Chris Broad

*FINAL COVER TO BE REVEALED* When Englishman Chris Broad landed in a rural village in northern Japan he wondered if he'd made a huge mistake. With no knowledge of the language and zero teaching experience, was he was about to be the most quickly fired English teacher in Japan's history? Abroad in Japan charts a decade of living in a foreign land and the chaos and culture clash that comes with it. Packed with hilarious and fascinating stories, this book seeks out to unravel one the world's most mysterious and impenetrable cultures. Spanning 10 years and 47 prefectures, Chris takes us from the chilling summit of Mount Fuji to the chaotic neon-lit streets of Tokyo. With blockbuster moments such as a terrifying North Korean missile incident, a Japanese national TV experience gone horribly wrong and a week spent with Japan's biggest movie star, Ken Watanabe, Abroad in Japan is an extraordinary and informative journey through the Land of the Rising Sun.

Abroad in Japan

Jason Lo

Closer to a 3.5. A Japan travelog 3rd, a behind the scenes of his YT channel 2nd, and ultimately a memoir 1st. There’s interesting things to learn about the region of Japan Chris resides in within this novel, but ultimately most of the book is about his personal feelings throughout his decade in Japan, so your enjoyment of the book heavily depends on how much you enjoy him, whether or not you’re already familiar with the book. As he writes in the epilogue, the moments he enjoys returning to the most are the mundane ones. 

There are a couple of weird sequencing choices (he fully introduces Ken Watanabe twice?). The level of detail in the first half is also massively higher in the first half compared to the second, which feels like we’re flying to a new era every chapter by comparison. I like the guy though, and I’m not terribly familiar with his earliest work, so the content that was focused on was the stuff I was looking for. 

Note: I listened to the audiobook narrated by the author himself for the entire duration,

'Chris Broad explores Japan in all its quirky glory..Endlessly fascinating!' Will Ferguson, author of Hokkaido Highway Blues '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.' Iain Maloney, author of The Only Gaijin in the Village 'Fascinating, fact-packed and very funny..An excellent and enjoyable read for the Japan-curious. I loved it and learned a lot.' Sam Baldwin, author of For Fukui's Sake: Two years in rural Japan When Englishman Chris Broad landed in a rural village in northern Japan he wondered if he'd made a huge mistake. With no knowledge of the language and zero teaching experience, was he about to be the most quickly fired English teacher in Japan's history? Abroad in Japan charts a decade of living in a foreign land and the chaos and culture clash that came with it. Packed with hilarious and fascinating stories, this book seeks out to unravel one the world's most complex cultures. Spanning ten years and all forty-seven prefectures, Chris takes us from the lush rice fields of the countryside to the frenetic neon-lit streets of Tokyo. With blockbuster moments such as a terrifying North Korean missile incident, a mortifying experience at a love hotel and a week spent with Japan's biggest movie star, Abroad in Japan is an extraordinary and informative journey through the Land of the Rising Sun.

Abroad in Japan

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