← Clotheshorse with Amanda Lee McCarty
Clotheshorse with Amanda Lee McCarty
Episode 250: A Japan-isode, featuring Mr. Dustin Travis White
01:57:10
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- [00:19]
A
Welcome to Clothes Horse, the podcast that is finally not waking up at 3am every night to eat crackers in bed. I'm your host, Amanda, and this is episode 250, a very special episode, if you will. Just a casual, fun episode where we're going to talk about my month in Japan, which longtime listeners know is something I did last year as well. I produced several episodes about different aspects of Japan, things I experienced there, the culture. I didn't get to quite to do as many episodes in Japan this year as I would have liked to because, like, to be honest, I was just like really working a lot. I have more clients this year, they need a lot more. For me, it's a really busy time of year and I'm actually really grateful to be able to work with all of them. So when I'm busy with work, I have, I have less bandwidth for Closed Horse. But I know many of you have been asking how my trip was, what I did. And so I decided that once I recovered from the jet lag and could think clearly, which is now, that I would put together a recap of my trip to share with all of you. You know, something maybe fun to listen to to end the year, but also, you know, for all of you who are thinking about visiting Japan, to give you some tips, advice and just share, to share my experiences there. Okay, so I'm gonna tell you right now that my initial plan for this episode was that half of the hour or two of it was going to be me discussing the first two weeks of my trip when I was by myself, when I was in Tokyo and Matsumoto Kana Sawa Kyoto, and then met up with Dustin in Nagoya. But I recorded the part of the trip with Dustin first and it ended up being so long and I cut a little bit, but not very much because I think there's a lot of really interesting information in there, if I do say so myself. So I didn't want to bore you with like a three hour episode to include every part of my trip. So I'm not actually talking about my first two weeks in Japan in this episode, but if that is something that y' all would like to hear about, drop me a line. You can send me an email at amandaosehorse World, you can comment on a social media post about it, whatever you want to do. And if enough people are interested, I will absolutely make a little episode where I talk about the first half of my trip because I did a lot of really cool stuff. One of my goals every time I go to Japan is to see as much art as possible. So in that first two weeks of my trip, in addition to, you know, working, eating food, just being so stoked to be in Japan, I actually went to as many art museums and shows as possible. And some of the cities I visited, particularly Kana Sawa and Matsumoto, were specifically to check out some contemporary art. And, I mean, I would love to share all of that with you. So if you're interested in hearing more, let me know. That said, in this conversation with Dustin, we're going to talk about a lot of different restaurants and museums and hotels we stayed in, places we visited, and I am including all of them in the show notes. So if you have a question about a place we stayed or something we ate, please go check out the show notes first. Be in that very elite 1% of people who actually use the show notes. The other thing I just wanted to call out is I am putting no ads into this episode. I just wanted to be a fun little gift to all of you at the end of this year in this holiday season, a gift for surviving 2025. And instead, between the segments, you're going to hear different songs that play at specific stations on the Yamanote train line in Tokyo. And I will also share a link to a comp on YouTube where you can hear all of them if you are suddenly becoming to become a train music head like me. And also, I would just shout out that last year, in one of my Japanisodes, I totally talked about train music. I go on some journeys here. So if you're intrigued by that and you haven't listened to those episodes, I would go give those a listen as well. All right, well, let's get on with the show. Okay, so now we are halfway through my month in Japan, and I felt that at this point, we should be joined by a very special guest who spent the next two weeks with me, and that is Mr. Justin Travis White.
- [05:30]
B
That's me.
- [05:32]
A
Welcome to the show. Hey, how are you doing?
- [05:35]
B
It's cool.
- [05:38]
A
Do you have any updates you want to share with the audience?
- [05:42]
B
I didn't think this was that kind of appearance.
- [05:45]
A
I'm trying to be more legit now.
- [05:47]
B
Yeah, you're gonna get this big sponsor when you ask people that question.
- [05:50]
A
Yeah, maybe we'll get, like, better health or something. Better help. That's what it is. Anyway. Okay, so, Dustin, you flew into Tokyo.
- [06:00]
B
Yes.
- [06:00]
A
And you took the Shinkansen down to Nagoya to meet me. And why were we there?
- [06:07]
B
Well, I was dropping off records at Stiff Slack which is like a distributor store venue that's there that's really, really amazing and cool. And they didn't get any when the record first came out. So I had some copies and was just dropping them off there.
- [06:30]
A
And so now officially people in Japan can buy American Motors records.
- [06:34]
B
Yes. This is product placement. Yes.
- [06:37]
A
And that store was actually really cool because it, I mean one, it felt like every single record in there was the best record but also had a venue space attached to it.
- [06:49]
B
Yeah, yeah, they do a lot of stuff. It's pretty wild. Like they, for a handful of kind of smaller labels they'll do a Japanese only pressing and like a different color that's limited to them. And like you know they, they, I, I think they work it too as a distributor so they get stuff in stores on top of what they do. I'm not 100 on that or if it's just like straight up like you mail order from them those versions. But you know there was lots of crazy stuff that they are. We're doing, you know, limited colors of and stuff for over there. And it was just, it was just cool in general to see because like, you know, they had some pretty intense genre and like label specific cards. Like I've never seen a Lovett Records divider. It's the one that I keep coming back to because it was just a wild one. Especially because that label hasn't put out anything new since, I don't know for quite a while. But for them to still have that was pretty wild.
- [07:50]
A
Yeah, I mean I, I thought that Nagoya was really cool. So I spent like about a week there last year when I was there for a month then. And I really used it as more of like a jump off to go up into the mountains and visit other towns and you know, go learn how to make fake food and things like that. So I only got to spend a little bit of time actually in the city. But I was like this is pretty cool. And I arrived in Nagoya a couple days before you got there because there was this art triennial happening there with several museums in, in the area which means it's like an every three year special art exhibition. And I wanted to go check that out and it was great. I also went to. And this amused you to no end. I went to an art museum inside a department store and it was also really great. There were some incredible paintings there that were making me tear up because they were just so amazing. And also side note, like, why don't department stores here in the US have museums? Right?
- [08:59]
B
Do we Barely have department stores now.
- [09:01]
A
This is true. But even. I mean, fast forward to, like, the end of our trip. We went to that big Muji in Ginza, and they had a museum on the top floor.
- [09:10]
B
Yes.
- [09:11]
A
I mean, it was, like, interesting how. I don't mean, you know, like, listen, not a huge fan of, like, capitalism per se, but, like, imagine if all these retailers who do have a big chunk of the money that exists in the world were supporting the arts instead of saying, like, oh, actually, we're not only gonna not support the arts, we're gonna fire all the designers and replace them with AI.
- [09:37]
B
Well, there was that book about the history of malls that I read a year or so back. And when you dive into that, early malls would have more stuff like that in them until, you know, there wasn't, like, the original ones didn't even really have food courts and stuff. So it's a whole. But they would have, you know, more public space and stuff. So I don't know, it's just something that got lost to, you know, in the hunt for the bottom line.
- [10:04]
A
Definitely. And, I mean, you and I are big mall fans. We've talked about that here on the podcast before. But the malls in Japan, I mean, we've been to so many malls because there's always a ton of restaurants. There will be things like art galleries and museums in there, other interactive activities, bookstores, secondhand stores, vintage stores, and just so many things to do that keep you in there. There was one afternoon in Tokyo where I just wanted to pop into Parco, which we'll talk about more when we get to that part of our trip. Parco is, in my opinion, the best chain of malls in Japan because they always have the best stores, the most interesting things and best restaurants. And we spent at least four hours in that Parco, if not five. And I can't remember the last time I spent that much time in a mall, and it went so fast.
- [10:58]
B
Yeah.
- [11:00]
A
Anyway, so speaking of malls, you know, another thing that is really interesting about Nagoya, but is sort of like, I don't know, like, illustrates how space is used in the urban centers in Japan. You know, you and I talk about this all the time, how everything is so layered and you have to look up, right. Because every floor above street level will have stores, restaurants, salons, you name it. You can't just assume that something is on the ground floor, and in most cases it's not. And it's probably also, like, several floors below the ground as well. And in. In Nagoya, there is this mall that sort of runs from the station, which is in itself and multi level city of multiple malls and department stores and above ground underground restaurants. All the things in just a couple blocks. But the Unimall is this fully underground mall that runs under the main street from the station. And I never reached the other end of it, but our hotel was several blocks from the station and the mall was still going strong there. And what was nice is there was one day that I was there where it was raining and I was able to just walk down the stairs outside the hotel into this underground mall and use that to kind of connect with all these other places. And it was a real mall, like restaurants, stores, grocery stores, drugstores, places to send mail. Like it was thriving and busy. It just happened to be under the city.
- [12:35]
B
Well, when you build a mall like that basically attached to a train station, you don't have to have a mile of parking lots around it because you've already given access to it easily. You know, like that's a big thing for a lot of those underground malls. And the malls are in general, it's like it's right either attached to or across the street from a train station and therefore like you, but by simply giving that access to it, you know, like you don't need all that parking. So it's dense, it's in an urban zone. Or like whenever I tried to find, to go over to that exhibit that was adjacent, that was a mall that I went to right there to try to find that. And you know, that was right. Like you basically could leave the train station, walk across a bridge and you were in that mall and that. And I think that plays a huge role in. Plus just allowing it to be that density of both, you know, vertical, you know, and underground, you know, and to sprawl like that, it's really interesting because it. Everything's dense, but it's accessible and, and that I think plays a huge, huge role in it.
- [13:55]
A
Yeah, I mean, one of the things I got really into for food, for meals on this, on this particular trip was going to grocery stores. And in Nagoya specifically below the station, I would say there are three to four like straight up supermarkets under the station, all within like a five minute walk of one another. And how convenient is that to get off the train from work and be able to get your groceries under one roof? You know, I thought that that was amazing. I mean, here we live in a sea of parking lots and most of the time, if you need to do shopping in the urban center, like grocery shopping, you're gonna have less selection, higher prices. Right? It's not like that there. It's just part of the day to day life. It's easier. And I would suspect it makes an individual's carbon footprint a lot lower because you don't have to drive everywhere. You're just on transportation, getting the things you need. So another thing that happened in Nagoya that was pretty exciting for you and for anyone who looks at you, I guess, is that you got some jeans, which is a big deal.
- [15:10]
B
Okay, yeah, no, that was amazing because it's just at this mall and in Japan, Lee exists and. But as it's not like fancy, but it's not cheap. What was crazy is it's not presented as like this Lee sustainable jeans, but if you look on the inside of the pocket, every step along the process of manufacture is listed like and which is just wild, you know, this is not something that's sold as like sustainable or luxury. It's just here's Lee jeans at the mall, but every piece of manufacturer is listed, which is just like unfathomable. Like. And it was really cool. And they were, they were great. And all the branding was like, you know, old Lee branding. It was really, really cool and I was amazed to find them.
