Neighbours From Hell in Japan

Abroad in Japan

Chris Broadwood and Pete discuss the logistics of Chris's ongoing book tour, including recent stops in Canterbury and upcoming events in Lon

Key takeaways

• Chris Broadwood is currently conducting a book tour, having recently met 150 people at a signing in Canterbury.
• A listener named Mickey reports sudden social coldness from neighbors in Yamagata despite previous friendly interactions.

Main topics

• Book tour logistics
• Living experiences in Japan

Notable quotes

I don't want the delicate flavour of a cheese barge. I don't want to eat my cheese on a stinky canal.

Conclusion

The episode provides an entertaining blend of personal travel anecdote

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:00) I'm in the middle of making a video game that's over budget and lit. What's it called? Ah, Fizzy something or other. Speaker 2 (0:07) Wow. Hello and welcome to the Abroad in Japan podcast. Probably the best way of learning about life in Japan without actually being in Japan. I'm your host Chris Broadwood joined by Mr. Donaldson. But not in the same studio we're normally in. Speaker 1 (0:18) No, Speaker 2 (0:19) no. Speaker 1 (0:19) We couldn't get a booking in our own studio. A studio that I personally rent. Fantastic. And own. They own the company. They own the company. I couldn't get a booking. There were other bookings in there. We're in the middle of a couple of busy days and you're in the middle of a couple of busy weeks, Chris. Speaker 2 (0:35) Book tour. It's begun. You know what though? We're near Paddington. Yeah. In like a co-working space, right? And I was waiting for Pete earlier and I was like, there must be some nice restaurants around here. Yeah. And shit, you're not. There's a venue or a place, a restaurant called The Cheese Barge. Sounds like it's on the sea. There's a river down there, a canal. Right. And there's a boat with a fucking cheese restaurant on. Speaker 1 (0:58) Why Speaker 2 (0:58) are Speaker 1 (0:58) we doing the podcast there? I just... Have you seen our waterways? They are absolutely filled with sewage. I do not want the delicate flavour of a cheese barge. I don't want to eat my cheese on a stinky canal. The Speaker 2 (1:12) smell of the canal might compromise Speaker 1 (1:14) the taste and flavour of the cheese. I walk down, I live at the top of a hill, at the bottom of the hill is the Leon C train station and the whiff off the estuary today, I Speaker 2 (1:24) was Speaker 1 (1:24) like, oh, that seaweed-y, moss-y smell. Speaker 2 (1:28) Disgusting. Well, I'm going to go to the cheese barge. in my own time. When Netscues over, we went to like the cheese conveyor belt restaurant, like a chitin cheese, as you call it. Speaker 1 (1:39) And Speaker 2 (1:39) it was kind of cool. I mean, there was a lot of cheese that had been on the conveyor belt. Cheese and Hordai. Cheese had been on there a fair while. And I was like, can you just leave the Speaker 1 (1:49) cheese Speaker 2 (1:50) out on Speaker 1 (1:50) the refrigerator? It's going around in circles. But I always think like cake, two things you can kind of leave out for ages, cake and cheese. They're the two things you can sort of leave out. and nobody seems to mind. Cheese gets sweaty, though, after a while, doesn't it? It goes all brackish and dry. You're putting Speaker 2 (2:05) me Speaker 1 (2:06) off the cheese bar. No, I know. I just wouldn't trust them to... If you are... Because cheese is never... It's never a main event. The dinner's always the main event. You have cheese in the dinner, and you have a little bit of cheese for after. You can never go, what are you having for dinner? I'm having cheese. It's not a real thing, is it? At the conveyor Speaker 2 (2:22) cheese place, they were like, you can have whatever you want, as long as it's got cheese in. And the main course... so to speak, was like a cheese sandwich. A Speaker 1 (2:30) melted Speaker 2 (2:30) cheese sandwich. That was really good to hear. That feels Speaker 1 (2:32) like it's kind of... They're doing that just to stave off any kind of tax problems. Well, technically, we have to serve mains in this restaurant to make it a restaurant. It was good there. To be fair, Natsuki ate just ham, though. He was like, I don't want cheese, I want ham. And luckily, there was like a plate of ham. He's gone to the wrong restaurant, too. Yeah, I regret taking him there. I mean, you've kind of come off the back of a really busy time with Natsuki, and you've obviously gone straight into a... a big old book tour. And also did a wacky, just got back from a wacky weekend with Connor. That's right, you're in Wales. Mould. Oh, the Speaker 2 (3:04) last podcast we did, it was just in Connor's garden. It was really cool to be fair. His dad, lovely chap, Mark, he was like, would you like a fire? in the garden. I was like, yeah, sure. And he brought out like a metal drum and just poured some petrol in and then chucked some wood in. I look really good. I think all podcasts can be improved by a roaring Speaker 1 (3:24) fire in Speaker 2 (3:25) the foreground. Speaker 1 (3:26) I mean, it is against a lot of the rules of a podcast studio. 