there's no doubt that japan is one of the most well-known countries in the world and for good reason aside from the fact that millions around the world support anime japan's claim to fame is its culture food and of course all of the natural tourist destinations the country could offer as a tourist japan or nihon can offer you a lot of unique experiences that you can only experience in the land of the rising sun so if you're interested in this country let me show you some of the most interesting and unique things it has to offer from public baths to the introvert foodies paradise ichiran ramen here are 15 things that can't be seen anywhere but in japan [Music] number 15 public baths are you comfortable bathing with strangers i know it's a weird question to ask but if you've seen any anime or japanese drama then you might already know that in japan public bath houses are a thing and this might give you a little bit of a culture shock public baths are called sento in japan and it has a very long history they originated in the 6th century but they skyrocketed in popularity during the edo period from 1603 to 1868. typically people not only go to bath houses just to clean themselves but also to relax i think we all know how a good soak can wash away the fatigue of the day especially after a particularly stressful day at work there are some things you should remember if you want to visit one of these establishments most of the bath houses allow people with tattoos but some don't also the baths are separated based on gender but of course since it's a public bathhouse there will also be people around you you might feel awkward and self-conscious at first but trust me bathing in a center where a hot spring bath is the perfect way to de-stress before we go on like this video smash the subscribe button and click the notification bell right now number 14 cat cafes here is the perfect cafe for you especially if you're a cat lover even if you're more of a dog person you'll definitely still have a fun time in japan's many cat cafes what's so special about them well aside from the fact that their interior is adorable they're also filled with cute cats that patrons can play with these cats roam freely around the establishment and you can pet them or watch them play or sleep while you sip some coffee and eat some cake the very first cat cafe in japan opened its doors in osaka in 2004. today there are over 150 cat cafes in japan and tokyo which is japan's capital and its most populated city has over 39 of them there's actually a reason why there are so many cat cafes in tokyo alone aside from the expensive rent most apartments in tokyo have strict rules which sadly include prohibiting pets most people that want to see some cats visit cat cafes instead cat cafes in japan aren't your typical starbucks and you might find that the coffee prices are a little bit more expensive you're practically paying more for the experience than the coffee so it's understandable and unlike your usual cafes cat cafes usually advertise a more comfortable and cozy vibe so you're expected to take off your shoes upon entering the establishment and of course be prepared to have some cat fur on your clothes number 13. koi fish in the draining canal tell me where else in the world can you see koi fish living in the draining canal most likely nowhere else but in this one city in japan i mean in most cities in the world the last thing you'd expect where fish would live is the drainage canal come on let's be honest you know how filthy they can get and yet in the city of shimabara on japan's kyushu island the gutters are so clean that you can see colorful koi fish swimming by and no it's not just one or two of them hundreds of them treat the canals as their home so are these amazing fish placed in the canal by the residents yes but there's also another reason the residents didn't arbitrarily decide to place fish in the water in 1792 an earthquake and tsunami hit the city it claimed over ten thousand people but it left behind an abundance of freshwater springs as a result clean water flows freely through the city's canals it's quite astounding because koi fish are creatures that need an extremely high quality of water for survival seeing these colorful carp thrive in this strange environment proves that the water here is very clean because of this unique attraction shimabara is now known as the city of swimming carp number 12 blue traffic lights there are traffic lights in almost every country in the world and just like many things traffic lights have a universal meaning red means stop orange or yellow means caution and finally green means go but did you know that in japan traffic light signals are blue to understand why this is the case we need to know a little about the japanese language today the word eo means blue while the word midori means green however in old japanese there are no separate terms for blue and green and the word eo was used for both colors kind of confusing i know originally japan used the green color in their traffic lights but they still used the term eo for it which again means blue rather than midori and so japanese linguists stepped in and objected to their government's decision to continue using the wrong term for the wrong color finally in 1973 the government compromised and instead of changing the word used to address the color they just made the traffic lights blue instead well technically they just mandated that the bluest shade of green be used that's why as you travel in japan you might encounter the mythical bluish traffic lights it might take a little bit of time before you can get used to it but honestly it's not really so different from the usual green yellow red combo number 11 square watermelons if you play minecraft or you just like to try out unique food in general then you might want to check out the square watermelons of japan you might wander around the supermarket and as you pass by the produce section you'll see these cube watermelons in a much fancier display than others they might look weird but they're very common in japan if you want to get your hands on one of these you might have second thoughts after hearing the price they're on the pricier side and square watermelons are definitely not one of the things people will buy on a whim ready for the price reveal their prices start from a hundred dollars and they can go up from there what makes these watermelons special well aside from their size nothing else they taste like normal