If you have followed Chris Broad’s adventures in Japan on his YouTube channel then most of this book covers familiar ground, adding a few extra details here and there. Also, interesting hearing about the "Journey Across Japan" from the author's perspective, since I was among the viewers who watched during Covid and thoroughly enjoyed it. Fasten your seatbelts as we travel the world, undertaking challenges, discovering amazing locations and uncovering Japanese culture, with his witty insights and unpredictable personality leaving a trail of chaos at every turn. It then went on to attract national attention in Japan, with Broad being selected to represent the word "J-Alert" in Japan's annual Words of the Year event.

Needless to say, I've now been watching Broad's youtube videos for several years and he never fails to entertain, his snarky comments and brilliant sarcasm also made their way into the book which gave it an ulterior sense of familiarity. In December 2019, he released a documentary interview of the rock artist Hyde, during the artist's performances at Zepp Tokyo. Pas de grande découvertes mais c'est intéressant d'avoir affaire à Chris en tant que personne plutôt qu'entertainer d'une chaîne YT. Some recurring topics of the series are the Lotte soft serve, Coolish and a pizza vending machine that was once functioning in Hiroshima. After all, in the UK, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions were events just glimpsed on the news or while scrolling through Wikipedia.Carves a unique path across Japan bringing him into contact with far too many cats, heartening renewal in Tohoku, and even pizza with Ken Watanabe. Inspired by Blade Runner and the Cyberpunk genre, here you'll find photographs from Chris' travels across Japan. Even if you are unfamiliar with Chris and his channel, you could still enjoy this book if you are interested in Japan. I hope to be able to visit again some day and when I do, I’ll definitely visit the north, for which Chris has been such a great ambassador through his videos, as well as this book.

The Shonai plain was sandwiched between the Sea of Japan in the west and the Ou mountains in the east, making it quite the dramatic landscape. Which is all fine and good, but having watched all of his videos, mostly felt like rehashes of things I already had seen. In early 2021, Broad began filming a third entry in the series, titled Journey Across Japan: The Lost Islands with The Anime Man and Natsuki, which takes place in the region of Kyushu.Muching on a packet of strawberry Pocky I managed to find at the Asian supermarket, while I read, I was transported back to Japan. In 2022, Broad appeared in an interview with the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan, and received an honorary membership for a duration of one year. In 2018, Broad started his Journey Across Japan series featuring various YouTubers, such as The Anime Man, and his friends as he travels across Japan by bike, documenting local customs and daily life along the way. I particularly enjoyed the early years in Japan when he was finding his footing at the school and learning the culture, language, and making connections.

If it's worth a read despite a lot of the content not being new, it's worth a read as well for someone who's never heard of this bloke. It was still fun but it felt a bit long and the vast fry humour got replaced with more serious topics like the 2011 earthquake.When I saw the announcement for this book I was excited to get my hands on it and hear more about Chris' journey from being an English teacher to a highly successful creator. However, even as a first time author, Chris is a remarkably talented author with a fantastic penmanship. Broad revisited the disaster area in a second documentary uploaded in 2020 about the region's recovery. To celebrate the release of the Abroad in Japan book, we are giving away five exclusive signed copies of the book!