Shadowing Practice: Tokyo Sucks Ass - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Greetings, friends, and welcome back to the Small Brand Podcast, where today you're joining us from Tokyo, Japan, unfortunately.

And I say unfortunately because I haven't been having a very good time.

And yes, I'm going to piss off a lot of my viewers.

I'm going to really offend you with this one, probably more so than the India opinions, because I just don't like Tokyo.

I think it's like harder to find cool to do here, or it is.

Maybe it's too easy to find cool stuff to do it's

it's it's there's too much going on there's too many people there's too many whites

and I just want to break it down for you guys today okay

so make sure you hit that subscribe button

so you get all the terribly racist rants in the future as I post them make sure

you get notified um let's see where do we begin um well

I will say I've been in Japan about nine days 10 days almost

you know I landed in Osaka I did kind of a ambitious drinking video

I did pretty much three days straight just like a booze hound uh went to tenjin matsuri

it's like a fireworks festival one of the biggest in japan i think the biggest is actually in kyoto um

but this is like the second biggest one i think in japan huge festival fireworks

and and street food

and you know cold beers on ice friendly friendly locals uh

met up with my buddy ian he's a stand -up comic in austin texas

and uh we've just been bowling around japan just absolutely getting smashed and, uh, calling each other gay in front of the Japanese salary, man.

And they absolutely love it.

A little travel hack for you.

Just call your friend gay and, uh, everyone will immediately love you.

No, it's been a really good time.

Um, I feel like the trip started really well in Osaka.

Um, that's just like my bread and butter, man.

I just, I don't think I could ever film a bad video there.

So in a lot of my drinking videos, I'll just barge into a random bar and,

you know, Not every bar that I go into makes the final cut for YouTube.

It's not always the greatest experience, right?

I'm not going to include me going in and having an awkward...

I mean, unless it's funny, I'll always include the funny stuff.

But if it's just uncomfortable and no one's talking to me and they don't want me to film,

then it's not really going to make the video.

So every now and then that will happen.

Although I will say, most of the time it doesn't happen.

But that's always what I'm afraid of that's the risk that I'm taking when I'm going into these bars,

shoving a camera in people's faces when they're just trying to decompress.

I understand ethically, it's not like the greatest thing, but I do try to do it in like a subtle way and the way that,

you know, people feel comfortable.

Anyways, all this goes to say, I walked into this one little bar district and it was scary, man.

I was, I was afraid that they were gonna,

you know, shun me a little bit or you just never know when you're just walking into a random bar.

Again, I don't pick these places out.

I don't have a producer.

I don't select them ahead of time.

I just, I know like a neighborhood that has a good atmosphere.

And then I just go there.

Right.

And for all the people in my DMs asking me, Oh, what should I do when I go to Japan?

What should I do when I go to Japan?

Just do that.

Just literally do that.

I'm not going to give you like a pin.

I'm not going to give you like a secret bar that I know about.

I'm not going to, you know, give you the coordinates of some like amazing place.

It's literally just as you see me filming the video, I am literally figuring it out as i go there i mean

i know the neighborhoods obviously i know osaka very well

but places like tokyo i don't know i have no idea even in osaka

i couldn't tell you the name of any bar

i've ever gone to in osaka not one honestly even the bar

i worked at even the bar i worked at in osaka for three

or four months i didn't know the name i never learned the name

I knew the name of the building I knew the name of the neighborhood

but it's not like in America where there's like a big flashing sign

or maybe there is maybe there is but I just can't read it

so I don't even try so I'm walking down this like random alley

and it didn't seem promising

it was just kind of like a dark kind of you know just kind of a little grungy alley

and a lot of these um uh Japanese bars they're they're they're nestled in like a big building, right?

So maybe in one building, there's like, you know, five to 15 or 20 bars, right?

And you can have to go up an elevator and then you have to walk in.

And it's not like surveying bars in America where you're walking down like sixth street in Austin, or you're walking down, you know,

in, I don't know, college street in Athens, Georgia, UGA.

It's not like that where you can see the atmosphere, like from the street, you have to,

you kind of have to go in and like commit, right?

