a glamorous thing to show yourself eating Anyway it’s now 9:00 and we’ve got to be up in a few hours because you and me have got a bullet train to catch to Kyoto where we’re going to see some bamboo some temples and maybe some samurai So for me it will be about 7 or 8 hours But for you the morning will be now And it’s 6:00 in the morning I’ve been awake since 3:00 a.m because my body clock is an absolute mess but I’m in a good mood Let me spin you around Look at this Tokyo popping off I didn’t see the stadium sort of over there But look at that Absolutely gorgeous But our time in this hotel is now up And we transfer to another And my god do we transfer to another on the Shinkansen the bullet train Uh Shinkanzen to Kyoto Then uh a market in Kyoto Everybody I’m with is obsessed with the markets That’s fine We will go through another market and then uh to the Bamboo Forest and the Temple and then another hotel in Kyoto tonight I’m excited now Oh yeah and I have found out the cost of the hotel Pause the video and put a guess in the comments of how much you think this room costs a night Have you done it Okay $500 roughly It’s about $500 a night Not cheap So I’m very grateful to Aerono Thank you to them Actually that wasn’t sincere enough I’m bloody grateful to Aeron Like I said this YouTube video is is not sponsored by I’m here doing other things with them but it it’s it’s unbelievable and I am excited about today Hopefully you are too Hit subscribe if you don’t already Make sure the bell icon is on and hit like and you know all the admin on YouTube It really helps out Oh my lift host is telling me to get up [Music] [Music] Oh it’s like being back on a school trip Look at this It’s a bit bougie isn’t it I assume it’s a school Thank you so much Thank you Yeah when we emperor So Tokyo station is massive but this main entrance behind me here is just for the emperor and the empress They’re the only ones who can go in and come out of this one For those of you that don’t know that’s like their royal family I don’t know whether they get all gushy and angry over their royals like we do over ours So there’s about 25 of us here and they’re all very young and cool and I seem to be the only one who is this excited to go into a train station on the train which is fine That’s fine They got all very excited about the food yesterday I couldn’t have cared less We are where we are So it’s like you go around Japan and you get a stamp at all the different places Yeah they have them in like all the tourist information centers all of the train stations and like any like big like tourist hubs So I got the missile for example in um the museum the other day and then that was from the fish market They’re cute I am the most impatient person on the London Underground with tourists but today the tables have turned [Music] Absolutely insane Look at that Wow [Music] Now I’ve got to be really careful that I don’t just nerd out at you for about half an hour on the Shinkansen But they don’t run late They don’t get into accidents In all of the decades they’ve been running no one has ever died There’s been no derailing or anything like that The safety systems that are in place for these things despite how fast they go are obscenely comprehensive Um they are the only trains that run on the lines they’re dedicated lines They don’t interact with roads at all No level crossings no sort of low bridges or anything like that So there’s very few outside patterns They also have incredibly intelligent sensors along the tracks that sort of can feel an earthquake before it starts So if an earthquake is going to happen while it’s it will stop the train before the earthquake really takes effect So you’re not going to be whizzing along at 200 mph and throwing Sorry this has all got a little bit nerdy hasn’t it Don’t worry we’ll be in Kyoto soon and we can talk about Samurai and Bamboo [Music] We’ll be the biggest We’re getting a bit of speed up now She’s whipping along [Music] Apparently these are the first class uh seats Uh the economy seats are three across on either side There’s Mount Fuji but it is completely obscured but I tried Got a little line there You can see I hear [Music] there’s a member of staff who keeps going up and down the first class to sort of see if it needs anything And as she leaves the carriage each time she turns around even though no one’s looking and does a little bow back in the carriage It’s It’s impressive It’s our stop next and we have 60 seconds to get off If we don’t get off in 60 seconds then we’re whizzing along at 200 m an hour for another 100 miles along the coast So yeah time to switch onto [Music] Oh my god she’s she has been trusted with godlike power She could lead us anywhere The sun is beating down in Kyoto I want to be here for at least an hour before I moan to someone about how hot I am but uh I I I don’t think I’m going to last that long Right after you told me about him Temple’s headquarter [Music] a Japanese whiskey shop there