NOTIFICATION SQUAD: For the love of god, don't say this is a pen. In fact, just don't use the letter p from now on. This video is 25% rant, 25% critique, 25% story time and 25% diorama. I hope somewhere in between you learn something of value! BUT what do you think of Japanese TV? Am I being too harsh? Or perhaps too kind? Let me know and enjoy the video! Also, the video starts at 09:30...
That’s the result of our culture, we’re more reserved and conservative tradition does not like negativity on tv. There are different “builds” to each society Japans distribution is a bit weird but unique and that’s what I always loved about it. It’s a fair criticism but I don’t want it to change :)
@Midtoker Marius No they won't ... I don't understand if this is supposed to be a joke or you're actually wondering if they'd put reactions over tv shows, as if they're reality tv shows ...
@Cooper even the gen z streamed shows are ridiculous and far-fetched but with better fx.... there is no new ground to be explored but PR motivated and brand, as well as ideologically driven. Conditioning and programing for whatever "new" centralized system.
I don’t mean this disrespectfully whatsoever but I was actually floored that TV use in Japan was only down the 12% of young people not watching it whatsoever. Here in the US, it’s way lower imo maybe 50% everyone is on the internet/streaming. Our media is just as bad just different, and mostly expensive while also being corny and bad. Sadly I’m starting to see the beginning of streamings morph back into cable television, at least price wise
In a sense, that Kitchen Nightmares episode exists. In season 3 of the (inferior) US series, Gordon goes to a place called Sushi Ko. The owner is an immigrant Japanese chef named Akira and he's clearly depressed to the point that he's lost passion for cooking. Gordon keeps confronting him angrily, shouting at him to "find his balls" and so forth. "Why don't you defend yourself? Are you even a man?" That kind of thing. But Akira just politely takes it, staying quiet. The cultural expectation by Gordon that anyone serious about their profession or reputation would fight back or at least try to defend themselves clashes with Akira's impulse to display meekness and politeness. Gordon eventually identifies that his marriage is partly what has broken him as Akira's wife puts him down even harder than Gordon does, but on a daily basis. So basically that's what Kitchen Nightmares Japan would be like every episode. Gordon shouting "are you a donkey wanker?!" while chefs awkwardly apologized quietly over and over again.
TV in Korea as pretty much the same, except 70% of it is people eating food and the "funny" or "surprising" things are just repeated 2-4 times in a row with different effects like in those Bollywood movies
YES OH MY GOD. I get so upset I cant even watch any of it im so sick of the same thing repeated over and over again but with different angles and text overlayed on top it drives me mad, I just wanna watch the show man... i saw what happened... i was there CAN WE CONTINUE???
Yea, this is the only reason I can't stand Korean and Japanese shows. Esp the repeating the punchline few times. Bollywood movies at least have some variety. it's so bad but I cant stop watching it because how absurd it is
I last visited Japan in late 2018. Upon entering my first hotel room I switched on the TV, and saw a late night TV interview with Kizuna Ai. Very satisfying. But yes, Japanese TV in general is pretty awful.
I'm a Canadian who has been living here in Japan for the last 28 years. So nice to hear someone nail it down so nicely. Worst, mindless TV I have ever experienced. Thank god for Netflix and Amazon Prime etc. When I first arrived...28 years ago...my first reaction to Japanese TV was...."I don't get it?? How is this interesting or entertaining?" My life was the video rental store for years. Love Japan though! 🙂 Keep the vids coming!
I think it might be the culture or the difference in the way we watch things. Japanese tv isn’t something we really watch? We just kind of have it going and we kind of pay attention but I talk with my family while it’s on. It’s not something you’re supposed to seriously watch really. It’s just there ig.
Yes, it is as bad as you've made out. I've been here 50 years and used to be a regular on some shows 40 years back. I pretty much stunk as a '漫才' stand-up-comedian (looking back on some old tapes), but it was all praise, and no-one ever commented on how bad I was ( partly because my partner was quite famous in those days). When I did stand up comedy (相声） in Chinese in the states once (I speak both Japanese and Chinese), I actually had someone make a comment that I wasn't really very funny (the Chinese are much more direct), and remember how thankful I was that finally someone told me the truth. I remember a Japanese cooking show I was on where they made up that I was a specialist in making pancakes, and the host commented on how delicious my pancakes were (never made pancakes before). A lot of it is just outright lies. Anyhow, the last TV show I was on was in 1983, and after that Japanese speaking foreigners started to increase so I was replaced by better talent.
Man, you have been there soo long. I am sure you treasure your experience no matter what the circumstances were. Do you ever plan to come to the states?
Huge increases of people not watching TV. I have had streaming services for 10 years. I don't recall what it was like to tune into a channel and be forced to watch what they were broadcasting.
outside of watching tv every morning before school as a kid, never really did watch much. since like 2003/4 ive just torrented everything i am interested in and watched from my computer. even with the rise of streaming that is far simpler than torrenting, the market is so fragmented id have to spend $150+ a month to watch what i normally do and even then 75% of what i watch would be region locked or simply unavailable and id have to resort to torrenting anyway.
And yet streaming services are slowly becoming more and more like cable TV in the sense that you need to buy about 5 of them to watch the shows you want since all are on separate places
Yeh I totally agree. In highschool back in the early 2000s, my friends were really into J-pop idols and would watch all the variety shows with them appearing as guests. It was so mind-numbing. The hyped over-reactions over nothing aside, it was also very clearly trying to manufacture parasocial relationships between fans and the idols. The shows were about mundane everyday things so you could imagine hanging out with them, as if they were like your friends or classmates.
I like how they took the real linguistic/phonetic concept of aspiration and tried to tie it to COVID transmission rates-yes, English does aspirate certain consonants, but it's hardly the only one, and likewise Japanese is hardly the only unaspirated language (Spanish is one too, for example)
Japanese people simply tend to speak more softly. Japanese language does have aspiration, it just doesn't work exactly the same as other language like Chinese (In Chinese language you can't get away from mixing up aspirated and unaspirated consonants, which isn't the case with Japanese). However, Japanese people are generally unable to distinguish between aspiration from unaspiration, instead they differentiate consonants by voicing, similar to most Indo-European languages.
Well, Japanese has more aspirated consonants than basically all Slavic language, but less than English. It's more of a scale, rather than a binary thing.
This was educational in both expected and unexpected ways. "Most Extreme Elimination Challenge" (MXC) was the US dubbed version of Takeshi's Castle from 2003-2007 and I never realized that it had stopped airing over a decade earlier. Loved the video!
@The Victory Over Himself what??? I only corrected your/their grammar 🤣 I was commenting/correcting on the specific comment that you made, because there might've been a msisunderstanding. Don't broaden the scope of my topic/comment.
I loved Takeshi's Castle...but it also stopped airing the year before I was born. While visiting my grandparents, there was a show called The Best House, where they take the 3 best things in a specific category (like largest whales, strongest locks, etc) and go into depth about each of the three items on each list. It was a really great show. Also Who Want to be a Millionaire was hilarious there. This guy looked so damn serious, and would stare at the contestant for like 30 seconds to a minute. Just staring. Before he would say if they were correct or not.
yeahh it stopped way back when i wasn't even born but i watch the old broadcast and I LOVE THAT SHOW, it was literally part of my childhood. miss Takeshi's Castle (TT)
Takeshi's Castle does give me nostalgia because I used to watch it as a kid at night, because it aired at night for me (I'm not a Japanese btw) but nonetheless I now find Japanese TV quite overwhelming for me, I never knew Takeshi's Castle was a Japanese Show until this video (when I saw it for the first time, this isn't my first time here as of this comment). FYI, it was dubbed in my native language so I never knew it was Japanese + thought that Japan doesn't exist (Basically, what I mean by this is that I used to think this as a kid that there was only one country and that would be where I'm from). Edit: 100 LIKES?! This is my first time getting a lot of likes in a comment, thank you! Note that I watched the reruns of it dubbed in my native language, which I didn't think about it when I originally commented.