40 pounds upwards per hour. Yeah, it was a great show. I enjoyed, I was thinking about Connor Speaker 1 (3:41) Weighing lace? No. Laying waste to the idea that you're ever on time for anything. Did you say weighing lace? Weighing lace. Sounds like you work on the lace hotel. Bikini. No, yeah, weighing lace. I buy my lace by the ton. That's how successful I am. No, Conor was saying that you're lit all the time. It was me that was lit today. And as I was lit... I was thinking... It's because you went to the cheese bar and she's Speaker 2 (4:06) not Speaker 1 (4:06) telling me, isn't it? I went to visit the cheese bar because I thought about the part on the podcast where they're saying that you're sometimes late for things. Yeah. But you were on time and I was late. Actually, I was on time, but I thought I was going to be late, which made you late. So I was just, you know, just an interesting nightmare. Speaker 2 (4:18) But I've wrote Pete into interviewing me on stage tonight. That's right, Speaker 1 (4:22) yeah. If any... I guess you will... By the time this comes out, some of you will have seen it or been there and had your book signed, etc. But I... They've given us no directions about what we're supposed to do. They Speaker 2 (4:37) went, like, do you want to MC for your event in London? I was like, yeah, sure. And then I thought maybe... they would have someone, but we couldn't really find it. I was like, I'll just get Pete there, isn't it? Right. He's a professional MC. He's a backup option. And I thought you'd get some sort of direction, but it sounds like you're just being thrust on stage in front of like 400 people tonight, along with me, and we've got to do something. The event's called An Evening with Chris Broad, which we've talked about before sounding a little bit ominous. I have to pretend, you have to prepare a song. An Evening with Chris Broad. How fancy. Too much 4K there. Too much 4K. I know, it's going to be, it's going to be, I did a, A book signing yesterday in Canterbury went really well. 150 people, awesome people. It's Speaker 1 (5:16) a Speaker 2 (5:16) strange thing when you meet like 150 people. I had three and a half hours and I spoke to each and every one for about a minute or so. Right. Was Speaker 1 (5:28) it Speaker 2 (5:28) kind of moving you along with a kind of like... It was just me and Ian. Right. It's like me and Ian turned up and we're like, all right, go. And then Ian sort of became more popular than I was. I want to fight with Ian. Yeah. I want to steady on. Damn right. This is the Roger Pettenbrook. At one point, Ian got in the chair where all the books were and took, and it looked like it was just the Ian book signing. The Speaker 1 (5:46) Ian book signing. It was great. Well, I guess all of your adventures are contained within the book. We supplied a book over the weekend. So I've had. three hours to read it. It's just good. Great preparation for a book signing and an evening with Chris Broad. But Ian's so much of a part of your kind of whole set up. So I guess he probably will know quite a lot about the tales and the, you know, the trials and tribulations of, you know, getting your stuff filmed. Let's hope Ian doesn't write a book because the real truth. The real truth. I'm journey across Japan. Chris Broad's journey across Japan. But... Yeah, I mean, are you going to be doing these evening withs all around the country? I think there's like four. Speaker 2 (6:26) Right. And you're at two of them. Right, okay. You're going to have an evening with me twice. Speaker 1 (6:30) Two evenings with me twice. Two evenings and one supper. Why can't it be a supper? But they're like big venues. The cheese bar. I think you're in the Comedia in Bath and you're in, I don't know where we're going tonight, but we're going somewhere. And Speaker 2 (6:41) that's like a Speaker 1 (6:41) 400, huh? It's pretty substantial, isn't it? It's pretty Speaker 2 (6:45) scary. And what I didn't know is that I'm actually doing a book signing tonight as well. I thought I just got off. I sort of get wheeled on stage and go, oh, I wrote a book. Yeah. And then I get like wheeled off again. But apparently that happens. And then I meet, you know, 300 people at like 10 p.m. Yeah. So I didn't know that. So I apologize if you if you if you came to the book signing because this came out after. And I was like a wreck by the end. I didn't realize how far back. Speaker 1 (7:10) Just be like me, slumped over a book. I still recall when, you know, we probably, we obviously, I think we did bigger venues because we were doing a podcast, proper podcast tour, but we were signing books at the same time as a Penguin sort of, you know, sponsored kind of tour. But we were signing books at the same time, but we only did. maybe an hour I think and it was only like it was only it was only like limited people compared to the actual show itself but so so the actual time we actually signed but I've seen you do signings before and they go on for a bloody minute it goes on a lot because Speaker 2 (7:42) like you know you want to talk to everyone um people that have come traveled for far away you don't want to be like hello how you doing bye you want to have a chat get to hear their story and have a quick chat and stuff. And like, yeah, you feel bad when it's like, sorry guys, you have to move things along a bit. But I'm looking forward to it. Everyone yesterday was Speaker 1 (7:57) amazing. I'm sure they've set the bar high yesterday in Canterbury. I'm sure it'll be really cool. London's one of those places that everybody knows how to get to. So there's probably like a lot of people from your past that are going to come and settle some scores. Did you see that Twitch streamer whose dad just turned up in a stream? stream sniping Speaker 2 (8:16) is