Thanks to my trusty new friend the “Synology Diskstation” I have gained the ability to easily look back at all of my past footage. This includes my abroad stay in Japan back in 2018 where I met Tatsui. Looking back now, I can clearly say that this was the most incredible time of my life and I want to show you exactly why that is!

On a quest to regain his lost hair, Niko set out to Sardinia, together with Tatsui, to overthrow the pirates responsible for his hair loss. They also had a really great vacation together. So watch this video to see how Niko ended up dealing with those barbaric pirates.

The Fastest Video Editor Ever in the World by the name of Niko has not managed to start editing Japan Odyssey 5 yet. This is because he is still editing Japan Odyssey 4. Rest assured though, Japan Odyssey 5 was very epic so stay tuned. Maybe check in like 3 years later? Make it 4 just to make sure.

So when traveling together, the best part about that is to just have some fun with each other. So that is exactly what we did. Messing around and having a great time checking out the various attractions of Osaka.

So while we are in Europe I don’t really feel the need to travel around much. Tatsui however managed to get bored and wanted to see someplace else. So she organized a trip and we went on to another adventure near the place I grew up in.

When traveling in Europe, the only thing that is in my opinion a good thing to do is to eat and drink. Tatsui however has a different point of view. In the end, I think we had a lot of fun checking out Linz.

So after our stay in the city of Toyama, we noticed it has a lot of incredible food. And as it turns out, there is a somewhat scientific explanation for that. In this video, you will learn about this so you too have the tools on hand to find the best food in Japan.

Armed with a baby, Tatsui and I embraced on what would be my fourth trip to Japan. The October of 2023 was a month of fun and adventure that is a solid contender for the best time of my life ever.

So in our final day in Japan, we decided to head on over to Yokohama. There was a place I wanted to visit for a while which is the renowned Ramen Museum of Yokohama. But there was so much more this day brought to us that ended up in an unforgettable experience.

Tatsui and I made our way to Himi, a small fishing Town in Toyama Prefecture. A surprising amount of the Sushi consumed in Japan is fished here and we thought we should try it out right at the source!

Kanazawa, the city of gold. We actually went to this place before on a cruise ship. But that also meant that we could not see everything as we had to be back on that ship by 2:00pm. As such, it is time for a re-run to make sure that we see the things we missed out on last time.

After our roadtrip through Yamanashi prefecture, Tatsui and I decided to spend a night in the famous hot spring town of Hakone. To our surprise, the hotel we booked was actually visited by the emperor Akihito as well. Anyways, with many impromptu decisions being made by us, we saw an amazing number of things that we did not expect to see at all.

When Tatsui said that her friends invited us to visit them in Yamanashi, I did not expect anything in particular. But as it turns out, this prefecture, void of functional public transport, is an incredible place with a lot of secrets and stunning sights if you visit by car.

Staying in the Japanese countryside can be a bit of an underwhelming task. It may be so underwhelming, that one may even perish from boredom. To give you a fighting chance, I have thus decided to make this video showcasing what our stay in the Japanese countryside is like. If you do indeed follow these tips, you may even thrive and have a really good time in laid-back places like Toyama.

Going to Japan the first time after 4 years, it was an incredible feeling being back. Just looking at concrete made me happy and excited. Traveling Tokyo together with Tatsui ended up being awesome, despite the difficulties that arose traveling there with our little daughter. Welcome to the start of Japan Odyssey 4!

For the first time ever, Tatsui and I flew together on a plane! After nearly 4 years of not being in Japan for me, we summarize our trip to tell you the awesome experiences that we had. We also discuss what has changed in Japan during and after the pandemic as well as rant about the fact that we don’t use Japanese toilets in Europe.

September of 2021 was like a dream come true. Tatsui and I were finally able to reunite again. From that point on I had a mission. Tatsui should experience the way of life of Europe as much as she could. And what better way to do so than to visit a variety of European places? There are so many wonderful cities, Venice, Vienna, Paris and so many more! It was our goal to see everything we could!

Getting a baby and raising it in its first few weeks is really difficult. So why not take a vacation to just relax a bit. Get to know our daughter Hana as well as what an Italian Hot Spring Resort is really like. We obviously ate lots of delicious food too.