I watched the American variation as a kid on Spike TV, over here it was called MXC, and while it was hilarious they definitely messed with the original material
It's absolutely hilarious how takeshi's castle was broadcasted in so many countries even like 15 years after it ended. It seems like it's that one Japanese program most non-Japanese people know. I'm from France and watched reruns as a kid too haha
@brad k you ok man? Thats not a country problem. I mean its not that bad here, maybe stop watching the news and fill your social media with fun stuff like sports, cooking, comedy etc.. No country is perfect. All countries will have some things you like and dislike. Also other english speaking countries (as well as many non english speaking) have the exact same problems as us but many of their governments and media outlets ignore them in an effort to save face and not be subject to self ridicule like we have in the U.S. The feelings you describe are symptoms of anxiety/depression. Moving to a new place is very difficult, at first its fun and an adventure but once you're settled down you have to adapt to a new culture and make new friends and get familiarized with wholly different settings. The reality is that if youre not a socially maliable and independent person it will be very stressful, especially at first. I really hope you feel better man.
Thank you for pointing out the reality that nearly everything on TV here (and pictures IMO) are grossly exaggerated. I have lived in Japan for a year and the “surprised and thrilled face” on all advertising become exhausting to see and hear.
My GF is Vietnamese. The few times where I have been trapped in front of what she watches, it reminds me of 80s children programing. Lots of sound effects, dings and bells. Everyone is so jazzed up and happy about the most petty of achievements by others. Their TV is trapped in an adolescent phase for adults. Very mind numbing to endure.
Oh god- yeah so when my parents are watching any sort of modern Viet television- it's abysmal. For example a lot of what I found funny when I was younger came from Vietnamese skits- so imagine my shock when every 4 seconds I heard a stock laugh track or a sound effect that went 'boing'. It's dreadful lol
I'm honestly shocked the younger Japanese generation doesn't know about Takeshi's Castle. It's my early 2000s childhood show that my family and I loved and would watch and laugh all night. Oh, and I lived in Kenya at the time!
In 1992 I walked into a library, looking for a challenge I thought I might like to learn Japanese. 30 years later I still can't speak Japanese. I am and always have been haunted by the country and the culture. Life just took over. You are living my dream, thank you for sharing. Subscribed.
Study up and take a trip. They have opened back up. I have been trying to learn Japanese since 2011. I can't read and write it but I can listen and understand some of it
17:39 that's not a japanese thing that's a universal thing. It's not necessarily because young japanese people don't like their shows and the vibe/culture of it. It's just that tv/cable is inconvenient for young people and streaming is a lot more accessible and our taste. This is something happening all across the globe. At least, this is my opinion :) 🤟
You earned a subscriber with this one. Fantastic editing, honesty and humor…it’s always great to hear from people who aren’t afraid to deliver the straight-up truth.
It's crazy how there are so many opportunities for foreigners to be on TV! When I was in Japan for Comiket a woman approached my friend and I to interview us what we were doing there. We ultimately didn't get selected to be on TV, but it was still a wild experience.
Bloody hilarious and as always, informative. Man, the production values are sky-high and I cannot imagine the work that all this involves. Love your content, and subject-matters, Chris!
So true.... I remember thinking Japanese tv would be a never-ending stream of crazy times entertainment, but it's actually really pedestrian. But when living in Japan in the early-2000s (no home PC/internet), I eventually found myself singing along to ads and laughing at stupid entertainment shows even if I had no idea what was going on. Thanks for the entertaining vids! Sugoi!
Japanese TV editing is a culture and art form in itself. I recommend Downtown's Gaki No Tsukai episode aired on 7th May 2006, which is mundane footage of the cast going to a family restaurant, edited by Producer Suga.
I grew up there, but I've been out of Japan for near 2 decades and...well, A LOT has changed for sure. My brother who still lives there visited us recently and showed us what's trending there. I think it was "ashimoto otemoto blah blah" thing. Me and my sister were utterly perplexed and watching my brother and his son laughing crazy in sheer confusion.
The thing I like about this channel is that you can tell he actually likes Japan. He's not some downer nerd mercilessly bashing the country to death while living out his days there. He's just giving a raw, cynical British appraisal of its less appealing aspects. Trust me, any native English speaker who's spent any time in Japan can relate to what he's talking about.
I remember trying to use Japanese Television to help with my understanding of culture and language. I watched Iron Chef and Sasuke. They were quite entertaining and ended up being redone for American TV. Anytime Bob Sapp got on TV he was impressive. The Gameshows weren't as nuts but the over acting was funny. I remember watching a chopstick use competition where they put the contestants in wacky situations they hat to use chopsticks in. Like a roller coaster. They even showed how they became chopstick experts one guy who built electronics using chopsticks. Hilarious after 3 Asahi's.
When I think about Japanese TV, I remember Nasubi, and his cruel, inhumane treatment by the producers. The broadcast still had all the wacky noises even when he was weeping from loneliness/desperation.
Extra points for having a Lumix camera btw. Yes, having lived and taught in Japan myself in the '90s, I can agree that all of this is correct. There were after-hour odd shows though, like the Miniskirt, Blue Vinyl Police (all girls posing and getting into mild antics in small segments) and some strange challenges, like "Not 100" where a professional wrestler, a boxer, a gangster, and an emo sat around a bowl of ramen, squeezing 1, 2, or e squirts of wasabi. The 100th squeeze had to eat all of it. Plus.. commercials, not unlike Mr. Sparkle or Fruity Oaty Bar. Seriously. And US actors on the down-low like Demi Moore with 2 kids dressed up Renascence style, as she "Oooo My!" chugs a full glass of Suntory Whiskey, or Tom & Jerry pushing the new Honda minivan.
I watch TV Japan in the United States several shows. Far Away Neighbor which is fun to watch, Sumo wrestling, my wife watches cooking shows, and some dramas. In addition, before Covid, they had these historical drama shows that were on for a whole year like Sakamoto Ryōma. After showing an episode on TV Japan, it would be showed again the following week but with sub titles in English. What an excellent drama that was very educational. There is also a Health show that discusses so many interesting topics. Then we have DVD's of Totoro, Spirit Away and several other animi shows.
@Dion Aji It's not quite repressed urges, Japanese people have sex, it's just the financial situation in Japan is pretty fucked for a lot of young people that settling down in a nice house and having kids isn't financially viable for a lot of people.
As a westerner who works with video & post-production for a living, I like watching the shows when I visit and see how they use all of the elements you mentioned - and jump cuts! I also really enjoy the magical wand the weather reporters use with the soft sponge on the end to point to the maps.
Some of these characteristics come through on NHK World Network, which is available is USA. Most of the programming is documentary or introduction to Japanese culture, history and language, naturally this isn't for domestic broadcast. But the pop music programs, which are in Japanese with subtitles, couldn't be more enthusiastic and filled with cheer.
I see nothing has changed since my stay there in the early 1990s. I was on a cooking show there once. It was quite a production lol It is really interesting to watch foreign movies on Japanese television. I remember watching Beetlejuice on TV in Tokyo in the early 1990s. Every now and then text with an arrow pointing at something taking place on the screen would pop up. Like the shrunken head - an arrow would point to the head and a note telling you its significance, etc., Thought it was really weird and distracting. But yeah, the excessive happiness on daytime shows is as tiring as sex and S&M-type late-night themes were shocking and jaw-dropping for the 22-year-old Canadian loool. Such an interesting place.
I got addicted to something that was called in the West "Ninja Warrior" which is apparently a meaningless phrase in Japanese. But it seemed to have conquered the world a few years ago. Just about every country seemed to have a version. Must've made somebody a lot of money.
I’m Japanese. I think exaggerating is true. It’s TV. They need lots of viewers and shocking contents for that. I never worked for a broadcaster but it’s natural to guess they script and plan everything, considering our culture of precision, punctuality, careful planning and responsibility to accomplish plans. They also need to make money like other industries. I don’t watch TV though.
These shows with the same celebrities over and over are very boring to me. The one good about them, when you learn the language: so many "subtitles" in Japanese (sometimes with furigana). Sometimes it's just too much. I hated those stupid shows that took priority during the Tsunami and a Nuclear crisis back in 2011, instead of a 24h news coverage on TV.