that what you call it his Speaker 1 (8:17) dad his long lost dad hadn't seen his son for 20 years turn up on a stream and this guy was like get the fuck off hopefully that Speaker 2 (8:27) doesn't Speaker 1 (8:27) happen Speaker 2 (8:27) to be fair my dad did turn up at the book signing but he's not long lost no he's in the Canterbury area Speaker 1 (8:33) so it's fine someone else turn up I'm your real father oh god oh fantastic yeah so I mean it's kind of you wrote the book such a long time ago kind of because you've done so much stuff since then you must be kind of like I forgot I wrote that to me a little bit a Speaker 2 (8:51) little bit yeah you know it was such a an undertaking that by the end I wrote it, I was like, I never want to look at this book again. But now six, seven months have passed since I handed in the final manuscript. It's been fun flicking through it recently. And at the book signing, people are like, where should I go, Chris? I'm like, well, that's what the book's for that you're holding. Exactly, yeah. Speaker 1 (9:08) Answers are in there. And Speaker 2 (9:09) I was Speaker 1 (9:09) surprised how much kind of work, it wasn't just like a kind of, you couldn't just bash that out stream of consciousness style. It was a proper research job as well, like making sure all of the facts and figures and stuff. Was Speaker 2 (9:19) it you that was like, did you ghostwrite it? Somebody asked me the other day, like, did you ghostwrite? Oh, Speaker 1 (9:22) no, I don't Speaker 2 (9:22) fucking ghostwrite. Speaker 1 (9:23) I mean Speaker 2 (9:26) it's because the sentences are like I looked at the big tree and had to sit by drink Yeah, you can tell I've read it because it's not like fucking poetry. It's kids like condescending sarcastic But you know a lot of influences do goes right there books, yeah, it goes right don't Speaker 1 (9:46) fucking bother. What's the point? Well before we get to Speaker 2 (9:50) Sony be very naughty We've got a story this week from Mickey. It's felt like a while since we've had a story because I did the one with Connor. I did one alone. I haven't seen you in ages. Where have you been? Where have I been? Speaker 1 (10:00) Where did I go? Where did Speaker 2 (10:01) you Speaker 1 (10:01) go? I went to Warsaw briefly. Where? Warsaw. Warsaw? I went to Warsaw. Because Speaker 2 (10:05) I said, oh, he's gone to some former USSR. I thought you'd be in Latvia or Estonia. No, Speaker 1 (10:11) no. Speaker 2 (10:11) I Speaker 1 (10:11) was in Warsaw, Poland. I came out of my Airbnb and I... The president of Poland was on my Dostoevsky. What the fuck? What? He was mad. And he was like, oh, I love the football ramble. Yeah, he was a really big fan. I think he was complaining about the prime minister. But he, yeah, he was just outside. I've never seen such mean looking bodyguards in my life. Did he talk to you? No, he was doing a press say. He Speaker 2 (10:37) was Speaker 1 (10:37) outside. Because we were quite close to the parliament. And he was just outside. And it was just weird. I was Speaker 2 (10:42) like Speaker 1 (10:42) going. Why has that guy got so many people? And everyone was like crowding around and stuff. And I was like, is that the president? I took a picture of him and I was like, yeah, it was the president of Poland. Speaker 2 (10:50) But Speaker 1 (10:51) like just the guy to the, you know, the fake hand lot. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Imagine what a Polish bodyguard for the fucking president looks like. I would not. One of them could basically just toss me into the sea from Poland. Incredible. That's awesome. Yeah. Nice one, man. Good job. Good job. Good job. Meeting the president almost. A lot of lovely pillowy, what do you have there? These little sort of dumplings. A lot of dumplings. Right. And saw the president. Oh, lovely. Speaker 2 (11:23) Yeah, fun. Lovely stuff. All right, we've got a story from Mickey and it begins. Hello, Chris P. I recently moved to a small city in Yamagata at the edge of town. And the first couple of months have been fantastic in all aspects. Snowboarding, hiking, gardening, and of course, the social life. of rural neighbours. However, one of my neighbours, a middle-aged couple, operate a restaurant out of their home, have suddenly started acting coldly. I've eaten at their restaurant a few times with all good vibes. They always excitingly greeted me while we both garden in our backyards. And we've chatted via line regularly about activities in town. As of five weeks ago, though, these positive interactions have all U-turned. My line messages are left unread. They never acknowledge me when we're gardening. And of course, I'm not wanting to suddenly reserve at their restaurant as a result. I even bought them a few exotic flowering plants and placed it at their doorstep last week, sending a line message about it, but it went unacknowledged as well. The man, even more oddly, started walking through my backyard and down my driveway before circling back to his home every evening or whatever, all while I'm inside the house. All my other neighbours have continued to be very friendly, sharing from their vegetable gardens and coming over to chat regularly. What might have happened with this wayward neighbour? And what would you suggest I do to rekindle our relationship? Love the podcast, love the main channel. Looking forward to your next book, guys. I listened to the first one while climbing Mount Gassan two years ago. All the