I am a Japanese living in Japan, and I have noticed a real increase in the number of foreign tourists over the past few years. In Kyoto, where I live now, there are especially many, sometimes more than my own citizens, depending on the location and time of day. Most of us Japanese don't speak English or are not very good at it, so it can be difficult to communicate with them, but basically I don't think there are any bad people here, just shy. I hope everyone enjoys their stay in this country, even though it may be inconvenient at times. In Kyoto, there is a nice store called NINTENDO KYOTO that was recently opened. I went there the other day and it was a little smaller than OSAKA. The cherry blossoms are beautiful in the spring, so I hope everyone comes and enjoys themselves!
I went to Japan like 6 years ago, and yes even though, not a lot of Japanese people were fluent in English, but everyone I met tried their best to help me whenever I needed. Many strangers I asked on the streets even used google translate to communicate with me, some of them even insisted to take me to where I needed by themselves, I was so heart touched haha. Thanks guys, beautiful country beautiful people indeed.
Nara had rude staff in their restaurants. One place refused to reply to my (admittedly limited) Japanese and kept trying to reply to my Japanese girlfriend at the time. In the end, I dismissed the waitress and got the manager to serve us instead. My Japanese colleagues in Gunma at the time told me that Kyoto/Nara people can be rather snobby and rude even to other Japanese tourists, as they believe Kyoto to be the "true/traditional/morally or culturally superior" area of Japan. I suppose it's like the "Tunbridge Wells" of Japan...
I live in Japan and it's actually pretty common to see an adult man on the train enjoying some retro games. I sometimes make conversation with them. It's really cool.
Are they playing on official hardware or devices like this? I'm in Japan now and this is my 7th trip here and I haven't seen anyone playing retro on the train yet. The Japanese legal system scares the hell out of me and it's my understanding that copyright infringement is an arrestable offence.
Here in the UK, playing retro games on the bus always attracts the drunks. Spaced out dudes who remember 90s arcades too. Not that I’m complaining - every retro gaming fan is welcome lol
@@ramrodbldm9876Yea lmao this is hard to believe, especially in japan. You are supposed to be dead silent in the cars. And a japanese person whos playing a game in the train is VERY unlikely to engage in any convo from strangers. And OP says they live in japan? This guys lying for sure.
@@TeaBeeAdventuresI’ve been living in Tokyo for a long while but in public environments - like a train - I’ve only seen official hardware (original Game Boy, PSP, etc.) or if they were clones, very convincing ones.
I am a Japanese who looks forward to watching them every time. I have seen more retro games in Japanese stores than before. The market price has also been established, so my hobby of treasure hunting to find cheap rare games has become more difficult. Tokyo is good, but I recommend you to visit the neighboring Saitama area, where there are many stores. I have a hard time buying imports here because of the weakness of the Japanese yen. If I were to travel with you, it would be odin2. My wife got angry at me for taking a game on a previous trip. This time, I'll bring the RGB30, which is less likely to be discovered. Thanks for all the fun videos! Please come back to Japan!
@@levilomo Surugaya and FURUHON ICHIBA have retro games, as do some stores in Tokyo. There are also many Hard-Off and Book-Off stores in Saitama. Where in Saitama are you going? Mandaisyoten may have a lot of retro games. Please check it out!
Me too. I was researching for a week full-time about which to get. I ended up with the miyoo mini plus for travels and on the way playing the retro stuff. And probably the retroid pocket 4 pro or higher for n64, ps2, gamecube emulation. With multiple controllers and used as a console on the projector or tv
Im still struggling to even choose one. I did order a ROG ally Z1 (none extreme) for emulation, should do fine... though im not sure what it will be able to handle on that note. I still really want one of these handhelds. I dont know what to get. @@jang.6097
i went to japan in September and stayed for a month and I actually stayed at the Cocoone Ginza hotel at the tsukiji market for most of my trip other than staying at universal and man I traveled everywhere I could there and honestly I cried watching this because man what an alive place that is so unlike anywhere else. seeing you go to the places I was and also remembering my trip to mount fuji and going to FujiQ and all the experiences just makes me so home sick for a place I never thought I would be able to feel that way about. all the way down to them having tags on the trees to service and take care of the flora and taking the old trains and busses to outskirt towns seeing vegetation more intertwined rather than stripped back from the civilization. I told myself it would be a once in a lifetime trip but I will put in the work to make sure i get to go back. Sorry to gush and I did very much enjoy the video but I just wanted to say if you ever thought about visiting japan please do it will truly change your perspective on some things with the beautiful culture. Also I also ate at that wagyu stand and they are so nice and open 24/7 I went there at 2am and the owner sat with me and even provided me with lemons sours and extra a1 slices on the house. super kind and even though I spoke Japanese terribly was very nice and walked me through some of my pronunciation issues
My wife and I are DYING to go to Japan! I'm trying to learn Japanese so I don't get completely lost. Really excited to see the video and check out the spots when we go!
In Tokyo, pretty much everything is also in English. If you start branching out, you'll find yourself in rural parts where yeah, nobody expects westerners sometimes haha
What’s corny? Dude puts in a lot of hard work and it’s cool to see him repping his brand in one of the coolest places, especially for retro gaming enthusiasts.