@KingRanger Everyone likes fried chicken, across the whole world. The thing is is that black people are made fun of over it, hence the "read the air" part of my comment. I'm not saying it's bad to depict a black person eating fried chicken, but to emphasize it is just ... mildly awkward. The stereotype largely has to do with the fact that poultry is a very cheap kind of farm animal to keep and the ridicule was over the fact that black people could not afford to eat "higher grade" meats like pork or beef. Again I wasn't going for some scathing criticism, but pointing out a bit of a mildly sore circumstance in this case.
@Hsin I think you are thinking of Christmas. They don:t celebrate Thanksgiving here. In fact, most Japanese people that I've talked to about it don't even know what Thanksgiving is even though they have a slightly similar holiday here. Everyone and their grandparents eat KFC on Christmas but you don't have to pre-order it but you do have to wait in long lines.
From a face value perspective, if Japanese society can be very high strung and stressful then I would assume the media they consume would be "calming" or meant to relax in response.
I remember watching Clive James and he had segments from a Japanese tv show called Endurance where contestants had weights tied to their genitals and where put in glass boxes in the sun and the person who endured the most pain was the winner if they werent hospitalised or passed away
So on point with this. I was on a local japanese tv show twice, first time I had to get excited about Gobou.... which is not very exciting. Second time I went on the show it was genuinely something I was interested in, sashimi. The staff could even tell I was much more excited by the glow on my face.
The only Japanese tv show that I've watched and really loved was Gaki no Tsukai Batsu Games. I was a teenager when I started watching so about 16yrs ago.. I also just quickly had to check and seems like I was in luck as the episodes actually came out as I watched them!
Chris's little potato chip sketch is unrealistically quick. It's supposed to take at least 10-15 minutes from when you first show the food to when you actually taste and react to the food.
And with several commercial breaks before he takes a bite. Not a soft fade to black, but a freaking jarring cut into a beer commercial of people doing the exact same thing with foamy beer on their lips. Because that is how people drink beer of course.
I'm in my early twenties and I haven't been a frequent TV viewer since around the time I started high school. I almost never turn on the TV to watch anything myself. The most common way that I end up watching it is when I'm talking to my mom about something and I just get pulled in to watching some crime drama with her lol. Gotta see if this suspect is really the killer! (I do watch way too much KZclip though, as well as a lot of anime.)
i'm surprised because a lot of the japanese tv tropes you explained sounds similar to what korean tv used to do in the 2000s and early 2010s. i agree with your criticisms as it felt awkwardly fake and oftentimes obnoxious watching a show react to itself before i'd even processed what was going on. i don't necessarily think the techniques themselves are bad though, korean tv still use a lot of sound effects and subtitles but is a lot more watchable and enjoyable now with the negative aspects toned down a lot
It's part of escapism. Trying to deal with the dreadful work culture in Japan, this is one of the few instance where they can relax (I'd say it is more targeted towards older generations though). Btw, I watch Japanese youtubers sometimes, and your impression and use of sounds was on point xD the small trumpet sound
Maybe the dying days of tape trading pro wrestling and MMA from Japan and Mexico ruined what I learned years later about Japanese TV in the late 90s - early 2000s. Outside of the stories of batshit insane New Years Eve specials, K-1 kickboxing shows that were filled with commercials for (what I assumed were) Japanese soap operas, where women would get randomly naked, or a private investigator who would solve a crime via tying someone up with "ancient rope tactics", while probably recorded from off-the-air channels, the channel was most likely a lowly watched cable channel, and the show probably either aired at 3 am, or as weekend TV filler. At least I was lead to believe from the "pieces of napkins" I pieced together from years of falling down "rabbit holes" on the Internet, LOL.
Come to think of it, my brief experiences trying to learn a foreign language, if I talk to that language teacher for a little bit, they will tell me how great the country is, how everyone is nice and hospitable, and they take vacations every year to that country, and there is rarely any crime or gang activity (Mexico, Japan, Russia, France, etc.) Very nice place to visit, a paradise, and "don't believe everything you hear in media" type scenario.. Now compare that with my "research", now as a middle age white male, who probably found some crazy shit such as "Takeshi's Castle" (here as MXC in the United States), "Death Match wrestling" (aka, "Strangle-mania"), poor quality mid-90s "hentai" anime (I think you might be seeing a trend with very poor "comedic" English voice dubbing), and the occasional "Yakuza" action film, in my teenage years, that left me with far more questions than answers, and my stereotypes about Japan that may be far different from the language teachers I mentioned earlier, if not somewhat hilarious and a little tragic in hindsight.
Ah on the surface. Their suicide rate has skyrocketed and hikamori(voluntary shut-ins) culture is prevalent in urban areas. Their society is extremely restrictive. You are never allowed to state or show how you truly feel and the age hierarchy is rigid.
Sooo... Anime, which is simply an artistic representation of people, have a lot more freedom to express other sentiments. I try to imagine how the first clash of cultures went... Japanese being so strict and focused in their industry and craft, so polite, so reserved and considerated. The conversations they must have had trying to figure out the thought process of other cultures
I had the pleasure of being on Japanese TV once, in the 90's. A crew came to do a bit on local sites and I was the "tour guide" (this was a very rural area in Hyogo with no other western foreigners for probably a fifty mile radius). I didn't have to say much. Spent most of my time standing near the guy with the mic, nodding and smiling a lot. Our last shot was in a village up on a mountain top, locally famous for the rice fields stepping down the slope. To this day I cannot figure out why I was abandoned there, but I was left behind, in that little village of senior citizens. Wound up drinking and getting hammered in a barn with the village boss and a few farmers before one finally took me back to my place of work in his K-Truck. Overall, a pleasant experience.
Could it also have to do with the aging population? In my country there's a channel that's aimed at the elderly specifically and the way you describe japanese television reminds me of it in the way that it's also overwhelmingly positive and pleasant. Definitely not as "wacky" but it's mostly a lot of people talking about history around the time elderly people would have grown up in a very positive way or saying nice things about stuff the elderly might care about, kinda like your segment on beans. As well as some unusually pleasant and less competitive game shows, like memory games of people having to remember grocery lists.
This was sooooo freakin good. It just popped up on my autoplay and your breakdown at the end was articulated so well .. you pull no punched, and you actually "get it" ... amazing
Kinda incredible how in different places, tv can be so different. One of the channels my relatives watch, every sunday during lunch time, has a show that talks about cultural facts, festivities, peculiar towns about our state, mostly food related, and it is also how I found out in one region they have a cheese with live fly maggots inside, and you would think that it's rotten cheese but is not, the way is worked is meticulous and if they notice the minimum of mistake they will throw the bad cheese.
I love gaki no tsukai, so to finally understand why they are always so happy during the food marathons and stuff now makes alot of sense. They literally can't say anything bad! (atleast about the food.)
About Japanese young people losing interest in watching TV: I had the idea that's more of a global phenomenon, personally I basically never watch tv and even my parents don't besides my mom occasionally watching football.
yeah, thats true, one day when youtube gets significally big, i just stopped watching tv, tv shows are not funny anymore, and a little time later i started to see the enormous amount of propaganda that shit has, literally when i stopped watching tv i lost a lot of stress, they are constantly saying you directly "be like this, not like this", and i am not talking about the publicity or the "they just put thin people to make feel bad fat people"
At about the 10min mark I just about peed my pants 👖 offs. Hilarious 😂 you made this boomer laugh uncontrollably you nailed it so well. I grew up in the early 70s with Zatoichi movies because in Cuba they weren’t censured at all even for minors. Spanish and American movies had cursing up the wazzu while Japanese movies did not. Lapping up your episodes ever since I found your channel 👍
I'm 90s kid and Takeshi's Castle was huge part of my childhood.. It's weird that some shows have more impact and nostalgia abroad than their native audience
In the United States, they made a version of Takeshi's Castle called Wipeout!. It was fun to watch, in the same way it is fun to watch a car wreck live where you know no one gets hurt.
My wife is Japanese and she remembered it. She’s an 80s kid though. I think the point was *younger* Japanese don’t remember it because it came out so long ago. Same for anime like Dragon Ball that took years to be released in English speaking countries.