- [16:10]
A
And one pair of them was bell bottoms and they look amazing on Dustin and they were long enough and they're really high quality rigid denim. So I have to start this by saying that I actually have troubled relationship with Lee because those were the jeans my grandma always wanted to buy me when I was a kid. Back then, Lee was a lot of Lee jeans were made in the U.S. in Reading, Pennsylvania. And you could go to an outlet there. And my grandma would always take me there to get jeans for back to school. And I didn't hate that they were at the outlet. What I hated is that my middle name is Lee, which I also didn't like. And I, for some reason the fact that these jeans were called Lee just really was really bothered me. Anyway, now the jeans that you buy in Japan with the Lee label are actually licensed to another denim company called Edwin that does do all of its production in Japan. And it's incredible because you can actually go to Okayama, which we've passed through. Right. We've never like really spent a lot of time there, but perhaps we should add this on our list for next year in Okayama. Pretty much all the denim in Japan is made like from beginning to end. And you could actually see that on the production information inside the jeans that Dustin bought. So they're just like Totally different quality, totally different supply chain. And priced pretty affordably.
- [17:45]
B
I mean, it was, you know, it felt like the level that like nudie or something is, but for like a third the price.
- [17:54]
A
And it wasn't like we went into the lease store and it was plastered with signs that were like, look at our cool, ethical, sustainable jeans. It just was just. That's just how we make our jeans. And I thought that was really, really cool.
- [18:08]
B
I didn't even notice it till I was had my hand in the pocket and. Cause the, the it's on the outside of the pocket that would face your leg. And I had my hand in the pocket and I felt like a tag there. And I was like, what is that? To the next time I looked at it and saw that supply chain and was just like really like blown away by that. Then the fact that it wasn't even something that was like, you know, advertised. It was just like, here it is.
- [18:36]
A
Yeah, it was really cool. So that was Nagoya. And then we went to Fukuoka, which is a city south in Japan that I have passed through before on the way to Nagasaki. But I'd never really hung out. And I'd heard a lot of great things about Fukuoka. Like it's known for really great coffee, it's known for ramen and just generally being like a cool place. It doesn't get a lot of tourists from the west. I mean, neither does Nagoya. Even though Nagoya is between Tokyo and Kyoto, it is not considered part of the so called like golden route that people tend to take when they visit Japan, which is like Tokyo, maybe Hakone, Kyoto and then Hiroshima. Nobody stops in Nagoya, which is too bad because it was like I said, really cool. And even less people go to Fukuoka because it is far. It was about, I don't know, like a five hour Shinkansen ride. And remember, Shinkansen is the bullet train and it goes more than 100 miles per hour. So it was, it was a long trip. And for this part of our trip, we actually did something that was special to me only because it gave me some level of closure which, which is that we took the hello Kitty Shinkansen, which is a shinkansen that is wrapped for hello Kitty, like inside and out. And in the first car there is of course a gift shop full of like local foods and gifts from all of the places that the hello Kitty Shinkansen stops. You could also watch a film in there, which we did, that was about visiting the different cities and the food that is from those cities. And this was not the first Time we'd taken the hello Kitty Shinkansen, we actually took it back in, like, 2018, 2019, maybe it was 2017, actually, because I think we still lived in Portland then when we went the first few months that they had launched the train because it was only supposed to be around for a few months. And of course, here it is, all this time it's been running, and I felt after I heard that it would be ending in early spring of next year, I felt like I needed to run it, ride it one last time. And Dustin, you pointed out something that is so true that I didn't see before, but then was very obvious that this was clearly an older Shinkansen train that they had said, okay, let's get a little bit more mileage out of this. So they converted it to be this hello Kitty train. It was interesting to be on it, like, what, I don't know, eight years after it launched. And see the wear and tear on it. Like, a lot of the stuff was wearing off. Yeah, yeah. And. And it's not as nice as the newer Shinkansen trains. Like, even the bathrooms, like, weren't as fancy. They didn't have heated seats on the toilets and such, and there weren't, like, outlets.
- [21:48]
B
You know, the things that you've. That are. You've grown accustomed to on. On. On the things like that.
- [21:55]
A
Yeah. So that was. I could see it, but I'm still glad we got the closure of it all. And so the hello Kitty Shinkansen is a slower train. It's the slowest of all. The Shinkansen Kodama still well more than 100 miles per hour, but it did make the trip a little longer, but worth it for the psychological closure of it all. And so we get on the train, we ride most of the day, and before you know it, we are in Fukuoka. And I'll tell you, like, from the moment we got off the train and got on the subway and I was looking at people, I just had this sense, like, it reminded me of the Pacific Northwest. When you're far away from home, you're always trying to find the. I don't know, the counterpart to where you are. Like, you and I talked a lot about how Nagoya reminded of us, us of Detroit or Chicago, because the auto industry is there. Right. And it just had that kind of vibe. Still a huge city, of course, like, Chicago and Fukuoka had this. I don't know, it felt like Portland or Seattle to me. The way people were dressed, the way the air felt. And it's really beautiful there I really loved it. I would definitely spend more time there. So one of the main reasons we were there is once again you were delivering records.
- [23:17]
B
Yeah, Motor Pool had met with, with him. He actually came and had a drink in the hotel lobby and you know, had to use Google Translate to like truly have a discourse. But it was, I mean it was cool. It was, it was interesting to, you know, drop off some more records for over there. And to be, you know, in Japan talking about like, you know, Discord Records, bands and stuff was like a weird, a weird moment that was really, really, really, really fun.
- [23:49]
A
What was your favorite thing that we did in Fukuoka?
- [23:54]
B
Probably Festa de Santa.
- [23:57]
A
Do you want to explain what. And I agree, it was awesome. Do you want to explain what Festa de Santa is?
- [24:04]
B
Well, it's seems to be a festival that's really all about like the statues of Santa that like you see at like beach towns where it's like off duty Santa and churros and opera and lights.
- [24:25]
A
Yeah, and by off duty Santas we mean the ones that you always see. I mean, and this I will preface the spacing. I don't know if this is an experience that is unique to going to the beach on the east coast. No, I feel like I've seen these at the Oregon coast too. There's always a store or two or three that is at the beach that carries Christmas stuff year round. Right. It's like a Christmas ornament store. And they always have like off duty Santa like statues and ornaments and whatnot that are basically like Santa in a Hawaiian shirt and swim trunks, wearing sunglasses, maybe he's got a surfboard. And at Festa de Santa there were like hundreds of Santa statues, life size. And most of them were this off duty Santa.
- [25:15]
B
There's very few of what you would assume was a Santa in his traditional role. These were much more like party Santa than anything else.
- [25:23]
A
And people were loving it. They were taking tons of selfies and family photos with all these Santas. The opera was actually amazing. People were eating churros and hot whiskey and there were lights everywhere. And it was part of like sort of a larger event that was going on that was like a light like night of lights kind of thing. So the lights went across the bridge and people were taking tons of photos. And it was actually really lovely because it was pretty warm in Fukuoka. I mean a little, it was a little cooler. Not as cold as it is right now back home here in Pennsylvania. But it was just like a love lovely evening to walk around and the whole thing Felt surreal because honestly, when I booked our hotel, I was like, okay, I want something that is easy to get to from the train station and is like a decent price. And we stayed at this place called the Lively Hotel, which is part. It's owned by the same company that owns our favorite hotel that we always stay in in Japan, Hotel Graphi. So we stayed in this Lively and it was fine. I liked it.
- [26:36]
B
Yeah.
- [26:38]
A
I just booked it because it was easy to get to the train station. But it actually, I feel like it just serendipitously was in the best location. It was like we were just out walking and came across this Festa de Santa. It was right on the river, which was. There were like canal boats out there. Like in Venice.
- [27:00]
B
Yeah. It was like gondola guys.
- [27:02]
A
Yeah. It was so interesting. And then there were also like little sort of like structures on the sidewalk where people had mini restaurants inside with like maybe four or five tables and they were cooking food or there were some bars and whatnot.
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B
Yeah.
- [27:16]
A
And there was at one point I was like, why are all these people gathered along this side of the street? Like a hundred people and they're all staring in the same direction. And it was because across the street is the flagship location of this ramen chain called Ichiran. And Ichiran specializes in this like pork based ramen that is like the dish of Fukuoka. And at the flagship location, every hour or so at night there are all these windows up the restaurant. I don't know, it's like five or six floors. There are all these windows, right. And dancers appear in the windows. They play really loud music and they do like a 10 minute performance and people were just gathering there.
- [28:06]
B
It was. There were so many people. It felt like when we first looked up inside it, it felt like some weird like red light district.
- [28:12]
A
It had that vibe like, because it's.
- [28:14]
B
Like just people in windows dancing. Like. And you're just didn't really know what was going on. And it. Because like we stumbled upon it after leaving Festa de Santos. You're already just kind of. Things already feel a little surreal. And then you walk across a bridge and there's just all these people on the sidewalk and we're like, are they trying to get into this restaurant? Like, why are they. They're on the other side of the street from the restaurant. And then it started and there's just people dancing in windows and people are loving it.
- [28:43]
A
And at first I thought it was related to Christmas, but then I went back to the hotel and was. And like did some research, and I was like, oh, like, people know about this. This is, like, a big deal. So let's talk about Christmas for a couple minutes. Because I was in Japan, you know, for a month, and I heard more Christmas music in that month than I have heard in my entire adult life. Because from the moment I got off the plane in the airport, Christmas music. Every store, every mall, Christmas music. Train station, Christmas music, Hotel lobby Christmas music. I suspect if you went to the hospital, there would be Christmas music. It was intense. And I kind of knew that this was gonna happen because last year I went to Japan for my month in the last week of November, in the last week of October, because I wanted to be there for Halloween. And it was like a switch had been flipped. At midnight on November 1st, all the Halloween stuff disappeared. Everything was decked out for Christmas, and the Christmas music began everywhere. Right. So I knew. Were you surprised, Dustin, by how Christmasy everything was?
- [30:02]
B
The music is what surprised me the most. Like, the, the decorations and stuff. I was like, okay, yeah. But the fact that it was the music was inescapable. And, like.
- [30:13]
A
And it was in English. It was English Christmas songs.
- [30:16]
B
Yeah.
- [30:16]
A
Yeah.
- [30:16]
B
I didn't hear anything that was not, you know, an English Christmas song. And there was a lot of even, like, newer Christmas songs that, like, I'd never heard before that I didn't know what they were, but they, you know, that I was hearing, and that was confusing. But it was like, whenever I say everywhere, I mean, everywhere.