I worked in Shibuya for a few months once. I still get a pang of homesickness when I see it today. The train station exit across the street from the Hatchi was where I got off and then I had a 15 min walk into the residential section of Shibuya.
Living the good life! Have a cool youtube channel that goes over some fun niche video game type of stuff, living in Hawaii, and traveling to Japan. Thanks for showing us what Japan was like for your trip, even being that crowded, still looked fun!
Really cool to see the segment of "These are the devices I actually used when I had time to play games." Also cool that they weren't the devices you were expecting to use.
Hey Ross! I would love to watch more of your general trip to Japan, not only the gaming stuff. Please consider making a second video talking more about your personal experience, it would be awesome!
I've done stuff like that in Japan. I once showed a Sega arcade dev in a bar old school Afterburner playing on my phone via an emulator. Turned out he was on the arcade team for Sega, and was making a version of Afterburner at the time.
Love all your videos, Russ. Your content is always remarkably thoughtful, thorough, and especially empathetic - to an extent that is very rare on the internet. Videos like these are fun to get a little peek into your very interesting personal life. I know I am not alone when I say I consider you a role model in many respects. All the best to you and your family!
Quick Tip: Students get a discount in Japan when you go to Disney so most adults will actually wear their old high school uniform to look like they’re students to get in cheaper. Half the people you saw wearing uniforms were probably in their mid 20s trying to get in pretty cheap 😂😂😂
in Japanese, intonation carries meaning! So we would say RA•men not ra•MEN, SU•shi not su•SHI. A very common example is “sake” where “SA•ke” means salmon but “sa•KE” means alcohol. But ultimately it doesn’t matter too much when speaking English. Another one is English speakers tend to say “PO•ke•mon” while Japanese speakers say “po•KE•mon”
Thanks for the tips! It’s funny because my pronunciation of both sushi and ramen are how they are commonly said here in Hawaii, my wife has been drilling those two words into my head for 20 years at this point and I had no idea they weren’t the correct pronunciation 😂
@@RetroGameCorps Of course many dialects and regional variants have developed! As a descriptivist, I hesitate to make a judgment of “correct” or “incorrect”
To note, there’s no English-like “emphasis” in Japanese, i.e. no stress: no syllable is louder or longer than others. There is, however, what’s called a “pitch accent”, i.e. a change in tone, which may be perceived (assuming it is - non-native speakers typically have a hard time distinguishing low and high tones) as a change in stress, but absolutely isn’t.
Its surprising some people have not seen a gameboy micro, especially for a retro gamer like yourself. but its not too late, enjoy your purchase and looking forward to your review. myself went on a short 3 day trip with family. had to pick a handheld, and brought only a 2ds with me, and only played it at night in the hotel. its quite a robust little machine, especially with a case and glass screen protector. didnt even bring a charger as it lasted the trip easily. its convenient to put it to sleep and wake, with a slider instead of opening a clamshell. i didnt hack it so brought 4 cartridges - 2 3ds and 2 ds. i also didnt have any digital purchases on it, but it came with built in new smb 2, which my son ended up playing. its amazing how old nintendo handhelds are still better in many situations than the current generation of handhelds from both major and smaller companies.
I appreciate people who can prioritize an object's function over it's cosmetic condition. At some point in my life the idea that an object must be perfect or it can't be enjoyed took root and now I focus way too much on it. It's similar to first learning what a dead pixel is and then suddenly they are everywhere.
It's not, unless it's Matsusaka which is one of the priciest "wagyu". Really depends on the place. Most shops or izakayas are transparent enough that they tell you where the beef came from, which usually indicates the quality. Matsusaka and Miyazaki is considered the best and a meal with this beef at a nice place will cost you at least tens of thousands of yen. For me, I usually buy 1000 JPY skewers of Kobe(神戸)/Hyogo(兵庫) since they're the of cheaper "wagyu" beefs. I've tried Matsusaka before while I was travelling around GIfu. But honestly, it's really down to the skill of the person cooking it rather than the beef. I didn't think it was worth the pretty penny I paid for.
Over here wagyu just means Japanese beef, which in itself carries intonations of higher quality beef than the US/Aussie imports, but not exactly luxury. The stuff you want to try as a tourist is the upper echelon branded stuff, like Matsusaka, Miyazaki or Oumi.
I bought the same Gameboy Micro when it first came out, specifically the Japanese version because it has all this extra Anniversary stuff included. Still one of the best looking systems Nintendo has ever produced.
Going through some crappy events at the moment, and just want to thank Russ for running a positive and uplifting channel. Extremely relaxing and good way to zone out of real world issues. Thank you.
your friends are so cool, by far my favorite picks in this video were the gifts your friends gave you. glad you had a good time and man i need to get to japan sometime
Higashikurume Hard-Off!! Was there this past summer and it was my favorite one. Good selection and really nice staff. Got a DSi LL for only $35 bucks. What a small world!
Japan is my dream location to go to one day. So cool you got to go! I am jealous 😅 I had no idea Hawaii was 6 hours from Japan. Have you played Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth? Are those locations accurate? It takes place in Hawaii. I’ve heard the Yakuza games are accurate. Now I’m curious.