watermelon but i guess you'd have less difficulty cutting cubed ones because of their shape number 10 capsule hotels would you be interested in staying in one of these if you're claustrophobic probably not capsule hotels are definitely unique lodging spaces just as the name suggests they're compact small but still pretty cozy they're the number one option for people that are on a budget but many tourists also book capsule hotels just for the experience inside one capsule you get a mattress a blanket a pillow and some space to store your belongings in and you'll also have a controllable nightlight you can also typically buy a shower card if you want to take a bath compared to other hotels a capsule hotel is the best choice for those looking for affordable single night accommodation one night typically costs around 3 000 to 4 000 yen which roughly amounts to about 30 bucks but if you want a premium experience some high-end capsule hotels also offer better accommodations for an additional price number nine wine coffee and green tea bath how would you like to bathe in green tea wine or coffee why do you need to relax while soaking in warm water when you can easily have a relaxing tea bath this is the exotic spa called the unison spa resort in japan the liquids here may be a bit unorthodox but hey you only live once right it's time to live like royalty and bathe in wine it's not just about being lavish there are actually some claims that bathing in wine will rejuvenate the entire body and one of the most notable figures to do this is the queen of egypt cleopatra in unison you can drink wine while bathing in wine and if you want to remove some blemishes sake is the way to go if you want to boost your immune system then a green tea bath will do the trick going inside the unison spa resort can be a pretty magical experience are you one of the people that can't start their day without coffee well in unison you can start your day with a blast of your caffeine by literally immersing yourself in it one of the spas offers its visitors to bathe with coffee brewed with water from the natural hot springs of hakone you don't have to worry because fresh batches are added to the spring daily number 8 bullet trains shinkansen or bullet trains are the fastest and the most convenient method of traveling it might be a bit confusing though so if you're bad with directions it'd be best to research your route ahead of time thankfully despite the very extensive railway network there are signs and maps everywhere to guide you the most popular and oldest line is the tokaido shinkansen which runs through tokyo nagoya kyoto and osaka the bullet train of japan is considered to be a technological marvel shinkansen are operated by japan railways these trains run up to 320 kilometers per hour and they're known for punctuality you know the stereotype about japanese people especially those who are working they value their time and one minute is already a big deal to date the shinkansen is an efficient fast comfortable and safe method of traveling in fact there have been no fatal accidents in its history recently japan started testing the next generation of bullet trains known as the alpha x that can reach speeds of a whopping 400 kilometers per hour although for safety reasons the speed limit they would mandate upon service is only around 360 kilometers per hour aside from its efficiency riding the bullet train also lets you get a glimpse of japan's landscape number 7. fancy toilet one of our main concerns when visiting a different place is the restroom are they clean are they accessible it's common knowledge that japan has a reputation for having clean establishments and clean public restrooms sounds like a dream right well that's not all some japanese toilets are actually pretty fancy aside from the fact that they're well maintained they offer some unique features that your ordinary toilet doesn't have these fancy futuristic toilets have a built-in bidet that you can control it has a front and back stream depending on what business you have if you know what i mean this means you can clean yourself without needing to stand up you don't have to worry about freezing toilet seats either because these fancy toilets have heated seats and during the hotter months some toilets also have an air-conditioned toilet rim and that's not all they also have air deodorizers built in and the fancier ones have a speaker if you want to jam while using the toilet and there are even glow-in-the-dark options it can be quite confusing to see the control panel though for many of us the drawings don't make any sense but the longer you stay in japan the more you'll like using these innovative toilets number six kawaii culture if you're an anime fan chances are you already know what the term kawaii means in japan the kawaii culture is literally the culture of cuteness the term can refer to almost anything to a person an item or anything that's cute and sweet in japan kawaii culture can be seen in almost everything including clothing i guess this explains the number of cute mascots they have have you seen how many pikachus they have on the streets number five vending machines galore if we're talking about vending machines japan is the number one contender for having the weirdest and also the most awesome ones in most countries vending machines only offer you a limited brand of drinks but in japan you can get pretty much almost anything from vending machines you can get ramen ice cream toys crepes cakes and even popcorn how cool is that the older vending machines usually accept cash payments in 10 50 100 and 500 yen coins but for the newer vending machines having no coins is not a problem because they can scan your card these machines can drop you a hot meal in less than a minute if you look around you can also spot ones that drop some onigiri spaghetti french fries and even a face mask you're probably wondering is the food clean though the answer yes you know how japanese people are when it comes to cleanliness the food almost always has an expiration date printed on its packaging so you know that it's still good to eat number four rent a girlfriend among the wonders of japan is the rent-a-girlfriend service yes you heard that right japan has a service where people can rent a girlfriend for a price there are a lot of companies that offer this service and most of them have websites on the internet where you can browse which girl you want to avail the services of it might sound absurd but