Yes! That show was the pinnacle of entertainment as a 13-year-old. I want to say it was on either Nickelodeon or Comedy Central? (which used to be the same channel anyway in my country, Nick in the daytime and CC in the evenings)
We had to watch tv for our trip there with my friends and it was hilarious. We had a great time seeing the shopping broadcast where they were amazed about some kind of buttplug for the mouth. It was in fact an item to strengthen your mouth muscles. We made a private gif and the best in our collection to this day. 10 out of 10 sugoooooy
During my first visit to Japan, a solo trip back in 2000, I turned on the tv a number of times in the cheap hotels in which I stayed part of the trip, and from it I recall these fleeting impressions- impassioned K-pop soap dramas, highly watchable even though it was Korean dubbed into Japanese of which I known only a scant bit; interviews with the guy or gal on the street in Tokyo during a national heat wave, extolling the value of eating unagi (eel), a Japanese folk cure for the heat (why??!!); some Japanese porn with the genitals fuzzed out and the women shrieking uncomfortably like underaged school girls; and a random assortment of totally forgettable crap. The habit of watching Japanese tv was therefore stillborn for me after a few desultory attempts at consuming it. On my next trip to Japan, also in August, I recall another unagi segment. Over there they seem to regard that as compelling content...
Five star report. Great editing, great articulation, nice camera showing up over your shoulder every now and again!! I wonder if you have a video about the dire state of J-drama. The acting, the lighting (or lack of control of lighting), the music, and so on…. I’m sure I’ve seen a few reasonable dramas over the years but good god, not these days!
I remember when I was a school student I went on a trip with my school to Japan. My friend and I stayed with a family who had two daughters one about our age. We sat down to watch some television one night and even she admitted some of the shows were quite strange. Then again, I imagine they'd probably find some of our western shows quite bizarre.
Of course, the alternative is simply unthinkable. A gentleman does not run, neither is he excessively exuberant; he does not smile like a Cheshire cat, howl with laughter like a hyena, wail in sorrow like a banshee, or roar in anger like King Kong. The English gentleman is in control of himself at all times, quiet, respectful, and moderate. Well, there is a Broad in Japan who is clearly not an English gentleman. 🙄
Absoulute Awesome video !! Everything was on point.. And the clip where you filmed as a Japanese Television host reviewing the potato chips, was just bang-on! it was a good refreshing laugh^-^ ...... keep it up!
It would be refreshing to have tv in America be little closer to Japanese television. There's a reason I don't watch 'reality' tv or really any tv anymore but a little positivity would be nice.
The takeshi's castle is so true, I had a lot of japanese tutors and told them that I like takeshi's castle and that I grew up watching it but turns out not a single one of them ever of heard it 😅
I went to Japan and studied abroad in 2005 I think. The first TV show I saw was the news. It's about "if you feel sick please go to a closeby hospital" There's a picture of a missile going over a picture of Japan country I asked the host about it and turned out It's NORTH KOREAN, they shot a missile and landed in territorial of japan's sea 2nd was Earth quake.
@nekomatafuyu A one off might be interesting, or just having Japanese television sequences here and there in his videos, but I come here for the snarky comments, dry British humor and the sarcasm.
Gaki no Tsukai is alright from what i've seen. It's a variety show and it has a lot of funny ideas like the "no laughing batsu (punishment) game" or "silent library".
We actually get a Japanese channel in USA I loved it and yes everyone seems overly enthusiastic about just about everything. I liked it though the rest of my family hated it.
I love that it's not even the hard "peh" sound that blows the napkin away, but the soft "a." Not even to mention that Japanese and English both have the hard "peh" for pen.
I loved this video, it was really wholesome and accurate from what I’ve discerned! Also the you in the little Japanese room was awesome I hope to see that in more videos!!(:
NOTIFICATION SQUAD: For the love of god, don't say this is a pen. In fact, just don't use the letter p from now on.
This video is 25% rant, 25% critique, 25% story time and 25% diorama. I hope somewhere in between you learn something of value! BUT what do you think of Japanese TV? Am I being too harsh? Or perhaps too kind? Let me know and enjoy the video!
Also, the video starts at 09:30...
This is a pen
Wait… Your name is Broad? The channel title is a pun?🤯[bizarre anime emotional noises]
Not too harsh, no. Looks horrific. 😰😂
amazing!!
The editing and commentary are on point!
That's probably the most English-phobic tissue I've seen in my life.
that was funny.
Omg lwif you're the best!
@Harta A
Need this collab so bad
Somehow Chris' Japanese parody is still not exaggerated enough.
Needs more exaggerated zoom-ins
That’s the result of our culture, we’re more reserved and conservative tradition does not like negativity on tv.
There are different “builds” to each society Japans distribution is a bit weird but unique and that’s what I always loved about it.
It’s a fair criticism but I don’t want it to change :)
True. It needs more smiling and happy acting 🤣
@Johny No Way 笑 笑 笑
The SNL Mike Myers Japanese Game show skit is pretty accurate
As a Japanese this is the exact reason I don’t watch TV. I actually watch your videos to decide where to travel to in Japan 😂
Do Japanese like foreigners?
@Chris Lim im confused as why you take my comments like insulted your mother?
@Midtoker Marius No they won't ... I don't understand if this is supposed to be a joke or you're actually wondering if they'd put reactions over tv shows, as if they're reality tv shows ...
@iggy idk.. Audio commentary?
@Midtoker Marius why would they ever do that
As a Japanese Z gen person, these are exactly why TV shows are getting less popular among us
It's because you're (Z gen) are getting more American than Japanese now...
@Cooper even the gen z streamed shows are ridiculous and far-fetched but with better fx.... there is no new ground to be explored but PR motivated and brand, as well as ideologically driven. Conditioning and programing for whatever "new" centralized system.
I don’t mean this disrespectfully whatsoever but I was actually floored that TV use in Japan was only down the 12% of young people not watching it whatsoever. Here in the US, it’s way lower imo maybe 50% everyone is on the internet/streaming. Our media is just as bad just different, and mostly expensive while also being corny and bad. Sadly I’m starting to see the beginning of streamings morph back into cable television, at least price wise
@lol Sussy Baka
sus
In a sense, that Kitchen Nightmares episode exists. In season 3 of the (inferior) US series, Gordon goes to a place called Sushi Ko. The owner is an immigrant Japanese chef named Akira and he's clearly depressed to the point that he's lost passion for cooking.
Gordon keeps confronting him angrily, shouting at him to "find his balls" and so forth. "Why don't you defend yourself? Are you even a man?" That kind of thing. But Akira just politely takes it, staying quiet. The cultural expectation by Gordon that anyone serious about their profession or reputation would fight back or at least try to defend themselves clashes with Akira's impulse to display meekness and politeness. Gordon eventually identifies that his marriage is partly what has broken him as Akira's wife puts him down even harder than Gordon does, but on a daily basis.
So basically that's what Kitchen Nightmares Japan would be like every episode. Gordon shouting "are you a donkey wanker?!" while chefs awkwardly apologized quietly over and over again.
Kitchen Nightmares Japan sounds like something that would get me to watch TV again
Why does the root cause of failed restaurants on Kitchen Nightmares always come back to dysfunctional marriages, hahaha
Can someone tell me which season and episode this was? I want to watch it. Thanks in advance
This was one of the best episodes.
well don't forget the first half where it's just Gordon flipping through every shelf in the kitchen with his bare hands
TV in Korea as pretty much the same, except 70% of it is people eating food and the "funny" or "surprising" things are just repeated 2-4 times in a row with different effects like in those Bollywood movies
YES OH MY GOD. I get so upset I cant even watch any of it im so sick of the same thing repeated over and over again but with different angles and text overlayed on top it drives me mad, I just wanna watch the show man... i saw what happened... i was there CAN WE CONTINUE???
My cousin has made me watch bts vlogs and I just can’t get past the exaggerated visuals and sound effects
맞긴해 ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Yea, this is the only reason I can't stand Korean and Japanese shows. Esp the repeating the punchline few times.
Bollywood movies at least have some variety. it's so bad but I cant stop watching it because how absurd it is
i remember they had like a starcraft channel
Can we just take a moment to sincerely appreciate Chris’ editing skills? Top notch!
Max0r.