after the damage the Japanese whiskey did to me the other evening I’m giving it a wide birth It’s back to just you and me again for an hour Now we’re in Nashiki Market which we will have a walk around It’s all very very nice [Music] Oh [Applause] this is far more touristy than I was expecting Lots of little sort of gift shops as knickknacks Hello Um and um yeah everything’s sort of labeled in Thank you Everything’s lab not doing very well here Everything’s labeled in English and sort of you know exactly what it is you’re eating which in Japan is quite rare Yeah tourist central which is fine Everybody’s still being polite [Music] Well that’s quite interesting An announcement just came out over the PA saying if you buy food here you either eat it in the shop that you buy from or just in front of the shop You don’t walk down eating it which some people were And I think I’ve said to you before in Japan it’s not the done thing to walk walk along the road eating stuff They don’t like it The food here is right up my street though It’s all on sticks Anything that’s barbecued and on a stick is fine by me It’s lovely The atmosphere the products the people Yep 10 out of 10 [Music] There’s a lot of Europeans tourists a lot of Americans and some of the shops are really really cool I’m I’m genuinely trying to keep it all at arms length because I’m I’m sort of not here to spend money and uh there are some really fun things that I want to buy and I don’t often get the desire to buy things So yeah it’s a credit to Nishiki Market One thing I should have said is a lot of shops in Japan if you show your passport and you’re a foreigner you don’t need to pay the sales tax Those shops have signs at the front saying taxfree So you carry your passport Sales tax in Japan is about 10% Some stuff is 8% but most stuff is about 10% There you go I’m being a proper tour guide for you Who would like to go to a bamboo forest in a temple Okay Well tough You’re going to And then also the Aisto Wow Okay Okay so apparently we’re getting Rick Shaws up the hill Some of the female companions of mine on this trip are getting a little bit giggly They’re checking their hair There’s a lot of playing with hair going on as we walk towards Let me spin you around and show you People some of the girls are nervous that their boyfriends are going to be watching this but they’re here working They’re waving at us Um even I’m going a bit weak at the knees It’s uh and I’m a somewhat happily married heterosexual middle-aged man So hello man Look at this guy’s legs Yeah Yeah he did He He is absolutely stacked We’re 85 kilos each We have joked with him about how they all hide when they hear American accents but I won’t crack that joke on here because it’s rude from America from France for uh you’re married No I’m 21 21 Very good Stay single Better single Look everyone with a wife is not happy here Indonesia No Malaysia Malaysia Like for anyone wondering uh Tom is a proper global traveler How many countries now Uh 160 160 countries So yeah it’s been a while around the world Yeah should you want to do this and uh for two people for half an hour it’s about $140 Um but yeah you get away from the tourist trail I would almost want to say I mean it’s just there Oh beautiful We’ve been taken off on a little uh side path that you get as part of the tour away from the hordes of tourists It is quite touristy Although bamboo is beautiful Uh people want to see it How are you Yeah Oh I should probably say it’s about 30° I always forget to give you the temperature It’s about 30° centigrade Don’t know what that is in Fahrenheit because I’m not American and I’m under 70 Smile That stands of stick Stick stuck Stuck Oh no Thank you so much I did enjoy the rickshaw ride but I did find it a little bit awkward Being with Tom though is a lot of fun because he can pretty much guess anybody’s nationality and has a good few phrases of their local dialect and wants to use it at will You know the ones after we go into the garden that we were just discussing UNESCO World Heritage sites cuz this is one and in the UK we’ve got a few How does somewhere become a UNESCO World Heritage site We were speculating money corruption But we’re not we’re not saying that We’re not saying that if something’s a few thousand years old and beautiful I 100% agree with that because I went around the world to so many fantastic sites and they were not world heritage and I was like wait this doesn’t because they were in Pakistan in Iran you know you think sometimes and then you go then you go somewhere like Liverpool and it’s like a world heritage site and it’s like 100 years old and no one cares about I mean people do care about Liverpool Let’s not get into that Tourists love bamboo Honestly they can’t get enough of it Bamboo There’s money in it [Music] Yes I do want to hire a boat No I’m not going to It’s about 12 quid 13 quid I think Um yeah no life jackets but we won’t drag them up on it [Music] center We’re now on the famous