it's actually a pretty serious industry and there are a lot of requirements for someone to be an employee for a rent-a-girlfriend company of course women with boyfriends are not allowed to apply unless they have their boyfriend's permission they also prefer women who are more aesthetically pleasing if you know what i mean and they also prefer women who are great at making conversation i know that it sounds bizarre but rental services just like this one are actually becoming increasingly popular in japan more and more tourists are also looking forward to trying it as well in fact this isn't the only rental service you can have in japan you can also rent a boyfriend a friend or even a family member prices are different but usually companies will price six thousand yen per hour for a minimum of two hours that's almost a hundred dollars first-timers can usually pick who they want to take out for free but after that they would need to pay an additional cost of about 2 000 yen or about 15 bucks to choose the one they want to take out number three lack of trash cans japan is known for its safety and cleanliness in fact tokyo has been listed as one of the safest cities to live in in 2021 the list of safest cities is measured by using various indicators including personal safety healthy security infrastructure security and more overall tokyo is one of the most ideal cities to live in if you have enough to get by with a high rent that is but if you walk around this bustling city you'll probably notice something the whole area might be clean but you'll barely see enough trash cans in most places you'll pass by several trash bins while walking around the streets or in the park but japan is a little different if you go here you might run out of patience if you keep trying to search for a trash bin you might think it's odd considering how much japan prides its clean streets but there's actually a good reason why they reduced public trash bins ultimately they reduced trash bins because of tragic incidents this includes the tokyo subway sarin gas attack that happened in 1995. on march 20th 1995 the members of a cult released incredibly lethal sarin gas inside the trains they did it during the early morning right when it was rush hour because of the attack 6 300 people were injured or lost their lives the gas canisters that were used were wrapped in plastic bags and covered by newspapers three major subways were targeted at the time which caused massive damage because of the incident people have been warned not to leave anything suspicious in public spaces that's why it's best to just keep your trash in your bag until you come to a public trash can number two kfc for christmas some people celebrate christmas while some don't and celebrations vary across the world in the united states for example eating a stuffed turkey with potatoes and maybe some apple pie or eggnog for dessert is the way to go many would say that homemade food is the best and it should be preferred over takeout during the holidays but japan is a bit different people in japan follow a long tradition of getting kfc for christmas i know it's fast food but hey you gotta admit that their fried chicken is pretty great but why exactly do japanese people prefer kfc in fact they prefer it so much that an estimated 3.6 million japanese families buy fried chicken from the american fast food chain the story goes that the manager of the very first kfc in the country takeshi okawara thought that they should sell a party barrel on christmas day he got the idea after overhearing some foreigners talk about how they missed having turkey for christmas and so he thought that maybe having a christmas chicken can be a decent substitute for turkey and so the marketing began and it worked it clicked with the public and to this day it's considered a national tradition unlike your usual kfc takeout though a christmas barrel is a bit more special aside from the usual chicken and sides the meals include cake and wine pretty fancy right this phenomena of buying a specific brand of takeout is unique to japan and i would bet that you've never heard of this anywhere else in the world i do like turkey for christmas but who knows i might give kfc a try for the holidays and before we go to our last entry make sure to comment your favorite christmas food below number one ichiran ramen whenever people mention japan one of the number one things people think about is sushi and of course ramen despite being popular mostly in japan people all around the world seem to like this food and for good reason japanese ramen just always hits the spot we all know the main foundation of good ramen is a great broth most japanese restaurants prioritize making delicious and delectable soup they can add many ingredients depending on the taste they're aiming for like pork bones shellfish beef bones fish or even vegetables regardless of the variation though they always make sure that the bowl is exploding with flavor you're probably thinking but i can still eat ramen anywhere else so why is ichiran ramen so special well here's the thing if you're an introvert whose idea for a perfect dinner on the way back home after work is to dine alone without being judged then the ichiran ramen restaurant will definitely be your paradise you can slurp your food here in peace i mean in japan slurping isn't considered rude you can eat and slurp the soup all you want it's not disrespectful on the contrary it just means you're enjoying the food in each iran you can eat alone and you're seated at a partitioned table anxious about ordering you don't need to be unlike most restaurants where the staff will stand beside you while you awkwardly browse the menu here in each iran you're given a pen and paper where you can customize the ramen according to your taste once you're done a staff member will fetch your order and serve your food while you're eating they'll close the cover for maximum privacy the best thing you have free hot water right by your table and most of the time they give you some green tea so you can make your own as a complimentary drink with your ramen delicious food and privacy count me in so are we having a little bit of culture shock or not at all japan's pretty amazing right if you're one of the lucky tourists that has already visited japan we'd love to hear about your awesome experiences in the comments below also check out our other cool stuff showing up on the screen right now and i'll see you in the next video take care everybody