S: how many of you are feeling that nostalgia swimming up you plums-

M: looking at us standing in our kitchen

S: I know, standing beside each other

we're gonna talk about culture today, ladies and gentleman

M: if you're new to our channel, we used to do this segment in Korea called TL;DR

which meant 'Too Long; Didn't Read'

S: what we're gonna be talking about today are some common mispreceptions (misconceptions) we've seen about Japan

so we wanna kinda talk about those and dispel them as much as we can

(M and S: dispel them~) (S: David Blaine~)

M: Also, big ups to my Torontonians! Raptors! #1

S: I like how you got Lowry because he's the short one

M: ok well I didn't get him because he is a short one

S: It's because he puts his body on the line for the Raptors and I love watching him play

M: second of all- S: we are talking about Japan and not Toronto

/////////

S: Kowai ( ?) , we don't say that name in this household anymore

first misconception that we need to dispel is this idea that "you need to learn Japanese when you come to Japan"

M: we just don't believe that at all

S: in the least bit

M: yeah, recently we came back from visiting Spain, and before that, last year we went to Italy

and we did not take a crash course on suddenly learning Italian and Spanish just to go visit a country for vacation

S: it's an unreasonable expectation

Japan has like 30 million visitors in a year

I think it's the 11th most visited country in the world

M: the world-- S: you're expecing 30 million people to have a working knowledge of the language before coming here?

that's unreasonable

M: I really wish I was a genius and could learn the language-- S: if I could, I would

M: if I was a vampire, I would spend so much time learning languages

S: if I was a vampire, I'd learn how to DJ

M: huh that would be amazing S: right?

M: DJ of the night

S: DJ Suck Your Blood (SYB)

M: haha DEMONITISE

so just to ease your mind a little bit more about this

because Japan is such a visited country

especially like you know Tokyo and Kyoto, like they know that visitors are coming

we've sen a million different types of menus available

there are ones with Japanese, they have English, they have Chinese

we've seen Russian, we've seen just tons of languages S: Many!

S: Back around the year of 2008 when we lived in Korea

it wasn't really that used to accomondating foreigners yet

it was still pretty new at the time, the tourism boom hasn't really kicked off

a lot of people were like "what were you doing here, why are you here?"

kind of like if someone walked into your house and like "hey, you're... why? wait why are you here?"

M: I remember the first few times that we would start riding the bus

the buses were completely in Korean

so they didn't tell you like the stop name in English nor did they show the signs

so you had to learn Korean so fast and when you saw another foreigner on the street

you would literally go like this (⊙＿⊙)

and you'd like run at each other and you'd always like greet them

and say "hi, like I'm Martina--"

yeah but you know it changes is the point

it's that big cities grow and they change

and so Korea now can definitely handle a lot more tourism coming in

I'm sure if you go to a shop, they're no longer like "I can't speak English"

they're just kind of like "so what, it's a foreigner"

and we see that comfort here you know?

S: yeah in Japan, especially in Tokyo, there is not that discomfort with foreigners, there's none of that fear

none of that shock, you can definitely get by without speaking Japanese here

M: and one rule of thumb is that this rule never applies to any countryside anywhere in the world

M: if you go to the Korean countryside, have fun, if you go to the Japanese countryside, they're gonna be like "what the heck"

S: but if your in the major tourist destination of the city like Tokyo is a really big city

you're definitely gonna be fine

M: that being said, we always think it's great to learn a little bit of the language

especially if you're trying to like unlock something a little bit special

like you guys have heard us talk a lot about us going to ramen shops like on our podcast

and these ramen shops don't have a lick of English to them

and the vending machines were all in kanji

so in that case it can be a bit more of like a fun gamble

like "what I'm I ordering?"

and we did that a lot when we visited Japan when we lived in Korea

S: but even you don't know what you're reading, there's a--

even if you picked something from a vending machine around the shop

it's gonna be amazing

so you don't hav to worry about messing up

but if you're like "ooh, I really feel like having a little bit of this or feel like having a little bit of that"

then learnin some of the language is gonna help out

we're not trying to discourage you from learning Japanese before coming here

if you want to, by all means go right ahead

but don't feel like you have to

don't put that pressure on yourself, don't feel like you can't come here unlesss--

no it's gonna accomondating for you

so be a little bit kinder to yourself

you're gonna have a good time

M: it's gonna be a great vacation

S: now apart from trying to ease these exaggerated expectations you have for yourself

we wanna address people crushing certian expectations before you come to Japan

M: falsely at that

S: we see some people say "oh Japan isn't all anime and manga and Pikachu and Pokemon"

M:. don't expect to come here and find people dressed weird and now--

of course, Japanese bussinessmen and women aren't walking around wearing anime costumes and throwing chains at each other

tossing Pokeballs

S: throwing chains?? M: like if you're in like some kind of anime

S: you should have said ninja stars or swords M: no, well I read mangas , I don't know

they have different kinds of--

S: they beat people with chains?? M: YES

S: I want to see, I'm calling you out on this shit M: no you don't!