wooden bridge which uh doesn’t feel that wooden as buses bounce across it But it is beautiful Busy but beautiful There’s lots of boyfriends taking artistic photos of their girlfriends and because I’m a semi-professional I offer to take a photo of both of them together but then it turns out no Uh the two ladies over there didn’t want a photo with their boyfriend They wanted a photo of them on their own with a beautiful backdrop in their pretty dresses which is fine They’re ashamed of their boyfriends Thanks kids We’re now 3 days into this trip We’re all pretty tired There are creators from all over the world We’ve got a 45minute coach journey and we’ve decided to talk about religion Hello [Music] Okay it’s another banging hotel room Let me spin you around so we can have a look Uh this is the Ace Hotel in Keyoto I will get a price for you when I can Um Aerero have left me more things which is unbelievable of them Look at this technology and the few there’s a record player down here and they’ve even given us some records Hip-hop jazz um rock um and apparently Yeah So I might have a play with that The few outside is not There is no few outside but that’s fine TV uh room service bar water Oh look at that Water and a nonrecyclable thing Then these are all part of the uh what have we got in here Oh look at that Brooklyn laga We’ll have a look at the costs of that in a bit Um and then bathroom There I am Hello I think it is um IHG group again because the toilet is exactly the same as what we had at the previous one with this contraption here So I know what I’m doing there There you go If you like tours of hotel rooms which I know a lot of people do this is the Ace Hotel in Keyoto Oh give me an hour and uh we will I’ll decide what we’re doing this evening [Music] One thing I can’t get my head around in Japan is tipping Because you read anything and you speak to anyone who travels and you they all say no you don’t tip They take offense by it But the moment you forget and you try and tip the waiting staff or whoever’s provided a service is fully routined at taking the tip off you and is all smiles and thank you very much There doesn’t seem to be any offense being taken on their part If anything it’s gratitude Your guess is as good as mine as to whether you tip in Japan or not If you know then maybe let everyone else know in the comments Now apparently jaywalking is a thing here So although I want to be just on the other side of the road there I’ve had to walk all the way up here like a simpleton to cross at a crossing because I can’t be trusted not to get run over even though I’ve managed to get to this stage of life without getting run over Now where am I going here I’m going in here Wales Wales England Next to England England The sweet one is very nice Now we’re trying on a couple of the dry ones I should really get a saki I quite enjoyed it when I tasted it when we did the tasting the other day It’s actually 52 plus two joker and two commercial card 56 card Touch on please Please touch on please only touch one by one Okay One by one I will say this card I’ll say no No What have you done here No What have you done there Do you know where is your card now If it’s If it’s in my pocket I will No No No No No Where is it You don’t understand Where is it You can see the maybe look Oh in the Okay Right Go on Chip No No Surely not One card Oh [Laughter] I already A thank you very much We are we are absolute cliches We are apparently we are the first and second most common English in the world Confused I wouldn’t have picked them cuz no Welsh You would I would have picked different You would have picked the 13 of them I don’t know Like Oh yeah So like excited about it She’s joined again I’m the bar just to give you the summary cuz I don’t think you’re going to have the full sort of 8 minutes of of the magic show But um this bar here just gave us a crack in magic show and car gave a card to him that signed and he disappeared off He he played with us He toyed with us He had us exactly where he wanted us And then uh he went down the other end of the bar to a sealed bag and car’s signed card was in that So goodness knows how it happened Now going back to the jaywalking conversation I had with you on the way over Now this is the problem because we are now several beers in So every inch of my body just wants to walk directly across the rather mundane and quite easily passable road But I don’t want to be given a £500 fine So I am going to use the crossing Well I’m exhausted but tomorrow Keyoto and maybe some samurai So I’ll see you in the morning which for me is about 7 hours away but for you is now And good morning Let’s go get some breakfast I think whichever one it is three Um today it’s you me and Kyoto for about 7 hours which is a bit overwhelming The sun is out cuz there’s a lot to do in Kyoto but nothing that big So I think it might be one of those days where we’re in comfortable shoes awkward and we just do a lot of walking So let’s get