Where to Avoid in Japan (feat. CDawgVa)

Abroad in Japan

Chris and CDawgVA discuss their favorite and least favorite spots in Japan while enjoying a bonfire in Chris's Welsh garden, blending humor

Key takeaways

• Authenticity and self-belief are crucial for creators navigating online criticism.

Main topics

• Japanese cultural contrasts
• Content creation challenges

Notable quotes

If you get on the wrong train, get off at the nearest station.

Conclusion

The hosts reflect on authenticity in digital spaces and look forward t

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:00) Hello and welcome to the Flame Roast podcast. I'm Speaker 1 (0:02) your Speaker 2 (0:02) host Chris Speaker 1 (0:02) Broad and we're joined as always by SeaDogVA. Welcome to my back garden. Speaker 2 (0:06) Yes, you might have seen Ludwig's podcast The Yard. We've taken it up a notch. Speaker 1 (0:10) This is the garden. Instead of a fake Speaker 2 (0:12) fire, we've got a real fire. Speaker 1 (0:13) I like the garden. The garden's a nice name for a podcast. Speaker 2 (0:16) I've always wondered, is it possible to consume coffee with ash inside the coffee? Yeah, that's probably some kind of health Speaker 1 (0:22) kick. Yeah, unfortunately it is a bit of a windy day in Wales today. Speaker 2 (0:25) It's nice though, we're here in Wales. We're both back in the UK for various... I've got a book tour, Conor's come to roast me Speaker 1 (0:33) in his garden, Speaker 2 (0:34) amongst other things. Today we're going to catch up with the man himself and ask him your questions. You guys have sent me... Is that what your listeners want Speaker 1 (0:42) though? Surely your listeners want good things. They want insightful knowledge about Japan and the world. Are you Speaker 2 (0:47) saying Speaker 1 (0:47) their questions Speaker 2 (0:48) aren't insightful? Speaker 1 (0:49) No, I'm just saying I'm probably quite boring. I think you're... Speaker 2 (0:53) Fuck it now. Speaker 1 (0:55) And if you're listening to this, I apologize, Speaker 2 (0:57) there will be spluttering, there will be crackling. If you look at the shot on camera. It's pretty cool though, isn't it? It's pretty ridiculous. In Speaker 1 (1:04) Japan, it's like, I remember I asked my friend, could I barbecue on my roof? And he was like, oh, you must ask all your neighbors for the permission to. Right, right. What if the smoke gets, I was like, what? Speaker 2 (1:14) But here, your dad. Just doesn't mind. Speaker 1 (1:17) In like two seconds, he'd chuck half of... I'm pretty sure half of this is the fence of the neighbours. Speaker 2 (1:21) Half Speaker 1 (1:21) of North Speaker 2 (1:21) Wales is on that fire. Speaker 1 (1:23) I do miss a good barbecue, actually, in Japan. Just a fire pit. Yeah. There's just something simple about a man and his fire. But I Speaker 2 (1:30) see where you get your pyromaniac persona from. You get it from your dad. I Speaker 1 (1:35) love a good Speaker 2 (1:35) fire. Speaker 1 (1:36) I mean, I don't like it when the ash goes in my eye. But that's a price to pay. Speaker 2 (1:40) It's exciting, though. You don't know quite what's going to happen. We'll still be here by the end of the podcast. How much ash will I have on me? In about an Speaker 1 (1:47) hour. Speaker 2 (1:47) You've climbed up fucking Mount Krakatoa. Smog. He's been up Krakatoa. I tried to get his gold, Speaker 1 (1:53) you know. Speaker 2 (1:53) Before we kick off with the questions, I've got you Speaker 1 (1:55) a gift. Oh, wonderful. Have Speaker 2 (1:56) a Speaker 1 (1:56) look at that. You've really wrapped this in the Japanese art of careful. There's a... You're a geeky guy. It's clearly not. Wrapping Speaker 2 (2:04) gifts. It's called Ami-Ami. Oh, wow. Look at Speaker 1 (2:08) that. It's Speaker 2 (2:09) the brand new German across Japan book. You signed it to me as well. Look at that. That's his dear Connor. Speaker 1 (2:15) Dear Connor. Speaker 2 (2:15) I hate you. You've been a thorn in my side since day one. Wow, this is quite a meaty book. I wonder how long it'll take on the... What I don't like is the table is the perfect place to frame it and make it look like it's literally roasting over the fire. When nobody buys the book, there's going to be like screenshots. You think nobody's going to buy it? But yeah, it's out Speaker 1 (2:40) this week actually, in about five or six days time. Wonderful. Well, let's hope this one survives. You told me this is like the first one you've given to friends. Yeah, you're the first person to have this book. Oh wow, I'll have to read it. What better place Speaker 2 (2:52) to set fire to it? It's going to be the first