- [30:41]
A
Everywhere. And it was only Christmas music.
- [30:44]
B
Yes.
- [30:45]
A
No other music anywhere.
- [30:47]
B
No.
- [30:48]
A
And sadly, no. Feliz Navidad, which is my favorite Christmas song.
- [30:53]
B
Yeah. Well, it's. Because that's not entirely in English, I guess so.
- [30:56]
A
But every other Christmas song that you can imagine, even, like, deeply religious ones.
- [31:01]
B
Yeah.
- [31:01]
A
And you know, Chris, like I said, Christmas decorations everywhere, Christmas menus, Christmas gifts, everything. And I, I, I don't know why I was surprised by this, because. Yes, okay, at its conceit, Christmas is a Christian holiday. Right. Japan, not a Christian country. But Christmas is also a massive secular holiday at this point, and it is a huge consumer moment. Right. But I wondered, like, how and when did Christmas become such a big deal in Japan? Like, to the point where there would literally be Christmas music everywhere you go at every moment from November 1st, basically, through the end of the year. Like, how could that happen? And so when we got back from the trip, I was like, I'm going to get to the bottom of this. And it was interesting. Like, some things about it were really surprising. To me, like, yes, Christmas sort of began to infiltrate Japan here and there, you know, more than a century ago, really, you know, missionaries, colonialism, the classic thing that spreads things like Christmas. But you know, during World War II, obviously something so western like Christmas was like, nobody, no, not a good look. Do not celebrate it, do not talk about it, do not acknowledge it. But as after the war and as Japan rebuilt itself and as the economy itself became much more consumerism focused and consumer driven, Christmas became a thing really, really picking up momentum in the 70s and 80s. And Christmas in Japan is, you know, not a religious holiday. So Christmas, everything's open on Christmas. But what Christmas is like. Christmas Day itself is the Valentine's Day of Japan. It's considered the most romantic day of the year. And so you're gonna go out to dinner with your sweetheart and give one another gifts and have a very romantic evening. But it is also a time, the season leading up to Christmas is also a time for doing fun things and eating fun and exchanging gifts. And so, yes, at Festa de Santa, they were having churros, which churros seem to pop up all over Japan. And I get it because churros are great. But we went to a different Christmas festival in Ueno park in Tokyo. And that festival was more German ish. And when I say German ish, I mean German through a Japanese lens. So there were sausages and beer and hot cocoa, but also with like adorable like snowmen and stuff on top of it. And there were more of those off duty Santa statues.
- [34:05]
B
Yeah.
- [34:06]
A
And there was a woman on stage reading Christmas songs, Christmas stories in Japanese. And people were just having a good time. And yes, there were churros. Our hotel, hotel groffie, which, you know, like I said, our favorite place even, was all decked out for Christmas. Had like a Christmas bazaar over a weekend there, which was pretty cool because it was like vintage clothes and records and things like that. They also were selling churros as part of their Christmas thing. So Christmas is just like a fun time to go do fun things. And there are a lot of these, like, light festivals and Santa festivals and just markets where can go eat food and buy gifts and get crafts. And the department stores absolutely were selling Christmas trees and Christmas decorations and wreaths and such, wrapping paper, greeting cards, all that stuff. Like it was all there. And the Christmas music was everywhere. Now I feel like we got a real Christmas experience in Japan. Probably way more Christmas than we normally get. Although we are talking about spending Christmas in Japan next year so we can get the Full experience. Because, one, well, one, we love romance, right? But two, the official dessert of Christmas Day is this strawberry cream cake that's basically layers of white cake with, like, this whipped cream and strawberries, which is very unchristmassy to me and not even seasonally appropriate.
- [35:43]
B
Yeah. Why do you have the strawberries in winter and they're not winter fruit?
- [35:47]
A
Yeah, it's so interesting. But it's a big deal, and everybody has it. And every food hall and department store and bakery and supermarket that I visited in November had posters hanging for reminding you to order your Christmas cake, your strawberry cake. And of course, they would have the strawberries and whatnot, but they also might have, like, little Santa figurines or snowmen or whatnot on them. And they were all very cute and no doubt very delicious and not too sweet. The other thing that is a big part of Christmas in Japan, and I'm not sure if you're consuming this on your romantic evening or if this is more of, like, a friends and family kind of stitch, but KFC is a big part of the Christmas tradition in Japan. And by kfc, I mean Kentucky Fried Chicken, not the.
- [36:42]
B
Was it Kennedy Fried Chicken that used to be in Jersey?
- [36:45]
A
Oh, yeah.
- [36:46]
B
It was like. Like the same colors, but it was Kennedy.
- [36:49]
A
I remember that. Yeah.
- [36:50]
B
Was it like, Trenton? I want to say.
- [36:51]
A
Yeah, something like that. No, this is Kentucky Fried Chicken. And I remember someone telling me this years ago, like, oh, like, did you know in Japan people eat KFC on Christmas? And I couldn't tell if they were making it up or trying to somehow make a racist joke. That wasn't. I couldn't figure out how it was racist, but it felt. How could that be possible? Right? And so I had to find out about this Kentucky Fried Chicken thing. And first off, I'm gonna tell you, yes. Kentucky Fried Chicken and Christmas, AKA Kentucky Christmas, or Chicken Christmas, is a real phenomenon. It's huge. People order these meals far in advance and wait in line for a very long time on Christmas day to pick it up. And fortunately, people on YouTube have created whole compilations of Kentucky Fried Chicken Christmas commercials in Japan over the years, and we're gonna watch one right now. Skin Christmas, Kentucky Christmas, King Christmas, Kentucky Christmas, King Christmas, Kentucky Christmas Chicken Christmas, Kentucky Christmas, Kentucky Fry the chicken. Okay, one. This made me a little hungry. I admission here. One of my favorite restaurants when I was a kid is Kentucky Fried Chicken because they had mashed potatoes, which still hold up, right? Or at least the idea of mashed potatoes still holds up. But they also had these parfait desserts, which Dustin knows. I have my mega parfait aficionado.
- [38:47]
B
It's true.
- [38:48]
A
And they were like, I think this is where my. My obsession with parfaits began. And it was like apple and cream and cake layered in a cup. And so whenever I got to choose where we were going to eat dinner, it was always Kentucky Fried Chicken. But in this commercial, they're saying, Kentucky Christmas, Chicken Christmas tonight. Chicken Christmas. And even still watching this commercial, I was like, could this really be real? And I'm. I'm going to share some links in the show notes to some of these commercials so you can see them because they're great. And they did also fill me with Christmas spirit somehow.
- [39:26]
B
I want that box.
- [39:27]
A
The box is really well designed. So I wondered, how did this happen? Right. Well, it all starts with a man with a dream. And that man's. That man's name was Takeshi Okawara, and he was the manager of the first KFC in Japan, which opened in Nagoya in November of 1970. And he wanted to come up with a promotion that would get people to come in and try this restaurant that was new to them and buy a whole bucket of chicken. But nothing he was really trying was working. And then he talked to a friend who was American who said, you know, the thing I missed most about Christmas dinner back home is the turkey. The turkey part of it. And at least I can have chicken. It's close, right? And this was like a light bulb moment for Okawara, who was like, what if we made a Christmas dinner that you could get from kfc? And I don't know, I mean, even though it was the 70s, it kind of went viral in whatever way things went viral in the 70s, and people really got into this idea of having a Kentucky Christmas. This continues, like I said, even until now. People place their orders far in advance. The meal includes a bucket of chicken, a meat gratin, which is basically like meat of some sort, with pasta. Andy Cheese. Ish sauce, I wouldn't call it macaroni and cheese. And then, of course, a strawberry dessert. And this has become just so huge. Like I said, there are commercials after commercials over like the last, I guess, like 50 years, you know, getting people stoked about Kentucky Christmas. Like I said, I don't know if people are doing this on their romantic Christmas or if this is a family Christmas thing. The commercial implies it's a family thing.
- [41:40]
B
Yeah, yeah. And it kind of makes sense if you, if you. If you, you know, take a couple layers back and think like you know 70s is when in Japan it's enough post war to where like America, Coca Cola, blue jeans. Capitalism really like, you know, are like, are cool. So you get that. And then the fact that it's got, you know, Kentucky in the name, which is, you know, you know, as America and Christmas, which you're also viewing through that lens, it really is like if you kind of Venn diagram it all together, it's kind of perfect for why it would catch on in that way. Like if you on paper, you're like, that's weird. But then when you actually start to, you know, strip those pieces apart and look at them, I'm like, I can kind of see how that would have felt like this cool, you know, by being presented because like you don't know that this isn't actually a thing that happens in America. But it's enough American things placed into a bucket that it seems like it makes sense in this weird abstract way that I can kind of see how it then would take off and become this, this thing like that.
- [42:53]
A
Yeah. And it's fun.
- [42:54]
B
Yeah.
- [42:55]
A
You know, it's fun and novel and you know, like now I wish we were having Kentucky Fried Chicken for Christmas.
- [43:03]
B
There's no Kentucky Christmas.
- [43:04]
A
No Kentucky Christmas in our house. We're having hot pot instead. Okay. One last thing I just wanted to say on the subject of Fukuoka is this was when we started hitting the secondhand stores, which I'd gone to a couple before you met up with me, but we were going to them together. And one of the big chains that we visited kind of all over the country from that point on was called Book Off. And Book off calls itself the largest seller of secondhand goods in Japan. And I absolutely believe it because they have many locations in every city and suburb around the country. And Book off is the original brand, which is like probably what you would expect. It is a used bookstore.
- [43:46]
B
It's like a half price books basically.
- [43:48]
A
Yeah. And they also have like CDs, DVDs, records, even magazines. And they even had some western books there. But then there are these Book off super bazaars that also sell clothes, electronics, home goods, kids stuff, just about everything. And then there are these and I don't like the name because it sounds like a porno. Hard off and Hard off, we went to one in Fukuoka. It was quite a trip. Like we had to take a long train ride and then walk, I don't know, like 25 minutes. Hard off is exclusively like electronic stuff. So cameras, video games, instruments, TVs. There was a telephone there that's shaped like a piano that I really wanted. It was really well priced.
- [44:38]
B
Yeah.
- [44:38]
A
And it was stuff from all eras. Like yes, there would be like a pretty new, I don't know, Nintendo Switch. But then there were electronics from like the 60s and 70s, maybe older. And you actually bought, bought something there.
- [44:52]
B
Yeah, I bought it from like the earth somewhere in the 80s. Like a weird kind of cheap mic that had like a bucket brigade style delay built into was really weird. It was in the box. It was like $2. So it's like okay, like you know, because I was trying not to amass a bunch of giant things, you know, and to lug around. But it was too weird. The fact that it was in the box, you know, just really called my name.
