Free Tour Guides at a Sakura Festival in Japan
this is why I came to Hiroaki The cherry blossoms The boys found me over here [Music] There it is Hiroaki Castle Welcome to the big apple of Japan Hiroaki Hiasaki is known for their apple origins and something else I’m going to check out All right this is why I came here Sakura in full bloom baby There’s actually a festival that’s held here every year And I think the festival is happening now Uh wow Oh the toys the festival going on now Look at this with all these little stalls over here Dude tell me this is not freaking Animal Crossing Holy crap This is something I’ve wanted to see my entire life I uh I’m really blown away This is so cool It’s all pink Wow All right so I’m standing in line uh for something Uh Odin I don’t know what this is I think it’s like a fish cake or something man There’s a big ass line for it And I said I’m going to try it I don’t know what this is though It’s like a black square thing I got sit steaming in this bath I have no idea what this stuff is [Music] All right so I got my black thing on a stick It’s jiggly and it smells like fish and seaweed Uh I don’t really know what this is Let’s try it I don’t know what this is I can’t eat her Uh what is this thing oh my god It’s like fishy and like jell-o It’s like fish jell-o That’s hot and boiled How cool is this dude this big old festival going on the castle grounds I’ve got this stick of gross thing I can’t throw away because there’s no trash cans in Japan Oh this is too cool man Wow What a cool experience dude I didn’t even know this festival was happening I just I came out here because I saw that the the cherry blossoms were forecast to be blooming when I was in Japan and I’m like I want to see them And then come to find out there’s a festival going on dude So just me and a bunch of other people all enjoying the beautiful flowers late night hanging out This is awesome This is so cool [Music] Okay [Music] Hi Hi Will be okay Huh oh okay Scary Yeah No No No Okay [Music] Okay Oh god I’m scared [Music] The boys back here dude My dudes What up [Music] boys Oh man Me and the boys got me through this Me and the boys A how fun was that those little kids were watching me the whole time That haunted house That was fun A shooting gallery Oh yeah dude Let’s do it A shooting gallery Hello chicks Hi Hi A gun Okay Okay I got the gun Yo check it out A shooting gallery We got some freaking pork bullets How do you do this you uh Okay And then here Oh knocked it off Okay Okay Okay Okay There we go Here we go Oh it’s the boys again What up the boys found me over here You record here Oh yeah Yeah Me Yeah There we go There we go I’m not a very good American Here we go Here we go This one’s it my you Yeah you Okay Okay All right Let’s see if this kid can do me Come on man Let’s do it [Music] [Music] All right So I uh I won This is a consolation prize Bye-bye Hey shout out to the boys Bye y’all Oh man everyone’s so friendly This is awesome Oh man Everyone’s so friendly As I was saying this is what I want as my constellation prize This is what the boys told me to pick They’re like uh octopus balls I guess I guess I should try them right wow Fun time I don’t think I’ve smiled this much in a long time man I’m so happy being out here If you visit Japan man don’t do the big three I did the big three the first time I came here too And I guess you got to do it dude But you go out to other parts of Japan I’m telling you you’re going to have a better time This is so much dang fun Wow This is so cool Oh I’m like literally tearing up because I’m having such a good time and that was so fun with those boys That was awesome Oh wound me again This is great These boys have been following me around I got a crowd with me now Uh this is fun I’m going to ask them what to do next I’m not really sure And I’ve got their full attention What is this this magic house Magic house Magic house What is it you just go in I should do it though Okay All right The boys said I should do this next and they said it’s a magic house I don’t know what this means What do I do what do we do you don’t know Oh okay Oh yeah That was going to happen I don’t know He can’t get out now [Music] Holy Oh my god Oh my god Oh god Oh my god Oh my god I’m dizzy What you guys are freaking the whole fix it dude This whole room is spinning So exciting Oh Oh What too much What should I do next this one Here Question game Question game Yeah Yeah Okay Okay What do I do they said it’s a question game I got this little form thing with a little punch card and then I’m at this uh there’s these two pathways I don’t know really what I’m supposed to be doing I’m missing my wallet Yeah no wallet Let me see here Oh my god Oh I got the for real Thank you Thank you Thank you Wow Wow Okay Okay Let’s go Okay Let’s go This way This is where we came What i don’t get it Stop Here is you go back again Yeah Oh okay Okay Okay Where you from question Amazing I can’t read it I can’t read it boys Oh nice These guys are fun man This one Yes All right Kids love scaring me It’s so much fun Oh okay Here we go Here we go Oh All right Got to have the boys I don’t know I can’t read it Oh it’s question three Oh four for it Okay Okay Okay These boys are just doing it for me cuz I can’t read Japanese We got another one We got another one All right What’s this say your guess is as good as mine I got no idea what it says I’m relying on a bunch of 10year-old boys Three I can’t read it I don’t know what it says Go [Applause] Come on What do we win [Music] this is Oh Oh it’s a little toy Okay And they asked me what kind of food I like And I said “Show me some food