Chris Reveals Book At Last: Featuring Ryotaro!

·43 min·4 clips

Chris unveils a dummy copy of his new 'Journey Across Japan' book, teasing stories from every prefecture.

The episode opens with Chris and Ryotaro greeting each other in a hotel room, joking about Ryotaro's McDonald's meal and Chris's fitness goals ahead of his cycling trip. Chris details his upcoming cycle from Ulmer down the west coast of Japan, part of his annual cycling films. He then reveals a dummy copy of his new book, 'Journey Across Japan', illustrated by Matt Saunders, which features stories from every prefecture, including dangerous adventures like climbing a cliff in Fukushima. Ryotaro shares his recent travels to Laos for eco-tourism and trekking, and to China's Yunnan province, noting the drop in Chinese tourists to Japan due to political tensions. They critique modern tourism trends, with Chris lamenting the rise of superficial, short-form content that leads to hollow trips. Chris describes a recent visit to Hatoma Island in Okinawa, where only 60 people live and local culture is disappearing, sparking his interest in filming more remote islands. He reflects on his favorite video from last year, hiking the Nakasendo trail with Natsuki, and expresses a desire to escape Tokyo to film in nature. Ryotaro discusses his plans to launch a tour company, offering unique experiences like drift ice kayaking and canyoning in Hokkaido, while Chris worries about safety. The episode concludes with Chris promoting his cycling trip and teasing a more conventional news-focused podcast next time.

As heard by us

Fast-food fumes, flight routes, and a Shiretoko bear shape a loose hotel-room chat about travel in Japan.

A hotel-room reunion with Ryotaro Sakurai settles into a loose, personable circuit of travel habits and routes in Japan. The host's plan to get fit once and for all is undercut almost immediately by Ryotaro's oily packet of McDonald's, and that small comic detail sets the tone.

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Why you'd press play

You want Japan travel talk from a hotel room that smells like McDonald's, with Ryotaro Sakurai and a Shiretoko bear detour waiting later.

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