- [45:21]
A
Yeah, it was cool. There was a lot of stuff that I wanted in there. Like I said, really affordable and everywhere around the country. Now my pro tip for you is that the Book Off. Book off super bazaars and hard offs that are going to be the best are going to be outside the city, more in the suburbs and definitely not in the like big tourist areas. It's interesting because you know, here, back home if we want to go secondhand shopping, you know, we have options. Like we can go to like what's the music around and get like electronics that are secondhand. We could go to a secondhand children's clothing store. We could go to like Crossroads or Buffalo Exchange and get secondhand clothing. And of course you can also go to a thrift store. But what was great about Book off and all of its incarnations is that it was everything under one roof, centrally located, often in malls, you know, not like you'd have to get in a car and leave the city to go to the store. And I just think it made. We'll talk about this more as we talk more about the trip. It made shopping secondhand and rehoming your stuff accessible to everyone. And I just wish we had more of that here. So someone should come here and start their own chain of Book Off Super Bazaars.
- [46:50]
B
That was also where there was that giant Gundam at that mall.
- [46:53]
A
Oh yeah, at that mall. Yeah, yeah.
- [46:54]
B
There's like a life size Gundam behind the mall that was across the street from that hard off.
- [47:02]
A
And we had a good parfait in that mall. Yeah, yeah, it was pretty good. It was a pretty good mall because you know, we love malls. It wasn't the best mall we went to though. It was mid. Oh, one last thing I wanted to call that we did in Fukoga. That was like really luxurious is okay. So how I plan any big trip is I start with a Google Slides document, you know, which is basically, oh my gosh, what's PowerPoint? Thank you. It's basically PowerPoint. So what I do is I start to figure out loosely the dates that I want to be in different places. And I give those places each a slide in there with the dates. And you know, I'm looking at the calendar and try to figure it out. And like I figure out how I'm going to get to these places and I might take screenshots of that information to put in there. And then when I book hotels, I'll put like all the booking information in there. I put all my flight information, links to things I want to do, all that stuff, so that if I am trying to figure out what's next on my trip, I can actually pull it up on my phone. And this process is usually pretty foolproof. And I guess in this situation it was as well. But like two days before I left for this trip, I realized that there was one night in Fukuoka that I had not booked a hotel. I just like mathed the math wrong. And so the hotel that we were staying in did not have another room for that night. So what I did is I used credit card points and we stayed in like the most luxurious hotel for one night. It was called the Style. And it was so nice.
- [48:47]
B
It's the kind of place where like there's not a real check in. So like we were trying to figure it out and it's just like you had to kind of walk up to someone who was kind of standing around and ask instead of just like, oh, let me go to reception. It was like that kind of like fancy.
- [49:02]
A
Yeah. And they take you up to your room and show you everything. And the mini bar was free, which I kept being like, did I hear that wrong?
- [49:10]
B
Yeah.
- [49:10]
A
And had a balcony and like a sauna and just, I mean if we would have been there in the summer, there was a beautiful pool and it was a huge room. Like huge. Not just by Japanese standards, but like huge in general and really beautiful and nice. And there was this perk which is like they have a lounge and you can go there and just have all the snacks and drinks that you want. And I had low expectations. But we went up there first off. The snack selection was excellent.
- [49:43]
B
Well, you tell me there's a free drink on this other floor and I'm gonna go to that other floor that I still like. You know, that's just how my brain is wired.
- [49:52]
A
Even though I will just tell you in the minibar there were beautiful bottles of like glass bottles of water, juices, two full bottles of wine, a bottle of champagne and several canned cocktails and beer. All that we could have just like laid in bed and drank. But we still had to go check out this other floor.
- [50:13]
B
You say there's a. You can have a free drink on this other floor and I have to go check it out. There's just like, it's, you know, I.
- [50:19]
A
Was expecting like a popcorn machine and like a beer. They literally had full bottles of liquor just sitting out on the counter. You could mix your own drinks, among other things. It was so nice.
- [50:30]
B
Yeah. I was like laughing to myself when we were there, thinking about how at other stages of my life I would have just been up there for like hours and that would have been your trip. Yeah, no, I would have just been like, okay, cool, I'm here. You know, and just put the bottle on the table, you know.
- [50:48]
A
But instead we did not do that. We were also really tired. We had like one had an NA beer. Dustin had a cocktail. Then we went back down to our room and we had gotten takeout food from this amazing vegan macrobiotic deli that's in Fukuoka Station. Hakata Station is what the station is called. The food was so good that we ate there again the next day. So we ate that takeout and some other stuff that we'd gotten at a grocery store nearby and watched old. It's just embarrassing. We were watching old episodes of the George Jones Show, I believe.
- [51:25]
B
No, that was. We were watching the first night of.
- [51:28]
A
Tnn, the Nashville Network when it went.
- [51:31]
B
On the air and it was like a big, big thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [51:34]
A
So we were watching that and it was, it was nice. Anyway, so the style Fukuoka, really luxurious. And then the next day we got on the train and made the journey to Beppu, which actually, when you're in the station, Christine of Lady Hog Vintage and Care instruction loves to say Beppu because that's how they say it in the station there. And Beppu is like the hot springs capital of Japan. It's known for having all kinds of onsen of every variety. And it's a very like, I don't know, like volcanically active part of the country. And so there's just like steam shooting up all over the place from the ground. And there are places you can go where they actually cook food over the steam. Like dumplings, this special custard that they're known for other Things as well. I think we saw them making corn. And it's also like a small city that I would say is roughly probably like similar to where we live, Lancaster, but it's on the bay and it's like surrounded by mountains. It's very, very beautiful. And it's a place I went last year, but I felt like Dustin would really like, so I wanted to go there again. What was your favorite part of Beppu?
- [52:51]
B
The Hells.
- [52:53]
A
Yeah. So the Hells are like the ultimate tourist trap.
- [52:59]
B
Yeah, no, it was like some classic roadside America, like something you would have read about in there. It was like, you know, like if, if. If there was a muffler man. But it was volcanic.
- [53:11]
A
And I'm glad that we went because it was actually awesome. And it made me feel, I don't know, like, oh, this kind of like tourist trap. Roadside America of like the mid century in the US this is something you can experience all around the world. And so basically we took a city bus up to like the higher altitude part of the city where this steam, I mean, it was just like clouds of steam everywhere. And yes, it smelled like sulfur. And this is where all the Hells are, which are different sort of like pools, geysers of this hot water that are coming up out of the ground. And you can buy this ticket, book of 10 tickets, one ticket for each of the Hells. And you go around and visit them all, you know, and some of them are a little further away from other than others, but it's like you walk around, it's like a day, you know. So the first hell we go to had, it was beautiful. It was classy, great gift shop, beautiful pool of like bright blue hot water. You know, it was really cool. And the steam everywhere, and it was like a nice experience. And I was like, okay, this is pretty cool. We go to the next one. It's a little less fancy, but it still is nice. And it was this like weird, like lake of like bubbling, steaming, boiling clay.
- [54:33]
B
Yeah, the clay was cool.
- [54:34]
A
It was co.
- [54:36]
B
The way it kept, like, kind of undulating.
- [54:38]
A
Yeah, it was awesome. And then in between those two, there was another pool that was like orangey red. Once again, like boiling hot. Very, very cool. And there was a place there where you could go soak your feet in the cooler water. So it was awesome. I'm like, okay, this is going to be a really beautiful day. But then we go to the third one. And with each one we visited after that, it got a little trashier. I guess I would say that one was the one that was like the raccoon dog and the devil statues. And that one felt like such a Taurus trap. Like you could buy a styrofoam cup for like a hundred yen that you could drink like hot springs water from. It was supposed to cure you. And there was another thing where you could put your face up to this like funnel and get steam in your face.
- [55:27]
B
That was pretty cool.
- [55:28]
A
That was pretty cool. Yeah, I like that part. But it was, it had like the gift shop was like very Taurus trappy and like nothing anyone would want. And then we went to the next one and this is where it was like, are we in Florida or something? Because this one was crocodile themed. And I was like, huh, well what could that possibly be? Oh, you know, like a hundred crocodiles living there. There was a big sign when we went in that was like this water is this temperature. And it turns out it's the perfect place to raise crocodiles. And I was like, what? And huge ass crocodiles. Just these weird pools everywhere filled with huge crocodiles. And it was kind of dumpy, right? I wondered how great it was for the crocodiles, although they do get to sit in basically a hot tub all day every day. And it did seem chill.
- [56:26]
B
But it's like one of those things where it's like, yes, this. It's like this water is great, the perfect temperature for them. But it's like. But why?
- [56:34]
A
But why? Because you were like, I have felt that my calling is to open a Taurus trap. Right. So that one I was like, okay, I don't know about this. And then the next one we went to was even weirder because it was another big pool. It was very pretty. But then next to it was an aquarium of huge fish in small tanks.
- [56:56]
B
I would to call it an aquarium. I mean, I guess because you call anything an aquarium. Like you call what you would put in your living room an aquarium. That term works. But it felt more like, you know, like it was not fancy or didn't. Yeah, all the tanks were like the fish were too big for them. And it was just. It was weird.
- [57:16]
A
It's making me really sad. And you know, since we've been back, I've been doing some reading about like zoos and other, I don't know, facilities like that in Japan. And they are pretty notorious for, I mean, zoos in general, right? That's a whole thing we could talk about. But in Japan specifically, they're pretty notorious for like not great conditions, animals in really small habitats and whatnot. So after the fish one, I was like, yeah, I don't think I want to go to any more of the hells.
- [57:45]
B
Yeah. Done.
- [57:46]
A
Yeah. So instead we had a nice coffee and then we went to a thrift store and it was awesome. So, like, I. I would have to say that one of my favorite things about thrifting is I just really like looking at other people's stuff and what even more exciting than looking at other people's stuff around the world, right? And it was pretty cool. I really liked the thrift store. What did, what did you think?
- [58:12]
B
It was cool. Turns out people have junk everywhere.
- [58:16]
A
They do. And like, it's just. It has like, it maybe in different colors or have different characters on it. I mean, there were things there like, I'm not gonna lie, Dustin, if I wouldn't have had like to fly at home, I would have bought. But man, the kind of stuff that we are used to seeing in thrift stores here, like the tropes, so to speak, they're there. I mean, I didn't see any microwave cookbooks, but I saw a lot of like single purpose appliances. Like a waffle iron that made waffles in the shape of letters. Like, that's not very useful. Lots of things that people got for free with purchase, like makeup bags and such. Lots of stuff from the dollar stores, Lots of character products. Just things that people had and didn't know why.