Bro just said “can we just take a moment to appreciate this mans content🤓” unironically
@Yummy Moon I never denied it
@Ilkka actually way better than most youtubers that I watch
sugoiiiiii
I last visited Japan in late 2018. Upon entering my first hotel room I switched on the TV, and saw a late night TV interview with Kizuna Ai.
Very satisfying.
But yes, Japanese TV in general is pretty awful.
@nathan papp Are you even American? 🙄
@nathan papp There are still some good shows every now and then, but yeah. On the whole, US TV is mostly just boring and saturated
@nathan papp Tv and cable is dying out, streaming services are gonna be the future so...
I'm a Canadian who has been living here in Japan for the last 28 years. So nice to hear someone nail it down so nicely. Worst, mindless TV I have ever experienced. Thank god for Netflix and Amazon Prime etc. When I first arrived...28 years ago...my first reaction to Japanese TV was...."I don't get it?? How is this interesting or entertaining?" My life was the video rental store for years.
Love Japan though! 🙂 Keep the vids coming!
@4F6D6E69 that's not really a cultural difference. Canadians would talk over Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares.
I think it might be the culture or the difference in the way we watch things. Japanese tv isn’t something we really watch? We just kind of have it going and we kind of pay attention but I talk with my family while it’s on. It’s not something you’re supposed to seriously watch really. It’s just there ig.
Yes, it is as bad as you've made out. I've been here 50 years and used to be a regular on some shows 40 years back. I pretty much stunk as a '漫才' stand-up-comedian (looking back on some old tapes), but it was all praise, and no-one ever commented on how bad I was ( partly because my partner was quite famous in those days). When I did stand up comedy (相声） in Chinese in the states once (I speak both Japanese and Chinese), I actually had someone make a comment that I wasn't really very funny (the Chinese are much more direct), and remember how thankful I was that finally someone told me the truth. I remember a Japanese cooking show I was on where they made up that I was a specialist in making pancakes, and the host commented on how delicious my pancakes were (never made pancakes before). A lot of it is just outright lies. Anyhow, the last TV show I was on was in 1983, and after that Japanese speaking foreigners started to increase so I was replaced by better talent.
Man, you have been there soo long. I am sure you treasure your experience no matter what the circumstances were. Do you ever plan to come to the states?
Huge increases of people not watching TV. I have had streaming services for 10 years. I don't recall what it was like to tune into a channel and be forced to watch what they were broadcasting.
outside of watching tv every morning before school as a kid, never really did watch much. since like 2003/4 ive just torrented everything i am interested in and watched from my computer. even with the rise of streaming that is far simpler than torrenting, the market is so fragmented id have to spend $150+ a month to watch what i normally do and even then 75% of what i watch would be region locked or simply unavailable and id have to resort to torrenting anyway.
And yet streaming services are slowly becoming more and more like cable TV in the sense that you need to buy about 5 of them to watch the shows you want since all are on separate places
Same here. I grew up on youtube
Yeh I totally agree. In highschool back in the early 2000s, my friends were really into J-pop idols and would watch all the variety shows with them appearing as guests. It was so mind-numbing. The hyped over-reactions over nothing aside, it was also very clearly trying to manufacture parasocial relationships between fans and the idols. The shows were about mundane everyday things so you could imagine hanging out with them, as if they were like your friends or classmates.
I'm Japanese, and I totally agree his argument. I feel like the more I watching Japanese TV, the more my brain degenerated.
@JayRain ok weeb lol
@nextlevelcrazy thank you for answering my questions. I would also like to hear your reply regarding the capitalism. If that's ok with you?
I like how they took the real linguistic/phonetic concept of aspiration and tried to tie it to COVID transmission rates-yes, English does aspirate certain consonants, but it's hardly the only one, and likewise Japanese is hardly the only unaspirated language (Spanish is one too, for example)
No, it’s just her accent lol. Nobody exaggerates their mouth like that speaking English
Japanese people simply tend to speak more softly. Japanese language does have aspiration, it just doesn't work exactly the same as other language like Chinese (In Chinese language you can't get away from mixing up aspirated and unaspirated consonants, which isn't the case with Japanese). However, Japanese people are generally unable to distinguish between aspiration from unaspiration, instead they differentiate consonants by voicing, similar to most Indo-European languages.
Well, Japanese has more aspirated consonants than basically all Slavic language, but less than English. It's more of a scale, rather than a binary thing.
This was educational in both expected and unexpected ways. "Most Extreme Elimination Challenge" (MXC) was the US dubbed version of Takeshi's Castle from 2003-2007 and I never realized that it had stopped airing over a decade earlier. Loved the video!
Two decades actually!
5:54 “Japan, a land of 4 seasons” says the voiceover. Has anyone told Japan that any place not on the equator or poles has also 4 seasons?
@Gabuat, Micko kek lol gg
@The Victory Over Himself isn't that exactly why i was correcting your grammar 🤣
@Gabuat, Micko brevity is the soul of wit
@The Victory Over Himself what??? I only corrected your/their grammar 🤣
I was commenting/correcting on the specific comment that you made, because there might've been a msisunderstanding. Don't broaden the scope of my topic/comment.
@Gabuat, Micko Surely even mentioning it means you consider it remarkable.
I loved Takeshi's Castle...but it also stopped airing the year before I was born.
While visiting my grandparents, there was a show called The Best House, where they take the 3 best things in a specific category (like largest whales, strongest locks, etc) and go into depth about each of the three items on each list. It was a really great show.
Also Who Want to be a Millionaire was hilarious there. This guy looked so damn serious, and would stare at the contestant for like 30 seconds to a minute. Just staring. Before he would say if they were correct or not.
yeahh it stopped way back when i wasn't even born but i watch the old broadcast and I LOVE THAT SHOW, it was literally part of my childhood. miss Takeshi's Castle (TT)
Takeshi's Castle does give me nostalgia because I used to watch it as a kid at night, because it aired at night for me (I'm not a Japanese btw) but nonetheless I now find Japanese TV quite overwhelming for me, I never knew Takeshi's Castle was a Japanese Show until this video (when I saw it for the first time, this isn't my first time here as of this comment). FYI, it was dubbed in my native language so I never knew it was Japanese + thought that Japan doesn't exist (Basically, what I mean by this is that I used to think this as a kid that there was only one country and that would be where I'm from).
Edit: 100 LIKES?! This is my first time getting a lot of likes in a comment, thank you! Note that I watched the reruns of it dubbed in my native language, which I didn't think about it when I originally commented.
@Zhiming's :0 you may have found out my nationality after seeing the replies (which has an possibility of not) but that's interesting!
Apparently, Thai people over 35+ may have the same nostalgic feeling. They even did a 'remake' not so long ago in Thailand.
I watched the American variation as a kid on Spike TV, over here it was called MXC, and while it was hilarious they definitely messed with the original material
It's absolutely hilarious how takeshi's castle was broadcasted in so many countries even like 15 years after it ended. It seems like it's that one Japanese program most non-Japanese people know. I'm from France and watched reruns as a kid too haha
@potato I'm glad you understood! ^^
Hmm, I used to watch TV a lot but I noticed I don't watch TV anymore either.. :/
@brad k you ok man? Thats not a country problem. I mean its not that bad here, maybe stop watching the news and fill your social media with fun stuff like sports, cooking, comedy etc.. No country is perfect. All countries will have some things you like and dislike. Also other english speaking countries (as well as many non english speaking) have the exact same problems as us but many of their governments and media outlets ignore them in an effort to save face and not be subject to self ridicule like we have in the U.S. The feelings you describe are symptoms of anxiety/depression. Moving to a new place is very difficult, at first its fun and an adventure but once you're settled down you have to adapt to a new culture and make new friends and get familiarized with wholly different settings. The reality is that if youre not a socially maliable and independent person it will be very stressful, especially at first. I really hope you feel better man.
I don't watch TV anymore myself-I much prefer to read books
✋
sughoooooooi umeeeeeeeeee oishiiiiiiiii
same
Thank you for pointing out the reality that nearly everything on TV here (and pictures IMO) are grossly exaggerated. I have lived in Japan for a year and the “surprised and thrilled face” on all advertising become exhausting to see and hear.
