Hear all about my time in the bars of Osaka and Fukuoka at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠EasyStoriesInEnglish.com/Support⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Your support is appreciated! Christmas in Japan isn't like Christmas in the UK. For one thing, it includes humiliation. It also includes very strange food. And don't forget the hot springs! Vocabulary: Elephant in the room, Onsen, Thatched house, Bullet train, Purikura, Chazuke Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠EasyStoriesInEnglish.com/Japan for the full transcript. 00:00 Preview 00:31 Intro 01:34 The elephant in the room 03:23 New Year's resolutions 07:03 A spicy train journey 12:25 The hotel tricked me! 14:19 A smooth flight 15:57 The little things 18:32 Public behaviour 20:38 The wonderful resort 23:26 My first onsen experience 27:41 Let's go to the murder village! 34:13 The panda has left the building 36:14 Meeting the locals 39:15 Pew pew trains 40:51 Bright lights, big city 42:25 Ariel, you tease! 43:58 Welcome to the New World 46:54 The magical disappearing hangover 49:09 Onwards to Fukuoka! 50:51 Embarrassing ourselves at the Pretty Club 52:54 Crooning like robots 53:59 Exploring Fukuoka 57:23 But what about Christmas? 59:34 Culture shock-ish 01:02:35 Outro Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices