Abroad in Japan

Name: Abroad in Japan
Brand: Penguin Random House UK
Availability: InStock
Author: Chris Broad
ISBN: 9781529911206

Author: Chris Broad

Narrator: Chris Broad

Unabridged: 8 hr 8 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Transworld Digital

Published: 10/05/2023

Categories: Nonfiction, Biography & Autobiography, Memoirs, Travel, East Asia, Essays & Travelogues, Social Science, Popular Culture Studies, Humor

Synopsis

Brought to you by Penguin.

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.

©2023 Chris Broad (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Reviews

Goodreads review by Sarah on August 06, 2023

My husband introduced me to the Abroad in Japan YouTube channel a few years ago and we've enjoyed watching all the videos together ever since. 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 su......more

Goodreads review by Lee on January 17, 2024

There are some interesting anecdotes in this one, for example being locked in a love hotel. Its fairly light reading so enjoyable overall but I felt it lacked the insight or fish-out-of-water commentary I was hoping for from someone who had lived in Japan for 10 years. I think most of what is refere......more

Goodreads review by Jillian on August 13, 2025

I’ve been watching Chris Broad’s YouTube channel for almost a decade, so I knew this book would deliver lots of laughs, and it definitely did not disappoint. This book recounts Broad’s decade as an Englishman living in Japan, first as an English teacher and eventually as a full-time YouTuber. I enjo......more

Goodreads review by Daniel on August 07, 2023

(Disclaimer: I do not consider myself an Abroad in Japan fan. I am aware of his content and have watched a few of his videos, but this review is written from a neutral perspective) My first thought when seeing this book was being written is "what will it actually be about?" The book primarily focuses......more

Goodreads review by Sophie on August 21, 2023

A hilarious non-fic you can read in one sitting. I’ve been following Chris’ journey across Japan for a few years now. Me and my husband, who’s been watching Chris since the very first video, have done multiple binge-watching sessions and we always wait for a new video to come out. So when the book go......more

Quotes

A chortleworthy look at the land of karaoke, cat fanatics and chocolate-coated fries. The Times

From wide-eyed exchange teacher to seasoned youtuber, Chris Broad explores Japan in all its quirky glory, surviving earthquakes, North Korean missile alerts, cat cafe allergies and Love Hotel evictions. Endlessly fascinating!

Fascinating, fact-packed and very funny. Broad's wry humour, in-depth knowledge and adept storytelling make him an engaging guide to the bewildering Japanese experience. Accurately captures the excitement and dream-like disorientation of a foreigner discovering Japan. An excellent and enjoyable read for the Japan-curious. I loved it and learned a lot.

Chris Broad's wry, self-deprecating memoir 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. This is a thoroughly contemporary book, a memoir of life in Japan that couldn't have been written at any other point in history.

This book seeks to unravel a culture that can often seem distant to visitors, charting his life over ten years and countless quirky anecdotes. Wanderlust