- [59:08]
B
You know, that was the first place that I saw and this happened a couple other times as we went to like the other book offs etc, but was started to see a bunch of like anime soundtracks and stuff that were really tempting, but it was also a little overwhelming because I just didn't know any of them, you know, And I was like, do I. They give it. Yeah, there was. That was the first time that I saw that and that was actually really cool because it was. They were all really cheap. But I was like, I don't know any of this and I didn't feel like, you know, getting on my phone and trying to figure out. Plus also then I got to get it back. So I was like, okay, I'm not gonna. I'm not gonna spend the time here to research that. But that was one of. That was one of the anomalies there that I was seeing because, you know, now here you just. I mean, you don't see anything like that in the wild. You see like the stuff that like light in the attic is, you know, or somebody like that has brought over. And that's about it.
- [60:03]
A
Yeah, the thrift Store was pretty cool. And I will say across the street was the only place this, this grocery store that I didn't hear Christmas music in Japan. And that was because they were playing a very short loop over and over again of what I would call circus music. Remember that? We like walk through and we were like, okay, we gotta leave. Yeah, that was weird. And then we went to some other secondhand stores. We went to another Book off. We had to take a bus pretty far to get there. And we also went to Second street, which is a chain of secondhand stores throughout Japan as well. And they actually have opened some here in the United States. And the one in Beppu was pretty good because it was not just clothes, it was also toys and like outdoor gear and electronics and books and just like all kinds of things. I mean even like a whole wall which I would see in the Book off locations as well, a whole wall of like gachapon toys, you know, that people had like bought and then didn't want. You could buy them for like a dollar. So if you were missing that one piece, like there it was. And the, I felt like the prices were really reasonable. There was also like really high end designer stuff too. It was like the whole range. And once again I was like, why don't we have more places like this here? Because that second street is buy, sell, trade. So is Book off where it's like you bring your stuff in, they name a price, you get rid of it. It's not a thrift store, you're not donating and then people can come in and buy it. And it was like such a good selection.
- [61:37]
B
Yeah, no, that one was really, really cool. There was the cameras and stuff that were really cool. There, there's a lot of stuff, you know, and it's, it's. Yeah, yeah, it was, that one was really, really cool. There's a bunch of like jackets and stuff that were really cool. Like, I was really. That one really surprised me. And like, and yeah, it's, it's funny because I just only associate the, the phrase buy, sell, trade with like record stores and stuff. Because that's, you know what, what I mean, up now, you know, Buffalo Exchange and places like that use that, that, that phrasing too. But for the longest time, you know, like, I mean, I worked at CD Game Exchange, which was a buy, sell trade. And we kind of had a thing where like things that we didn't. Basically, if something came in, it was almost like a pawn shop in a way where if somebody had something and you thought that you could sell it, but it wasn't like for instance, like that's how I ended up the first time with like a mini disc player and things like that. Because somebody was like, hey, do you buy these? We were like, not really, but okay, you know, but whatever. This is a weird side note, but.
- [62:55]
A
Yeah, no, it was amazing. And I wish we had more places like that here that were just like multi category for everyone. There are second streets all around Japan. I felt that the Beppu one was actually way better than any of the ones in Tokyo. It wasn't so like streetwear focused and it just had a wide array of stuff. From Beppu. We went back to Tokyo where we spent the rest of our trip. And one of the cool things that we did while we were there, which I had been sort of like, like saving for when Dustin was with me, is we went to the Museum of Extinct Media, which by the way does not have a bathroom. Just if you're planning a trip. Dustin, do you wanna like explain what the Museum of Extinct Media was is.
- [63:57]
B
It's basically what my office is. But cleaner though. Yeah, yeah, Organized. It's like basically all, I mean electronic really is what it's focused on starting 60sish camera stuff, but then going all the way through like computers, cell phones, video, just all over the place. Basically anything that I mean, because I guess since it is media, it does start with film really is what they're. They're starting at. And it's in wild and hands on.
- [64:33]
A
Yeah.
- [64:34]
B
Very small. It should be like an entire city block. And they, you know, because it seems like there's a lot. There was photos and stuff in there of them showing people stuff that was not visible because it's just such a tiny, tiny space. But it was amazing, like all those old catalogs and stuff too. And just like it's one of the coolest collections of stuff like that. And as someone who has entirely too much love of what was in there and can't say no whenever I see any of that out in the thrift store wilds of the world. It was really, really amazing.
- [65:12]
A
Yeah, it was really cool. I mean it was like amazing to just like pick up a flip phone and have it in my hand and just like remember what it was like to use that. There were mini disc players, there were disc men, there were Walkmen, There was everything in this very small space. And I know, I remember reading, I don't know if it was like on a poster there or what that they actually have like what's in that space is just a small percentage of the total collection. They just don't have a space for it. And people have donated things to that museum from around the world and they still like actively take donations, which was really cool to know too.
- [65:52]
B
There was a thing there where they were specifically had requests for things that were missing from their collection from either specific media or devices that they like were actively looking for.
- [66:04]
A
The Museum of Extinct Media was interesting to me because it was sort of like the period on like a long sentence that I had been thinking about the entire trip and kind of throughout this year, but definitely a lot in Japan, which was just this idea of a more analog life, you know, for example. And I don't want to make like dumb broad generalizations that are like, in Japan, people are just much more like connected with like analog physical media. Because let me tell you, people, if you're on the subway, everyone is staring into their phone the entire time. Right. But there were so many reminders on around Japan of a time that I lived in my life here in the United States that isn't the same anymore. Right. Like, there were bookstores everywhere. And I mean like huge bookstores, multi floors, vibrant, full of people, hundreds of magazines to choose from. Like, when was the last time you saw that many magazines?
- [67:15]
B
It's been a long time. I. I don't even know. I. In, in. In Columbus there was this restaurant that had the best, still has the best veggie burger, but they had magazines. Like they kind of sold them. And I would go there and eat that veggie burger and just hang out too long and read magazines. And that was one of the last places that I remember them just being. It was a wall because they would have, you know, really like fancy, high end, you know, MIT design magazines and all sorts of crazy stuff.
- [67:48]
A
Yeah. I mean, in Portland we had a magazine store called Riches that was also a cigar shop and they had all the awesome magazines from around the world. And rewinding further back than that, when I was a teenager living in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, I would take the bus downtown. Cause like, literally no one cared what I did, ever. And there was a store downtown that was a newsstand, but it was like a physical store. Of course they sold like newspapers from around the world, but they had hundreds of magazines. And I would spend hours there or I might get a ride with one of my friends to Barnes and Noble where we would look at magazines for hours. And even Barnes and Noble or Borders at their peak of having magazines had nothing compared to the sheer number of magazines that all these bookstores had in Japan and like very like niched out, you know, and like people were buying them. Yeah, it was incredible. It made me really nostalgic for that time period. And just like physical bookstores everywhere like that and then all these secondhand bookstores as well. But also like as we were traveling around and going to different department stores and whatnot, different malls, I was seeing brand new cassette players and CD players. I mean tower records there and the record stores there are predominantly CD stores.
- [69:17]
B
In 2025, CDs never went away in Japan at all. And it's a combination of really two threads. And one is that, and I don't have the exact specifics but essentially when streaming came to be, they didn't give away all the rights for pennies. And so because of that you couldn't stream as much stuff. And so that be. So it didn't take over the same way. Like it's, it's, it's increased a lot, but it in, in previous times when we've been there and I've pulled up something to listen to or to check something out and I've seen things that were, you know, if you have your settings on a lot of apps, right, it will show stuff that is like kind of grayed out. You know, there's two ways it'll search will either show you all the results and just hide things that aren't available, or there's a setting where you can see things that theoretically exist, you know, but aren't available. So there's that. But also there's a really like underlying sort of like collector culture there, you know, that comes back to physical media and a lot of just stuff. It's interesting because, you know, there's not a lot of storage space. So it's like if there's something that you're specifically passionate about, you collect that. And in particular, so it's kind of like those two threads have really enabled physical media at least for, you know, discunions and all those stores too. Like so much CDs. It's wild to walk in and just see like people with a basket full of CDs.
- [70:57]
A
Yeah, it's amazing. And like I said, people are still using phones, right? And they of course have incredible electronics available for purchase in Japan. Like video games that we know of. Right.
- [71:11]
B
Potage makers.
- [71:12]
A
Potage makers. Yes. I bought a soup making machine. No, I'm serious. It's the best appliance ever. But also like amazing cameras and stuff like that. So I don't Want you to think that Japan is this unlocked un analog culture at all, but yet it is. Because even this is just another example. We were in the Parco in Shibuya in Tokyo, and this would be like the coolest, most curated, probably most high volume, most visited mall in Japan and there was a store there that just sold cassettes.
- [71:47]
B
It was amazing. They had like really, really wild stuff. It wasn't just like, because you, you know, you would see like modern avant garde, new age noise, minimal. There was like a lot of like hip hop and, and, and you know, rock music too. But like, to see the amount of experimental stuff on cassette at this mall was just, just wild. To see like stuff on, like leaving records and like all, all these really cool labels. It was so, so, so cool to see just like on a shelf there around the other side of the world, all of this amazing music.
- [72:25]
A
Yeah. I mean, all of it just made me think a lot about what if I didn't use my phone for everything? What if I listened to music without my phone? What if I received information without my phone? And I don't know what all that means because obviously you're listening to me talk probably from your phone or your computer right now. And I am obviously a person as Clothes Horse who exists only online, really. But it made me think a lot about real, real, tangible physical media and real moments with real people. I don't know. I'll be talking about that more a lot, I'm sure, in 2026. But these trips to Japan are actually like where my best ideas begin. And I think this is one I'm gonna be thinking about a lot. Okay. Okay. So I'm going to ask you some questions about our time together. Dustin, what was your favorite thing that you did?
- [73:35]
B
My favorite thing was both of the times that I met with people to exchange records because it was really cool to be on the other side of the world and interacting with people who are just that invested in the same sort of world that I've, you know, spent my life participating in. You know, between, like, the fact that, you know, I've worked at and ran record stores and, you know, been involved with label stuff and still, you know, make music to be there and have those conversations as awkward at times as they were because, you know, we were sometimes having to use translation app to make sure that we were getting kind of the details right. You know, both times are just really, really cool. Like, you know, sitting at a hotel bar talking about, you know, discord bands. This shared experience was just really, really cool.
