The Abroad in Japan Studio is COMPLETE! *Patreon Sneak Peek* 🇯🇵 ALSO: Why the Podcast is Moving to Youtube (Patreon)

So after many months of dread, wondering how the Abroad in Japan studio could possibly be moved between Sendai and Tokyo, we now have our answer.

Not only did it survive the journey, but it's been hugely upgraded - at least TWICE the size.

Yesterday, the team finished wiring up the several dozen neon lights, signs and TV's scattered throughout, and the end result is a stunning, immersive set of streets that feel like a natural extension of the previous Sendai set.

From Natsuki's hair salon shopfront, to a 1970's inspired Japanese living room and a greatly expanded electronic store, with more moveable walls to ensure we can shoot in every corner.

Here's a few shots of the new set, including our model (and one of the editing team) Dave and we'll be following it up with a video here on Patreon later in the week!

But that's not the only news...meet me below the photos!

All in all, the set designers have blown my expectations out of the water once again. As you'll soon discover, the attention to detail is absolutely absurd yet again!

The 1970's house has a rather impressive roof on it, which is bonkers considering it'll rarely be in shot. They essentially built half a house inside a building (the office). Wild, haha.

But the second piece of very BIG NEWS is that after 5 years of recording the Abroad in Japan Podcast audio only, we've decided the time has come to release it on Youtube.

Not only that, but we're going to film every episode and release it on a brand new channel, originally titled "The Abroad in Japan Podcast."

I think at this point, the question is not so much why but what took you so long?!
As I've stated in the past, filming complicates things a bit more and the appeal for me, has been that the Podcast doesn't get in the way of the videos.

But I think it's an issue I've overplayed, given that filming the Podcast isn't really much of a stretch, and we're well placed to pull it off, given our experience recording on opposite sides of the world for 5 years and the new set to use as a backdrop.

Hell, even Pete has been working on his backdrop and it's looking good.
But fundamentally, it's been a shame that so many folks simply don't discover the podcast, due to its absence on Youtube. We hope this'll help grow our audience, without us needing to change the format that's been pretty popular this last half decade.

It's also a very good opportunity to put the set to good use! I'm still working out where to film between the ramen shop and the house - open to your ideas!

And of course, for those of you happy to continue with audio-only, we'll still be on the same platforms as before.

On a final note, I realise July was a fairly quiet month for videos guys, especially given how busy May and June were, but rest assured, August will be an amazing month for videos.

We've got a Q&A video shot in a convenience store out later this week, followed by our epic Mount Fuji climb with Natsuki, a long awaited documentary about a ryokan and even a brand new Wacky Weekend being shot tomorrow.

It's going to be a great summer!
And of course, the Abroad in Japan book is FINALLY out this week. Somehow, everyone in Germany seems to have already got their hands on it, haha.

But I really hope you enjoy the book! Apologies for promoting it everywhere recently, but naturally I want it to do well. I'm the master of failing to promote things from this Patreon and the Podcast, to the merchandise. It's not an error I plan to make with the book!

See you in the week!
Chris