My GF is Vietnamese. The few times where I have been trapped in front of what she watches, it reminds me of 80s children programing. Lots of sound effects, dings and bells. Everyone is so jazzed up and happy about the most petty of achievements by others. Their TV is trapped in an adolescent phase for adults. Very mind numbing to endure.
P
I hear you. I have lived in Vietnam for over 20 years and I have just stopped watching TV.
@Vincent Nguyen As a Vietnamese, I feel like shows from VTV are fine.
Shows from Đông Tây promotion on the other hand ...
Oh god- yeah so when my parents are watching any sort of modern Viet television- it's abysmal. For example a lot of what I found funny when I was younger came from Vietnamese skits- so imagine my shock when every 4 seconds I heard a stock laugh track or a sound effect that went 'boing'. It's dreadful lol
I'm honestly shocked the younger Japanese generation doesn't know about Takeshi's Castle. It's my early 2000s childhood show that my family and I loved and would watch and laugh all night. Oh, and I lived in Kenya at the time!
In 1992 I walked into a library, looking for a challenge I thought I might like to learn Japanese. 30 years later I still can't speak Japanese. I am and always have been haunted by the country and the culture. Life just took over. You are living my dream, thank you for sharing. Subscribed.
Study up and take a trip. They have opened back up. I have been trying to learn Japanese since 2011. I can't read and write it but I can listen and understand some of it
17:39 that's not a japanese thing that's a universal thing. It's not necessarily because young japanese people don't like their shows and the vibe/culture of it. It's just that tv/cable is inconvenient for young people and streaming is a lot more accessible and our taste. This is something happening all across the globe. At least, this is my opinion :) 🤟
You did a good job editing yourself into the mini-room at the first minute. You really got me there.
same lmao i was seriously like "this has to be photoshop, theres no way that rooms real"
I fell for it too
yeah ithought it looked kinda weird and plastic but I thought it was just a new set lololol
Your parody of Japanese TV is actually perfect, I'd absolutely still watch Abroad in Japan even if all the content was like that.
You earned a subscriber with this one. Fantastic editing, honesty and humor…it’s always great to hear from people who aren’t afraid to deliver the straight-up truth.
It's crazy how there are so many opportunities for foreigners to be on TV! When I was in Japan for Comiket a woman approached my friend and I to interview us what we were doing there. We ultimately didn't get selected to be on TV, but it was still a wild experience.
They aren’t for good reasons though it’s like a zoo.
Bloody hilarious and as always, informative. Man, the production values are sky-high and I cannot imagine the work that all this involves. Love your content, and subject-matters, Chris!
So true.... I remember thinking Japanese tv would be a never-ending stream of crazy times entertainment, but it's actually really pedestrian. But when living in Japan in the early-2000s (no home PC/internet), I eventually found myself singing along to ads and laughing at stupid entertainment shows even if I had no idea what was going on. Thanks for the entertaining vids! Sugoi!
Less young people in Japan not watching tv is not a Japan thing, that’s a global thing
Same i havent watched tv since i got my own PC
@nasis18 Torrent + Plex server is your friend.
Who wants to pay 100+ bucks a month for 150 channels with nothing good to watch? Hell, I even canceled my Netflix.
Yep. All my TV is used for now is the PS5 and movies from the Plex server I set up, along with some streaming stuff.
Haven't watched TV for years now
Japanese TV editing is a culture and art form in itself. I recommend Downtown's Gaki No Tsukai episode aired on 7th May 2006, which is mundane footage of the cast going to a family restaurant, edited by Producer Suga.
yes, its surely is cultural, doesnt mean that it is inferior.
american let alone european tv would never do it
I was not expecting abroad in Japan as Japanese tv but that was one of the funniest things I’ve seen
I grew up there, but I've been out of Japan for near 2 decades and...well, A LOT has changed for sure. My brother who still lives there visited us recently and showed us what's trending there. I think it was "ashimoto otemoto blah blah" thing. Me and my sister were utterly perplexed and watching my brother and his son laughing crazy in sheer confusion.
The thing I like about this channel is that you can tell he actually likes Japan. He's not some downer nerd mercilessly bashing the country to death while living out his days there. He's just giving a raw, cynical British appraisal of its less appealing aspects. Trust me, any native English speaker who's spent any time in Japan can relate to what he's talking about.
kira sensei?
This is like watching an episode of Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe. Same brilliant jokes and delivery, down to the sarcasm. Fantastic stuff!
Omg I was literally JUST going to comment on how much this reminds me of screenwipe
Even when Chris's supposed to try and act like he's happy, you can see the suffering in his eyes
This sounds bad, but I find this hilarious
@acgm046 I would hope so. Lol
That's interesting, because it makes you wonder whether Japanese people could get a cue out if his expressions to detect his true reactions or not.
😂😂😂😂😂😂
I remember trying to use Japanese Television to help with my understanding of culture and language. I watched Iron Chef and Sasuke. They were quite entertaining and ended up being redone for American TV. Anytime Bob Sapp got on TV he was impressive. The Gameshows weren't as nuts but the over acting was funny. I remember watching a chopstick use competition where they put the contestants in wacky situations they hat to use chopsticks in. Like a roller coaster. They even showed how they became chopstick experts one guy who built electronics using chopsticks. Hilarious after 3 Asahi's.
This episode was awesome. Floored the entire time, specially with "This is a ⚡️💥P-E-N💥⚡️" . Great job Chris. Your humor is exquisite.
When I think about Japanese TV, I remember Nasubi, and his cruel, inhumane treatment by the producers. The broadcast still had all the wacky noises even when he was weeping from loneliness/desperation.
Extra points for having a Lumix camera btw. Yes, having lived and taught in Japan myself in the '90s, I can agree that all of this is correct. There were after-hour odd shows though, like the Miniskirt, Blue Vinyl Police (all girls posing and getting into mild antics in small segments) and some strange challenges, like "Not 100" where a professional wrestler, a boxer, a gangster, and an emo sat around a bowl of ramen, squeezing 1, 2, or e squirts of wasabi. The 100th squeeze had to eat all of it. Plus.. commercials, not unlike Mr. Sparkle or Fruity Oaty Bar. Seriously. And US actors on the down-low like Demi Moore with 2 kids dressed up Renascence style, as she "Oooo My!" chugs a full glass of Suntory Whiskey, or Tom & Jerry pushing the new Honda minivan.
I watch TV Japan in the United States several shows. Far Away Neighbor which is fun to watch, Sumo wrestling, my wife watches cooking shows, and some dramas. In addition, before Covid, they had these historical drama shows that were on for a whole year like Sakamoto Ryōma. After showing an episode on TV Japan, it would be showed again the following week but with sub titles in English. What an excellent drama that was very educational. There is also a Health show that discusses so many interesting topics. Then we have DVD's of Totoro, Spirit Away and several other animi shows.
Western television has stark contrasts as well. Gordon Ramsay is far more reserved on British television while in the US he goes absolutely ballistic.
Your comment brought all the incels to the comment section even though IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH WOMEN.
@Dion Aji It's not quite repressed urges, Japanese people have sex, it's just the financial situation in Japan is pretty fucked for a lot of young people that settling down in a nice house and having kids isn't financially viable for a lot of people.
@Vilena5 half of what you just said is nonsense. There were no laws about walking unattended its not saudi arabia, and the divorce laws effected both.
@Duckie It actually is for once. Deal with it.
LMAO that Japanese show imitation was super on point. You should do more of those just for fun.
As a westerner who works with video & post-production for a living, I like watching the shows when I visit and see how they use all of the elements you mentioned - and jump cuts! I also really enjoy the magical wand the weather reporters use with the soft sponge on the end to point to the maps.
Some of these characteristics come through on NHK World Network, which is available is USA. Most of the programming is documentary or introduction to Japanese culture, history and language, naturally this isn't for domestic broadcast. But the pop music programs, which are in Japanese with subtitles, couldn't be more enthusiastic and filled with cheer.
I see nothing has changed since my stay there in the early 1990s. I was on a cooking show there once. It was quite a production lol It is really interesting to watch foreign movies on Japanese television. I remember watching Beetlejuice on TV in Tokyo in the early 1990s. Every now and then text with an arrow pointing at something taking place on the screen would pop up. Like the shrunken head - an arrow would point to the head and a note telling you its significance, etc., Thought it was really weird and distracting. But yeah, the excessive happiness on daytime shows is as tiring as sex and S&M-type late-night themes were shocking and jaw-dropping for the 22-year-old Canadian loool. Such an interesting place.
