$2,000 TARGET REACHED - Let's travel with Natsuki!
Added 2016-08-06 13:44:57 +0000 UTCI don't know how it happened, but it's happened! We broke the $2,000 goal on Patreon in the first 12 days!
Seriously, a huge spectacular thanks to everyone for their support - this awesome budget will make all the difference going forward. From here on in, we can genuinely exceed the sky of time.
Having smashed the first two goals, the wheels are in motion; the first goal ($500) was to film an Ask Abroad Natsuki Edition, which will be filmed next week and released in late August.
The second target ($1,200) of making a dedicated series of videos on Tokyo is now underway - the first of which will be out next week!
AND NOW it's time to choose where you want Natsuki and I to visit and film for our trip!
Maybe you want us to journey to a city like Tokyo or Osaka, or perhaps you want us to undertake some kind of challenge, or review a specific location - whatever it is, we're willing to set aside 2-3 days to make it happen. It's over to you guys from here and anyone supporting through Patreon can give their suggestions.
We want you to write your ideas / suggestions in the comments section below over the next few days and next week when I meet Natsuki, together we'll look through the suggestions and compile our 10 favourite ideas into a poll, for you all to vote for and decide the best location.
There's two key factors we'll be looking for in your suggestions:- Entertainment value: how fun would it be to watch?- Educational value: can we learn something (anything!) along the way?
- Originality: is it something truly bold or fresh that we'd never have thought up?
So it's over to you all from here, I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with! Get writing your ideas below!
Many thanks again to every single one of you for giving the Abroad in Japan channel an exciting future. I'm really looking forward to taking you all along on the journey! Chris
Comments
Kanamara Matsuri. I'm willing to wait until next year to see you guys at that. =3
2016-09-25 21:45:30 +0000 UTCI would like to see you doing fresh sushi from the fish
2016-09-24 19:00:55 +0000 UTCGo to Shimoda, Kamogawa, or Okinawa and try surfing, snorkeling, or other beachside activities!
2016-08-24 14:46:19 +0000 UTCOn second thought, maybe you should take the new Hokkaido Shinkansen? Stop in Hakodate, then to Sapporo, then up to Wakkanai (the northern most place in Japan). I love northern Hokkaido. If you decide to do a Hokkaido video I can help you out finding good locations!
2016-08-16 08:53:47 +0000 UTCI agree with everyone who mentioned Hokkaido/Sapporo. I live here now, and you could go from being in Susukino to out in bear country in just a few hours. A lot to see and do.
2016-08-16 08:51:59 +0000 UTCIt's a long way off, but I'd love to see a video on the Sapporo Snow Festival!
2016-08-11 13:14:22 +0000 UTCYou and Natsuki in Hokkaido, somewhere remote and outdoorsy. Dueling Banjos, that sort of thing. No seriously, I'd love to see more countryside on AIJ, with your reactions.
Dan Pinder
2016-08-11 02:01:53 +0000 UTCChris you should go to the Alcatraz E.R. restaurant in Shibuya. It looks... interesting. ^^
2016-08-10 16:24:24 +0000 UTCI would love to see clips of unique and often-comedic Japanese local tours like the Hozugawa River Boat ride in Kyoto. Or perhaps you visiting your worst nightmare in the form of Akihabara! #3cute5u
DDMD
2016-08-09 04:13:50 +0000 UTCFudo-Ji temple (<a href="https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Fud%C5%8D-ji+Temple/@36.1863888,138.7011696,16.75z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x19595d06f957087f!8m2!3d36.186388!4d138.7011695)" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Fud%C5%8D-ji+Temple/@36.1863888,138.7011696,16.75z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x19595d06f957087f!8m2!3d36.186388!4d138.7011695)</a> . Rather out of the way but defiantly worth the visit for the views
Ben Sampson
2016-08-08 21:20:24 +0000 UTCHiroshima/Nagasaki?
simmehchan
2016-08-08 16:54:06 +0000 UTCEnoshima please! By far my favourite place in Japan. Would love you to bits if I could hear what you say about the place.
