“Welcome to Japan, Mr and Mr Lowbridge-Ellis.”
In April 2023, David and Antony used their wedding anniversary and Antony’s birthday as pretexts to head halfway around the world for Bond bars, civilised baths, mountains, sunsets and lots more besides.
Poster by @xraystu (Instagram)
Part 1: “Welcome to Japan, Mr Bond”
Recorded in Heathrow airport and two very different bars in Tokyo, both with Bond connections. Starting off their trip to Japan (for both their wedding anniversary and Antony's birthday), Antony and David sip Negronis in the departure lounge while giving their perspective on Bond travel, including how to do it on a budget. After arriving in Tokyo, they have more cocktails in a key location from You Only Live Twice and finish their first night at a women-centric bar called Gold Finger, where they interview the owner about her love of James Bond and what it's like to be LGBTQ+ in Japan.
Part 2: Mountains, sunsets, naked baths, Super Mario and Bonding on a budget
The Japanese assignment continues with a mission report from the world’s busiest train station. Antony and David relate their remaining Tokyo adventures, including cherry blossom viewings and visiting a location from The Wolverine (2013).
Their next report comes from aboard a ‘Romance Express’ (like the one referred to by Tanaka in the novel of You Only Live Twice) travelling from Kyoto to Osaka. Before getting there, they share what it was like to stay in a traditional Japanese inn (as Ian Fleming did when researching Thrilling Cities). They also talk about how they found Kyoto, including its gorgeous temples and gardens (not of the poisonous variety) and ‘all the shrines in the world’.
After all of these spiritual experiences, they head for the extreme contrast: Universal Studios in Osaka. While queuing to buy lunch in Super Nintendo World, they talk about different fandoms and speculate about what a 007 theme park might be like.
Finally, they discuss public bathing Japanese-style (as in, completely naked), the Japanese musical of Casino Royale, a visit to Himeji Castle (the ninja training school from You Only Live Twice), taking the fastest bullet train back to Tokyo, finding the best Martinis in Tokyo Disneyland and how they managed to have a Bondian adventure on a reasonable budget.