- [74:31]
A
Yeah, I feel like my favorite part of the trip too was the two times that I hung out with Sushmita, who I met irl, like an Internet friend who I met IRL last year while I was in Japan and actually recorded an episode with. We hung out the first week I was in Japan. We went to this cool like, rooftop pie restaurant. It was Australian, run by an Australian person. And then we checked out some art and we just walked around and we just. It was amazing to talk to someone who is so invested in thinking about like ethical and sustainable fashion and consumerism and all these things that I think about all the time and who has the same concerns about all of it. Also, Sushi Mita is just great and fun to be around. And we then hung out again on my like second or third to last day of the trip and we went out for this like very luxurious vegan high tea. It was so much fun and like such a great treat. And yeah, it is like connecting with people on the other side of the world who you might have never met otherwise, who are passionate about the same things as you. It's. It's just like unmatchable.
- [75:50]
B
And I think it's interesting that both of us, you know, our favorite moments were that, you know, of that sense of like, oh, I'm way over here, but you know, there's that community participation, etc. That you know, is around you. It's just really, really cool.
- [76:10]
A
It is really, really amazing. Okay, so what was your favorite city that we visited?
- [76:17]
B
Probably Fukuyoko.
- [76:19]
A
Yeah, why?
- [76:20]
B
It just. There was just. It was just cool. It was really walkable. That like, everything about it was just. It just weird like walking and just bumping into like ramen red light district and like, you know, beach Santa was just cool. And it was just something about it. Like I just really, really liked walking around there and just experiencing stuff. I feel like that was. It was just really, really interesting. And just, you know, the more that we walked around and interacted with it, it just, it felt like more like less planned and like more just like stumbling into something interesting, which is always kind of my favorite part. Traveling is like, yeah, there's the stuff that you plan that's really cool and you're like, excited for. But it's like when you're, you know, just walking home or back to the hotel and you run into Festa de Santa, like that is always like my favorite stuff or like the like just random dice roll that happens where you just like, you know, fall into something interesting.
- [77:29]
A
Yeah, totally. That's how I feel too. I will say, unfortunately, because you didn't get to experience this place. But my favorite city that I visited on this trip was Konosawa, which is up north. And I definitely want us to go there together the next time we go because I didn't get to see enough of it. It was so beautiful. It was like Japan in its full autumn glory. But it was also like, I don't know, everything was like a 15 minute walk away. There was a lot of cool stuff happening there. There was an incredible art museum there. And I don't know, I just liked the pace of it all. And I think that you would really like it too, Dustin. It reminded me of what kyoto was like 10 years ago. What was your favorite meal? I know what it is, but it makes me laugh. I mean, even though I experienced it, it was also awesome.
- [78:24]
B
There's a taqueria in Beppu, and it doesn't make sense that it was as good as it was. And normally when, you know, I'm really apprehensive about things that are like the phrase, you know, fusion in food, because usually it just means like, whatever, it's fine. But there was something about it that was. Because it was true. It wasn't trying to be fusiony at all. Like, I don't think it was really trying, I think, to be as authentic as possible with what was available. But there was something about the flavor that was just really, really cool. Like, I don't even know what it was. And you know, and I say this as someone who, you know, whenever I. There was a time when I was in Europe for two months on tour and I wanted a bean burrito so bad that I went to the only Taco Bell at the time that existed, which was at a mall in Barcelona, you know, because I wanted that and this wasn't that at all. It was like. I don't know, it was really unique and I don't even know what it was about it, but it was really good.
- [79:32]
A
It was really, really good. That's definitely like in my top five for the trip. My favorite, which kind of surprises me. Not really, but okay, so we went to this neighborhood in Tokyo called Ginza. And it's not a place that we normally visit when we're in Tokyo because it's just like a big sort of UPSC scale shopping area. It's like 100 malls in like five blocks or something. And we went there because one of my clients is now being carried by beams in Japan, which is a really big deal. Beams is like a upscale mini department store. What would you call.
- [80:12]
B
I mean, it's just. It's just cool. Like, that's the thing is it is like a mini department store because they have a few things. It's kind of like mostly clothes, but it's also like, there's some home stuff. It's like, it's just really. Yeah, it's just like, really curated, really great store. I almost never buy anything, but I always want to look at them because they always have cool stuff.
- [80:34]
A
It reminds me of Fred Siegel, honestly. Yeah, it's got Fred Siegel kind of curation about it. And so we went to the flagship location in Ginza so I could take some photos and videos of the store and her stuff in the store. And then we. We ended up going to that huge Muji with the museum and having really delicious coffee that they roasted in store. And we had a parfait, an apple parfait that was one of the top parfaits of the trip. But then we went to Loft, and like, I'm just gonna tell you, I love a loft. And I don't mean Ann Taylor Loft. I mean Loft, which is a really well curated department store chain in Japan. They don't sell clothing. They sell a little bit of electronics, home goods, beauty products, candles, and tons of stationery and food items and, you know, like, character merch. But it's all the best version of all of those things. And most lofts are several floors, and each floor is sort of like a different theme. You know, they also sell things like luggage and dishware. And they, of course, they have a whole Christmas decoration section right now. And we went over to that loft because I can't resist a loft. And also because on the first floor of that loft is a vegan restaurant called Two Foods. Very small menu. But one thing they had was this vegan burger that was so good. I also had a salad, like a side salad. And the dressing on that was really good too. I think after a month in Japan, I just really wanted a burger, and that was so good. So Two Foods in Loft in Ginza, I guess, was my favorite meal. But we ate a lot of other really good stuff too. So on the subject of food, you and I are both big fans of Konbini food in Japan, convenience stores. And I did a whole episode about that last year. But I want to hear from you. What are your favorite things to get.
- [82:40]
B
At the konbini 711 egg salad sandwich? Never disappoints, that is.
- [82:45]
A
And it's the best one, yes. None of the other ones are as good. Yeah.
- [82:49]
B
That is eternally my. Like, I have one almost every day because it's just really, really good.
- [82:58]
A
I fell prey to the seasonality of convenience food in Japan, where in November I got really attached to this side dish that you could only get at 711 that was essentially pureed sweet potato and pumpkin with almonds mixed in and then like one tiny dot of whipped cream. But it was not a dessert. It was like a side dish. And I was eating that, like every day. And then December hit and it was gone. And I had this regret that I hadn't eaten more of it. But I'm gonna try to recreate it here at home. But that one I loved. And one thing I tried to do on this trip was expand the array of things that I tried to eat from Conbinis. I ate a lot of peeled, fresh persimmon for breakfast. All the convenience stores had that. Of course, I had to try literally every dessert. But yeah, still, gosh, missing the Conbinis right now.
- [84:04]
B
Manhattan donuts.
- [84:05]
A
Oh, yeah. You got really into these Manhattan donuts that they had. Not just at 7:11. They were at a few streets.
- [84:11]
B
No, no, they're like. Yeah, they were everywhere. They. It was mostly just because the packaging was really good. Just like. And it just amused me that it was like Manhattan donut had like a skyline on it. You know, they were like, just good donuts.
- [84:24]
A
And you also, of course, always like to get a highball, a canned highball cocktail. There.
- [84:28]
B
There also was now those pizza buns.
- [84:32]
A
Oh, yeah, hot pizza buns.
- [84:34]
B
And those are good. When you, like, kind of want that little, like, you know, little taste of home.
- [84:40]
A
Okay, I will tell you. Well, I mean, I know I told you this, Dustin, but I haven't told the audience. There was one night in Kana Sawa. So I don't know, it was like a week and a half into my trip, where this is pretty early in a trip to feel this way, where I was like, I don't want to eat any Japanese food. Like, I'm over it, I need a break. And I went to this upscale grocery store that was near my hotel because my hotel in Kanazawa was literally in a mall, hashtag blessed. And so there was this gourmet grocery store in that mall and I got this assortment of cheeses and a pack of gluten free crackers and a gluten free non alcoholic grapefruit beer and that. I sat on the couch in my hotel room, ate all that. All that cheese and watched Pluribus. I was like, this is. This is living. Okay, well, what in your opinion? Because a lot of funny things happen everywhere we go, but especially when we're traveling. What was the funniest thing that you think happened on the trip?
- [85:48]
B
Footbath. Guardian. Ugh.
- [85:50]
A
Okay, so. So in Beppu, there are onsen everywhere, right? And in the mall, in one of the malls in Beppu, it's like a small mall. In the basement, there is, like a foot hot springs, basically, where you can. Anyone can go, it's free, and you can soak your feet.
- [86:11]
B
Calling it the. Like, it's not. I mean, it's the basement of the mall, but it's also, like, kind of open air. So when you say basement of the mall, I think someone would picture, like.
- [86:19]
A
You'Re right, it's open air, but it's, like, under the mall.
- [86:23]
B
Yeah, yeah.
- [86:24]
A
And every day we would walk by it, and I'm like, we have to go to the foot bath. Today's the day we're gonna go to it. And my feet were hurting on this trip because my ankle was still healing and none of my shoes were making sense. Every day I was like, we're gonna go to the foot bath. I even bought a hand towel for us to use at the foot bath. So we're like, finally, today's our last day. We're going to the foot bath. And then.
- [86:51]
B
So we go down there. I start to take off my shoes. I'm kind of. I'm walking around to get a sense of it, because, like, part of it wasn't it, like, closed. There was, like, a sign, like, don't.
- [87:00]
A
Don't use the one end. Because the water was low and there was, like, gross. There was a dead roach floating in there, but that was on the far end.
- [87:07]
B
Yeah. So. And I walk and I circle it just to kind of see, because I'm trying to get a sense. I'm like, what's going on here? And there's this guy hanging out there, not soaking, just, like, chilling. And he starts to kind of, like, try to talk to us or tell me what to do. And I just. It just really was like, bad vibes from the jump. And I got really, like. I just. I don't know, it was, like, really weird. I was, like, trying to understand what was going on. But it kind of felt like, you know, like when you're at, like, a park or something and there's somebody that just feels like they're keeping tabs on what's going On. And it just really, like, you're like, I just want to chill. Like, I don't. Like, I don't need a guardian here. And so I started to take my shoes off, and he was, like, motioning and, like, trying to tell me something. I just got really, like, unnerved by it. And it just. Was. Just felt weird. I couldn't place my finger on it. So I was like, let's just. Let's get out of here. We'll go up, we'll go in the mall, kill some time, come back down and try this again. Like, let's give. Like. Because he wasn't soaking his. He wasn't doing anything but chilling. So I'm like, surely. This guy's like.
- [88:15]
A
It was weird. He had, like, a backpack. I couldn't figure. I don't think he worked there, but he was like, I don't know. It was a weird situation. So we go into the mall, and we're in there for, like, half an hour.
- [88:26]
B
Yeah.
- [88:26]
A
And we come out, he's not there. We're like, great. I start taking off my shoes again.
- [88:32]
B
Yeah.
- [88:32]
A
And wouldn't you know it, he comes out of the wall. He's like, back. And then it was weird. And then I put my shoes on, and we, like, ran away. And so I never got to use the foot bath.
- [88:43]
B
Yeah. Because this guy was, like, guarding it. I don't know.
- [88:47]
A
He was being really weird.
- [88:48]
B
It was just a weird vibe. It wasn't just like, oh, there's a guy here. Like, I don't want him to see my feet. It was like, just. It had like, a really weird vibe to it, you know?
- [88:58]
A
Yeah. I felt like he was up to something. I don't know. I don't generally have that feeling about people, but I was like, this is making me really uncomfortable. So we didn't get to soak our feet, which I'm still sad about. The funniest thing that I remember from the trip was when we were in Fukuoka. I guess I have to start by explaining what bathrooms are like in most hotels in Japan. Not all hotels, because we've stayed in hotels that had different bathrooms, but they're kind of like this one piece. Like, think about if you. You could go to, like, a home supply store right now and buy one big piece that's like your bathtub in the shower and the walls around the tub in the shower. Now imagine if you could buy the whole bathroom. So the toilet, the sink, the mirror, the lighting, the tub, the shower, and it's all one big piece. Like, A cube with everything inside it. And you sort of just like plugged it in and hooked up the plumbing.
- [89:56]
B
Yeah, it's. It's. It is like the all. It's. Everything is. It's like a system. It's like. It's like. It feels like it's modular, but everything is designed. There's always like a drain in the middle of the floor kind of situation, but not like the way that, you know, in like, a basement, there'll be, like a drain. It's very, like, intentional and designed. Everything there, it's. It's like a system. It's like. It's like all together and. Yeah, the walls, it's. It's. It's like the bathroom. It's like those. What is it? Like the walk in, bathtub bath fitters things, you know, that you see the ads for. Like, it's like that was the entire bathroom. It's all one integrated system.
- [90:39]
A
Yeah. And, you know, like, you can take a shower in the tub or you could take a shower outside the tub. And in theory, the water would drain out of the bathroom. So we were in Fukuoka, and this is not at the fancy hotel. This is at the Lively. And Dustin went down to the lobby to hang out and have a drink with the guy who was getting the records from him. And I said, that's great. I'm gonna take, like, a bath. I have these bath salts. It's gonna be great. And I got in the tub and I had a great soak, and I read a book. And when Dustin came back upstairs, I got out of the tub. So I pull the plug and I'm standing in the tub because it's a very small bathroom. And I'm starting to dry off. And I realized that all the water that was in the tub is now filling up the rest of the bathroom. And all of these sort of like, modular bathroom things are usually like a step up from the main part of the room. And what I see happening is the cube that is the bathroom is filling up with water. And the water is starting to go over that ledge down into the hotel room, like into the carpet. Right. So I put the plug back in really fast, and I'm like, dustin, the bathroom is broken. Like, I'm standing there in a towel. Like, you need to go downstairs and get someone to help. And I just kept standing there, like I didn't know what to do.
- [91:55]
B
Well, I go downstairs to try to get help, and there's like. So it's like eight o'. Clock. It's like, not early and there's so many people at the front desk, like. And I'm trying to, like, not freak out, you know, like, and get help. And, yeah, finally I do.
- [92:18]
A
And they came up, and I'm this person who's always like, it's my fault. I did something wrong. But I literally still. It turns out the bathroom was broken, and they pulled a piece out and were able to fix something, and then all the water went away. But we're, like the kind of people who don't. We want to be polite, respectful of local customs and everything around us and just be, all in all, like, really good guests when we're traveling. And so this was, like, my nightmare, like, that I was flooding the hotel room, but it all worked out just fine. And in retrospect, it's funny, but at the time, I was really freaked out. Dustin, what would you say is, like, your favorite thing about Japan? Because we've. We've gone there at least 10 times together at this point. Why do we keep going back?
- [93:24]
B
I mean, it's funny because when you tell people that, they instantly assume that, like, you're obsessed with something culturally there, you know, like, that we're like, you know, like, I'm still obsessed with, you know, giant robots or something, which, you know, I mean, I still do love giant robots and someone who obsessed over, you know, Robotech as, like, a small child. But it's just, like, the density is amazing. The fact that everything is just polite and nice and that I've still seen so little of it. Like, I. You know, as many times as we've gone and we're starting to go to more places, but, like, I've not. I've barely seen any of it.
- [94:08]
A
Like, you know, yeah, there's still so much more to see. I mean, my favorite thing about Japan is how incredible the transportation system is there. And you can literally get anywhere in that country without getting in a car. And I've taken trains that are, like, one car long up into the mountains to a town of, like, a few hundred people, you know, because there's always a way to get somewhere. And it makes me jealous, honestly, because we have nothing like that here. And the trains are affordable and they're reliable, and they're everywhere. There's always a way to get somewhere. Like, for example, I used to be afraid of taking the bus in Japan, because how much you pay on the fare for the fare on the bus depends on where you're going and where you're getting off. And so when you get on the train, on the Bus. There'll be a screen at the front that tells you the different prices depending on the stop. But you used to have to pay exact change and this was a source of anxiety for me. But now you can just use. You can tap your phone with your Suica card the same way you would to take the subway or any other train. So now this has opened up the world of buses to me. And we took this bus from like downtown Beppu, like from the train station there up through the mountains to a town about an hour away up in a sort of like valley at a much higher elevation. The town was called Yu Fuin. And on that hour long city bus ride we went through a national park. We went through multiple different sort of like climates. Right. There was snow on the ground for a while. We were like kind of like very close to the top of the volcanic mountain. We passed amusement parks and this winding path up the mountains. We went across crazy bridges. It was, was incredible. The view was stunning and it was like in an experience in itself. And it was a city bus.
- [96:16]
B
Yeah, that was really, really wild. It was like if you took a bus up to like Big Bear or something, it wouldn't be from like la. It would be so like somewhere in like the valley. Like if you took a bus up to there because it was like windy and it was amazing and that was really like just really, really cool to. And there were, was wild when people would get off along that path.
- [96:38]
A
I know sometimes I'd be like, where's that person going? There's literally nothing there. Because yes, there were people who were maybe going up to experience nature, go, you know, do some outdoor sports, go to these amusement parks. But there are also just people commuting for work. And it was surreal. Like there was that one stop where we stopped and people got off and I was like, there's literally nothing here. Like where are they going next? Next? And it was amazing. And that's just like something I love about Japan is the ability to get everywhere. And like I said, I'm really jealous of it. What is one piece of advice that you would give travelers?
- [97:20]
B
It's not like once you're there, it's not expensive. Like you can get around via public transit really affordably and go and do anything, you know. And now that the bus anxiety is gone, that's great. And food, like, yes, like anywhere you can spend bottomless sums of money if you wanted to. Yeah, you know, like there, there are places but at the same time you can go to like between, you know, 711 and all of that and all of the like cheap sushi go round kind of spots and just there's you. And, and, and honestly, if you're not veggie, you know, all the street food stuff or the plate, I forget the, the term for it, where, you know, you order from the little machine out front and then they deliver it inside. And those are so cheap. There's so much cheap food and like, so you could do that to really maximize what you're spending and then treat yourself, you know, to something nice or, or don't. Because honestly, it's not like any of that is bad. It's just like, yeah, you could go have this fancier version of it or a better version of it, but still like, you know, you go to like a kura sushi, spend $5 and think about that. If you're in Austin, you're going to go to one, spend, you know, 30 and it's going to be a quarter of the quality.
- [98:46]
A
Yeah, yeah. I mean kura sushi is a great example of a resource that I use a lot in Japan because they're all over the place. And what's cool is that each of them have like location exclusive menu items. And they also have vegetarian options way more than they used to, including fake fish. And you can order on the screen, on the little like iPad at your table and it comes out on the conveyor belt or you can pull stuff from the conveyor belt. I go there a lot to eat when I'm there by myself because I can spend $5 and leave full and satisfied and feel like I had a reasonably healthy meal and there's so many other options like that. And I think that's something that I really want to call out here that people are always like, oh, you must be rich because you go to Japan. And I'm like, actually one, I'm not rich. But two, you can have an incredible experience in Japan and spend very little money. Like, yes, you're gonna have to buy the ticket to get there. That is going to be the most expensive part of your trip. But we've gotten really good at like gaming the airfare system and making that work. But also like, I stay in inexpensive hotels, I take public transportation everywhere. I'm not shopping non stop. I'm mixing up what I eat and you know, eating at affordable places. And there are also so many amazing places you can visit that are free. The museums are very inexpensive and even like we take the Shinkansen everywhere, which is, is a little bit more spendy. But you could take the overnight bus around the country for like 20 bucks. You get like a recliner sort of seat on the bus and you pull this like hood thing over your seat to give yourself privacy and you sleep. And it's like 20 bucks. Like, there are so many ways to go to Japan and spend very little money and have the time of your life. And I do want to just like call that out. Like, to me, it's one of the most affordable places you can visit in the world and not need a car and feel safe being by yourself. And I think that's another reason that I keep going back. It's also stunningly beautiful and really cool. And there's incredible art and the food is good. And there are a million more reasons why I love Japan. But I used to think that Japan was really out of reach, and it's actually not.
- [101:08]
B
No. There was a time, I remember a few years back where like we looked, we were gonna take a trip to Portland to visit and we crunched the numbers and we're like, honestly, we could just go to Japan for a week for that. The same price as like a week in Portland.
- [101:24]
A
So we did. It was actually cheaper because we were gonna go to Portland for the week of Christmas and see our friends, family and stuff. And it was like gonna be a few thousand dollars. And I was like, wow, this is more expensive than if we went to Japan for a week. Should we just do that? And I sort of was laughing as I said it. But then we went, it was like after Christmas. It was like that period after Christmas through New Year's, and it was great. And it cost so much less money than to like go on a trip here in the United States. And so I'm also able to go to Japan for a whole month. And I want to make this like a regular thing I do every year because I work every day while I'm there. I usually work about eight hours each day. And that's because, you know, I work for myself. Technology allows me to meet with my clients and work without being in the same country as them. I also get up and start working at 5am on the weekdays when I'm there, which Dustin got to experience. It can be kind of a brutal schedule sometimes, but that is one reason I can be there because I'm not giving up a month of income. And I also am really thrifty in my day to day life back home. So, you know, I don't drink alcohol, I don't smoke weed, I barely eat in restaurants. We buy all of our food from grocery outlets or we grow it ourselves. And so those things allow me to be able to have the money to buy a plane ticket to go to Japan for a month. And I don't know, I, I feel so lucky that I get to do that because like teenage and 20 something me, like, dreamed of that.