It has been one whole year since Tatsui and I moved in together. An absolutely epic year that really taught us so much about each other! We wanted to share with you what we learned about being resolving any potential issues and concerns we had faced.

So Tatsui and I needed to go to Vienna to get some documents from the Japanese embassy. Why? Well, because we wanted to get married! Yeah! As such, we had to obtain a marriage eligibility certificate.  And once we had it, we decided to spend a few extra days in this city to explore everything that is great about it. And there were a ton of amazing places to visit. All of these, plus Tatsui’s incredible Japanese patriotism for some reason, can be seen in this awesome adventure.

Venice! What a wonderful place! Judging by the insane number of tourists, this city is probably the most famous one on the planet. And luckily for us, there is a direct train from Innsbruck bringing us there. European transport is a godsend! Tatsui of course was absolutely stunned by that place. But I’ll leave that for you to see in our video of that journey.

Long-distance relationships are from easy. Some may even say that these are impossible. However, Tatsui and I are proof of the opposite. After 3 years apart, we finally reunited! As such, we decided it was a great idea to share the lessons we learnt doing so. In total, we figured out 7 key points that allowed us to make this work, which you are able to see in this video. Enjoy!

Oh my. The moment I spotted Tatsui’s face again I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was one and a half years since I was able to see her. It took me three minutes of hugging her before I could even say a word. It was an incredibly emotional experience reuniting. The first couple of days that we were back together, I still couldn’t fathom that she was real.

We were so lucky. In March of 2020, just before the Coronavirus made travel to and from Japan impossible, I managed to escape one final time from Europe to Japan. These 3 weeks Tatsui and I spent together were incredible. We became ever-closer and formed a bond that would hopefully survive our inevitable intercontinental separation….

The last day of our journey together has the two of us spend the day in Tokyo. Exploring Tokyo during the height of the lock-down was a bit fascinating, but also a bit unsettling. We see places like Shibuya, Harajuku & Akihabara, which are usually bustling and lively, be completely silent. Is this truly the end of all?

Ok no, despite what the thumbnail looks like right now, it is not I who is the world’s saviour. It is instead the concept of working from home. I’m not even kidding! The increased amount of home office forced upon us by the pandemic could in the long run help us to actually save our beloved planet. And a lot of the reasons for this can already be seen in our favourite country in the world: Japan. I’m not even kidding about that. So take a look at this video essay, where we analyze the effects working from home can bring to the design of our cities. Let’s go!

Our trip to Nara probably ended up as one of our most favorite trips in Japan overall. The reason for that? It’s actually quite hard to say. Was it the cherry blossoms? The vast amount of cultural sights, temples and shrines apart of this historic capital of Japan? Or was it maybe a detour to an amazing sight in the countryside of Nara prefecture? Or, maybe this is a stretch, the free-roaming deer which you are able to charmingly interact with? The decision will be yours. All I can say is, that you will enjoy this adventure.

Since being a small kid, I always wanted to experience what the cherry blossoms are like in Japan. Together with Tatsui, we discover the various Cherry Blossom hotspots of Nagoya. But what one may chase one may not end up finding. However, something that I realized very quickly traveling Japan: You will always find something special if you just go out to seek adventure. It may not be the adventure you wanted, but it will be an adventure you can afterwards be proud of having have had it…

Fast Food in Japan is by no means junk food. Yup, eating delicious sushi can be fast, delicious and healthy in Japan! After helping her film a vending machine video, Tomoko invites us to Sushiro, a place where you can eat delicious sushi…. fast!

In Japan, there exist the most northern living species of monkeys of the planet: The Snow Monkey aka the Japanese macaques. I always wanted to see that famous place where the monkeys bathe in the Hot Spring. My girlfriend however wanted to visit the fascinating Onsen Ryokan Kanaguya in Yudanaka. Together, we make an epic journey to Nagano Prefecture.

So Japan was definitely handling the Coronavirus situation much better than many other countries of the world. In this video I wanted to discuss what exactly they did to achieve just that. Also, my girlfriend happens to have her university graduation, which is pretty cool.

I was planning to spend a few weeks together with Tatsui. Barely did I manage to enter Japan before the inevitable closure of the country to foreigners of all kinds….