So anyways, I'm just walking into this random building and you know, but i hear laughter coming from this bar so i just walk in

and classic osaka fashion everybody just greets me with open arms

they ask me where i'm from i tell them i lived

there we break down you know the cultural barriers over like seven

or eight beers we smoke some cigarettes in the corner of the bar it was actually

so funny they had a I.. smoking corner in the bar,

which actually reminded me, it's very nostalgic for like the 90s growing up in America when they used to have,

you know, the smoking section in like the Cracker Barrel or something.

And that tells you everything you need to know about my socioeconomic status growing up.

Going to Cracker Barrel was like, you know, a big deal for us.

But anyways, even if they have a smoking section, it's still going to bother everyone.

I mean, it's smoke.

It billows out of the section into the other section.

That's the nature of smoke, ladies and gentlemen.

But the idea that in an even smaller bar, by the way, like probably the size of this apartment,

really, really, really small bar, you know, seven or eight people just jammed in there.

And I'm just in the corner smoking, but they have like a little divider.

So they feel like they're actually, you know, helping out the other patrons.

They're not being rude by smoking right in their faces.

They're like, I was like, can I smoke in here?

Like, no, no, no, you can't smoke in here, but you can smoke in the corner.

I'm like, I don't think that's, okay.

I mean, I'm going to smoke in the corner, but I just want you to know that this is doing nothing.

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It's a little flimsy little plywood in.

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Anyways, that was a great time.

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I got absolutely smashed.

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It was probably the most drunk, maybe the most drunk ever on camera I've ever been.

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Well, actually, no I take

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that back probably the Myanmar series I was fucked up I actually watching

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that back I actually couldn't believe I was still forming like full

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and complete sentences and not slurring everywhere because I was

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so fucked up also it may have been the heat maybe the heat was exacerbating the drunk um

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but who knows

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but yeah dude this time I was fucking lit you know

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it's like this dude I met was screaming in my face

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we're just chanting Japanese sayings I had no idea what they mean.

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I think I may have hailed Hitler a few times on accident by, by saying that we, you know, we lead with our hearts in Osaka.

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You know, it wasn't this exact gesture, but I think, you know, what I'm getting at.

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Uh, I had so many beers.

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I turned racist.

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Um, yeah, it was like, it was the shit dude.

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It was just such a good time.

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It's exactly what I look for when i come to japan

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so i think i did like one day of drinking and then i went out with um

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those people in kyobashi

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that video is in kyobashi by the way another example of kyobashi coming through it is just the best burrow

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i guess you could call it in all of japan it's on the osaka loop line

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and there's just reliably fun experiences to be had

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that you're not going to get the umeda experience the really flashy polished

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you know hankyu you know this huge mall with like designer stores.

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You're not going to get that in Kyobushi.

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You're going to get like hostess bars, karaoke joints, snack bars, smoky izakayas, you know, sticky floors, cigarettes inside.

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It's just exactly what I'm looking for when I come to Japan.

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And actually looking back on my life, I can't believe that I was stationed there for lack of a better word.

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I can't believe I got a job in the best neighborhood in all of Japan.

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Or maybe I'm just thinking that it's the best because I lived there and I think fondly of it.

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But needless to say, Kyobushi is just the greatest.

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And I had a lot of fun filming there.

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And then I went Egan.

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We did Tenjin Matsudi.

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We called each other gay a thousand times.

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The Japanese salaryman loved it.

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Somebody showed us their cock.

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I may or may not have got that on camera.

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You may or may not have to subscribe for the Patreon to view that.

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If you want to see a Japanese man's dick, I don't know, that's really up to you.

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The pubes were out of control, I'll just say that.

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Jesus Christ, Osaka, you come through in so many surprising ways.

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But anyways, yeah, then me and Egan went from Osaka, and now we're in tokyo and i said unfortunately earlier

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because i really mean it i really do not like tokyo

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i don't like it i don't like where every fifth person is a foreigner i don't like

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that i can hear the midwestern accents you know sprinkled throughout shibuya station i don't like

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that i see fat sweaty pink swollen confused jet -lagged american tourists everywhere

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Am I describing myself?

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Yes, I am.

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But I don't want to see a mirror held up to myself.

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I don't need that.

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I want to feel special when I come to Japan.

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I lived here, guys.

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I know more than you, all right?

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I'm better than you, okay?

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All right?

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I'm not just an average tourist, although being in Shibuya does make me feel like that.

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It makes me feel like...

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a brain dead jet lagged idiot.

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And I mean, truly I am, I am that I'm trying to pretend like I'm not by coming here and by having taken a job here,

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you know, seven years ago, I can say I got in before everybody else.