Nice video Russ. I'm friends with Tim so it was nice to see you got to catch up with him. Seeing all those crowds at the start really made me jumpy. I live in Japan but in the provincial areas, so seeing crowds like that is hard to get my head around, even though I don't live all that far from Osaka or Kyoto. As for Pokemon Gold and Silver, I bought both of those boxed 4 years ago complete for 330yen a piece....so prices have trended upwards here even if they do seem cheap if your primary currency isn't the JPY.
Kind of jealous of your son, playing Hollow Knight as a kid must be amazing. (And having a steam deck too lol.) What a great time to be a kid into gaming
your point on the Japanese supermarkets is spot on. usually around 7 pm or so the supermarkets will discount whatever fresh foods were cooked that day by like 30% and by 9 pm often marked down by 50%. So, before i started working from home, when I would return home from work later in the evening, I would usually stop by the grocery store along the way home and get delicious dinner for really great prices.Of course, my salary is in yen but as you said, these days if you are coming in as a tourist from somewhere like the US, its essentially like a 35% discount on everything since the USD to Yen rate is so strong right now.
I really enjoy these kind of videos. They give fresh takes on different ways to enjoy retro games while on trips as well as letting me see places that I had never been to before. You are on of the best retro console RUclipsrs out there mate. I hope you’ll give us a tour of Hawaii someday. I only see Hawaii from Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth.
For those curious about the arcade he shows in his video in Ikebukuro, I can't be certain, but it is likely Mikado Game Center in Ikebukuro. They also have one in Takadanobaba that i would reccommend, especially for a retro game fan
I love going to Japan for all the games and retro stuff. Although this year when I was in Japan over Xmas and New Years, I ended up hunting out a Steam Deck OLED as I was in the country just at the right time for their first restock in store and got the OLED on Christmas Eve from Edion in Yokohama. As an Aussie, getting a 1 TB for AU$820 instead of AU$1499 was a real Christmas Miracle. I didn;t see a single out outside of that one store the entire two plus weeks I was there and I kept checking while searching for some Steam Deck Accessories. I also previously got a retro game console that plays cartridges and can rip roms from Carts directly (Although it does put DRM on the ROM so it can only be played on the console) But it was great to be able to play my old SNES carts like Terranigma, and start buying some more. Last trip I spent a fair bit of time outside of the large cities and ended up checking out all the Hard-Off stores in smaller places which had some pretty cool stuff. There is definitely still hold over demand in tourism for Japan with many people still doing their missed trips from 2021-2023 so it can be pretty hectic. Although I am not helping since I am alreadty planning on going abain next Sakura season.
This video is amazing! I was a military brat and spent 6 years between Yokota Airforce Base and Misawa Army Base. We used to take a pilgrimage to Yokosuka because their exchange had a better selection of American games and films. They had Saturn games months before Yokota had them for some reason. Our first system was that top loading famicom though, so this video is like nostalgia stacked on nostalgia.
Hakone is one of the places that’s on my list to visit when I get the chance to make a trip to Japan, primarily for its influence on JDM culture and racing games such as the maximum tune and arcade stage series
14:15, those are called Yakisoba bread, its a really simple food, it’s just fried noodles and hotdog buns. From what I heard, they’re popular with school kids, as you can imagine lol
I still have my silver GameBoy Micro. Pokemon FireRed is almost glued in it. Bought it - somewhere early 2000's - with a couple of games. Bought it mainly because I stayed in hotels a lot for work and needed something to do in the evening. The Micro had a couple of things going for it: it had a backlit screen, was small and easy to take with me and had an awesome games library! I replaced the battery about 4 years back. It is still going strong, but now it's mostly on display. I have a modern device that has replaced it and I won't mind if something bad happens to it: the Miyoo Mino v2. Awesome to see you had some great quality family time! I have never been to Japan, hope to go there someday. I want to go to Super Nintendo World, unleash the inner child in this old fart! ;)
Thanks for this! This was very helpful. My family and I are going to Japan in May, and I am hoping to pick up some nintendo consoles (Famicom, Super famicom, N64, GameCube, maybe a Wii, maybe a Wii-U, and some handhelds). It was good to see the prices are not too crazy yet.
Loved your video! I graduated high school at a DoD school in Japan, so that retro arcade looks very similar to the ones my buddies and I frequented. Sweet memories unlocked, thanks! We're on a 2.5 month trip in Europe right now and I only brought my modded Game Boy DMG with a flash cart. It's been fun focusing on games that I never played growing up, but also seem to go back to the nostalgic games from my childhood. Probably should have brought the GBC, but that's waiting for me when we get home!
I've been wanting to go to Japan from when I was a kid. I will get there some day. I do follow a lot of channels about US people who moved to Japan and things they deal with. Sounds like a nice trip and sounds like you had a great time. awesome !
Thanks for sharing. I still have my Black Gameboy Micro I bought from Target when they were released in November 2005 in Australia. I mainly used a 99 in 1 Cartridge that was full of NES games and mainly played Contra and 1942 on it. The system itself has a good weight to it. The Start and Select button light up blue. Just plugged it in to recharge, still has an awesome bright screen.