Steven
2016-08-08 15:34:00 +0000 UTCAkihabara is a good shout. Everyone just shows a couple of arcades, super potato, robot and maid cafes etc. If you can find something else - or just encapsulate all the usuals in your typical style (plus a bit of Natsuki?!)
Luke Beaman
2016-08-08 08:42:26 +0000 UTCKanazawa? Can check out the samurai district and the ninja dera which will give an insight to the history of japan whilst allowing you to mess about in a hosue of tricks. I have not seen any videos on youtube around Kanazawa either. Plus you can visit the kenrokuen garden.
Lee Pinchbeck
2016-08-08 08:28:58 +0000 UTCGo to the weirdest parts of japan in general and film it as if it's an informative documentary about legitimate Japanese culture.
Jenna Flynn
2016-08-07 13:39:08 +0000 UTCGo to the nerdiest, weirdest corners of Akihabara and make sarcastic commentary
Snittzi
2016-08-07 11:16:49 +0000 UTCHonestly I'm happy with anything but would like to see some drunken karaoke if possible.
2016-08-07 10:42:37 +0000 UTCcongrats!! the hidden gem of keihoku outside of kyoto! it's absolutely beautiful. we stayed with some young families up there (most of them used to live in tokyo and ditched the big city for the country), who are trying to make it a better known place to visit. the somewhat scary (entertainingly so) bus ride winding through the mountains to the area was an adventure in itself! we also visited an amazing sake distillery, lots of little artist studios (one woman is obsessed with aliens and makes these strange alien ceramic statues and a mean butter cake), a local dude who loves to make pizza in an oven he built himself and somehow gets real cheese out in the middle of nowhere. one of our hosts was a (secret, shh) hemp activist and disappeared to help out on hidden farms. keihoku might be too out of the way. but whatever you do will be awesome!
Janelle
2016-08-07 09:17:52 +0000 UTCOoh, how about Yoro Park? The Site of Reversible Destiny!
Mike Rees
2016-08-07 09:15:51 +0000 UTCLike many others, Okinawa would be amazing to see. Has so much history and is so different to mainland Japan. Quite a few people still don't know much about it and certainly the amount of YouTube videos on it are abysmal. Having its own unique culture would be entertaining and you'd have a mixture of superb beach and scenery, as well as a bustling city like Naha. It's up to you guys, but definitely consider Okinawa!
George Mills
2016-08-07 07:44:37 +0000 UTCI'm a big history nerd so I'd love to see Okinawa, Osaka, Fukui, or Ishikawa, but for a more modern pick, I'd like to see Sapporo!
Jenna Flynn
2016-08-07 07:33:41 +0000 UTCI think a trip to Tanegashima, specifically focusing on the Tanegashima Space Center (amongst the island's other sites) , would be cool and cover all 3 aspects you're looking for. Educational? Of course; space is fascinating to everyone across the world. Also not many westerners (including myself) know much about JAXA (well, other than it's NASA but with a J and X instead of an N and S). Original? I can't think of any J-Vloggers that have been to Tanegashima (yet, that is....You must beat Sharla, Rachel&Jun, and others to get there first!). And Entertainment Value? It's space; i.e. Niel deGrasse Tyson-level cool. Also, if you happened to coordinate your trip with a space launch? Well, let's just say you could stuff your mattress with all the Youtube money that will roll in.....maybe? I think it's worth yours' and Natsuki's consideration. Good luck in your decision; Cheers! <a href="http://global.jaxa.jp/about/centers/tnsc/index.html" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">http://global.jaxa.jp/about/centers/tnsc/index.html</a>
2016-08-07 02:11:48 +0000 UTCOkinawa would be interesting.
Petr Azanov
2016-08-07 01:09:08 +0000 UTCI would like to see Okinawa or Osaka. :)
2016-08-07 00:35:48 +0000 UTCI would love to see a video in Kitakyushu 北九州市!