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I can say I'm like one of those

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Bitcoin bros, you know, that, that got in early.

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Right.

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But it's not like I have any claim to Japan.

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It's not like, you know, I make colonizer of jokes all the time

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but it's not like I can own anything here I'm I am just a tourist

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that is the reality I you know am a drop in the bucket

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and you you really feel it distinctly very acutely in Shibuya

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I made the mistake I love Egan great guy hilarious um go check him out doing stand -up in Austin

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but I you know I followed him to Shibuya for convenience

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and god damn it I don't know if I should have, man.

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Like this hotel is in the worst place for someone like me.

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Like I don't like crowds.

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I don't like being around a ton of foreigners.

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I, you know, maybe it's like a developing phobia that I'm experiencing right now,

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but I don't want to be in a massive crowd of people and not know comfortably that I can escape, right?

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Like if I'm jammed in a train car, What if something happens?

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What if there's a fucking tsunami?

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There's going to be like a wave of people.

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There's going to be like, you know, an onslaught.

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It's going to be like a Travis Scott concert.

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If something actually really popped off in Shinjuku Station, if there was an earthquake and the ceiling started caving in,

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that's the last place you want to be, dude.

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And by the way, the Nankai Trough is expected to create a cataclysmic, apocalyptic, Armageddon -like earthquake slash tsunami in Japan in the next 30 years.

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It's going to happen.

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So being in Tokyo, being in Osaka, where for sure there's going to be a deadly tsunami soon is frightening.

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And my anxiety gets the best of me for sure.

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I don't know.

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Maybe it's the heat.

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Maybe it's the jet lag.

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Maybe it's the million beers I've had during my time here.

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But I just don't like Shibuya.

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I really don't.

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I mean, I know I joke about it in the video.

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So like get people on my side, you know, drinking in Osaka just to make some friends.

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but no sincerely like i do not like you know shibuya

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shinjuku uh asakusa is cool asakusa is kind of pretty um what's the one with all the anime

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and stuff weebs leave it in the comments what's the neighborhood with all the anime

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and stuff i think it's asakusa anyways i just don't like it man

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it's too intense there's too many people tokyo just sucks balls it sucks man it sucks

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and there's so many other places in japan to go see you know egan

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and i i'll have egan on my podcast uh for the next episode

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we're going to talk about what we did today

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which is batshit crazy went to the um the tomb of jesus christ where he's allegedly born

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i saw this chris broad video you know however many years ago where he went

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i was like i want to go do this myself i think this would be hilarious especially with egan

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because he's like kind of a catholic i guess catholic influencer online um

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so i just thought it'd be an excellent matchup for our time in japan

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but enough of that we'll get to that tomorrow

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but going out to hachinohe where it was like in the

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north japan at aomori um almost to hokkaido the northernmost island first of all

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it's cooler there it's like you know five degrees fahrenheit cooler like two celsius cooler

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which you know it doesn't sound like a lot but in shibuya

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when it's like 95 fahrenheit to go from like 95 to like, I don't know, 86, 87.

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It's nice, man.

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It makes a big difference.

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It really does.

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It goes from like, I'm, you know, sweltering hot.

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I'm about to melt on the sidewalk to like, okay, I can, I can walk around.

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You know what I'm saying?

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Put on some sunblock, put on a hat and I can walk around.

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Uh, it's way more manageable like that for sure.

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Um, but not only that, but like the population density, there's nobody out there, man.

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It's all rice fields, nice people, you know local trains they didn't even take fucking the suika the tokyo uh transit card

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that you had to get a paper ticket right

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so going from here shibuya to there it was so relaxing and rejuvenating

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and i just got back right i literally just closed the door ripped on the you know started the podcast

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because it's all fresh i had to fucking indoor shibuya station and Shinjuku Station after, you know, having, uh, you know,

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a, a paradise, a paradise like experience.

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Okay.

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You almost had me there.

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I almost, I almost lost my train of thought.

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I didn't though.

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Cause I'm so fired up.

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I really don't like Tokyo.

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I think it's, it's for the pigs.

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It's for the piggies, the swollen, pink, white, sweaty, hairy, nasty piggies,

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the lost jet lagged idiots you know i'm sorry i you know

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it's it's it's great let me back this up let me back

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this up let me back this up i don't want to alienate people

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because i know a lot of people love tokyo it's great

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If it is your first or second, maybe even your third time in Japan, maybe.