In early 2022 I stayed in Narita for my last day in Japan, and I hit up the Book Off in Aeon Mall, they had a fair amount of famicom games at the time. I didn't get any but I picked up a N3DSLL for about $80.
Hard Off and Super Potato were my go-to while I was there recently Definitely found some gems on DS and Dreamcast. Damn though you got to meet some cool folks. That sounds crazy awesome. I want to go back this year personally but eh might have to be next year.
I wonder if I could pay Team Pandory to go to one of these shops, grab a bunch of the scuffed SFCs and various games, and then mail a big box to me. It'd have to be cheaper than Sendico! 😆
You'd end up with 30 copies of Prime Goal 😂 TBH they made sending things out from Japan very annoying 3 years back. Right now there's many forms, rules, and regulations that makes it all high-stress and not worth bothering, sorry 😞
Great video! Always wanted to go to Japan and visit those retro shops. Hope you can visit Akihabara and make a vid, I am really curious on that place. 3 things I definitely loved in your video: 1. You playing Castlevania Symphony of the Night, my most fave PS1 game (I am currently playing the Sega Saturn one that is patched in ENG, as it is the only version/port that I haven't completed) 2. Seeing a Wonderswan and Final Fantasy I (I played that on a Wonderswan emulator, also English patched) 3. Acquiring a Game Boy Micro (always wanted to add it to my collection!) Thanks for all your past, current and future vids, Russ!
I am a Japanese living in Japan, and I have noticed a real increase in the number of foreign tourists over the past few years. In Kyoto, where I live now, there are especially many, sometimes more than my own citizens, depending on the location and time of day. Most of us Japanese don't speak English or are not very good at it, so it can be difficult to communicate with them, but basically I don't think there are any bad people here, just shy. I hope everyone enjoys their stay in this country, even though it may be inconvenient at times. In Kyoto, there is a nice store called NINTENDO KYOTO that was recently opened. I went there the other day and it was a little smaller than OSAKA. The cherry blossoms are beautiful in the spring, so I hope everyone comes and enjoys themselves!
I went to Japan like 6 years ago, and yes even though, not a lot of Japanese people were fluent in English, but everyone I met tried their best to help me whenever I needed. Many strangers I asked on the streets even used google translate to communicate with me, some of them even insisted to take me to where I needed by themselves, I was so heart touched haha. Thanks guys, beautiful country beautiful people indeed.
Nara had rude staff in their restaurants. One place refused to reply to my (admittedly limited) Japanese and kept trying to reply to my Japanese girlfriend at the time. In the end, I dismissed the waitress and got the manager to serve us instead.
My Japanese colleagues in Gunma at the time told me that Kyoto/Nara people can be rather snobby and rude even to other Japanese tourists, as they believe Kyoto to be the "true/traditional/morally or culturally superior" area of Japan.
I suppose it's like the "Tunbridge Wells" of Japan...
They are probably foreign workers brought in, not tourists. They are trying to make way more non-Japanese live in Japan now.
thank you for your wholesome encouragement
Japan is a great country, and the west is crumbling, so expect to see more. I'd move if I could.
I live in Japan and it's actually pretty common to see an adult man on the train enjoying some retro games. I sometimes make conversation with them. It's really cool.
Are they playing on official hardware or devices like this? I'm in Japan now and this is my 7th trip here and I haven't seen anyone playing retro on the train yet. The Japanese legal system scares the hell out of me and it's my understanding that copyright infringement is an arrestable offence.
@TeaBeeAdventures if you're not advertising that you're playing pirated games, who cares
Here in the UK, playing retro games on the bus always attracts the drunks. Spaced out dudes who remember 90s arcades too.
Not that I’m complaining - every retro gaming fan is welcome lol
@@ramrodbldm9876Yea lmao this is hard to believe, especially in japan. You are supposed to be dead silent in the cars. And a japanese person whos playing a game in the train is VERY unlikely to engage in any convo from strangers. And OP says they live in japan? This guys lying for sure.
@@TeaBeeAdventuresI’ve been living in Tokyo for a long while but in public environments - like a train - I’ve only seen official hardware (original Game Boy, PSP, etc.) or if they were clones, very convincing ones.
I am a Japanese who looks forward to watching them every time.
I have seen more retro games in Japanese stores than before.
The market price has also been established, so my hobby of treasure hunting to find cheap rare games has become more difficult.
Tokyo is good, but I recommend you to visit the neighboring Saitama area, where there are many stores.
I have a hard time buying imports here because of the weakness of the Japanese yen.
If I were to travel with you, it would be odin2.
My wife got angry at me for taking a game on a previous trip.
This time, I'll bring the RGB30, which is less likely to be discovered.
Thanks for all the fun videos!
Please come back to Japan!
Hey! Do you have any recommendations for Retro game stores in Saitama? I'll be in the area soon and any advice would be really appreciated. ありがとうございます
@@levilomo Surugaya and FURUHON ICHIBA have retro games, as do some stores in Tokyo.
There are also many Hard-Off and Book-Off stores in Saitama.
Where in Saitama are you going?