S: alright, what manga do they beat each other with chains? M: write it down below in the comment section

S: oh you're expecting them to bail you out M: they are gonna bail me out, they know

the point is, everybody knows even if you haven't visited Japan

that Japanese bussinessmen and women wear normal clothing and grandmothers wearing normal clothing

like people aren't running around actually cosplaying all the time

the reason why people feel excited to visit Japan for pop cultures, because it's something they had in their country

but it wasn't on a full scale, it was imported into their country

S: and only in small speciatlty shops

M: for us, when we were growing up at least, like managa was not as available as it is now

I had to go to like a specific mall all the way in Brampton

because it was the only comic book store that imported manga

S: driving all the way to Marcompf for the Pacific Mall to get some of that stuff

that was a journey

M: it was a journey and so pardon me, if when I come to Japan

there's just a bookstore loaded with all of these kind of stuff that I enjoy reading

and it's not like they made that shop up for tourists

it's a Japanese store because people really do love manga here

S: people really dig Sailor Moon

there's Sailor Moon fanclubs and concerts

S: why are you wearing that wig?

M: I'm not wearing a wig, I came this way

I'm modern Sailor Moon

S: what are you doing as modern Sailor Moon

M: I'm going to the Sailor Moon 20th anniversary and club party

...by myself

I am Sailor Moon No. 1789

I got my single serving ticket to the venue

I opened up everything and touched everything

I have like an hour to kill before the event starts

S: you will find it here in Japan a lot easier than you will outside of Japan

M: which makes just so much sense

imagine going to a country to get stuff from a coutnry that makes it

like why is this such an offensive thing to people

S: I mean there are people who travel to France because they want to learn how to be chefs

does that mean that every single person in France is walking around with a baguette and a chef's knife?

no obviously not, we're not setting up that strumming and you shouldn't think that about Japan as well

but it is really commonly available

it's a lot easier to get here

so if you do want to come here for anime or for manga or for Sailor Moon or for whatever the hell you wanna come here for

don't let aybody shame you for that alright?

M: you got this nerd so mad, he's like literally yelling at the camera right now

S: LOOk HeRE SONY 873, I'M SICK OF YOUr SH@@ OKay?

M: ThErE's NoThIng WrOnG WiTH LikING FINAL FAntasy

S: not the only reason but one of the things that really drew me to Japan is I love FF

it's my sh@@

M: what's this Simon?

this is an old FF noodle cup set with Sephiroth on it because he was like, we'll just keep one or two

S: what's this? M: it's a tiny bowl of ramen

we always wanted to get those when I was in Japan

what's this?

it's Pikachu, he's wearing a very small beret because this is a special limited edition feature with the beret

S: oh wait we got this in Japan didn't we because it's so easily available here

M: oh Godzilla S: omg no there can't be Godzilla stuff

you go to that theater in Shinjuku and there's a huge Godzilla there!

M: HOT TIPS for those that want to nerd out the way that we do when we came here

S: just to be clear because it is easily available here doesn't mean that it's equally distributed

there are some pockets in which it's a lot easier for you to find if you're really totally wanna geek out

M: our number 1 choice is actually Nakano Broadwway

and that's actually west side Tokyo like where we are

so a lot of people don't go there because it's out of their hotel area

because they're used to staying downtown in the core

a lot of people go to Akihabara instead which I'm sure you've heard of that

but for us Nakano Broadway has a lot more of like vintage things and

you can like find collectibles and plastic toys

and there's like a really dope camera section, that's where you go to get your stuff

whenever you walk in, they're like "this guy again"

S: I go to Nakano Broadway for the camera stuff

M: now Akihabara is the one that you've undoubtedly heard of before

it actually has a lot more new and modern stuff so if you're really into like manga and anime culture

and you're up to date on it like you're not like me who's like "I'm gonna look at stuff from the 80s"

if you're actually looking for something modern, Akihabara is gonna have it

MEEMS

S: ay you shut it

MEEMS

M: just like olden days when Meemers would meow through our whole TL;DRs

hopefully you can't hear him from now since our microphones have gotten better

MEEMS

S: it's hard to focus with a meowing cat

MEEEMS

S: b@@@ if you want your own youtube channel then get your own camera

there are many different things you could do here

Japan is very very diverse with lots of different subcultures in it

M: huuh arcades~

like towers in Akihabara has just like old fashioned arcades

S: we met a guy in one of our favourite coffee shops because he wanted to come to Japan just for a coffee experience

he had his little map and he went to a whole bunch of different coffee shops

sure not everybody in Japan is as into coffee as he was

but that is his little pilgrimage

so whatever you wanna do in Japan

you follow your vision, there's not one right way to experience it

there's not one right version of Japan

find the things that you like and pursue that

and Japan's a great place for you

M: and it's time for the S&M nerdy quiz

what is something Simon, about Japan that is really nerdy that you absolutely love?

S: I love how much they love jeans here

M: what??

S: like there's some shops that realllllyyy take denim super duper seriously

M: I know what you're speaking about

S: I'm not that into jeans myself but

I love seeing that passion that they have and I'm amazed at how expensive some of them are

M: another misconception bout Japan is that people only eat Japanese food here

for example I might meet somebody at a store in Canada and they say to me

you know "oh what's it like, do you eat sushi for breakfast?"

like they don't really understand the types of foods available in Japan

and that's fair I suppose because they did not subscribe to our youtube videos *busted*

where if they had smashed and like that subscribe button