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But for me, after the first time being here, it lost its charm completely.

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I mean, yeah, there are some sites that are cool if you go without the tours or, you know, without all the crowds.

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Like if you go to Asakusa Shrine, beautiful place, objectively beautiful.

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I understand why it is popular.

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I really do.

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I understand.

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But its popularity has severely diminished the quality of the experience.

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So what I would suggest is there's a hostel behind the Sokseh Shrine.

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If you dare go to Tokyo, if you dare, there is a hostel behind the Sokseh Shrine.

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It's like a little capsule hotel.

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Ooh, everybody wants to stay in a capsule hotel when in reality, a capsule hotel is just a fucking hostel.

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It's just a hostel.

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They've just rebranded the idea of a hostel.

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Ooh, you're in a capsule.

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You're not in a coffin.

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You're not in a fucking death trap, right?

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right they're glamorizing the fact that you can't sit up in your own bed right

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and there's these viral videos online of all the fucking brain dead influencers doing capsule hotel reviews

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it's just a hostel that's all it is it's like a cleaner hostel anyways

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it's besides the point this is a hostel it doesn't brand itself as a capsule hotel but it's behind a socks

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Shrine, or at least it was two years ago.

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If you wake up, if you still have jet lag, you've just landed in Japan, you have jet lag, you know, you wake up 4 .30,

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five o 'clock in the morning, go to Osaka Shrine.

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It's like a five minute walk from this hostel.

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I can't remember the name.

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I'm not going to look it up, but I think I found it on Hostel World.

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But guys, that is the way to experience Tokyo.

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That is the way to experience Kyoto.

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Wake your ass up early.

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I don't care how how many beers you had last night.

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You're only in Japan 12 days.

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Get your ass out of bed and go see some cool shit.

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Yes, you will be exhausted, but your future self will thank you, okay?

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If you dare go to Tokyo, if you dare, all right?

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I know a lot of you will go.

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Statistically speaking, a lot of my viewers will enjoy Tokyo.

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I understand.

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I've had some good times in Tokyo myself, you know?

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I really have but you just gotta just get way more crafty with getting off the beaten path

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and you know what in a lot of these places they're not going to be pumped to see you like

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if you're in umeda in osaka or

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if you're in fucking uh you know in shibuya at shibuya crossing

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you think those motherfuckers those japanese people working

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there are going to be excited to see you do you think

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they care where you're from do you think they find you interesting whatsoever they don't you're it's just there's

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so many people it's turned into like india right i know

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that's that's that's fucking sacrilege to say on this podcast

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and i apologize i really do

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but people just see you as a wallet like you're you're you're a business uh opportunity right

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and i'm not saying you're gonna get scammed

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or hounded by by touts unless they're you know you get scammed by the nigerians in roppongue that's another story

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or in um in amemuda in osaka there's some some sheisty uh club barkers

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i think they're called barkers where they they try to get

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you to come into their club promoters whatever um i'm not saying that's going to happen in shibuya crossing

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but you realize like there's just

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so many people they can't care about you they can't find interest in you you are just a number right

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and everywhere is crowded and all the menus are in english guys

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if you see a menu in english look i get

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it you don't always want to challenge yourself trust me

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I know I've had Japanese curry five times in the last nine days okay

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I understand we are creatures of habit

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and we want to be you know have predictable feeding schedules

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and know that the food's going to be good

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and maybe you don't want to always eat adventurously I get

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it okay I understand this is the guy I'm the guy

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that had McDonald's three times a day five days a week in China okay

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I understand not wanting to challenge yourself but just every now

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and then just go into like a little smoky yakitori place right maybe not in tokyo man maybe

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i don't know or just find a neighborhood in tokyo

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that is less well trodden is the best way i can put

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it find like a boutique hotel just kind of out of

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town like don't stay in shibuya man staying in shibuya is not the move yes it's very convenient

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but in tokyo the cost of convenience is just motherfuckers all over you man

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Like on the train, me and Egan today from Hachinohe took the train and, you know, we started kind of far out like in Saitama,

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took the Shinkansen to Saitama, took a local train from Saitama to Shibuya.

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And as we're going from Saitama, or yeah, Saitama, like northwest of Tokyo, as we're going from there,

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the train is just getting more and more and more

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and more crowded until the point where I'm like doing one of these things where I'm like oh, I'm sorry, man spread with my wide shoulders.