Mandaisyoten may have a lot of retro games.
Please check it out!
It's harder and more expensive to get retro games these days, due to foreign tourists/scalpers buying many of them up in places like Akiba...
When retro handheld youtuber comes to handheld country it cant be bad
I feel this statement is missing something.. hmmmmm
@@Bonk13bTwo somethings.
just bought my first retro handheld thanks to you.
Have fun!
Which one you bought?
Me too. I was researching for a week full-time about which to get.
I ended up with the miyoo mini plus for travels and on the way playing the retro stuff. And probably the retroid pocket 4 pro or higher for n64, ps2, gamecube emulation. With multiple controllers and used as a console on the projector or tv
Im still struggling to even choose one. I did order a ROG ally Z1 (none extreme) for emulation, should do fine... though im not sure what it will be able to handle on that note. I still really want one of these handhelds. I dont know what to get. @@jang.6097
i went to japan in September and stayed for a month and I actually stayed at the Cocoone Ginza hotel at the tsukiji market for most of my trip other than staying at universal and man I traveled everywhere I could there and honestly I cried watching this because man what an alive place that is so unlike anywhere else. seeing you go to the places I was and also remembering my trip to mount fuji and going to FujiQ and all the experiences just makes me so home sick for a place I never thought I would be able to feel that way about. all the way down to them having tags on the trees to service and take care of the flora and taking the old trains and busses to outskirt towns seeing vegetation more intertwined rather than stripped back from the civilization. I told myself it would be a once in a lifetime trip but I will put in the work to make sure i get to go back. Sorry to gush and I did very much enjoy the video but I just wanted to say if you ever thought about visiting japan please do it will truly change your perspective on some things with the beautiful culture.
Also I also ate at that wagyu stand and they are so nice and open 24/7 I went there at 2am and the owner sat with me and even provided me with lemons sours and extra a1 slices on the house. super kind and even though I spoke Japanese terribly was very nice and walked me through some of my pronunciation issues
you went to Nintendo's home turf, you're lucky to be alive o7
Nintendo ninjas
😂
This video ended up really chill and pleasant. I'm glad you folks had a nice trip!
I'm so happy for you! It really is awesome that you got to take some time off and relax!
Man, I could watch you talk about stuff like this for hours. Maybe that's why I'm subscribed 😂😂
My wife and I are DYING to go to Japan! I'm trying to learn Japanese so I don't get completely lost. Really excited to see the video and check out the spots when we go!
what are you using to learn japanese?
In Tokyo, pretty much everything is also in English. If you start branching out, you'll find yourself in rural parts where yeah, nobody expects westerners sometimes haha
@@TheOpticBlastI started with duolingo, but native speakers told me that it uses poor grammar so I switched to Busuu which has been WORLDS better!
Id focus more on kanji then speaking it, the signs are usually fairly well done and you'd be surprised how many people will speak English.
LOVE the thumbnail. Must have felt good taking that
What’s corny? Dude puts in a lot of hard work and it’s cool to see him repping his brand in one of the coolest places, especially for retro gaming enthusiasts.
@@ramrodbldm9876 Corny? I don't know how you can read that comment as "corny"
Great video, as always. I got back from Tokyo a few weeks ago. It's such a great place to explore.
It really is!
I worked in Shibuya for a few months once. I still get a pang of homesickness when I see it today. The train station exit across the street from the Hatchi was where I got off and then I had a 15 min walk into the residential section of Shibuya.
Russ, that Gameboy Micro is in such great condition. The finish is just so polished. It almost looks like a jewel. Great video, love to watch these!
That Japanese store, Book Off, with all the old games and hardware looked meticulously well-organized.
Living the good life! Have a cool youtube channel that goes over some fun niche video game type of stuff, living in Hawaii, and traveling to Japan. Thanks for showing us what Japan was like for your trip, even being that crowded, still looked fun!
Really cool to see the segment of "These are the devices I actually used when I had time to play games." Also cool that they weren't the devices you were expecting to use.
Hey Ross! I would love to watch more of your general trip to Japan, not only the gaming stuff. Please consider making a second video talking more about your personal experience, it would be awesome!
This video was awesome on all counts. I love the trip aspect, the learnings and the shopping. Really worth the watch! Thank you.
You’ve become my go to channel for entertainment lol thanks for sharing your family adventure
Be honest, you Yuzu'd it up right in front of Ninty HQ
Hah. That would be priceless ,;)
And emulated PSP in front of Sony HQ...
I've done stuff like that in Japan. I once showed a Sega arcade dev in a bar old school Afterburner playing on my phone via an emulator. Turned out he was on the arcade team for Sega, and was making a version of Afterburner at the time.
'It was only a 6 hour flight' *takes a deep breath*
What an amazing video! I plan to visit Japan next year. I will be using this video as a reference guide!!! Thank u so much!!! Glad u had fun!
Great video Russ! Planning to go Japan in August so really enjoyed watching this.
Dude this video is absolutely awesome. I loved all of it.
That wagyu beef skewer would have been $100 here, easily.
Where's here?
