Full video

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Hi everybody and welcome to a new

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episode of Easy English. Recently, we've

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noticed that we've acquired a lot of

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followers from Japan. So, we thought to

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ask the obvious question, what do Brits

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know about the Japanese? So, I thought

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I'd head into Brighton behind us and ask

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questions about Japanese culture,

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Japanese people, and Japan itself.

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Before we start this week's episode, if

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you're a regular viewer of Easy English,

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then it would mean a lot to me if you

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would quickly subscribe to us below to

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be notified about future videos. This is

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what Brits think of the Japanese. Here

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we go.

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[Music]

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What do you know about Japan, Japanese

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culture, Japanese people?

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Japanese culture is absolutely

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beautiful. I really want to take it on

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as a language.

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Yeah, I was actually considering

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learning it.

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What do you know about Japan, Japanese

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culture, Japanese people?

1:07

Not much. I know more about Japanese

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culture than the average person would

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know. My ex is Japanese.

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I think it's seems like quite eccentric,

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just the culture, like how they bow and

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stuff.

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I love Japanese food, so there's that.

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and uh one of the greatest creations in

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the world, Pokémon. So that's uh one of

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my biggest hobbies of all time without

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sounding too much like I have no one in

1:34

my life. Uh

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the idea of the language, at least from

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what I understand, is it's it's not

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based on what you're saying, it's the

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way you're saying it.

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Tea ceremonies is the first thing that

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springs to mind. And when I think of

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Japanese culture and Japanese people, I

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think I think of everything being done

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very um gracefully and very articulately

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and deliberately. I love their

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calligraphy and their artistic style. I

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think of them as very elegant and sort

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of um fine finely tuned people if that

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makes sense. That yeah, that's what I

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immediately think of.

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People say that the Japanese are very

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hard workers.

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Yes.

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Okay. Do they work hard or are they

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forced to work hard?

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Vast difference. If your boss is in the

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office, no staff member would leave

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until the boss leaves.

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Wow.

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So, if the boss is doing 12 hours,

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expect to do 12 hours.

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The Japanese people that I've met have

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been very kind and sort of welcoming,

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very respectful. So, I'm a big Arsenal

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fan. So, I know Tommy Yasu.

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Okay. I wonder where that was going.

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And like there's always stories that

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when they go to basically like different

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stadiums, he'll be the one who like

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cleans the changing room, like leave it

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very clean.

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I think I'd like the idea of the culture

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shock and, you know, experiencing a

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whole load of new things I've never seen

3:00

before. Before we carry on with this

3:02

week's episode, if you're someone who is

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4:13

How about if I told you something that

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unique? Exactly.

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Did you know that the average person's

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kitchen has no oven?

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Okay. Yeah,

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that is a unique one. And why why would

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that be?

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Well, they say they do have an oven, but

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it's more like the microwave oven. And I

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said, "Well, they came out in the ' 70s,

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for example, so what do you have before

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that?"

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So there's no set traditional oven.

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And is Japanese food readily available

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in the UK or in Brighton?

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Uh yeah, there are some like sushi

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places to go to. There are a few um like

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food shops as well that are like

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Japanese foods. So

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is that something you eat like

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regularly, you say?

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Uh yeah, I love sushi.

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I feel like I eat sushi quite regularly.

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Yes, sushi. But we I haven't personally

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I haven't indulged in it.

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No, I feel like there's so much more.

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That's probably like the very basic of

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Japanese food.

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Yeah.

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Donburi bowls.

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Okay.

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They're probably my favorite. Um any

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Yeah. Any type of rice bowl or like poke

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bowl. They're kind of my favorite. And

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then obviously sushi's good.

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But yeah, anything rice, protein, and

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veg just it's pretty great.

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So yeah,

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Poké Balls and Pokémon.

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Exactly. Yeah, it works. It works. So

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then what does their diet consist of

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then without an oven?

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Without being obvious and saying fish.

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Yeah, it's a lot of vegetables. There's

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more vegetable going on there than fish.

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And beef is so expensive. It's more than

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prime. One steak, for example, could be

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easily £100.

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Really?

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Beef is extremely expensive.

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Can we touch on this? The first thing

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you said, the tea ceremony. What is this

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and how do you know about tea ceremony?

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Well, I probably know about it from uh

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what I've read in books and seen in

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films, but I'm aware that um in Japan a

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lot of things are given a lot of sacred

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um importance. So, making tea doesn't

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just become for us like bunging a kettle

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on and sticking a tea bag in a mug.

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There's I love the fact that there's a

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lot of deliberation about the whole

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thing. So, you know, you dress in a

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certain way, you position yourself in a

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certain way, and then there's a sort of

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a whole um ceremony to how the tea is

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made and served and in what order things

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are done. Yeah, there's a lot of um

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deliberateness, if that's a word, um in

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my understanding. And I I I like that. I

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like the idea of that. I think like

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there's a seems to be like a big culture

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of like anime and like things like that

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and like a lot of like pop like pop art

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kind of things from what I've seen.