I got addicted to something that was called in the West "Ninja Warrior" which is apparently a meaningless phrase in Japanese. But it seemed to have conquered the world a few years ago. Just about every country seemed to have a version. Must've made somebody a lot of money.
After living in Japan for 5 years, I've come to realize that not a single thing he said about Japanese TV is exaggerated. It's 100% true.
I’m Japanese. I think exaggerating is true. It’s TV. They need lots of viewers and shocking contents for that. I never worked for a broadcaster but it’s natural to guess they script and plan everything, considering our culture of precision, punctuality, careful planning and responsibility to accomplish plans. They also need to make money like other industries. I don’t watch TV though.
These shows with the same celebrities over and over are very boring to me. The one good about them, when you learn the language: so many "subtitles" in Japanese (sometimes with furigana).
Sometimes it's just too much. I hated those stupid shows that took priority during the Tsunami and a Nuclear crisis back in 2011, instead of a 24h news coverage on TV.
@KingRanger Everyone likes fried chicken, across the whole world. The thing is is that black people are made fun of over it, hence the "read the air" part of my comment. I'm not saying it's bad to depict a black person eating fried chicken, but to emphasize it is just ... mildly awkward.
The stereotype largely has to do with the fact that poultry is a very cheap kind of farm animal to keep and the ridicule was over the fact that black people could not afford to eat "higher grade" meats like pork or beef.
Again I wasn't going for some scathing criticism, but pointing out a bit of a mildly sore circumstance in this case.
@Hsin I think you are thinking of Christmas. They don:t celebrate Thanksgiving here. In fact, most Japanese people that I've talked to about it don't even know what Thanksgiving is even though they have a slightly similar holiday here. Everyone and their grandparents eat KFC on Christmas but you don't have to pre-order it but you do have to wait in long lines.
@Rasbougri I see you are also a man of culture
From a face value perspective, if Japanese society can be very high strung and stressful then I would assume the media they consume would be "calming" or meant to relax in response.
I remember watching Clive James and he had segments from a Japanese tv show called Endurance where contestants had weights tied to their genitals and where put in glass boxes in the sun and the person who endured the most pain was the winner if they werent hospitalised or passed away
More than 2 years later and this is still my favourite video on the channel. I've watched it at least 4 or 5 times.
So on point with this. I was on a local japanese tv show twice, first time I had to get excited about Gobou.... which is not very exciting. Second time I went on the show it was genuinely something I was interested in, sashimi. The staff could even tell I was much more excited by the glow on my face.
The only Japanese tv show that I've watched and really loved was Gaki no Tsukai Batsu Games.
I was a teenager when I started watching so about 16yrs ago.. I also just quickly had to check and seems like I was in luck as the episodes actually came out as I watched them!
Chris's little potato chip sketch is unrealistically quick. It's supposed to take at least 10-15 minutes from when you first show the food to when you actually taste and react to the food.
@Sven Bischoff I thought he would start episode 1 of the anime Chris' Potato Adventures
For an authentic experience, important moments such as reactions should be repeated twice.
Don't forget to censor it out with a big red blob for the first quarter after introducing it.
@アップルパイ You are of course correct. If you wish to make "you" from scratch, you first have to invent the universe.
And with several commercial breaks before he takes a bite. Not a soft fade to black, but a freaking jarring cut into a beer commercial of people doing the exact same thing with foamy beer on their lips. Because that is how people drink beer of course.
I'm in my early twenties and I haven't been a frequent TV viewer since around the time I started high school. I almost never turn on the TV to watch anything myself. The most common way that I end up watching it is when I'm talking to my mom about something and I just get pulled in to watching some crime drama with her lol. Gotta see if this suspect is really the killer!
(I do watch way too much KZclip though, as well as a lot of anime.)
i'm surprised because a lot of the japanese tv tropes you explained sounds similar to what korean tv used to do in the 2000s and early 2010s. i agree with your criticisms as it felt awkwardly fake and oftentimes obnoxious watching a show react to itself before i'd even processed what was going on. i don't necessarily think the techniques themselves are bad though, korean tv still use a lot of sound effects and subtitles but is a lot more watchable and enjoyable now with the negative aspects toned down a lot
It's part of escapism. Trying to deal with the dreadful work culture in Japan, this is one of the few instance where they can relax (I'd say it is more targeted towards older generations though).
Btw, I watch Japanese youtubers sometimes, and your impression and use of sounds was on point xD the small trumpet sound
Maybe the dying days of tape trading pro wrestling and MMA from Japan and Mexico ruined what I learned years later about Japanese TV in the late 90s - early 2000s. Outside of the stories of batshit insane New Years Eve specials, K-1 kickboxing shows that were filled with commercials for (what I assumed were) Japanese soap operas, where women would get randomly naked, or a private investigator who would solve a crime via tying someone up with "ancient rope tactics", while probably recorded from off-the-air channels, the channel was most likely a lowly watched cable channel, and the show probably either aired at 3 am, or as weekend TV filler. At least I was lead to believe from the "pieces of napkins" I pieced together from years of falling down "rabbit holes" on the Internet, LOL.
Come to think of it, my brief experiences trying to learn a foreign language, if I talk to that language teacher for a little bit, they will tell me how great the country is, how everyone is nice and hospitable, and they take vacations every year to that country, and there is rarely any crime or gang activity (Mexico, Japan, Russia, France, etc.) Very nice place to visit, a paradise, and "don't believe everything you hear in media" type scenario..
Now compare that with my "research", now as a middle age white male, who probably found some crazy shit such as "Takeshi's Castle" (here as MXC in the United States), "Death Match wrestling" (aka, "Strangle-mania"), poor quality mid-90s "hentai" anime (I think you might be seeing a trend with very poor "comedic" English voice dubbing), and the occasional "Yakuza" action film, in my teenage years, that left me with far more questions than answers, and my stereotypes about Japan that may be far different from the language teachers I mentioned earlier, if not somewhat hilarious and a little tragic in hindsight.
When I visited Japan the first time, the best thing I saw on Japanese television was a Japanese dubbed episode of iCarly which was actually incredible
for a sarcastic person like Chris to live in a country so positive is simply mind-blowing to me
Maia Cool
@N K hikikomori?
@Droid15243Z soooo true!!! So many japanese international students say this.
Ah on the surface. Their suicide rate has skyrocketed and hikamori(voluntary shut-ins) culture is prevalent in urban areas. Their society is extremely restrictive. You are never allowed to state or show how you truly feel and the age hierarchy is rigid.
Actual Japanese people told me the outward politeness is generally a veil.
Living in Okinawa for about 10 years now.
The accuracy of this video is 100% thought i was the only one who noticed these tropes.
Sooo... Anime, which is simply an artistic representation of people, have a lot more freedom to express other sentiments. I try to imagine how the first clash of cultures went... Japanese being so strict and focused in their industry and craft, so polite, so reserved and considerated. The conversations they must have had trying to figure out the thought process of other cultures
Brother to experience the lowest levels of T.V serials, you need to see Indian TV serials.
its better than a lot of western shows tbh
Yeah, the dramatic-ness of it all is so bad that it makes me laugh.
Indian TV is so bad that it becomes good on it's own way
Indian tv series in those Last years increase the quality.
Nah man. The levels they go to are so low, it bounces back to being high. Much more entertaining than the type of Japanese TV portrayed in this video.
I kinda want a few more of your videos in Japanese style, it's mesmerizing
I am an American living in the US old enough to have watched and LOVED Takeshi's Castle reruns! The voice overs were so funny! Great memory!
Now that Chris has the diorama and a green screen we'll never see him outside again
@The First Thrown Molotov What sort of incredible pfp and username is this? lol I love it, comrade
I hope so. Now I want one !!!!
He 😂😂
... or around other people!
Abroad Indoors™️
I had the pleasure of being on Japanese TV once, in the 90's. A crew came to do a bit on local sites and I was the "tour guide" (this was a very rural area in Hyogo with no other western foreigners for probably a fifty mile radius).