This is a story of a long-distance relationship. Of two people getting together to explore the place of the other and spend wonderful time together. Tatsui and I did so many things, which became incredible memories.  And this video is a testament to those memories.

In December 2019, might girlfriend came by to Europe! Yay! After I started my job just after my last trip to Japan, it became more difficult for me to travel. Anyways, my goal it was to show Tatsui everything beautiful there is to Europe and its culture. It was also a time of reflection on everything we did before.

I suddenly woke up in a hotel in Berlin, enjoying the dazzling morning sun, wondering if all the videos I made before were actually good. What is a good video even? Who decides what a good video is and why am I all of a sudden feeling so much doubt about my own work? These questions I tried to answer myself in this video.

In the August of 2019, I was finally able to reunite with my girlfriend Tatsui. Together, we went on many many journeys around Japan. We climbed Mount Fuji, visited her home town of Toyama, ate a ton of Okonomiyaki in Osaka and Hiroshima and embarked on a cruise around the whole of Japan. I also somehow managed to lose my passport. Oh my…..

All good things must come to an end, including our cruise around the whole of Japan. Our final stop brings us to Kagoshima, the place with the most active volcano of the whole of Japan. On top of that, it was clear to us that our viewers needed to learn some real pro-tips about sightseeing. So we do just that! Also an ice-cream festival which was dope. Enjoy the cruise ship finale!

What would a cruise adventure be if it only stayed in one country? Boring! That’s why our fourth stop brings us a detour to Busan in Korea. We use this as an opportunity to discover all the subtle as well as the not so subtle differences to Japan. Let’s go!

Kanazawa, a place not so well-known by foreigners, who only ever typically travel to Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka. Well, as it turns out that this place actually has some of the best Sushi of the entire country! Our third cruise stop: Sushi Paradise.

The Japanese countryside is dying. There is no denying… Our second stop of our cruise around Japan brings us to Sakata, a place deep in the countryside of Yamagata Prefecture. What was once a bustling and lively town, clearly shows the signs of struggling economic prospects. However, with the incredibly warm welcome of the people of Sakata, it was clear to us that they love their home town. Join us on our somewhat melancholic journey throughout this beautiful place in the Japanese Inaka.

Japan is a magical place. So what better way to tour it than on a cruise ship? This is the start of a 5-part video series, with the first video being our visit to Yokohama, the place where we embark the MSC Splendida. Hm, why does that ship name sound so familiar?

So maybe you have seen a ton of people going to Tokyo as their prime tourist destination in Japan. However, no one ever seems to question, if Tokyo is actually worth going to. So that is what I wanted to figure out today and maybe also try to gaslight Tatsui into believing that Tokyo is indeed a very boring city. But was I successful? You’ll see!

So Osaka is an absolutely amazing city. There is a reason for that and this reason you will discover when watching this video. But quite honestly, Tatsui and I always have such an amazing time going to Osaka and I think you will too.

If you ever wanted to prove your mother wrong, here is what you can do. Step 1: Go to Japan. Step 2: Follow Strangers around that promise you candy. Step 3: Have an absolutely epic experience because that is what happens when you talk to the locals in Japan.

I have no idea how we went to an island full of bunnies and have the trip still end up in disaster. Well, sometimes things don’t end up the way you have planned them, especially when traveling in Japan! And in these times, it is important to keep your head cool and appreciate the positives.

So as broke college students, it is of utmost importance to make your travels as efficient as possible. Since I am German, my efficiency is on point and Tatsui and I have created a round trip to Hiroshima and Osaka to see various things. In this episode, the various things include mostly the famous Okonomiyaki pancakes native to the aforementioned cities. Of course we also made various detours, because traveling Japan is best when it is full of surprises. It’s a great video to watch so go ahead and check it out!

Tatsui and I took a trip to what I thought was one of the most beautiful places of Japan: The Kurobe Gorge. Seriously, the lake, the mountains, the river and the train were all so stunning! This place also had a few secrets within it. Such as the never-melting ice as well as the Kurobe dam and its insane energy generation.

I was really looking forward to seeing Toyama, the place my girlfriend grew up in. So what is there to do in the countryside of Japan? Well, for starters, eat lots of food. Anything else? Let’s find out!

