The End of Journey Across Japan (Patreon)

“Every morning, generally without fail, I get woken up by a hawk.

At least I think it’s a hawk. I don’t know a lot about birds and I don’t really care for birds much.”

The first ever sentence uttered on the Abroad in Japan channel finally gets spoken once again, in the exact same spot 11 long years later! 

(2012 - back when I wore colours)

(2024 - trademark black shirt)

In the final episode of Journey Across Japan it all comes full circle, arriving at the very place the original series kicked off in Yamagata and revisiting my beloved original tiny apartment, which I gratefully home during my first three years living in Japan.

For that reason alone this may already be one of my favourite episodes in JAJ: Non-Stop North. And yet, before we even reach the apartment we’re treated to one of the most jaw-dropping locations of the whole series; the blizzard filled rustic streets of Ginzan hot spring. (Albeit under a somewhat bittersweet bloody scenario).

Before I jump into discussing yesterday’s season FINALE, the epic Patreon Exclusive BTS episode featuring outtakes, bloopers, deleted scenes and commentary will be dropping later this week!

Across 2,000km and 16 episodes, we explored over 30+ unique locations in Tohoku alongside six fantastic guests, it was certainly one hell of a journey.

And in the Patreon Exclusive episode, I’ll reveal what really happened off camera in the second half of JAJ. I’ll discuss the good, the bad and the ugly; if the series lived up to my expectations, what I loved / hate about it along the way and if I regret it. I’ll also rank my top 5 episodes from the whole season.

Keep an eye out for it, but now let’s jump into the finale and some radical changes we met to the video in the edit!

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A few days ago I saw on the Abroad in Japan Reddit that somebody had made a post wondering if we’d straight up lied about filming the series in December, due to the absence of snow throughout the trip!

Truth be told I was as disappointed as anyone at the absence of snowy weather, especially as we initially had a fair bit early on when Natsuki and I filmed the ramen episode in mountainous Kitakata on Day 3.

Turns out, it’s been an abnormally warm winter this year in north Japan - probably something to do with the size of Connor’s hellish fucking campfire from our island trip. I maintain there’s definitely a link.

Still my patience was rewarded at last, as I wandered out into the car park to find the Kei car had been completely buried overnight.

I’ve come to love snow for one reason. From November onwards, the grassless Japanese countryside - in particular the rice fields - is a depressing, muddy, colourless landscape. The snow does a great job window-dressing that ugliness.

Still nothing could window dress the nightmare that was Pete’s arrival and the subsequent challenge of being tied to each other for the day. Ian seemed particularly delighted at administering this challenge, though I’ll admit for safety reasons, he’d have done well to choose a day where snow and ice were bloody absent. It’s a miracle no-one broke anything.

At the time of filming Pete had just arrived back from an ill-fated trip to the UK with his wife Yuki, where tragically, she’d been pickpocketed while wandering around Big Ben, with both all their cash and passports stolen the day before their return to Japan.

The only upside to Pete’s arrival on the trip was he joined the Yamagata leg, where he was able to re-visit the hot spring town of Ginzan where he’d actually proposed to Yuki a few years beforehand.

It’s honestly shocking that I’d never covered Ginzan until now, given I call Yamagata my spiritual Japanese home and I’ve been lucky to visit the town 3-4 times over the last decade. We almost came close to realising a video there 2 years ago when I visited with Natsuki and Sharla to shoot a video where I tried speaking only Japanese for the day. 

However, I ended up canning the episode as all that happened was I just stopped speaking, haha. (Though I’m determined to give it another shot this year with a bit more studying).

But Ginzan really is worth the hype; if the video did one thing I hope it’s showcase what a visually striking and stunning backdrop it really is - particularly at night when the gas lamps illuminated the wooden Taisho era ryokans and the snow billows down across the narrow streets and the steam rising from the foot baths around town.

(I’d highly recommend a visit - don’t be daunted by its remote location. It’s a simple journey on the bullet train up to Yamagata and then a bus ride away.)

I’d actually hoped we might be able to stay there but a victim of its own success, all the ryokans were full. 