Spellbound
2016-08-06 23:50:29 +0000 UTCI'd like to see you go to Okinawa and/or Hokkaido. There aren't that many videos from there, so it would be great.
Johan Gustafsson
2016-08-06 23:21:53 +0000 UTCA pilgrimage to Kōyasan would be good. Wearing pilgrim's gear, natch. Stay overnight in a temple. <a href="http://www.gettyimages.nl/detail/foto/pilgrim-at-okunoin-holy-cemetery-atop-sacred-koyasan-stockfotos/522291890" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">http://www.gettyimages.nl/detail/foto/pilgrim-at-okunoin-holy-cemetery-atop-sacred-koyasan-stockfotos/522291890</a>
Caroline van Oosten de Boer
2016-08-06 22:53:28 +0000 UTCOff the top of my head... The gas mask island, the ghost island, a cuddle cafe, sushi training, a Japanese mall to see the difference between it and the malls in the US.
Jeremy Carlson
2016-08-06 22:37:54 +0000 UTCI would really like to see you two go to Edo Wonderland. Its a cutural theme park where you can dress up as a person from that time period and take part in work shops and explore a town set in Edo Japan. It would be educational and entertaining (and has a history geek I'd love to see this place). :D
2016-08-06 21:09:37 +0000 UTCGo to a crazy matsuri or hitori zumo.
Uta
2016-08-06 20:40:45 +0000 UTCCongrats, Chris! My suggestion is visiting Shirakawa-go (白川郷) and Gokayama (五箇山) to spend a night or two in the old villages and get intimate with the Japanese countryside. It's a UNESCO world heritage site, and I've wanted to go there myself someday. Maybe you can give it a nice preview for all of us!
Crisu
2016-08-06 20:40:18 +0000 UTCI don't really know much about places in Japan, but it would be cool to see you guys do some sort of challenge. Like getting from point A to point B in some sort of Amazing Race-esque style, maybe trying out local dishes or activities along the way, or discover cool off-the-beaten-path places to show us. Also congrats on hitting so many targets and I am so so excited to see what you guys come up with!
milk bread
2016-08-06 20:34:16 +0000 UTCCongrats on reaching 2,000 goal! Hey maybe you and Natsuki could have a sumo showdown!
Aaron Bailey
2016-08-06 19:51:39 +0000 UTCyou guys should visit a master sword smith in japan
2016-08-06 19:43:06 +0000 UTCVisit a Japanese magician so we can see what a magic is like
2016-08-06 19:27:41 +0000 UTCI'd really like to see a video somewhere from Hokkaidō, but that's not very original. Visiting a 焼酎 distillery would be really interesting, and it's both educational and entertaining. Also, it would make more people aware of the existence and deliciousness of Shōchū :D Oh and please don't go fishing for sea snakes, snakes are amazing animals and shouldn't be killed!
Ren Shredder
2016-08-06 19:04:48 +0000 UTCGo somewhere neither of you have ever been, but would like to. Then do something neither of you have ever done, but would like to. Dive for pearls? Go to kabuki camp? Join the circus?
2016-08-06 18:43:20 +0000 UTCI'd quite like to see some of Hiroshima! I'm sure pretty much anyone who didn't sleep through history in school knows it as the place the Americans dropped the atomic bomb but it's not a bunch of ruins anymore. I'd like to see just how well it managed to recover after being hit by the most powerful weapon in human history and from the images I've seen managed to become a very pretty place in the space of just 70ish years! Educational and potentially entertaining when you discover that secret sushi bar behind the bike store that sells live hamsters in tacos or something.
Mathew Williams-breese
2016-08-06 18:34:24 +0000 UTCAlso: <a href="http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20141204-fishing-for-deadly-sea-snakes" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20141204-fishing-for-deadly-sea-snakes</a>
2016-08-06 17:53:06 +0000 UTCTwo septuagenarian ladies who catch sea snakes with their bare hands:<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5q25Ftf0bTqFwHqBZjLmyWf/the-sea-snake-hunters-of-kudaka" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5q25Ftf0bTqFwHqBZjLmyWf/the-sea-snake-hunters-of-kudaka</a>
2016-08-06 17:52:38 +0000 UTCI really like that Okinawa idea, so I support that, but to have an original one written, maybe Tottori? I only recently found out Japan has a "desert" haha...