Mt Fuji, a sacred symbol of Japan. Tatsui and I wanted to climb it after a recommendation of one of my former university colleagues. However, we soon discover that this mountain should definitely not be taking lightly….

At place number one of things not to do in Japan immediately after you land: Lose your passport! This is exactly what I did, woopsie… Anyways, I use this video as an opportunity to show you what I did afterwards and how I then managed to receive, in less than 48 hours, the Green Passport of Shame.

Just half a year after I returned from my exchange in Japan, I went back to Japan for a few reasons. But there was one reason in particular that I went back and that was Family Mart Fried Chicken? Hold on a second, wasn’t it vending machines? Or was it something else entirely? You’ll find out for sure watching this one!

How can we optimally spend our free time in the Austrian Alps? Why should you take a cruise through the Middle-East? All these questions will be answered in this Intermission.

Summer tourism is booming in Austria! Well, as long as there is no Corona virus going around making everyone’s life miserable. Indeed, Austria is investing quite a lot in making summer tourism much more popular in the mountains. This includes building up things such as lakes to swim in, trails to hike and climbing gardens to well climb in. Then there is also Mountain Karts, which are hella dope! My childhood friend Thomas and I experience summer tourism in Austria the best way possible in this trip.

So what do you do when you want to ski, but the snow is already melting and sticking to your long skis causing insane amount of friction? Easy! You put on tiny skies, aka Figls, and go down the mountain in an even more ridiculous fashion! This type of skiing adventure is only possible on a few places in the world, as they require some unique geographical properties to function. So join us on our trip to the Nordkette!

Returning from the Middle-East back to the cold Yeti-infested Austrian Alps, we wanted to make use of that unique weather. Going sledding is a pretty dope experience, especially because it is also combined with eating delicious food! Check out this aspect of Austrian culture now!

The finale of the Cruise Around the Middle-East Video Series. My mum ended up making friends on the ship and together, we embarked on an advebture to hunt for dolphins on Dhow Boats! Yay! The place is called Khasab and tectonic activities in the region created massive Fjörd-like mountain ranges. Enjoy!

Muscat is the capital of Oman, as well as the fourth destination of our epic cruise. My parents and I decide to collaborate and explore this traditional city together. We ended up learning a ton about this place, including its rich history and politics.

Cruise ships store enough food in them to last 4000 passengers for weeks. They did not think it could be eaten all. What they did not know: I was on board.

Cruise ship companies sell cruises on the promise of adventure! Yeah! And what can be more adventurous than spending a day at a 100% artificial nature preserve, where every single tree is watered manually through water piped through from the mainland? The answer: nothing.

My parents and I needed a vacation. But where to go to vacation if it’s just March? Easy answer: Dubai! We embark on a cruise ship, the MSC Splendida. Somehow, I managed to get so hungry in this video I decided to take a bite out of the thumbnail! Oh god! Anyways, we also happen to travel to Abu Dhabi to learn more about the history of the United Arabian Emirates.

My family is actually spread across 3 countries in Europe: Germany, Austria & Switzerland. I take this video as an opportunity to introduce my family to the channel.

Making the difficult decision to leave Japan, I had to reorganize and regroup my channel. What is it that I wanted to make? How could I accomplish this? For a while, I started making Travel videos in and around Europe, as well as doing a Cruise through the Middle-East.

Here it is, all of the videos documenting my amazing Odyssey in Japan. Being an exchange student in Nagoya was without question the best time of my life. The videos here have become truly special to me. I love Japan. I really do and I hope you will as well.

Truth be told, I could have probably stayed in Japan if I wanted to. I was very close to graduating and I probably could’ve just found a job to stay in Japan, particularly due to my strong IT background. However, there were reasons to leave. Strong reasons even…. Here I explain those…

Well… All journeys must come to an end. This includes my awesome exchange stay in Japan, which I can confidently say filled with pure adventure. I learned so much and worked so hard to get where I am and here is to celebrating that in the span of 12 minutes!

Meeting Tatsui was easily the best thing that happened to me during this exchange in Japan. This video serves as a reminder of the beautiful things we did together.