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Like, I don't know what to do.

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It's like my social anxiety just kicks in and I just feel like I'm ruining the country for everyone.

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I just have this incredible self -loathing

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that can only be brought to you by spending an extended period of time in Japan.

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Guys, come to Japan so you can hate yourself and think you're always wrong in every social situation.

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All right?

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i don't know if i'm promoting social anxiety

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but i sure as i'll have it

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and especially in tokyo it is debilitating man

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i want to die in shibuya station i want to strap a bomb to myself

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and blow up shinjuku station japanese government

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i'm not going to do this this is for comedic purposes okay i'm just playing around

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but i just i don't like it it's just not for me

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so again if you must come to Tokyo do it I guess

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but again guys like if you're going for Japan

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if you're going to Japan for 12 13 days don't go

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to five cities man don't go to Osaka two days Tokyo two days like pick your fucking battles man

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you don't have to see it all you really don't

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you could go to Osaka for six days go to Tokyo for six days right again

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I you know I'm not promoting Tokyo but I I'm for sure not promoting this like incredibly fast -paced travel right

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i don't know man what the fuck do i know

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i mean the more i travel the more i realize the less i know

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so i i really you know who the fuck am i to even say

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but i just you know i took tokyo it's just

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it's in all the rap songs

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it's in you know the culture everybody talks about it it's in the you know cultural zeitgeist in the west

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we're obsessed with tokyo it's this glamorous place

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and i just i just don't get

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it man like the regular japanese salary man you know you'll see it on the train

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when you come here aside from all the sightseeing and drinking and clubbing you'll do when you come here.

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Those little moments on the train, you see the salaryman just hanging out on his flip phone,

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just like fucking looking at tits or whatever, like reading manga.

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Like that's the Japanese experience.

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It's not like a glamorous place.

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I mean, I guess Shibuya is, we saw some

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Rolls Royces and we saw some folks doing some strange like Lamborghini street choreography.

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I don't know if that's the only way I can put it.

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Like this guy was like driving down the street, revving his engine, the cop would come up and yell at him,

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and then he would kind of go off and then slowly creep, and the cop would creep behind him.

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It was like a weird kind of like feng shui tai chi dance that they were doing.

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It wasn't a high -speed chase, but it was like, I have no idea what's going on.

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Japan is just a fucking enigma.

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But again, guys, those moments that you bring home with you are not going to be those peak experiences of,

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oh, we did shibuya crossing we did this oh look at my instagram reel of us doing shibuya crossing

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first of all don't say you're doing it okay it's never done

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it's never accomplished it's never fucking checked off okay

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that's not how you should view life you should view life as a collection of unique experiences

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that you're you know cataloging for when you're old

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and you can't walk anymore

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and you have this amazing library of memories

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that's what it's for it's not for like oh

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we did this look at my fucking reel right

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it's for those small moments on the train where you you

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see the old japanese lady kind of you know creep on board slowly with little walker

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and then you see like uh you know a japanese man give up his seat for her

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and you're like oh wow what a considerate society

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or you see everyone waiting at the the crosswalk right it's these moments

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that you're going to take with you these are the special nuggets of life

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that make travel special it's not shibuya crossing okay

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i i spoiler alert it's not that's not it that's not

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it it's cool to show your friends maybe put it in a scrapbook right for the memes

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but again i just don't think

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that's what it is you go to japan for those small moments you know me

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and egan today were on the train uh from

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or yesterday from tokyo to hachinohi so it's three hours give or take on the train

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and you know it's getting really rural right and it was actually

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so rural they didn't take our suika cards we had to get a physical uh you know a little ticket

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so we get the ticket to the train whatever the fuck the conductor

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or whoever the fuck i don't know station master i'm not sure

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we hop on the train and you know in in uh shinjuku or like the chuo line in tokyo

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those those lines of those trains have i don't know 10 15 16 cars right going all at once right

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it's a collection of more than 10 trains at least

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but here it was two hachinohe was two dog it was two

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and had a kerosene engine i think

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or it's like some kind of oil it was burning diesel i'm not sure

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but it was a very rustic you know

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and it's like those moments were like wow i didn't know

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this was here wow you know i've been in japan plenty of times and

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but stuff like that still surprises me