I can’t get in America.” Why pay for a tour guide whenever you can have a bunch of 10-year-olds show you around this is cool dude Like it’s fun as hell Uh they know I’m recording They’re totally chill with it and they in fact they love it Oh this thing Oh no I tried it Oh I don’t like I tried it Let’s do that Okay Okay They tried to get me to get the same thing that I got earlier That black fish cake thing Man I’m telling you they love them Six Um for the boys No no no no no no You don’t want Nobody wants Okay Okay I guess I should do too I’m good Oh yes That’s really damn good Hell yeah I like all of my I don’t know man Japanese people are too polite Trying to be nice and buying some stuff They don’t like it No What no no no no Be sorry Poor kid just show me He’s like He said I’m sorry He’s sorry No What are you apologizing for all right Getting a chocolate banana Choco banana I got like a mask This looks like a dick covered in chocolate Got my ass So good Oh yeah that was good man The fruit here in Japan is amazing Oh my god I even like bananas and that’s so good So Hiroaki is famous for apples and the boys took me over to an apple stand I’m getting some apple cider I think the uh the apples are like soaked in booze too He’s pulling them out of a jar there So I think these are liquor infused apples too The boys took me to the right spot They said “You want something sweet?” I found some booze instead So we got some apple cider here Freshly made from Hiroak Oh that’s good I don’t know where we’re going now The boys are showing me around I got I got free tour guide I don’t even want tips Well what an absolute delight that was Um those boys were so nice I still can’t believe that they went and found my wallet for me after I dropped it Incredible I was trying to buy those boys something too and they they just kept on saying “No man.” And uh one of them showed me his phone with a translation It said Japanese people are too reserved It was a lot of fun I still think that maybe they’re pushers for all the vendors They got me to buy a lot of [ __ ] that I didn’t really want But I had a really awesome time man So walking around the castle grounds right now It’s really beautiful Like all these cherry trees are all lit up man This is something I’m going to remember for the rest of my life being here Ticket number one Number one Number one Take Oh okay Hello Going up to the castle Wow This is so cool There’s Wisteria up here too Wow We have a lot of Wow So cool Whoa Whoa [Applause] Hello There it is Hiroaki Castle It’s honestly uh a lot smaller than I thought it would be It’s really small That’s so cool though Pretty cool man This is one of the u eight remaining original Japanese castles There’s quite a few castles in Japan but a lot of them were rebuilt after World War II A lot of them were destroyed Um so this is one of the original Japanese castles that still remains Hello Miles Hello Inside of a Japanese castle Like I said it’s pretty small Way smaller than I expected Good luck These are really steep stairs I think it’s to prevent invaders Make it harder to attack this place You really have to point your foot on every step Oh wow Wow Wow this is so cool Ginger Mother Look at the staircase dude What the crap oh my god What this thing is like vertical and the steps are so damn short dude This is crazy Oh god I got to do another one Easier Easier Whoa dude That was cool dude That was really cool Well I had an amazing time out here in Hiroaki I just spent the past couple hours hanging out at the bar with uh a taxi driver a sushi chef and a woman I am pretty sure was in the Yakuza I’m going to wrap things up for tonight cuz I’m pretty dang tired It’s been a really long past few days and I really need to get some sleep So here we go So with a little cherry blossom in the background hope you all have a wonderful night and thank you so much for watching and I’ll see you again sometime soon Okay
Ended up at Hirosaki, Japan to see the sakura, and got lucky enough to be there for their festival celebrating the sakura (cherry blossoms). Met a bunch of kids who showed me around the festival, doing different games and trying new foods (beware of the oden!). Topped the night off with a stop at the castle, and some drinks with locals! I try to keep on-screen elements to a minimum, more info is always in the descriptions!
If you want to know more about anything, feel free to ask, I always reply to comments!
Aomori, the prefecture that Hirosaki is in, is the snowiest inhabited place IN THE WORLD. On my 5.5 hour train ride up from Tokyo, I passed by snow pack, at ground level, in late April. Such a lovely city, so happy I ended up there! My big tip for getting to see the Sakura in Japan is to book out rooms in a bunch of different cities, keep looking at the sakura forecast, and cancel/book new rooms as it changes. I only booked a room in Hirosaki about a week before I left for Japan!
Sorry for the long break in between my videos occasionally, I work a lot to afford these crazy adventures :). Showing me a little love, however you feel it, really encourages me to keep sharing my travels, I hope to inspire you guys to do the same thing I’m doing, or at the very least, get to see some stuff you wouldn’t have otherwise!
0:00 – Intro
0:21 – Entering the Festival
1:32 – Oden (Fish Cake Boiled in Squid Ink)
3:40 – Haunted House
6:19 – Shooting Gallery
9:25 – Magic House
11:02 – Question Maze
14:43 – Food Stand Tour
18:15 – Hirosaki Castle
Contact: theunboundmane@gmail.com
Early rough cuts on Patreon with things that don’t make the final edit: https://www.patreon.com/TheUnboundMane
AloJapan.com