Ever wanted to know 100 things to do in Japan but not wanting to spend 30 minutes learning about them because maybe your phone is about to die in 1 minute? Well, for this specific reason, and this specific reason only probably, I got you covered! 100 things you can do in Japan, and only in Japan, for you to play at double speed if you got blood sugar level for it.

The Quality of Life is superb in Japan. Quite frankly, it is not higher anywhere in the world, which can be attributed to the way in which Japanese cities are constructed. You see, building and traffic laws have insane effects on the livability of cities. In this video essay, I uncover all the reasons that make Japanese cities a dream to live in.

Nearing the end of my exchange studies in Japan, I reflect on what I have accomplished and the fun I had. Or maybe it was Coca Cola Peach that made my life so great in Japan? Who knows?

Ok, everyone and their mothers already know of all of the amazing culture you can find in Kyoto. To that I say: Booooooooring. I want to have some fun. So how do you have fun when everybody else is all about the respect? Uhm, well, you have to find out by watching the video! Yay!

While Tatsui was already with me in the obligatory Ramen video, I personally consider this her official debut video. Traveling together to the southern-most point of the Aichi Prefecture, we ended up discovering a truly different side of Japan…

So, uhm, my friend Morc told me that the City of Osaka is amazing. When I asked why, he just told me it is. Well, always trusting my friend’s opinions (except for you Mathias), I decided it was time for me to find out what is really all that special about Osaka. And for some reason I really wanted to eat Candyfloss.

Already four months in Japan and not a single Ramen video to show for it? Blasphemy! Time to change this heresy and finally make that obligatory Ramen video.

To the people of Japan, the New Year’s celebrations are very important. I decide to embark an adventure to discover everything the Japanese do to ensure the smoothest transition into the New Year.

How do you survive Japan on a budget? Particularly with variety of dietary restrictions (aka Proteins), you might need a little bit of a heads-up. In comes this video to your rescue. For the purpose of a control group, we also include a very rich person in this scientific study.

This video in particular is special to me, as it taught me something incredible: Every single trip you take in Japan, even if it seems insignificant, can end up absolutely incredible.

After canonically saving the world through a Karaoke Sing-off, I decided it was time for some fun episodes. Kicking it off strongly by buying Pokemon Let’s Go. It was after all a lifelong dream of mine to buy a Pokemon game in Japan. So let’s go!

The way to play the Choose My Own Adventure is really easy! By utilizing YouTube’s end screen feature, you are able to choose how the story continues. Over the course of 4 videos, each choice you make removes one of the possible endings. So make it count, the fate of the universe rests on your shoulders…. (It doesn’t, but it sounds cool saying so)

As a foreigner in Japan, you are oftentimes given great honors. One of these was being asked to carry a massive portable shrine that needed to be carried. They assured me that it was indeed a great honor to carry it, which had absolutely nothing to do with the Shrine being heavy.

Continuing my eternal quest to become famous, I was thinking of ways on how I could get famous fast. The idea: People love learning about what other people think for some reason. In comes my guinea pigs, I mean exchange students, who we willing to give their opinions of their perceived ups and downs of Japan. Spoilers: Anyone saying any downs of Japan is lying because Japan is factually perfect.

Commencing my eternal quest to become famous, I was thinking of ways on how I could get famous fast. The idea: People love room tours for whatever reason. Like, I don’t get it, why are apartment/room/personal toilet tours so bloody popular? Anyways, hilarity ensues as my “friend” Mathias doesn’t show up and I instead ask a Mexican camera guy I met on Reddit to help me make this incredible audiovisual experience.

As I arrived in Nagoya, I knew it was time to start exploring my new home for the time of my exchange studies. I quickly made friends with a few other exchange students as well as attaining “friendship” with my “favourite” Danish person Mathias. We embarked on an epic adventure filled with food. Maybe some other things too but I really mostly cared about the food.

When arriving in Akihabara, I became angry. Kinda like the Hulk, but not quite as cool. By that I mean it wasn’t cool at all. Ok then. Go watch. Wrawr.

I literally had no idea what I was doing when making these videos. These videos were the very beginning of my Vlogging Journey. But after that, I think I become a bit better over time. Ok no, my videos are still pretty dumb. But at least my footage looks better! (Sometimes)