Pete has returned from his first Japan jaunt in over three years – warning: he’s quite manic.

Feat. @AbroadinJapan

⭐ PREVIOUS EPISODE:

00:00 Pete’s Trip to Japan Part I
16:25 The Madness of Japanese Pro-Wrestling
19:12 Pete’s Trip to Japan Part II
25:52 Tokyo’s Less Tourist-y Areas
29:02 Pulling the “Gaijin Card”
31:59 A Trip Down Memory Lane

AbroadInJapanPodcast@gmail.com for all your messages – and remember you can listen to the show in audio form wherever you get your podcasts – https://shows.acast.com/abroadinjapan

38 Comments

  1. Gotta say, i listened to this in the kitchen while cooking and now I’m watching it just to see jet lagged Pete 😂
    Sounds like a successful trip, gutted the silicone legs didn’t work out! Did you abandon them after using up valuable luggage space?

  2. I can very much relate to the "It's about the people that are there in the moment" comment towards the end when you talked about revisiting old places.

    I stayed in Japan from June last year to May this year and I have met so many incredible people, some of which I thought would be friends for the long run. In particular, my very first trip to Sapporo in August was magical because for the first time in two months, I made an effort to try and somewhat socialise with Japanese people, even though my Japanese was terrible (and still is). There was a small anime bar near my hotel that I went to and met a lot of cool people and I sort of went there every evening because it was just great to talk to the staff and new people coming in there. I also met "friends" with a few regulars who I met in Tokyo afterwards as well. Plus, I made friends with an American girl in Sapporo too and would regularly meet up with her whenever I was there or she came to Tokyo.

    Fast forward to late April 2023 and the penultimate month of my 1 year stay. Once again I made my way to Sapporo, catching the last Sakura over there. Of course, I wanted to check out the bar again and made my way there one evening only to find out that the bar was no more. The once fairly "otaku-y" exterior, the lights, the actual drawings of anime characters on the windows – all gone. I stood there for a few minutes, stupefied. It really just felt sad and crazy how in just a few months, this place where I had so much fun in was no more. And even the people I met and made "friends" with didn't really…reply to my messages anymore either. Who knows why?

    That made me realise that quite often in life, the best things are ephemeral. A lot of my incredible memories of Sapporo were because of that bar and that one girl friend I made and I now find it difficult to revisit the city simply because it just feels…different? Empty? I can't describe it!

    Anyway, I don't know if anyone even read this but if you did – thanks! And thanks for the podcast, I listen to it during my walks and jogs in the morning haha.

  3. Dear compelling Chris and Prepossessing Pete,
    I like how after seeing a comment of someone on the previous video requesting to ban Pete from talking about wrestling content, we got an entire segment of him talking about DDT.
    I am still waiting for the joyous occasion when Lord Broad lifts the ban on 'bear-talk' in the Abroad in Japan Empire. As I stated before, bears are an inextricable part of the AIJ experience.

    Thank you,
    Sayantan.

  4. DDT is the best! I've watched so much of what they put on youtube and I would love to go watch some of it!

  5. LET'S GOOOOOOOOO! THIS IS THE EPISODE I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR BABY!

    Been hoping to see Chris tackle something wrestling related for years, since half the reason why I'm interested in Japan is because I'm a big Puroresu fan.

  6. I mean if you like Pete and Wrestling you're going to be really shocked when you find out about the OTHER podcast he does…

  7. “three energy drink” Pete is an hilarious expansion pack on the normal offering! Such fun this week

  8. Your content is only a vehicle for us to enjoy your voice Chris

    Pete is a great sidekick on that venture, which ever nationality the Pete is

  9. Pete is a brave lad. All my friends in Japan have been complaining how it has been.
    I am not much into wresting, going to a wresting match does look like fun.

  10. The guys in the pic are Minoru Suzuki, the one with swirls in his hair + Shanshiro Takagi who is nearest to the cam and is also the boss of ddt, they wrestled on the shinkansen for half an hr, the match airs on ppv on the 24th.

  11. FYI, the wrestling match between minoru suzuki vs sanshiro tagaki was supposed to be in a deserted island. But, they cancelled it due to pandemic.

  12. Pete's accent is so annoying I hate it. Just cannot take him seriously. No joke, It significantly reduces my enjoyment of the pod. Any plans on replacing him?

  13. Shropshire! PMSL!! My in-laws live there, and my partner would agree with me, it is NOT GREAT! The old word for Shropshire is Salop, and I encourage you to look up what that means in French, and ponder what this signifies. Very sorry I missed you in Leeds Chris, but thank you for venturing to such a shit place! Looking forward to picking up the book soon!

  14. Who ever does the video editing , try doing a split screen , it’s laughable switching every time one of them makes a noise

  15. It sounds like Pete had an amazing whirlwind tour of Japan! It's a bummer so many watery places were "no tats" zones.

  16. Travelling with Processed Pete would be fun. Watching some pro wrestling and then driving through Japan with a man who loves the word "chikan"… It would be just waiting a confusion to start in a konbini, ryokan or in a city street 😁

  17. I'm so sorry that I missed you in Nottingham Chris. All the tickets were sold out 😭. Pete was on fire today 😂

  18. I went to Japan for 11 days with only carry on. Same as Pete: take the opportunity to wash your clothes in the hotel. And I bought heaps of souvenirs (unnecessarily, in hindsight) and took it all back in carry-on. It's pretty easy.

  19. the tattoo rules in japan has to be 1 of the most re*** things in that country, absolute braindead thing

  20. Chris you should do a wrestling video

    You could be a Gaijin heel telling the audience everything you hate about Japan

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