@@ungratefulmangowell he used $ so I'd assume US or canada. I think Australia also uses dollars
Love all your videos, Russ. Your content is always remarkably thoughtful, thorough, and especially empathetic - to an extent that is very rare on the internet. Videos like these are fun to get a little peek into your very interesting personal life. I know I am not alone when I say I consider you a role model in many respects. All the best to you and your family!
Quick Tip: Students get a discount in Japan when you go to Disney so most adults will actually wear their old high school uniform to look like they’re students to get in cheaper. Half the people you saw wearing uniforms were probably in their mid 20s trying to get in pretty cheap 😂😂😂
That's super interesting, thanks for sharing!
Nice change of pace Russ! Loved this video and now I need to visit Japan for sure! Hopefully someday!
the way you pronounce ramen as "raw men" 😂4:27
all love
Such an enjoyable video, and I liked the opening elements of where you went and what you saw, as well as the retro content.
man, the garbage bin section would literally be heaven to me. So much potential for so cheap.
in Japanese, intonation carries meaning! So we would say RA•men not ra•MEN, SU•shi not su•SHI. A very common example is “sake” where “SA•ke” means salmon but “sa•KE” means alcohol. But ultimately it doesn’t matter too much when speaking English. Another one is English speakers tend to say “PO•ke•mon” while Japanese speakers say “po•KE•mon”
Thanks for the tips! It’s funny because my pronunciation of both sushi and ramen are how they are commonly said here in Hawaii, my wife has been drilling those two words into my head for 20 years at this point and I had no idea they weren’t the correct pronunciation 😂
@@RetroGameCorps Of course many dialects and regional variants have developed! As a descriptivist, I hesitate to make a judgment of “correct” or “incorrect”
Giggled when he said he made a batch of raw men 😂
To note, there’s no English-like “emphasis” in Japanese, i.e. no stress: no syllable is louder or longer than others. There is, however, what’s called a “pitch accent”, i.e. a change in tone, which may be perceived (assuming it is - non-native speakers typically have a hard time distinguishing low and high tones) as a change in stress, but absolutely isn’t.
Its surprising some people have not seen a gameboy micro, especially for a retro gamer like yourself. but its not too late, enjoy your purchase and looking forward to your review.
myself went on a short 3 day trip with family. had to pick a handheld, and brought only a 2ds with me, and only played it at night in the hotel.
its quite a robust little machine, especially with a case and glass screen protector. didnt even bring a charger as it lasted the trip easily. its convenient to put it to sleep and wake, with a slider instead of opening a clamshell.
i didnt hack it so brought 4 cartridges - 2 3ds and 2 ds. i also didnt have any digital purchases on it, but it came with built in new smb 2, which my son ended up playing.
its amazing how old nintendo handhelds are still better in many situations than the current generation of handhelds from both major and smaller companies.
"RUclips gaming content creators going to Japan" vlogs are some of my favorite content on this site no doubt.
I wish I could go to Japan. I've always wanted to go and this is so cool. Thank you for sharing your experiences with us!
I appreciate people who can prioritize an object's function over it's cosmetic condition. At some point in my life the idea that an object must be perfect or it can't be enjoyed took root and now I focus way too much on it. It's similar to first learning what a dead pixel is and then suddenly they are everywhere.
A decent sized wagyu skewer for $25 sounds like a steal tbh, especially considering how much Wagyu would go over over here in the States.
It's not, unless it's Matsusaka which is one of the priciest "wagyu". Really depends on the place. Most shops or izakayas are transparent enough that they tell you where the beef came from, which usually indicates the quality. Matsusaka and Miyazaki is considered the best and a meal with this beef at a nice place will cost you at least tens of thousands of yen. For me, I usually buy 1000 JPY skewers of Kobe(神戸)/Hyogo(兵庫) since they're the of cheaper "wagyu" beefs. I've tried Matsusaka before while I was travelling around GIfu. But honestly, it's really down to the skill of the person cooking it rather than the beef. I didn't think it was worth the pretty penny I paid for.
It’s a rip off here in Japan, those are not real Wagyu.
Wagyu vs Wagyu. There's varying levels to it. You can get wagyu sushi from your standard conveyor belt sushi for like 300 yen per item.
Over here wagyu just means Japanese beef, which in itself carries intonations of higher quality beef than the US/Aussie imports, but not exactly luxury. The stuff you want to try as a tourist is the upper echelon branded stuff, like Matsusaka, Miyazaki or Oumi.
Great content as always bruh. This is dope. I loved Japan when I was stationed there. Can’t wait to make it back over there.
I continue living vicariously through you Russ lol . Wish I could go to Japan….
My goodness ... those Disney crowds look TERRIBLE.
I bought the same Gameboy Micro when it first came out, specifically the Japanese version because it has all this extra Anniversary stuff included. Still one of the best looking systems Nintendo has ever produced.
Going through some crappy events at the moment, and just want to thank Russ for running a positive and uplifting channel.
Extremely relaxing and good way to zone out of real world issues.
Thank you.