destroyed copy of my book as well. What Speaker 1 (2:56) was the review that someone said? They said like, oh it's life-changing, it's really good, I finally fixed the wobbly table. I think that was you. That is not me. Speaker 2 (3:05) Oh my god. You know, if you buy the book, please use it as a reading resource. Don't use it to prop up your table. or get your fire going in Wales. But we have some questions, heavy hitting questions. Speaker 1 (3:17) What Speaker 2 (3:18) is the most important piece of advice Speaker 1 (3:19) you've ever learned or been given? Wow, a serious question. I didn't expect that. What were you expecting? Do you Speaker 2 (3:26) like sausages? I Speaker 1 (3:29) don't know. I feel like, you know, when people ask this kind of thing, they always want to hear something that's like life changing. But truly, it's like, I mean, you need to internalize everything anyway. And so if you don't already believe a good like core set of concepts and principles in your mind. If you're like me telling you, get off at the right stop of the train and don't go back. That's Speaker 2 (3:49) a Speaker 1 (3:49) good Speaker 2 (3:49) bit Speaker 1 (3:49) of advice. Speaker 2 (3:50) Oh, to Speaker 1 (3:51) be Speaker 2 (3:51) fair, that is good advice. If you get on the wrong train, get off at the nearest station. I Speaker 1 (3:55) mean, I always think that you need to have a good amount of belief in yourself, even if at times you're like, I don't know if I can really Speaker 2 (4:04) do this. You're not someone that strikes me as never having belief in yourself. No, I... I meet a lot of Speaker 1 (4:09) influence. Speaker 2 (4:09) I just got the Speaker 1 (4:10) entire fucking ad. It's Speaker 2 (4:11) fine. Believe Speaker 1 (4:11) in yourself. Speaker 2 (4:12) You'll get flame-raised. I will. I meet a lot of content creator people who have, like, imposter syndrome or whatever. I don't. And you're like, I don't have that. I've earned this. I deserve this. No, I mean, I Speaker 1 (4:22) think, obviously, like, success is obviously such a weird thing because whenever you feel like, I deserve this, which I don't think anyone... I don't think you should feel that way if you do. I think Speaker 2 (4:31) that's Speaker 1 (4:31) bad, Speaker 2 (4:31) yeah. It's very bad. Speaker 1 (4:32) But I think I've always just... tried to be put myself out there in a way that I felt like was honest. And I feel like then you can't do like sometimes perhaps too much. Yeah, there's too much being shared. But but then you can't be like, oh, I'm holding back or I don't deserve this because I'm not. I just put everything out there. And then if people like it, they like it. If they don't, that's totally fine. You know, not everyone needs to like you. And I think there's also obviously a tough thing to learn online as well. Speaker 2 (4:55) I mean, I remember when we first started doing stuff, I got the impression you had trouble when people didn't like it. Speaker 1 (5:01) I think Speaker 2 (5:01) I Speaker 1 (5:02) just... You like to Speaker 2 (5:02) be universally liked. Yeah, for sure. But then you've sort of got rid of that mindset over the last five years. Speaker 1 (5:08) Yeah, Speaker 2 (5:08) I got over it. Speaker 1 (5:08) I got over it. Because I remember speaking to another creator who does a lot more divisive things. And I was like, don't you get fucking tired? Everyone hates you. And they were like, well, no, I just put myself out there. And obviously people don't like it. That's fine. But I think in this day and age, the internet's changed so drastically that you could be like the best creator, the nicest person, and do amazing stuff for all over the world. And they'd be like, yeah, but I just don't like him. People are happy to voice it now, whereas before I felt like if you were getting criticism online, it was normally because you'd done or said something. Speaker 2 (5:37) Whereas Speaker 1 (5:37) now people will just be like, Speaker 2 (5:38) he's an aunt. Speaker 1 (5:41) Do you have any proof? No. Okay. But ultimately, I just, you just gotta do what you gotta do. I think if we can provide fun stuff for the viewer, that's all I can do, right? Regardless if I'm liked or not. Fucking hell, I'm liked by the fucking Ash. Look at this. Speaker 2 (5:56) Second question. What's your favourite question to be asked? Speaker 1 (6:00) That's a good question. Speaker 2 (6:01) That Speaker 1 (6:02) is a good question. Speaker 2 (6:03) Least favourite Speaker 1 (6:03) question is when they're like, can you say hi to Chris for me? That's a great question. No, because it's like... Show Speaker 2 (6:08) me Speaker 