- [102:54]
B
Oh, yeah, no, that was, I mean, that's the first time that we went was because it was the place that both of us, we're like, okay, if we're going to do something now to celebrate, like, let's go somewhere that we both have always wanted to, you know, and. Because in the 90s, when, you know, I first dreamed of it, the exchange rate, because of how, you know, thriving Japan was at the time, was expensive and, and it felt unobtainable.
- [103:22]
A
Yeah, yeah. And now it's. It's not, it's. Or maybe it never was and we just thought it was. The plane ticket is a hard hurdle to get over. But also, like, airfare is way more affordable now than it used to be. And like I said, if you are willing to take a longer trip or an indirect trip or, I mean, Google Flights was trying to show me like some $500 ticket that had me flying to Switzerland first. Like, if you're willing to do things like that, you can make this trip happen, I guess. I have two pieces of advice for people who are considering traveling to Japan. One is you've probably heard that there's no gluten free or vegetarian food in Japan. And I'm here to tell you that that has changed a lot in the last decade that we've been traveling there. And most chain restaurants there have vegetarian options. One life hack is that all the family restaurants like, like Denny's and Royal Host and Joyful always have one vegetarian menu item that's like pretty good. Like at Denny's, it's like a veggie burger. And at Royal Host, it is really.
- [104:31]
B
Good curry served in a gravy boat.
- [104:34]
A
Elegant, right? And it comes with all these great vegetables. At Joyful, we got a little scammed because we ordered the vegetarian taco rice. And I'm going to tell you, it was not taco rice, it was curry rice. But it was still good. But there are vegetarian options everywhere now. I mean, not at every restaurant, but it's not hard to find food to eat. And the conbini, not only does it have plenty of vegetarian options, some of them were even starting to have like vegan options, which is great. We had some amazing fully vegan meals. Everywhere we traveled at that Mexican place in Beppu, at a really great place in Fukuoka where I had this legit taco rice and Dustin had a burger. There was also that macrobiotic vegan place teas. Tantan is like fully vegan ramen and curry delicious. They have multiple locations in Tokyo. I dream about the black sesame ramen when I'm not there. And I've been trying to like hack that recipe for years now. And there are plenty of places now to eat that are gluten free. Like Japan has changed a lot food wise. Just, I mean, the United States has too. These things have become more, a lot easier here. The other thing I just want to call out that has been a complete enhancer of my last two trips to Japan is luggage forwarding. So when I am going for a month, I take two suitcases. One is a smaller suitcase that can hold about three days worth of clothes, all my toiletries and like, you know, my pour over coffee thing and anything else that I'm going to need, my computer stuff for working, whatever. And then I have a larger suitcase that is basically all the rest of my clothes and anything else. And it's huge. And I don't want to take that on all the trains and stuff or wheel it through the streets. So what I do is I strategically plan to have my luggage forwarded from city to city. So like when I left Tokyo, I had it, my big suitcase shipped up to Kana Sawa, where I was going to be in five days, because four days I was going to need clothes right by the time I got there. And then from Kana Sawa I had it shipped to Nagoya. So like I would always be like five days ahead of me, sort of three days depending on what I was doing. And I would pack enough clothes in my other suitcase and anything else I needed for that, like, and kind of just switch stuff in and out through the trip. And luggage forwarding is really easy. You can do it in stations. Your hotel front desk probably offers it. You can do it at convenience stores. It's anywhere from 10 to 20 bucks, depending on how big the suitcase is and how far it's going to. Basically what you're doing when you use luggage forwarding service is you are giving your suitcase to a shipping carrier like imagine UPS or FedEx, but these are Japanese companies and you know, it's going on the delivery truck with all the boxes and unfortunately Amazon packages and whatnot. So you know, when you, you want to make sure that you're not packing anything fragile or Liquid. I mean they're going to ask you when you take it to the shipping place, like is there anything fragile in here? What's in here? And I just am like, it's clothes, it's books, whatever. I don't put computers in there, prescription medications, anything like that. And I am one of those people who's like, okay, I don't want to be intrusive. I want to be a self sufficient guest in this country. So I often, rather than using that hotel front desk, ask even to do the shipping because I feel like even though they will kindly and politely do it for you, I feel like it's kind of annoying for them. I actually will, you know, look up on my phone where there is a Yamato location. Yamato is my favorite way to forward my suitcase around the country because one the mascot of the company is a black cat. And sometimes you see it a black cat and a white cat together. Sometimes you see it a mother black cat with a baby black cat. But either way the branding is dialed in for me. And yes, they do have merch. I didn't buy any, but I did take some free stickers. Anyway, I will find a Yamato, take my suitcase over there. Usually the day before I'm about to hit the road for the next city. But sometimes morning of it just depends. And I have, when I get there, I make sure I have my hotel information, where it's going, including the phone number and if they need any reservation numbers. Sometimes the hotels want to see that when your bag arrives, if it arrives before you. So I go there super prepared. It's already pulled up and screenshotted on my phone so that I can fill out the form myself. But sometimes the people working the desk there would prefer to fill out the form themselves. And so I just give them my phone with the information. And at some Yamato locations, it's actually more of like an iPad where you get to enter all the information which, which is my favorite obviously because I am very much into using the self checkout. That's who I am. Anyway, last year as I was traveling around shipping my suitcases, sometimes the shipping service would be cash only, particularly if I was doing it at a convenience store. But some of the Yamato locations as well. But this year I noticed at least all the places I visited you could pay with a card, which is great, but just know that you want to carry some extra cash with you just in case to save you the stress of having to leave, go track down an ATM and come Back. And once again, like, knowing that I could do this and doing it made my trip so much better. Okay, one last question for you, Dustin. What would you do differently next. Next time?
- [110:45]
B
One thing is, I think I'm gonna pack less and just do laundry more, because since every hotel has it and it's cheap, so then I'm just. Less stuff. That's one. I mean, and. And the other big thing is I just want to go more places.
- [111:01]
A
Yeah.
- [111:02]
B
Which isn't really, like, do differently. It's just like, next time, I just want more places. Because the more that we go to new places, just. It's just. That's always what. What interests me the most is like, oh, here's this new city to experience. Or even, like, even in Tokyo, I feel like there's still all these zones we haven't even gone to.
- [111:25]
A
Like, I know.
- [111:26]
B
Like, it's. It's wild so much.
- [111:28]
A
Yeah.
- [111:28]
B
Because it's such a sprawling city. It's like, you know, like. Not that it's the same culturally, but it's like. Like. Like, you know, when you're in New York, do you go to Long Island? You know, like, unless you have a particular reason to. But it's like that. Like, that kind of distance of, like, oh, well, there's all this other cool stuff right here, so I'm not gonna go out there. But, you know, like, as. And it's like any city where, like, cool stuff gets pushed further out, you know, like, that zone that, like, Bearpaw was in is, you know, has more stuff now and all that. And that's. Yeah. Yeah. And that's not super tight in. That's, you know, And I'm sure that whatever is past that now is. Has got stuff. You know, there's been a few times of that. So just more. More, like, bring less and go more places.
- [112:19]
A
Yeah. I mean, the laundry thing, which is obviously something I figured out last year, I think greatly enhanced your experience this time, too, which is basically almost every hotel has, like, a little laundromat in it, and you can get change from the front desk. The machines are great because they. It's one machine that does the washing and the drying. However, there's a cycle where if you just want to wash stuff so you can hang. Dry it, you can do that, too. The machine puts in detergent for you, so you don't need to worry about that kind of thing. And they all have this. This feature where you enter, like, a pin number that you create, and only you can open that washing machine when it's done with your PIN number so you don't even have to worry about anyone taking your stuff. And I just plan my laundry days based around where I am and like, which suitcase I have and which is what's going on. And I, yeah, I literally bring hangers with me to hang dry laundry. Years ago we were in Mexico City for like a week or two and the place we stayed only had three hangers and so I went to like a dollar store and bought a package of pink wire hangers that are extremely lightweight and I brought them back with me and I've been taking them to Japan on every trip so I can wash my clothes and hang dry them. But a lot of these, like, hotel bathrooms, these like weird cube bathrooms actually have in the bathtub this wash line that you can pull out so you can hang stuff to dry there too. So laundry in Japan is really easy and normal. Like you don't have to feel weird asking to do laundry in a hotel there. It's there for you to use.
- [114:08]
B
Yeah. I mean, and for me, like, that just means I can bring less stuff, you know, because I'm fine to, you know, to do that. And so that's one less, just less stuff to lug. It's not even like about bringing it as much as like lugging it around as we go from place to place.
- [114:27]
A
That reminds me of something that I was telling you about, Dustin. I have a very clear memory of walking to Kura Sushi and Nagaya and telling you about how many posts I have seen on the JapanTravel subreddit where people go to Japan without anything. Maybe an empty suitcase, maybe not even. And they buy everything there. The suitcase, the clothes, the toiletries, everything. And it's like a humble brag to them and I hate it. It makes me really angry, actually. It feels so wasteful.
- [115:00]
B
I can't even imagine behaving like that.
- [115:05]
A
And then bragging about it and recommending it to other people. I know people are like, I don't even bring a toothbrush anyway. Good for them. I hate it.
- [115:16]
B
No, it's like, yeah, like, yeah, you could buy stuff, but you, I mean.
- [115:19]
A
You don't need to buy a whole suitcase full of clothes.
- [115:22]
B
No, only buy like the coolest, weird stuff you see.
- [115:26]
A
Yeah. So anyway, do you have any final thoughts on Japan that you want to share?
- [115:31]
B
Just a. You should go.
- [115:32]
A
Yeah, you should grow.
- [115:34]
B
Do it.
- [115:35]
A
Yeah, do it.
- [115:36]
B
Yeah.
- [115:37]
A
Maybe we can organize. I was telling Justin this company keeps reaching out to me and I'm ignoring them, but they like organize I hate to say this noun. Well, they organize trips for influencers where, like, people who are, like, a member of their, like, community, their followers, whatever, their fans can go on a trip with the influencer. Which I don't think of myself as an influencer, but Dustin and I were like, would people go on a clothes horse Japan trip? Because that I just, like, want to do that. Go to all the weird places that I like to go to.
- [116:19]
B
A tour of hard offs.
- [116:22]
A
Yeah. And, like, novelty food restaurants and parfettoriums. Yeah. You know, all the things that I love in Japan. Anyway, holler if you're interested and then I'll respond to that email. All right, well, that's all we have, I think.
- [116:38]
B
Thanks for having me.
- [116:39]
A
Yeah, thank you, Justin.
- [116:41]
B
I'm across the hall.
- [116:44]
A
Bye, everyone. Sam.