breakfast first Oh yes I like Kyoto and the Ace Hotel in Kyoto Amazing Absolutely incredible I looked it up It’s about $250 a night which is brilliant There are a lot of Americans there though which is fine We’ve got a full day in Kyoto which is uh quite a big city and there’s a lot of history and there’s a lot to see and do So I’ve got my comfortable shoes on I’ve got my hat because it’s going to be an absolute scorcher Well for for most people in the world it’s not a scorcher It’s just a nice sunny day But for this pale skinned Brit it’s uh lethally sunny So uh hat camera let’s go see what we can see [Music] Why is jaywalking a problem Well in the UK we just stroll out into the road wherever the mood takes us Wherever you are whether it be a village a city or anything in between anywhere goes there are crossings and we’ve got things called zebra crossings as well But here no no jaywalking at all although cycling on the pavement is um absolutely fine Whereas in the UK cycling on the pavement as an adult is a bit of a no That’s how people get seriously hurt So Japan I think it needs to take a long hard look at itself Let people just stroll out into the road What’s the worst that could happen there And stop people cycling on the pavement That tower over there just behind the stunning temple is what I want to go up A quick disclaimer as always with these posts I can’t give you a full history lesson on anywhere I go because otherwise this whole video would just be a three-hour marathon on me regurgitating Wikipedia pages But the long and the short of Kyoto is it used to be the capital of Japan It used to be where the emperor lived It’s the Buddhist capital There are temples and palaces everywhere All of those old Japanese films and the samurai and stuff like that most of that was centered around Kyoto and it’s an absolute tourist hot spot Not just for people from all over the world but people from Japan as well They all come here In fact the people from Kyoto still think they are the capital city They have this joke saying that the emperor is just in Tokyo on a business trip and he hasn’t come back yet [Music] We’re going up to the 11th floor I don’t actually know how much this is going to cost I didn’t check Well and it’s not that high a tower so I don’t know what we’re going to see It was five quid to come up Absolute bargain Absolute bargain Beautiful city Now those hills over there are the ones I want to walk up later cuz there’s waterfalls and all sorts but I don’t think it’s going to be possible cuz we’ve got to be back tonight and they’re further away than they look So we’ll go over to those uh temples and palaces and uh and then see what’s what [Music] I’ve just got back down to ground level and I feel a bit queasy I feel a bit seasick and a couple of Aussies were saying the same So I spoke to them Apparently the tower sways a bit in the wind but you don’t really feel it when you’re up there I guess it’s engineered like that for earthquakes or whatever And uh yeah so now I’m back down on Terra Verma on ground level I’ve got to sort of refine myself Well these gardens were £4 to get into which is absolutely fine but not quite the bargain of the tower I don’t think I’m going to say it as a tourist user experience Japan is the best place I’ve ever been Several people said it to me before I came and I thought they were just waffling as the kids would say but it’s brilliant It feels safe It’s so clean It’s hygienic Granted there is a little bit of a language barrier but everybody here is so techsavvy that if it gets too cringeworthy you will just use Google Translate even with older members of the public Why Why are we waiting there Seriously the road is about 6t wide Just we can look just look and see if there’s a car coming and go Why do we have to lose 30 seconds of our life standing there [Music] Christ alive We’ve left the organized calm of the city and we’re in the touristy chaos now because this hillside temples are 10 a penny You couldn’t throw a tennis ball without hitting a temple up there Everybody comes to get their photo That’s interesting All of those women at the temple yesterday wearing those beautiful kimonos and there are a few of them here today taking photos of each other in front of the temples Hire the kimonos from shops nearby I didn’t see that yesterday Oh what have I done What have I done I just spoke to four American girls The kimonos cost about between $30 and $50 to hire So yeah if you want to put one on to have a photo taken in front of a tempo whether you be a a female or a male or anything in between then um knock yourself out rock up the uh walkway here causing chaos Now everything you’re seeing here are new buildings which were put up to basically separate tourists from their money These are not part of the original temple complex Oh this is absolutely perfect This gives you an idea of the scale of the complex and how many temples and shrines there are knocking around in this sort of one side