14 Days in Japan 🇯🇵 The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

A fortnight across Japan with Walid, running Tokyo to Kyoto to Osaka.

It is the lightest video in this stretch of the backfill and the most useful practically: a capsule hotel priced and toured, the JR Pass justified in one leg, a ryokan explained room by room, and the recurring complaint that in a country where everything works perfectly, doing anything at all is difficult because it is all in Japanese.

The idea he takes away is Kaizen — improvement by 1% a day — which he credits for the bullet train and later applies to his own channel.

Key moments

• [00:00] The plan: Tokyo, the bullet train, Kyoto and Osaka.
• [00:31] The matcha ice cream, famous for making people choke, and the prank — Walid is told it’s ordinary and instructed to take the biggest bite he can.
• [02:45] A side street he calls the most beautiful he has seen, with the comparison that the equivalent in London or LA would be dangerous.
• [03:18] A large snake loose in a park, attended by police, and treated by passers-by as mildly interesting. Then a second one.
• [03:48] A Harry Potter-themed train station, found by accident.
• [04:52] The otter and hedgehog cafe. Harry’s assessment of the otters: they look angry.
• [06:03] He admits the only hedgehog he’d previously met in England, he ran over.
• [09:26] Wagyu at a Korean-style barbecue where the meat comes raw and you cook it yourself.
• [10:24] What the chef actually does: cuts the meat properly and makes the sides.
• [10:54] Why wagyu costs what it does — different feed, and cattle he is told are treated markedly better.
• [11:28] Walid incinerates his portion. Harry calls it the best and the most meat he has ever eaten.
• [11:59] The history in one paragraph: imperial expansion, defeat, reconstruction, and an economic power built on resilience and innovation.
• [12:33] Over five million vending machines, which he ties to office culture and the short break.
• [12:33] The bug vending machine — bamboo worms, diving beetles, crickets, scorpion.
• [13:51] About $3 for crickets, bought as a present for Walid, who eats them.
• [14:17] The capsule hotel: around $60 a night, men only, roughly a hundred capsules.
• [14:53] Free earplugs and eye mask.
• [15:24] Inside a capsule — fan, alarm, pull-out TV, headphones, sockets, and a blind for privacy. House rules on smoking, talking and alarms.
• [16:32] The free lounge, which is the real value: fast wi-fi, a silent work room, ironing, massage chairs, and free tea, coffee, soft drinks, alcohol and rice.
• [08:11] Shibuya Crossing — unofficially the busiest in the world, and Harry’s note that a pedestrian crossing has become a tourist attraction.
• [09:26] The recurring problem: everything is in Japanese, and he realises after ordering at random that his phone could have translated the whole menu.
• [17:08] Buying a bullet train ticket, which defeats them both.
• [18:10] The JR Pass — two weeks, and this leg alone would be about $130.
• [18:43] Average delay: twelve seconds. Fastest ever recorded: 375 mph. 280 miles in the time 80 miles takes at home.
• [19:20] Tokyo exceeded his expectations, and he says he didn’t expect to be a Japan person at all.
• [19:56] Cleaners turning the seats around between services.
• [21:01] Kaizen — continuous improvement, even 1% a day — offered as the explanation for Toyota, the bullet train and the rest.
• [21:35] The carriage: a window bigger than a plane’s, legroom, power, wi-fi around 20 Mbps.
• [23:14] Kyoto — and Harry leaves his bag on the train, which was continuing to Osaka. Walid grabs it. The train does not wait.
• [24:30] A pay-per-use work pod inside a station, about $2.75, with a desk, TV, ring light, fan and air conditioning. He briefly can’t get out.
• [26:33] The shrine — one of over 30,000 in Japan, dating to 706, with over a thousand gates climbing the mountain and a three-hour walk to the top.
• [27:39] Washing your hands at the entrance as an act of respect, with his own admission that he’s guessing at the reason.
• [28:12] Prayer plaques, and what the printed options reveal about what people pray for: traffic safety, a good fishing catch, a good harvest.
• [29:19] Torii gates, and who comes to them — every age and walk of life, praying for harvests, business and their dreams.
• [29:52] Longevity, and the reasons given: seafood, green tea, fermented food, small portions, good healthcare, cycling to school, and respect for the elderly. The oldest Japanese person cited is 117.
• [30:26] Scallop and salmon torched to order at a market stall, with fish eggs on top. The sauce is the best part.
• [31:43] Kendo, descended from samurai training — full armour he can barely see or hold his head up in.
• [32:59] Bamboo swords, a bout against each other, then the master, who is much better.
• [33:30] A real sword against a target. He says only 20–30% manage the cut, and both of them do.
• [34:48] Far more tiring than expected for a minute of fighting, and he’d do it again.
• [35:10] Osaka — the commercial city, known for food and nightlife.
• [35:18] Dotonbori: street food, arcades, revolving sushi, enormous signage.
• [35:54] Clean, easy to get around, and a good base — Nara and Kyoto are day trips.
• [36:25] Kobe beef sushi, one piece, talked up to premium.
• [39:17] It comes to about $10 for the single piece. He says he could have had three of the standard, and that it is the best beef he’s eaten.
• [39:50] The stall’s claim, repeated: the finest beef in the world.
• [39:50] The Glico sign, up since 1935, and Harry’s honest admission that he isn’t sure why it’s so famous.
• [41:27] A ryokan — wood, sliding doors, tatami mats, paper screens.
• [43:16] Free green tea and water, high-quality toiletries, and everything spotless.
• [45:36] A meditation balcony.
• [45:36] Sleeping on the floor, which he’s told relaxes the muscles and keeps the hips and spine neutral.
• [46:14] A convenience store, and asking the staff what they actually drink.
• [47:29] Zero-calorie ciders and a bubble gum soda, all of which he insists taste like Christmas.

Extracted pages

• Places: Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka
• Country: Japan
• Person: Walid