Some of the challenges so far include the things we take for granted. For instance, the cars have shorter leg space than we're used to so none of us can sit facing forward.
The hotel rooms we are in have single beds so small that most of us have our feet hanging out the end.
And no one speaks English in the towns we are currently in. Only two or three out of the crew have managed to try and learn some Japanese, the rest of us are just pointing at stuff which is a bit rude when you learn how polite and respectful the local Japanese are. I'm trying to use Google Translate - which is pretty good if I can get the pronunciation correct. At least I get a laugh.
Another learning - the Japanese are very honest.
At our first stop in Sapporo one of the radio commentators managed to lose his wallet, with thousands of yen in it, AND his phone in a different place, and got it back cash and all after it was handed to the police.
They also cook incredible food (we already knew that). We've been sampling ramen, which is egg noodles served in a broth, which comes with a variety of meats and veges and varying degree of spicy.
There have also been Japanese curries with gyoza and a cold poached egg (yum), and Yaki Naku - where you just cook up a whole lot of meat on a grill in front of you. (We didn't bother with veges).
Then there was crab, any which way you like it in Sapporo - Japan's crab capital. I had crab croquettes for breakfast one morning. Stuff the cereal. It's a pity when you hear some of the visitors have only been eating McDonald's and drinking at English pubs. (Want to hazard a guess on which country they come from!)
And of course, there is a great selection of karaoke joints which is where myself and co-commentator Aussie Sean Moloney headed after the England v Tonga match. We entered a hot box of an un-airconditioned room, where eight rowdy Aussie rugby blokes, some with beer guts, some with shirts off, were singing (expressively but mainly out of tune) to various rock songs. They'd booked a room with a drink-all-you-can package, with poor Japanese workers running back and forth with ten jugs of beer at a time.
I had to step over the karaoke club owner who had fainted in reception after the 77th jug delivery - I think we all know that drink-all-you-can packages mean something different to Aussies and Kiwis on tour.
Suffice to say I sang Madonna's 'Like a Virgin' and Lady Gaga's 'Shallow' three times. Totally in tune.
Sapporo was incredible - the stadium a prototype for what Christchurch or Auckland should do. It has a roof and removable pitch, is used for many different codes, and the rugby was compelling.
But now, it's the Eastern coastline of northern Japan, from Kesennuma to Kamaishi where I find myself. Areas that were devasted by the earthquake and following the tsunami of 2011 - killing thousands of people and decimating the towns close to the sea.
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In Kamaishi, where today's game between Fiji and Uruguay is held, more than a thousand people died. The stadium itself has been built where two schools were destroyed. It's being promoted as a symbol of moving on.
But some of the youngsters who went to the school and survived the tsunami reportedly have mixed feelings about the stadium being there. They knew people who died here, including schoolmates who had gone home sick or been picked up early.
Both of the teams playing today know how special it is to be playing at the World Cup's smallest stadium with the most heart.
Uruguay have had a good build-up to the Cup, beating both the United States and Canada. I interviewed two of the team ahead of the game and it was very amusing. They're educated, mainly amateur players, who don't usually speak a lot of English. Their reserve prop Facundo Gattas giggled his way through his interview, not particularly answering what I asked him, while the lock Manuel Leindekar tested me on my pronunciation (which I stuffed up) and took over the mic at the end of the interview.
They have an emphasis on fun on and off the field which I'd hazard to say isn't the approach too many other teams are taking.
Unfortunately, the fun times will probably end rather swiftly if the feeling I got from the Fiji camp is anything to go by.
They've brought a ruthless attitude which is great, and if I was going to go for one upset at the Cup, the pick with the best chance would be Fiji beating Wales.
But to quote a rugby cliché - it's one game at a time. We're just focusing at what's in front of us tonight.
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