of Kyoto Um we’re not going to go into all of them Again you can see how much there is going on how much history there is here This is sort of all the touristy bit that we’ve been in here sort of that was the hellscape of all the crowds And I’ve made the decision I’m not going to film inside any of the temples and shrines because they are incredibly holy to the Buddhist community and they don’t need a sort of overweight sunburnt white British bald fella bouncing around with a camera making flippant remarks We will just enjoy them from the outside as far as this video goes I don’t know why I’m concerned about being respectful Literally anybody with a decent camera and a card reader is making money out of the temples [Music] [Music] Good idea Good idea Considering they’re not very big people and in the olden days everyone used to be smaller they did build very very big steps For a country that is so clean and so efficient their overhead cabling really is the stuff of a mad man’s nightmares I’m getting fed up of every time I come to the road Standing there like a secondass citizen waiting for the permission of an illuminated green man before I can cross the road I’m fleet of foot and quick of mind I can outwet and out move any traffic I do it day in day out in my home nation [Music] Now really I need another day in Kyoto because there’s the the old Imperial Palace and the castle as well There’s so much history here It’s unbelievable We’re going to go to the samurai museum instead because I’ve seen all the temples I’m getting a bit bored of the outside of buildings I want to see some armor and some swords I’m a red blooded male Sue me Let me know what this is in the comments What is it Hang on It was about £16 or £17 to get in for the normal experience They wanted to upsell me to an interactive experience for £41 which I would have done but um we’ve got a dinner reservation in a couple of hours and I would have had to put all the kit on and start waving a sword about which um I promised the judge I would never do again What’s going on Third floor [Music] Sam they use this naginata instead of samurai swords since samurai swords are too heavy for them This is the main weapon Once you finish please pass around Okay So apparently the samurai were tiny 4 and 1/2 to 5 foot on average So I would have been roaming around like a giant on the battlefield They would have treated me like some kind of god or they would have targeted me like a freak and I would have been dead within the first minute of the battle [Music] Oh thank you with your fingers Please also make sure everybody finish throwing ninja stars then pick up your ninja star Okay Like don’t threw me don’t throw each other All right Thank you That was quite fun Okay that was quite fun Quite enjoyed that Some of the Well the Samurai Museum’s got a cracking business model They get you in they make you laugh they entertain you they educate you you genuinely have quite a good time for about an hour and then they put you into a gift shop where they say you know that thing that you’ve just been obsessed with for the last hour that you think is really cool Yeah you can buy one and they’re not as expensive as you think but they are effectively cheap replicas You can buy the original swords uh the like ones actually from history and they range from $2 or $3,000 up to a million uh that they can sort of potentially source for you and then you have to wait 6 weeks for the paperwork to go through and then they ship it to you and you get all of the certificates of authenticity with them You’re basically buying an antique Um yeah they they they’ve got their business model If you come to Kyoto uh for the sake of an hour it’s fine Oh and I just spoke to a couple of people who did the ninja experience sort of the the one which was about £42 and you do another hour and that they said it was really really good and enjoyable but I don’t have the time for that We’ve got a dinner reservation Hey Phil where are we off to for dinner No idea Aero have sorted it so it’s going to be flash I think that’s we won’t we won’t be too ambitious [Music] I did tell you it would probably be Flash I said to you they booked it It would be Flash We are um we’re well I’m fished out You’re not fished out yet I’m four days of this I’m fished out We just had Wagu though that which was lovely I’ll have Wagu all day long You went to a ramen restaurant last night and just ordered chicken and rice Yes Yeah That’s nice Japanese food fine Absolutely fine But you don’t need it all the time Yeah Correct Absolutely But I suppose I’ve come to Japan So have raw salmon for breakfast Well raw Yeah Yeah Raw Salmon on toast Yeah Salmon I can do No way There we go Yes Yes Bit of steak Finally Bit of steak Four days of fish four days That’s why you’re having fish for breakfast I was so I was so excited I was so excited to get uh steak that I I started eating it straight away Oh that is delicious Yeah Uh that’s pudding Um would a chocolate