In Japan right now! I left my Odin 2 at home but brought a PS Vita and 3DS ;)
Been looking forward to this one. I love Russ' travel videos and I've always wanted to go to Japan
your friends are so cool, by far my favorite picks in this video were the gifts your friends gave you. glad you had a good time and man i need to get to japan sometime
Jealous! I love ETLandxoxo and I wish I could meet her!! So glad you all got to hang out in Japan ❤
Higashikurume Hard-Off!! Was there this past summer and it was my favorite one. Good selection and really nice staff. Got a DSi LL for only $35 bucks. What a small world!
Thank u Russ for this really cool video - love your blog and game style :)
believe it or not, i looooved the japan videos. when the video started, the japan vid was cool and i was hoping to see more. thank you!
I dont know why, but Japan just fascinates me like no other country.
Japan is my dream location to go to one day. So cool you got to go! I am jealous 😅 I had no idea Hawaii was 6 hours from Japan. Have you played Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth? Are those locations accurate? It takes place in Hawaii. I’ve heard the Yakuza games are accurate. Now I’m curious.
I’m also curious if Russ has played any Yakuza games. I recognized that Chinatown street from Like a Dragon 7 (at Zenrinmon Gate).
@RetroGameCorps should probably also play 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim to get an appreciation for those yakisoba pan he saw. XD
Thanks for the video Russ, I'm planning to visit Japan next year and it's always good to hear great things from fellow gamer
Went there 20 years ago...always wanted to head back there again. Such a great culture and history ❤I'm happy you had a great time 😊
Team Pandory are AWESOME!!! Thanks for giving them a shout-out!
Heyyy! Thanks for your shout-out Johnny! 🙂
@@TeamPandory - Thanks, I really like and appreciate what you guys've done for my A500 Mini!
@@JohnnyProctor9 more on the way. Slowly. But it's coming. ... Christmas 2023 😭
Nice video Russ. I'm friends with Tim so it was nice to see you got to catch up with him. Seeing all those crowds at the start really made me jumpy. I live in Japan but in the provincial areas, so seeing crowds like that is hard to get my head around, even though I don't live all that far from Osaka or Kyoto. As for Pokemon Gold and Silver, I bought both of those boxed 4 years ago complete for 330yen a piece....so prices have trended upwards here even if they do seem cheap if your primary currency isn't the JPY.
Man this video was awesome. Really enjoyed traveling vicariously with you.
That's nutty bringing that many handhelds on a trip.
Thanks for sharing! Watching this somehow feels like unboxing christmas presents ^_^
Kind of jealous of your son, playing Hollow Knight as a kid must be amazing. (And having a steam deck too lol.) What a great time to be a kid into gaming
This was a cool vid, think a lot of your fans would dig this kind of vid
I didn't know ETLand was based in Japan. So cool! I love her videos
Such a dang good video. Awesomely chill as always and such a rad look into the trip and gaming in and around Japan. Thanks for sharing man!
Great video! Love to see more this type of content.
your point on the Japanese supermarkets is spot on. usually around 7 pm or so the supermarkets will discount whatever fresh foods were cooked that day by like 30% and by 9 pm often marked down by 50%. So, before i started working from home, when I would return home from work later in the evening, I would usually stop by the grocery store along the way home and get delicious dinner for really great prices.Of course, my salary is in yen but as you said, these days if you are coming in as a tourist from somewhere like the US, its essentially like a 35% discount on everything since the USD to Yen rate is so strong right now.
I really enjoy these kind of videos. They give fresh takes on different ways to enjoy retro games while on trips as well as letting me see places that I had never been to before.
You are on of the best retro console RUclipsrs out there mate. I hope you’ll give us a tour of Hawaii someday. I only see Hawaii from Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth.
For those curious about the arcade he shows in his video in Ikebukuro, I can't be certain, but it is likely Mikado Game Center in Ikebukuro. They also have one in Takadanobaba that i would reccommend, especially for a retro game fan
Bang on 🙂
Awesome Video! Japan on top of my bucket list for travel destinations.
Love the recap of you sharing your trip before jumping into the business
Heading to Japan (Tokyo then Kyoto) tomorrow and watching this video got me even more excited.
If you want to visit that arcade, search "Mikado". There are two quite close to Ikebukuro
I love going to Japan for all the games and retro stuff.
Although this year when I was in Japan over Xmas and New Years, I ended up hunting out a Steam Deck OLED as I was in the country just at the right time for their first restock in store and got the OLED on Christmas Eve from Edion in Yokohama. As an Aussie, getting a 1 TB for AU$820 instead of AU$1499 was a real Christmas Miracle. I didn;t see a single out outside of that one store the entire two plus weeks I was there and I kept checking while searching for some Steam Deck Accessories.
I also previously got a retro game console that plays cartridges and can rip roms from Carts directly (Although it does put DRM on the ROM so it can only be played on the console) But it was great to be able to play my old SNES carts like Terranigma, and start buying some more.
Last trip I spent a fair bit of time outside of the large cities and ended up checking out all the Hard-Off stores in smaller places which had some pretty cool stuff.
There is definitely still hold over demand in tourism for Japan with many people still doing their missed trips from 2021-2023 so it can be pretty hectic.
Although I am not helping since I am alreadty planning on going abain next Sakura season.