Denver Dauthe
2016-08-06 17:38:53 +0000 UTCHmm....I think someone else mentioned going to Tokyo Disney which would be pretty entertaining.
Barbara Smith
2016-08-06 16:35:54 +0000 UTCSome kind of school-for-a-day in an aspect of traditional Japanese culture? Where you actually learn about and do some token participation in something like, say, sumo, or sake brewing, or calligraphy, or bonsai, or whatever you can think of? It'd be an interesting exploration of the culture, probably hilarious watching you two attempt it, and there might even be some rather interesting distinctions about how such a place would instruct/treat you, a non-Japanese, versus how they would instruct/treat Natsuki.
Leo
2016-08-06 16:34:02 +0000 UTCGo to a Japanese whisky distillery, they probably have a hamster cafe in a side building or something. Its a huge export for them And growing worldwide....
Dan Boyle
2016-08-06 15:48:45 +0000 UTCChris, congrats with reaching 2k goal! I'll make sure to grab some beer and celebrate it:D Very happy for you! How about to visit Tokushima city, soon there will be Awa Odori festival ^_^
2016-08-06 15:16:21 +0000 UTCCreate a dance move and dance at iconic locations you and Natsuki visit, plus congrats on reaching 2K I can only imagine what the future of Abroad in Japan holds.
Benjamin McKechnie
2016-08-06 15:05:17 +0000 UTCYou should go to the reenactment at Sekigahara, maybe try to get involved (the festival is on the 10th and 11th if October) either that or Tokyo Disney
Nick Fletcher
2016-08-06 14:55:05 +0000 UTCOsaka! You could visit Nara Dreamland! \(^^)/ Imagine all the creepy stuff you and Natsuki could find there.
Laura Beaumont
2016-08-06 14:36:30 +0000 UTCRomantic date?
Topher Redden
2016-08-06 14:32:57 +0000 UTCAll I know is that is that Gangsta Natsuki must rise once again. Exploring Roppongi after dark, for example? Like showing what's out there and its appeal, while maybe pointing out certain signs or places that... probably should be avoided. Prospective travellers and the world need Natsuki's guiding wisdom.
momothewizard
2016-08-06 14:22:36 +0000 UTCGo on a maritime adventure along the coast of Japan, just you and Natsuki, on a boat, fighting for survival!
2016-08-06 14:11:32 +0000 UTCNaoshima. Even if you don't make a video, you have to go there. Gunkanjima is pretty crazy too, and it might suit Natsuki's James Bond image. Yakushima is stunning, and great fun if you rent scooters. ...just to name three islands.
2016-08-06 14:11:08 +0000 UTCAlso congrats on reaching 2k! Maybe it can help cover costs to get a 'still cheap but not that cheap' pair of sunglasses!
Valerie Tan
2016-08-06 14:10:34 +0000 UTCTakeshima Fantasy Museum in Gamagōri-shi would be cool! Or even since your favourite season in Japan is Autumn, visiting Kochia Hill in Hitachinaka later on in the year. 😊
Valerie Tan
2016-08-06 14:04:05 +0000 UTCOkinawa would be awesome. A chance to see where many Japanese go to vacation and learn about the unique island. and a Japanese brewery tour. From north to south, sampling, and resampling, the finest craft beers Japan has to offer.
2016-08-06 13:54:22 +0000 UTCMaybe you can show some Anime/Manga Studios? Would that be possible for you? :)
Dimokin
2016-08-06 13:51:11 +0000 UTCAre there any beaches in Japan or any good places for swimming? If so, that would be interesting to see. :) Glad to see we're one step closer to Natsuki: The Movie!!!
Preston Farnham
2016-08-06 13:50:11 +0000 UTC
