After all a 3 week trip to Japan for a family of four could probably bankrupt a sultan

So it's the case of many people who want to come to Japan, but they just need that final push to get here

So today I want to give you 5 reasons to come to Japan

And who knows sometime in the near future your pale jet-lagged face may pass through the gates here

at Narita Airport

Let's Vitamin!

Japanese Marketing is something I often feel is overlooked

Because regardless of whether it's Tv Commercials, products or billboards

They offer a great insight into the Japanese way of thinking

and surround every minute of every day of your time in Japan

After all, having just arrived in Tokyo and strained your neck

looking after billions of billboards dotted across the Tokyo skyline

You'll stumble down a street and have your ears assaulted by more commercials

And then you will crash out in your Hotel room

switch on the TV and be confronted by an advert

for a USB stick with superior lighter functionality

Now drugs are very much illegal in Japan

But to be honest, commercials like this more than make up for that

This feeling of positivity that Japanese marketing sprays out

like a utopian fountain

Just the other day I went to the convenient store to buy some Red Bull

and just some salted potato chips and came back

with a can of Samuride

and a pack of Happy Happy Chicken Potato Chips

Literally pronounced in Japanese, Happy Chicken

Now in the UK we don't have Happy Chicken flavored Potato Chips

We don't have Happy Chicken flavored at all

We just have Chicken Flavor

Ambiguous Chicken

But I feel happy that before the chicken met its demise

it was nonetheless a Happy Chicken

and so I feel good about myself when I eat them

But because most products in Japan have some English written on them

Even though they are marketed to the 98% of the population who are Japanese

many of whom don't speak English

You get a neverending supply of fantasticly named products

For example Pocari Sweat, the energy sports drink

or the Green Tea called The Pungency

But this extends to bands as well

who use English because they think it sounds cool

After all just the other day I walked past a poster for a rap concert

being headlined by Trailers Trash

and with supporting acts from High-Bridge

and Brownshit

I'll probably avoid that album artwork

It's not something you want to see

Karaoke probably doesn't require an introduction

if you're one of these people who dream of

singing in front of drunken cheering Japanese salarymen

Then your dreams are absolutely achievable

And if like me you're interested in either 80's music or linguistics

you'll find unique interpretations of English songs can actually lead to the discovery

of new languages and new dialects

And if you listen really closely you can sometimes hear conspiracy theories about Lebanon

But they provide the perfect atmosphere for the culmination of a drunken night out

The only thing you need to be careful of

is who you take with you. Otherwise, this happens:

Now in most parts of the world

to sing at this level would be considered a crime agaisnt humanity

but in Japan, everybody sings, everybody gets involved

and everybody has fun, unfortunately

So if you are in Japan even just for a few days you can have a good time

with friends or random people at Karaoke

and if you are in a Major city, there are also Themed-Bars, for example:

Capcom Themed Bar

the Lockup, where you actually get lockedup in a cell through the duration of your meal

and my personal favorite: Robot Restaurant

where for 45 minutes you sit in a chair and question your own sanity

where 6 million women riding a variety of vehicles

race around this tiny room and dangle from a mind-fuck merry-go-round mounted to the roof

or the ceiling and they go round and round

and make your brain just crash

but for all the right reasons

Wow look at that!

It's a brand new Burger King!

Japan has been known to suffer from Galapagos Effect

where products and customs are developed independant from the rest of the world

and this has led to many of Japan's unique Product aimed specifically at a domestic market

For example over 10 years ago Japanese mobile phones were the first to have television and cameras built in

And Japan has a whole different type of car called the K-Car

specifically designed for narrower roads and shorter distances

Fast-food companies as well have some pretty cool variants specifically for Japanese people

Such as the McDonald's Premium Burgers wrapped up like iPods

or the KFC Premium Christmas Menu

where despite the cost of about 7000 yens

its still the most popular time of the year for KFC in Japan

Even holidays like Valentine's Day have subtle cultural differences

For example, on February the 14th for Valentine's Day

Girls give boys presents and then a month later

on a day called White Day, on March 14th

the boys return the gift to the girl

Happy White Day!

And it's said that the returning gift from the boy should be about three times the value

Or as I like to think of it

Three times the disappointment

Post-it notes!

So what you can do on the Post-it note, you can write

anything you want, then, when you're done

you can stick it!

Good British boyfriend!

No! Fucking British boyfriend!

There are also many opportunities to be at one with the animals

If you like Cats there are Cat Cafes of course

Cat windows

and even a Cat Island

where you can be overwhelmed by hundreds of friendly cats

Careful!!

And wonder what the hells going on

Ooooh not my coat!

And then in Nara, the ancient capital of Japan

there are deers who will walk up to you

and bow for food

And it's a beautiful thing

But if they don't get what they want, they will fuck you up

And will eat your face

So if you like cats or deers

This is the place to be!

To the eyes of Japanese people, a lot of foreign food

particularly British food

is considered worst than rabbies

and when you see the craftsmenship, precision and discipline

that goes into making traditional Japanese dishes

such as sushi or ramen

you see why!

And it is no surprise that last year

Japanese food was given Unesco World Heritage Status

In fact if you've never been to Japan

you may've never had real Japanese food

My own favorite dish is Ramen

comes in many flavors

it's amazing!

Which is of a soup with noodles

and usually some meat in and some vegetables

and it is amazing!

Just be careful as it is dangerously addictive

What..do you think......of Japanese culture?

It's good!

If you ever come to Japan, one thing is guaranteed

and that is excellent hospitality

Eccentric individuals

And the friendliest people you probably ever met

And many of my fondest memories are with strangers I met whilst traveling around Japan

For example on New Year's Eve back in 2012

a friend and I went to Nagano

and we had no plans, we didn't know what we were gonna do on NY's Eve

Then we went to a SevenEleven and we just got talking with two Japanese guys who were there

and they invited us to go with them to various clubs and bars around Nagano

and it was a fantastic, a memorable NY's Eve

Even if I was bought never-ending quantities of tequila

and was violently sick in the nightclub

But it also made the start of the year and was one of my fondest memories

not the..sick..the other bit

And if you come to Japan hopefully you too will return with many stories of the cool people

you met with and partied along the way

So I hope that convinced you or persuaded you to come to Japan

and yeah, look forward to seeing you soon!

I'll be waiting right here!

I won't!