While looking for alternative accommodation, I actually came across a glamping campsite up on the mountains. However, I didn’t one a hellish re-run of the island episode and instead opted for a tent, albeit thankfully indoors.

The first thing that stuck out to me when booking Casa de Yoshi wasn’t the traditional interior, nor the roaring fireplace but the random tent set up in one of the bedrooms. I’ve still no idea why the mysterious Yoshi thought it was in any way a good idea. 

To our surprise, in the morning when we checked out, a small truck appeared and a friendly Japanese guy in his 30’s hopped out - Yoshi himself! He seemed like a nice guy and utterly delighted that two random foreigners had chosen to stay at Casa De Yoshi, while passing through the usually overlooked Yamagata.

(I’d absolutely stay there again - don’t be deterred by the tent. There’s a bedroom with a rather comfy bed upstairs for the lucky few).

Originally, this final episode was actually two episodes ending with Pete and I huddled around the fire with the chain on and kicking off the next one on top of a mountain overlooking Yamagata.

However, it really felt important to end the series on a bigger episode and on the double whammy high note of awesome location (Ginzan) and emotional punch (revisiting the first apartment in Japan).

We also removed an entire challenge as well; the final challenge of JAJ was actually Pete and I making a mascot for Natsuki’s shop, which we painstakingly built out of items bought from the 100 yen store.

We’ll show some clips from it in the Patreon BTS as I feel bad that Pete’s impressive creation was sidelined from the finale.

Arriving in Sakata, we were surprised to find Natsuki and his awesome wife Asami eagerly awaiting us with an outstretched ribbon as we pulled into the car park. Any jubilation was quickly smothered as Natsuki exploded a party popper in my face and I accidentally inhaled a ton of smoke that made me feel physically sick for the next three hours.

Fun fact: about one year ago I’d tried to get in touch with the English teacher living in my old apartment to see if I could film. Unfortunately, the person in question at the time didn’t really want a random YouTube guy bursting in and filming their home (understandably) and I assumed I’d never be able to film there again.

Fast forward 10 months and straight after announcing JAJ: Non-Stop North, the new English teacher John got in contact. And unlike his predecessor he was very keen to let us in to film; a miraculous twist of good fortune given John was a long time viewer of Abroad in Japan.

I’d never expected to ever set foot in my old apartment again. I thought it may no longer be in use for English teachers altogether. So when John swung open the clunky metal door to reveal the glazed wooden floor panels that I saw every day for three years, it felt like I’d been transported in time, or that I was in some sort of dream sequence.

In a weird kind of way, I felt nostalgically sad and emotional.

To this day, for all the amazing experiences I’ve been lucky to have, practically nothing has come close to matching the sheer excitement I felt when I first moved into the apartment. I knew so little of Japan and felt endless possibilities for the road ahead.

And sitting back on the tatami mat floor at the very kotatsu heated table I sat at and studied Japanese, with the very same TV and mirror I’d used every morning was completely bonkers. In the moment, a hundred forgotten memories were unlocked and resurrected.

It also made me realise how long ago that life was. Because I think about that chapter of my life so often, especially last year when writing the book, I forget that I left the apartment behind 9 long years ago. And my frequent jokes about meeting Ken Watanabe from that era ended up becoming a reality - that I’ll never get over!

For my final act, completely stuffed full of KFC, I handed the car over to Natsuki who I know will take good care of it (even if he doesn't want it). Fortunately, not even Natsuki is daft enough to clean the bloody windscreen with a wellington boot either, so the windscreen should be safe for now.

Still we haven’t seen the last of the tiny Kei car. I predict a few road trips on the horizon later on in 2024 in our trusty Nissan.

Expect more details on what went down behind the scenes in the Patreon special guys, but a big thank you to all of you for supporting this series. I’m proud to say this Journey Across Japan was a Patreon backed project and you guys made it all possible.

Let me know what you thought of the finale in the comments but enjoy the final episode and I’ll be back with the big Patreon Exclusive later in the week!

Chris