brownie have been too much to ask for I guess I feel spoiled because we had steak Um I’m up in 5 hours for a 25 hour journey home which I’m excited about But you can’t wait 5 hours so you get to enjoy it now Good news my body clock is now adjusted to Japanese time And on the literally the night that I go back I’ve just done the math in the 1 and 1/2 hour car journey over to the airport in a sacka And I think I’ve had since last Saturday and it’s Saturday now I’ve had 21 hours sleep Not complaining It’s not like working down a coal mine Of course check-in security and immigration moved like absolute clockwork at a Saka airport It’s Japanese I think the reason everything here just works everything here is just clean everything here is on time is people show up to work people come to work and they do their job for the whole shift Everybody is work I don’t know I don’t maybe I’m stereotyping but everything here is damn efficient Hey Phil what’s the journey home Well that’s a great question And we’re now in Asaka in the south of Japan It’s about 7:00 in the morning At 9:00 in the morning our plane which I think is that one over there takes off and 4 hours in the air to Hong Kong where we then have a 1 hour 10-minute layover which is a bit tight for my liking but Cafe Pacific seemed to have the changeovers all sorted We finally take off on time We should be okay Then after that very short layover we then are on a plane to London Etho which is just over 14 hours Although we are back in premium economy at that point So a level of luxury that neither me or maybe you are used to And no I don’t recommend coming all the way to Japan from the UK for just 4 days We are where we are It’s how my diary worked out We move with it And ultimately I’ll catch up on sleep when I get home [Music] Please pass [Applause] [Music] The 4-hour flight done I got off the plane sprinted across Hong Kong airport and I’ve got to the gate before my 14-hour flight with about 12 minutes to spare So thank you very much Cafe Pacific for that amount of room for error Japan it’s brilliant but my god is it far away Could we swap Japan and France I think that would be a fair trade 14 hours we’re going to have to spend on this flight And people are queuing up They’re queuing up waiting to get on They’re jostling for position We’re all allocated a seat It’s not going anywhere Maybe it’s the luxury of the premium economy lifestyle I now enjoy that’s gone to my head I’ve never seen an Air China plane that looks safe [Music] [Music] That was a brutal couple of flights Cafe Pacific did their bit They made it as comfortable as I think it could be But yeah Japan long way away Christ alive This is me absolutely exhausted now That was a hell of a way to spend 22 hours To be honest it was a hell of a way to spend 6 days And I’m still going to get home from the airport I haven’t even thought about how I’m going to do that I’ll probably just book a taxi But you don’t need to worry about that Your shift is done I’d heard only amazing things about visiting Japan I’d heard so many good things about visiting Japan I thought I’m probably going to hate it because that’s just kind of the person I am I didn’t I loved it And it mainly comes down to the people They they they’re just brilliant They’re just polite friendly socially aware The place is so clean It’s reasonably priced by sort of Western standards I love the way how you walk around over there and they just have slightly different ways of doing things that we Yeah it’s just it’s just a brilliant place The the the downside is it’s a trek away It is miles away So I will be back Um but I don’t know where I can’t thank you enough for watching I genuinely appreciate it in my tired state And if you don’t already please consider hitting subscribe leave a comment and hit like And there’s a bell icon as well so you get notified whenever I Oh I’m just really tired whenever I upload a video Where am I going next I don’t know

Come for Five Days to Japan! We start in Tokyo and finish in Kyoto. The country on many people’s Bucket Lists.

We fly (almost) like Kings, we make sushi, we see fish for sale, we drink, we sing, we wonder at light shows, we eat, we ride the Shinkansen, we see temples, bamboo, magic and samurai and we stay in amazing hotels! It’s great to have you along for the trip!!

0:00 Introduction
0:42 The Journey
5:29 Tokyo Arrival and Hotel
11:01 Sushi Making
14:19 Fish Market
15:53 Toilet Tour
17:00 Shinjuku “Nightlife”
19:42 Late Night in the Golden Gai
22:59 Hangover
24:32 Wonder Lab!
27:49 Ramen Scavenger Hunt
30:31 To the Bullet Train!
33:28 The Shinkansen!
35:55 Kyoto Arrival
36:21 Nishiki Market
39:22 Rickshaw Ride
42:03 Temple Gardens
44:18 Kyoto Hotel
45:55 Kyoto Beers
50:01 Morning Walk
53:02 The Tower
54:42 Little City Garden Thing
55:16 Walking and Walking
56:09 Tourist Crowds
57:48 Many Many Temples
59:48 Angry Walk Back
1:01:08 Samurai Museum
1:04:46 Posh Dinner
1:06:57 Long Journey Home
1:11:02 Final Thoughts