What an awesome experience. Enjoyed the video thoroughly. 👍🏼
This video is amazing! I was a military brat and spent 6 years between Yokota Airforce Base and Misawa Army Base. We used to take a pilgrimage to Yokosuka because their exchange had a better selection of American games and films. They had Saturn games months before Yokota had them for some reason. Our first system was that top loading famicom though, so this video is like nostalgia stacked on nostalgia.
glad to see Shibuya recovered after that whole Sukuna incident
thanks for sharing this video! great you got to go for a little family trip! i hope to go to japan one day
Cool! Kunio-kun carts! Grew up playing a lot in the series... they were pretty fantastic during the Famicom era.
Hakone is one of the places that’s on my list to visit when I get the chance to make a trip to Japan, primarily for its influence on JDM culture and racing games such as the maximum tune and arcade stage series
Kinnick High School alum here! Yokosuka will forever be my home 🙏
Thoroughly enjoyed this video, Fantastic!
I thoroughly enjoyed this video. I love your travel videos
just came back from JP as well, freezing cold there, even snowed in Kyoto
14:15, those are called Yakisoba bread, its a really simple food, it’s just fried noodles and hotdog buns. From what I heard, they’re popular with school kids, as you can imagine lol
Looking forward to the gameboy micro review, as it's one of my favourite consoles. Glad you had a great trip, Russ! Cheers!
Never knew you spent time in Yokosuka. Not American, but live in the area. Awesome to hear!
Those are crazy good prices. Awesome video! - Stubbs
Glad to know that you enjoyed your stay in Japan Russ. (-:
Bring back some good childhood memories growing up with the WSC. I played many hours of gundam and digimon on it.
I still have my silver GameBoy Micro. Pokemon FireRed is almost glued in it. Bought it - somewhere early 2000's - with a couple of games. Bought it mainly because I stayed in hotels a lot for work and needed something to do in the evening. The Micro had a couple of things going for it: it had a backlit screen, was small and easy to take with me and had an awesome games library! I replaced the battery about 4 years back. It is still going strong, but now it's mostly on display. I have a modern device that has replaced it and I won't mind if something bad happens to it: the Miyoo Mino v2.
Awesome to see you had some great quality family time! I have never been to Japan, hope to go there someday. I want to go to Super Nintendo World, unleash the inner child in this old fart! ;)
Thanks for this! This was very helpful. My family and I are going to Japan in May, and I am hoping to pick up some nintendo consoles (Famicom, Super famicom, N64, GameCube, maybe a Wii, maybe a Wii-U, and some handhelds). It was good to see the prices are not too crazy yet.
That blog post is incredibly wholesome
Loved your video! I graduated high school at a DoD school in Japan, so that retro arcade looks very similar to the ones my buddies and I frequented. Sweet memories unlocked, thanks!
We're on a 2.5 month trip in Europe right now and I only brought my modded Game Boy DMG with a flash cart. It's been fun focusing on games that I never played growing up, but also seem to go back to the nostalgic games from my childhood. Probably should have brought the GBC, but that's waiting for me when we get home!
I've been wanting to go to Japan from when I was a kid. I will get there some day. I do follow a lot of channels about US people who moved to Japan and things they deal with.
Sounds like a nice trip and sounds like you had a great time. awesome !
Thanks for sharing. I still have my Black Gameboy Micro I bought from Target when they were released in November 2005 in Australia. I mainly used a 99 in 1 Cartridge that was full of NES games and mainly played Contra and 1942 on it. The system itself has a good weight to it. The Start and Select button light up blue. Just plugged it in to recharge, still has an awesome bright screen.
In early 2022 I stayed in Narita for my last day in Japan, and I hit up the Book Off in Aeon Mall, they had a fair amount of famicom games at the time. I didn't get any but I picked up a N3DSLL for about $80.
I have played Castlevania SotD over and over again in every PS1 emulation device I had and PC. My favorite PS1 game since I got my PS back in the day.
Hard Off and Super Potato were my go-to while I was there recently Definitely found some gems on DS and Dreamcast. Damn though you got to meet some cool folks. That sounds crazy awesome. I want to go back this year personally but eh might have to be next year.
I wonder if I could pay Team Pandory to go to one of these shops, grab a bunch of the scuffed SFCs and various games, and then mail a big box to me. It'd have to be cheaper than Sendico! 😆
You'd end up with 30 copies of Prime Goal 😂
TBH they made sending things out from Japan very annoying 3 years back.
Right now there's many forms, rules, and regulations that makes it all high-stress and not worth bothering, sorry 😞
@@TeamPandory DANGIT
I absolutely loved this video, was drooling over the super famicom box art...
Great video! Always wanted to go to Japan and visit those retro shops. Hope you can visit Akihabara and make a vid, I am really curious on that place. 3 things I definitely loved in your video:
1. You playing Castlevania Symphony of the Night, my most fave PS1 game (I am currently playing the Sega Saturn one that is patched in ENG, as it is the only version/port that I haven't completed)
2. Seeing a Wonderswan and Final Fantasy I (I played that on a Wonderswan emulator, also English patched)
3. Acquiring a Game Boy Micro (always wanted to add it to my collection!)
Thanks for all your past, current and future vids, Russ!