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Right. Yeah, that's kind of made its way

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across into the UK, right? Like J-pop

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and are you into anime or manga or

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Do you consume any Japanese media or

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somewhat? Yeah, we actually obviously

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anime is quite a big thing and manga and

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stuff like that.

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Do you watch it?

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I do. Yeah. Yeah, I've watched quite a

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lot. Um,

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is there a specific one you watch?

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I've I've I've spent like 10 years

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watching it. Uh, so I've watched

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everything. I've watched stuff like

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Dragon Ball, so really popular stuff.

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Yeah.

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I've watched stuff like Iran High School

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Host Club, which is very niche. Very

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very niche. It's 20 2012. Obviously,

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I've watched Sailor Moon and stuff like

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that, the classics. So,

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Leveling,

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Solo Leveling, that's that's a big one.

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Kaizen,

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Jiu-Jitsu Kaizen. Yeah, you you

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Demon Slayer.

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We also watch quite a lot of TV as well,

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which really surprised me. Like, Million

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Yen Women really like that.

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Really got on with that. Really thought

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it was a really interesting concept. I'm

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playing Pokémon Go. So, that's the one

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where you walk around and catch Pokémon.

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Oh, wow. Oh, I thought that was just

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like a a fad that happened for like

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No, no, it's actually it's the 9th year

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anniversary. So, uh yeah, there's a

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special event week going on. But yeah, I

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didn't realize how many people play it

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when I got back into it, but yeah,

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stupid amount.

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We just went to the Hello Kitty cafe.

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So, what what is Hello Kitty then?

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What is Hello Kitty? Okay. So, imagine

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like the best cat that you've ever seen

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in like cartoon form and you look at her

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and she just brings you joy. That's like

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what Hello Kitty is, I think.

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And did you buy anything in Hello Kitty?

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Can you What What do you do in Hello

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Kitty?

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Well, okay. So, they've actually it's

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the Artbox Cafe. They've rebranded it to

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Karumi and My Melody, which is Hello

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Kitty's friends, so they all know each

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other. Um I was going to get a key ring,

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but I completely forgot. But we got like

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little cakes and stuff like that.

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Okay. So, it's like a tea room or

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something.

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This is like a cafe. Yeah. Yeah, they

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used to do like um a menu, but now it's

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just like hot chocolate and cakes and

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stuff like that.

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Okay, it sounds cute.

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It's really cute. It's awesome. We felt

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a bit We were dressed a bit weirdly cuz

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we're all like Well, I mean, I've got

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the Hello Kitty necklace on though, so

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that's Yeah.

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Do you think Japanese culture maybe is

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quite conservative then because it's all

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sounds very traditional and there's a

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way of doing things and a way to present

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yourself? Well, I think there's a

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strangely two-sided element to it

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because um I also think they can when

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they let their head down, you've got

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things like kawaii and um manga and

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anime and that like this fantastical

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world where the imagination is king and

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it just they run wild with their

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imagination. So, I love that

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justosition, the way that um you've got

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one thing on one side and then uh yeah,

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when they go a little bit wild, there's

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that whole other thing going on. I just

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find it endlessly fascinating. I've

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never been to Japan, but um my youngest

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son is nine and he would love to go. So

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maybe one day.

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Everything you imagine where it's zen

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and there's nothing there is complete

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opposite.

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You go to their shops and it's a counter

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where there's like one pen on there and

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a stapler, that is it.

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Okay.

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But in the house itself

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and behind those sliding doors,

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don't open them. It's a total mess.

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So is that completely disillusioned

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everyone about the Japanese culture?

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Right. because the insight that we are

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given is this very like um yeah like you

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say neat presentable

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a lot of it is but I'm just saying that

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is like the kitchen is just a bomb went

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off

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and you said you would like to go you

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think

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yeah definitely

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we really I I want to go because I can't

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think of anything better than seeing all

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the cherry blossoms and seeing you know

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Osaka seeing Tokyo seeing just how busy

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it is and seeing a completely different

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climate to what we experience. I love

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the idea of that.

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I'm a massive history nut, so I I like

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any sort of history. 1867 warfare and

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stuff like that. So, I'd love to see

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like the the traditional trading port

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cities. Uh especially the ones where

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they interacted with the Dutch for the

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first time. That's where a lot of the

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the culture comes from is that clash of

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European. So, it'd be nice to see. I

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think I'd like to see that.

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Also, the winter on the further islands

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north. That'd be really cool. I don't

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think most people go there. Most people

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go to like uh Tokyo. So, I'd love to see

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something that most tourists don't see.

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That'd be like my dreams. Thanks for

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watching this week's episode. Let us

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know in the comments below what you

11:00

thought of this week's episode and what

11:02

your thoughts are of Japan, Japanese

11:04

culture, and the Japanese people. And

11:06

also, if you're a viewer from Japan,

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then let us know what you think of the

11:09

stereotypes and observations that we

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have on your culture. And as always,

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we'll see you next time. Sayanara.

11:17

Heat.

11:20

[Music]