I didn't have to say much. Spent most of my time standing near the guy with the mic, nodding and smiling a lot.
Our last shot was in a village up on a mountain top, locally famous for the rice fields stepping down the slope. To this day I cannot figure out why I was abandoned there, but I was left behind, in that little village of senior citizens. Wound up drinking and getting hammered in a barn with the village boss and a few farmers before one finally took me back to my place of work in his K-Truck.
Overall, a pleasant experience.
The tv screen cracking on "This is a pen" is extremely funny😂😂😂
Could it also have to do with the aging population? In my country there's a channel that's aimed at the elderly specifically and the way you describe japanese television reminds me of it in the way that it's also overwhelmingly positive and pleasant. Definitely not as "wacky" but it's mostly a lot of people talking about history around the time elderly people would have grown up in a very positive way or saying nice things about stuff the elderly might care about, kinda like your segment on beans. As well as some unusually pleasant and less competitive game shows, like memory games of people having to remember grocery lists.
Deservedly popular channel. Even the critical shows like this are love letters.. The perfect outsider guide
This was sooooo freakin good. It just popped up on my autoplay and your breakdown at the end was articulated so well .. you pull no punched, and you actually "get it" ... amazing
a lot of the stuff you see on japanese tv feels like stuff you'd only normally see on those infomercial channels
Woah
or maybe Chris couldn't afford cable
Probably because of the graphics and text everywhere
Let's put it this way: the infomercial of Japanese Politeness
Kinda incredible how in different places, tv can be so different. One of the channels my relatives watch, every sunday during lunch time, has a show that talks about cultural facts, festivities, peculiar towns about our state, mostly food related, and it is also how I found out in one region they have a cheese with live fly maggots inside, and you would think that it's rotten cheese but is not, the way is worked is meticulous and if they notice the minimum of mistake they will throw the bad cheese.
I love gaki no tsukai, so to finally understand why they are always so happy during the food marathons and stuff now makes alot of sense. They literally can't say anything bad! (atleast about the food.)
Thank you for including the Japanese subtitles. As a learner, it helps to read it with the sounds.
About Japanese young people losing interest in watching TV: I had the idea that's more of a global phenomenon, personally I basically never watch tv and even my parents don't besides my mom occasionally watching football.
yeah, thats true, one day when youtube gets significally big, i just stopped watching tv, tv shows are not funny anymore, and a little time later i started to see the enormous amount of propaganda that shit has, literally when i stopped watching tv i lost a lot of stress, they are constantly saying you directly "be like this, not like this", and i am not talking about the publicity or the "they just put thin people to make feel bad fat people"
At about the 10min mark I just about peed my pants 👖 offs. Hilarious 😂 you made this boomer laugh uncontrollably you nailed it so well. I grew up in the early 70s with Zatoichi movies because in Cuba they weren’t censured at all even for minors. Spanish and American movies had cursing up the wazzu while Japanese movies did not. Lapping up your episodes ever since I found your channel 👍
I'm 90s kid and Takeshi's Castle was huge part of my childhood.. It's weird that some shows have more impact and nostalgia abroad than their native audience
yea... weird but true, and same way to jp anime. So many 80s and 90s Asian kids grew up with jp anime or tokusatsu.
In the United States, they made a version of Takeshi's Castle called Wipeout!. It was fun to watch, in the same way it is fun to watch a car wreck live where you know no one gets hurt.
Monkey magic anyone?!
My wife is Japanese and she remembered it. She’s an 80s kid though. I think the point was *younger* Japanese don’t remember it because it came out so long ago. Same for anime like Dragon Ball that took years to be released in English speaking countries.
Yes! That show was the pinnacle of entertainment as a 13-year-old. I want to say it was on either Nickelodeon or Comedy Central? (which used to be the same channel anyway in my country, Nick in the daytime and CC in the evenings)
This is amazingly funny as hell keep up the great videos Chris you always make my day better(:
We had to watch tv for our trip there with my friends and it was hilarious. We had a great time seeing the shopping broadcast where they were amazed about some kind of buttplug for the mouth. It was in fact an item to strengthen your mouth muscles. We made a private gif and the best in our collection to this day. 10 out of 10 sugoooooy
During my first visit to Japan, a solo trip back in 2000, I turned on the tv a number of times in the cheap hotels in which I stayed part of the trip, and from it I recall these fleeting impressions- impassioned K-pop soap dramas, highly watchable even though it was Korean dubbed into Japanese of which I known only a scant bit; interviews with the guy or gal on the street in Tokyo during a national heat wave, extolling the value of eating unagi (eel), a Japanese folk cure for the heat (why??!!); some Japanese porn with the genitals fuzzed out and the women shrieking uncomfortably like underaged school girls; and a random assortment of totally forgettable crap.
The habit of watching Japanese tv was therefore stillborn for me after a few desultory attempts at consuming it.
On my next trip to Japan, also in August, I recall another unagi segment. Over there they seem to regard that as compelling content...
Wait, porn on TV? That's one thing I didn't expect.
Five star report. Great editing, great articulation, nice camera showing up over your shoulder every now and again!! I wonder if you have a video about the dire state of J-drama. The acting, the lighting (or lack of control of lighting), the music, and so on…. I’m sure I’ve seen a few reasonable dramas over the years but good god, not these days!
I remember when I was a school student I went on a trip with my school to Japan. My friend and I stayed with a family who had two daughters one about our age. We sat down to watch some television one night and even she admitted some of the shows were quite strange. Then again, I imagine they'd probably find some of our western shows quite bizarre.
This is so funny because even when hes trying to convey pure happiness he still looks slightly miserable 🤣
Of course, the alternative is simply unthinkable. A gentleman does not run, neither is he excessively exuberant; he does not smile like a Cheshire cat, howl with laughter like a hyena, wail in sorrow like a banshee, or roar in anger like King Kong.
The English gentleman is in control of himself at all times, quiet, respectful, and moderate.
Well, there is a Broad in Japan who is clearly not an English gentleman.
🙄
It’s the English blood I’m part English by blood not birth and people think I look slightly angry when I’m happy
A true british talent.
Absoulute Awesome video !! Everything was on point.. And the clip where you filmed as a Japanese Television host reviewing the potato chips, was just bang-on! it was a good refreshing laugh^-^ ...... keep it up!
It would be refreshing to have tv in America be little closer to Japanese television. There's a reason I don't watch 'reality' tv or really any tv anymore but a little positivity would be nice.
I just randomly came across this but the imitation and parody is hilarious! Good job!
The takeshi's castle is so true, I had a lot of japanese tutors and told them that I like takeshi's castle and that I grew up watching it but turns out not a single one of them ever of heard it 😅
I went to Japan and studied abroad in 2005 I think.
The first TV show I saw was the news.
It's about "if you feel sick please go to a closeby hospital"
There's a picture of a missile going over a picture of Japan country
I asked the host about it and turned out
It's NORTH KOREAN, they shot a missile and landed in territorial of japan's sea
2nd was Earth quake.
Petition for Chris to start a second channel called ‘Dave in Japan’ where all videos are styled like Japanese tv
he should make those videos once a month
*etition
@nekomatafuyu A one off might be interesting, or just having Japanese television sequences here and there in his videos, but I come here for the snarky comments, dry British humor and the sarcasm.
Or just make all future videos on this channel Japanese TV style :3
I love how he perfectly describes diners drive ins and dives.
Gaki no Tsukai is alright from what i've seen. It's a variety show and it has a lot of funny ideas like the "no laughing batsu (punishment) game" or "silent library".
We actually get a Japanese channel in USA I loved it and yes everyone seems overly enthusiastic about just about everything. I liked it though the rest of my family hated it.
The parody video bit explains things absolutely perfectly 👌
I love that it's not even the hard "peh" sound that blows the napkin away, but the soft "a." Not even to mention that Japanese and English both have the hard "peh" for pen.
I loved this video, it was really wholesome and accurate from what I’ve discerned! Also the you in the little Japanese room was awesome I hope to see that in more videos!!(:
Have to admit you totally got me with the opening! That was super well done!
I can't believe this guy blew up a TV for this bit. Absolutely incredible.