How the Abroad in Japan Studio was Dismantled in 2 Days ⛩️ Patreon Exclusive Video (Patreon)

The end of an era!

The Abroad in Japan Studio is gone.
Long live the Abroad in Japan Studio!

Alright, maybe I'm being a little bit dramatic but it's tough watching your second favourite thing in the world be dismantled, over the course of two intense days, and stuffed into the back of a truck to be sent off to Tokyo.

- You can witness it happen in the above Patreon exclusive video!

Truth be told though, it's an exciting time.

The studio will be reopening in Tokyo next month at almost TWICE the size, along with a few exciting new changes.

For example, as you guys are probably aware, we weren't really able to use one half of the set given it was quite narrow by the sweet shop and electronics store. Going forward in the new design, the electronic store will be placed at the back of the street, beyond the ramen shop meaning it will feature in the background of all future Abroad in Japan videos!

As much as I love the Blade Runner projection, it always felt like a bit of an illusion breaker when you saw the edge of the screen projection, or on one recent video, the damn loading screen which I never realised it was stuck on throughout the whole shoot!

Meanwhile, the sweet store and the door that once concealed Ken Watanabe (albeit in cardboard form sadly) will soon lead into a retro 1980s Japanese living room!

I make no secret that I love all things retro when it comes to Japan. In fact, my favourite museum in Japan is the showa retro museum in Takayama where we filmed the Dr. Jelly commercial.

The new set will be inspired by some of the rooms in that musuem!
I can't wait to see it in the next few weeks and spend hours exploring the re-designed set, to see what secrets the production team hideaway within it once again.

But of course, it's also sad to leave Sendai behind after over half a decade living in Tohoku's largest city, a place I've been very happy to call home during that time.

Some people are worried that maybe I won't be spending as much time in Tohoku or the countryside, but that couldn't be further from the truth.

Having lived in Tokyo for two or almost three months now, I almost feel like I need to get out of the city once a month, and return to the countryside to keep my sanity intact, as somebody who was never really designed to live in a city of this size and scale!

Already over the last two months, I've visited Yamagata twice, including to catch up with Natsuki to check he's actually training in preparation for climbing Mount Fuji! More on that next week.

But for now, guys, check out the video above and witness the team dismantle the studio.

Hell, why not start by watching the previous Patreon video of the team building it almost two years ago first!

Building the Abroad in Japan Studio | Patreon Exclusive
🍿 Watch: https://youtu.be/tao69eBKO5I

You'll see that despite the earthquake and everything that we throw at the studio, it's in pretty damn good condition over the last two years, albeit a few stickers that might have fallen off to this day. All the lights are still operational.

It's honestly a testament to the build quality and the production team's efforts, that the studio looks as good today as it did when it was built back in 2021.

I have to say though a huge THANK YOU to all of you here on Patreon for making this crazy studio/1980's set possible!

This genuinely would not have been possible without the Abroad in Japan Patreon community, as it's quite the investment to pull this off.

I'm so damn excited to utilise it more in Tokyo and finding more ways to put it to good use in future episodes as well as more live events!

I'll be returning here on Patreon tomorrow with a long awaited reveal of my 14 DAYS IN JAPAN ITINERARY in advance of the video that we're currently working on.

While the video itself is still a few weeks off, I wanted to share the itinerary with you guys first, in case any of you are already planning your upcoming vacation or travels within Japan.

For now though guys, I'm off to scheme ideas of how to put the new and improved studio to good use.

And if YOU have any awesome ideas on what we can do in a 1980's Japanese living room, go ahead and let me know in the comments below!

Look forward to reading through your suggestions!
(And then unashamedly stealing them for future videos).

Chris