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and that's why i keep coming back

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it's not for these like amazing instagramable moments it's really it's like quirky like oh wow i didn't know

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that like that's so interesting

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or like you have a conversation with somebody's like oh yeah you know my my mom's half filipino

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and my dad's japanese

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and oh yeah we go to mass every sunday in japan

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i'm like holy shit like this is uh just there's just a whole collection of experiences to be had here

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and it's just a shame being in Tokyo seeing all these

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mindless drones just doing what Instagram told them to do right anytime

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you see a restaurant in Japan on Google rated like 4 .8 4 .9 do not go

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it's all tourist reviews they cater to tourists it's going to be kitschy

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it's going to be overpriced it's not going to be

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that good you want to go somewhere this is a travel hack

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you want to go somewhere with like between 3 .2 to like 4 .2 at the most 4 .2 stars

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because anything above that's going to be have the white person

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inflation rate the japanese are very harsh very critical of their restaurants daisuke the guy

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i worked at his ramen shop i think he had like a 3 .9

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and that was like astonishingly good so anything above

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that just be very very cautious but you know you go on google maps

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and all these restaurants fucking oh amazing best food I've ever had.

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I want that real shit, man.

424

I want the real actual critique of the restaurant.

425

I, dude, I, Japanese people are so savage.

426

I saw reviews for restaurants that were actually glowing.

427

They were like, actually, you know, this is amazing food.

428

It's great.

429

And I was a little far out of the way.

430

Um, you know, the interior could be nicer, two stars, right?

431

And again, that's starting with the premise of this food is delicious.

432

I love this place.

433

I would come back two stars.

434

That's how savage they are.

435

Okay.

436

So stay away from all these fucking places, five stars you know it's don't don't be fooled don't be fooled is what i'm getting at

437

and don't be fooled into coming to tokyo

438

and feeling like you have to have a canned generic experience

439

if you want that if you want to do it

440

but don't feel the pressure from instagram or me

441

or from anybody to have any kind of you have your experience all right

442

that's why you travel that's why you come to japan look

443

if if you're here for 10 11 12 days you have a limited time you have to choose wisely right

444

so don't just take my word for it don't fucking follow

445

whoever the fuck big titty instagram girl going to shibuya crossing

446

because you you think you'll be cool like her

447

because you won't be you're going to be fucking lame going to shibuya crossing dude

448

i was in a taxi the other day

449

and we just got caught by the red light at shibuya crossing right

450

so we're at the front of the line

451

and i just see the madness unfold

452

i see you know everybody with their selfie six getting ready the light turns green

453

they all go right it's just

454

this weird like what are you even filming really like what is this like you're all tourists

455

this isn't like a special japanese experience by any means like

456

i'd say more than half of the people are tourists

457

and by the way the light turns red for the for

458

the for the brain dead fucks to stop walking across the sidewalk

459

or the the crosswalk and they continue doing it

460

and there's there's jaywalkers everywhere

461

so they've come all this way to japan to have a japanese experience

462

and then don't even interact with japanese people

463

and then are not even obeying the rules of japan right

464

i think this is why foreigners are getting such a bad rap in japan right now is

465

because they don't want to follow the rules they're loud

466

they don't want to learn any of the culture you know

467

it's just i think i'm becoming a racist against my own kind against the foreigners in japan you know the southeast Asians, they're good, humble people.

468

They come here to learn, they come here to make money, right?

469

And Japanese, uh, you know, the government, the people, the society, they need workers to come in and,

470

and, you know, kind of fill those gaps in the workforce that are happening from the, you know, aging society.

471

But us, the whites, what the fuck are we contributing other than money?

472

Literally, what are we, I mean, I guess you could say

473

I'm like promoting some kind of alternative travel in japan to like get outside the city

474

i guess that's like a you know possibly a net positive

475

but you know before i was youtuber

476

i was still just a mindless fuck here

477

i was just like getting hammered

478

you know passing out on the curb just uh didn't bother to learn the culture

479

or the language for a long time actually i was adamant

480

when i came here to not learn it i was like i don't need

481

it i'll figure it out i mean i did figure it out

482

but that was by studying and fucking writing out my haragana every day

483

so i don't know long story short guys just stay away from tokyo it's not worth it

484

or you know go to the outskirts go to like some quiet little sleepy villages

485

or you know at least sight them i just get out just get out

486

there man like it's not worth the convenience

487

because the convenience comes at a heavy price of your mental health

488

and your personal space and uh you just can't feel like the main character

489

and i guess when i travel i just i I just want to feel like a character, honestly, if I'm being completely transparent.

490

I want to feel special.

491

And you will not be special if you come to Tokyo.

492

You will be a drone.

493

You will be a cog in the machine.

494

You will be a brain -dead piggy.

495

So just stay away.

496

All right, see you in the next one.

497

Bye -bye.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This speaking lesson is built on the video “Tokyo Sucks Ass”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: japan, tokyo, shibuya. This video has 497 sentences and 5836 words to shadow. The speech runs for 30:17. The speaker talks fast, about 193 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. Only 81% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.

Key vocabulary in this video

15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
anyways adverb	/ˈɛn.iˌweɪz/	Anyway, anyhow, in any case.
capsule noun	/ˈkæps(ə)l/	A membranous envelope.
dare verb	/dɛ(ə)ɹ/	To have enough courage (to do something).
podcast noun	/ˈpɑdˌkæst/	A program, especially an audio program, produced on a regular basis, delivered over the Internet in a compressed digital format and designed for playback on…
convenience noun	/kənˈvinjəns/	The quality of being convenient.
anxiety noun	/æŋˈzaɪ.əti/	An unpleasant state of mental uneasiness, nervousness, apprehension and obsession or concern about some uncertain event.
racist noun	/ˈɹeɪ.sɪst/	A person who believes in or supports racism; a person who believes that a particular race is superior to others, or who discriminates against other races.
suck verb	/sʌk/	To use the mouth and lips to pull in (a liquid, especially milk from the breast).
creep verb	/kɹiːp/	To move slowly with the abdomen close to the ground.
lag verb	/læɡ/	To fail to keep up (the pace), to fall behind.
tsunami noun	/(t)suːˈnɑːmi/	A very large and destructive wave, generally caused by a tremendous disturbance in the ocean, such as an undersea earthquake or volcanic eruption; often a…
atmosphere noun	/ˈætməsˌfɪɹ/	The gases surrounding the Earth or any astronomical body.
whoever	/huˈɛvɚ/	Who ever: an emphatic form of who.
bother verb	/ˈbɑðɚ/	To annoy, to disturb, to irritate; to be troublesome to, to make trouble for.
salary noun	/ˈsæləɹi/	A fixed amount of money paid to a worker, usually calculated on a monthly or annual basis, not hourly, as wages. Implies a degree of professionalism and/or…

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
walk down verb		To continually advance (on an opponent) and punch (the opponent) in order to control the fight and dominate the opponent, while shrugging off the opponent's…
come back verb		To return to a place.
get out verb		To leave or escape.
wake up verb	/ˌweɪk ˈʌp/	To stop sleeping; to awake.
walk around verb		To walk with no planned destination; to meander.
blow up verb		To explode or be destroyed by explosion.
break down verb		To stop functioning.
check off verb		To mark items on a list (with a checkmark or by crossing them out) that have been chosen for keeping or removal or that have been dealt with (for example…

Sentences worth repeating

Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:

I don't have a producer.
I don't select them ahead of time.
They're like, I was like, can I smoke in here?
I know more than you, all right?
You know what I'm saying?

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on	haven't been having · we've just been bowling
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	I've been · it's been · i've ever gone
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	was fucked · be had · was stationed

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 216 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, I'm, you're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: bother /ˈbɑðɚ/, earthquake /ˈɝθkweɪk/, sixth /sɪksθ/, southeast /sawˈθɪjst/, northwest /nɔɹθˈwɛst/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: smash /smæʃ/, delicious /dɪˈlɪ.ʃəs/, harsh /ˈhɑɹʃ/, inflation /ɪnˈfleɪ.ʃən/, accomplish /əˈkɑm.plɪʃ/
Long words — get the stress right: anxiety /æŋˈzaɪ.əti/, hilarious /hɪˈlɛə.ɹi.əs/, incredibly /ɪŋˈkɹɛdɪbli/, popularity /ˌpɑ.pjəˈlæɹ.ə.ti/, uncomfortable /ʌnˈkʌm.fɚ.tə.bl̩/

How to practise with this video

Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like anyways, capsule, dare.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

Shadowing Practice: Tokyo Sucks Ass - Learn English Speaking with Video

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