1 (6:08) your favourite questions. Why is Speaker 2 (6:10) it so much fun doing Wacky Weekend? No, what's your favourite question? I don't know. Do you have Speaker 1 (6:14) a Speaker 2 (6:14) favourite question? I think questions that come out of the blue and are so random, they throw you off course, right? Yeah. Because you're confronted with the same questions over and over. I've Speaker 1 (6:22) always really enjoyed it. This is not a question, but when someone comes up to me and they want to take a picture... but the way the thing that they're taking a picture with is like interesting right it's like a 3ds or maybe a really old school camera it's just quite fun to take a picture on something that's like very retro but in terms of questions i don't know like what's my favorite sausage anything to do with food yeah your book's about to get sorry i'm gonna i'm just putting the keys this is why the Speaker 2 (6:46) yard films in the studio rather than in the garden in the rain in wales yeah Speaker 1 (6:49) we need umbrellas or something hey Speaker 2 (6:50) colin chris what do i need to be prepared for when i turn 30. That's a cool question. You hit 30 about what, two months ago? Speaker 1 (6:58) Yeah, two months ago. I hit Speaker 2 (6:59) 36 and a half years ago. I Speaker 1 (7:01) mean, I think you're right though. You said, you know, you're like, it's great. I'm, in my mind, I was already 40. And then when I got there, it felt, I'm Speaker 2 (7:07) ready now. Yeah, so in my mind, I sort of think I'm 40, right? You do act 40. You always have. But then I'm like, wait a minute, I'm 36. It's like I've gone back in time. Speaker 1 (7:16) Because you and Gant are the same age or is he? Yeah, Speaker 2 (7:20) same Speaker 1 (7:20) age, I think. And that always throws me off because Garnt's got the opposite where he's so youthful. He's so youthful and you're so like, you're trying to be like, I'm 50. I'm from Kent, I'm 50. Don't talk to Speaker 2 (7:32) me about Speaker 1 (7:32) dribble and TikTok. Talk to me about scones and tea. Have you felt changed since you hit 30? I think I was always on a bit more of a mentally mature side. I think I always saw myself as being older. But then I'll go on, you know, I'll go online and I'll watch brain rock videos. So I guess I'm a bit torn really. But I don't know, any advice for 30? I don't have any. You don't have any? Are we too early for the party? Yeah, I think I'll let you know after I've experienced a bit of 30. I'm too fresh. Speaker 2 (7:58) I'd say life does get a bit more serious. Health things start popping up. Friends start getting married, having kids. It gets a bit different. It feels a bit more serious. I suppose so. But you're in for a treat. If you and Chris had to swap bodies for a day, what would you end up doing? Fucking hell. What would Speaker 1 (8:15) you do with a young, youthful body? Speaker 2 (8:18) I'd ruffle the hair. Run my hands. Speaker 1 (8:22) Run your hands through your hair. I want to know how it feels for you to sit like that when you sit... Holding my stomach. Yeah, because you have that pose after a big meal. And I admit, it does look very comfortable. Yeah, Speaker 2 (8:33) but Speaker 1 (8:33) you've got a way with it. Because Speaker 2 (8:34) I'm holding a fucking beach ball when I'm doing it. Sadly, both like suboptimal British males. Both not very tall. No. Speaker 1 (8:43) Not Speaker 2 (8:43) very handsome. Speaker 1 (8:44) Well, let's backtrack. Can cheese solve everything, says Dan. Can what? Can cheese solve everything? I mean, cheese can solve a lot. I'm a firm believer in food can really fix a lot. It's hard to hate someone when you sit down and have a block of cheese with them. Mr. Gaddafi, don't be so rash. Here's some camembert. You know, we could have really changed things. Speaker 2 (9:10) Do you still think there's a chance? for new Japan content creators, or is YouTube saturated? That's a good question. Oh, Speaker 1 (9:17) that's a great question. Speaker 2 (9:18) I would say there is still a place for it. Because I don't watch many YouTubers in Japan, naturally, because I live there. And you kind of don't want to watch Japan content when you're there. Things have been pretty done to death in Japan, I feel like. But there's always more Speaker 1 (9:30) stuff, too. And there's always an interesting, I think, the problem is that we're thinking too in the box, in the sense of, you know, when I came to Japan, initially, when I wanted to make videos, my big thing was like, whatever it is, I want to be involved. So obviously I saw what, you know, because I think at the time it was pretty much you and a couple