Star Wars Celebration Tokyo and Japan 2025 Tour Day 8
[Music] Good morning. As I leave Ginszan onen, it is a mad house here. There are so many tour buses coming in dropping off gaggles of people and everybody’s just like walking around which is interesting. I wonder if they’re here to actually use the spa or if they’re here just to see the area and then walk back. Like I couldn’t imagine coming out here only for like an hour or something like that. That’s so short. But the place was amazing. We woke up at 7:30 this morning. Breakfast was at 8:00. Breakfast was amazing. Very traditional Japanese breakfast. Two soups, a bunch of different autrammon. Like it was fantastic. When um after breakfast, we walked around a little bit more, walked over to the silver mine. One hour is definitely more than enough to uh explore the area currently. Everything was closed. So, as in all the paths, I should say. I hope Kusatu isn’t like that. I guess that’s a little foreshadowing of where we will be going. Right now, we’re going to be headed back to Sai. It was a It was a ton of fun like walking around using the onen. Oh, I did use the onen last night. It was extremely hot. Uh, it was nice, but Lynn Lynn was like it was too hot for her and she actually came back to the room super fast. She like only just left, I felt. And so Ben and I actually just hung out in the onsent for a lot longer. I don’t know if you can see it, but there’s snow all around, which made it really cold here. And then staying at the uh inside the onson was quite nice cuz it was really warm. I believe turning on the AC though actually ended up turning on the heater making the room a little bit hotter than we wanted it to be which is weird. Like perceived hotness I guess you could say. But overall time here is amazing. All the buildings are so magical looking. And the difference between night and day when you’re walking around is so crazy. Almost to the car to walk up a mountain. And so seeing the way that everything is uh is lit at night with gas lamps, it’s really cool. There goes a tour bus followed by a tour van. Um, but yeah, everything here was just so cool looking. The food was amazing. Oh, I was talking about breakfast. the um they did have like the the fish that they provided and then seaweed, a whole bucket of rice, two soups, um and then all these different pickled and cooked vegetables which were all just amazing. And then an onsen tamagago or like a softboiled egg that was really good. Um, overall fantastic stay. Uh, I definitely could see why people would stay more than one day here, but if uh if you’re in a rush, just one day is fine. Anyhow, check back in in a moment. And welcome back. Currently, I am at Sai Castle or the ruins. And the ruins are in front of me. And the statue of Date Masamune is behind me. The famous statue that everyone comes to Sennai to see. But that being said, we left Ginszan onen in Yamagata. Drove about an hour and a half and made it in back into Miyagi Prefecture. Uh back into Sendai really. And we started by going over to the Osaki Hachimongu Shrine. That was really pretty. They had a lot of rules about photography and and videography, so I didn’t actually get that much footage. We did we just paid our respects there. Walked around a little bit. It was only listed to spend about 15 minutes there and which I feel that we did. And then we hopped in the car and came over here. It was pretty crazy cuz I believe we drove by Tohoku University like through the middle of the university. That was nuts. There was so many students everywhere bike riding and everything. It was pretty crazy. I think that was more intense than the the the hour and a half drive here through the mountains. One really neat thing is is once you get from the Yamagata side to the Miyagi side, you do notice that a lot more pine trees and and evergreens start to pop up as opposed to the more whatever the bonsai trees are. Those they seem to have a lot of in in Yamagata, at least what I saw along the side of the road. Getting up here, we found the parking lot just right behind me really. It’s about 80 meters, I think it’s it was said, to my left. And parking is 600 yen for the first hour and then 300 yen for every hour after. We parked went and got lunch at the Alba Food Court, which we just got something pretty basic. A pork bowl. Um, Miyagi pork bowl, I believe, is what it’s called. And then each one of us got something kind of different as a second. I got the sunda shake which is like the sunda mochi which is famous here which is the mochi that has edetamame on it. Instead of it being on mochi it was inside of a shake which that was really nice. Lynn got a guan uh schumai and Ben got a curry pun with sai beef in it and all of it was delicious. Lynn’s currently not feeling also hot and I might have caught whatever she got. Feeling like a little tickle in the back of my throat and in the top of my nose. So hopefully that uh with some meds and some vitamin C that’ll uh that’ll go away. But oh, it’s so bright here. That being said, we ate and then walked over here 80 m away over to see the statue and an amazing view of the city. The city view is incredible from right here. And then obviously the castle ruins, which it’s funny because they have a VR headset that you could rent to kind of have this virtual experience of what the castle looked like cuz it’s literally it’s just stones in the ground and marker placements to show what room they thought was where. Not all that much going on other than that. There is a temple here that I offered Lynn and Ben to go into if they wanted to. We have something kind of special coming up here, which is an hour’s drive away, though. And so I I do there are a few more snacks that I want them to try inside of the souvenir shop over here. So, I’m debating what are we going to do from this point forward. We’ll definitely figure that out and uh report back. But yeah, this uh place is super peaceful. It gets it gets ra like noisy cuz a ton of people will all of a sudden show up and then it just gets dead quiet again cuz then everybody leaves. So, it’s definitely like tour buses coming through. But that being said, we’ll go ahead. Oh, for the Hachimangu shrine, I didn’t mention this. It is Date Masune’s dedication to Sai and it’s because of that. It’s actually there’s three gods that they pray to there. And it’s it’s pretty impressive. The the thing is really well made. I think it was motoyama is the style of which it was built which was done by Hidoshi Toyottomi. Um like he he requested that it be made that way but the the the shrine is gorgeous. And one side note, there’s chickens there. I am not 100% sure why, but there are live chickens that just roll around um as well as live cats. And so it is part of the shrine and I found it to be pretty amazing. Just wanted to make sure I got that note in before signing off here at Sai Castle or Alba Castle. Anyhow, we’ll check back in in a moment. And welcome back. I’m at Raqq Gorge. We had to do a sudden change of plans. Traditionally, we were supposed to go to the Finoa slope car at the Fuoka Park, which is supposed to be about an hour’s drive away. The greatness of it is that it is a cable car that goes at the height of the cherry blossoms. So, as the cherry blossoms are going, you’re actually going right in between all of them, which is pretty awesome. Unfortunately, they decided this year that they were going to go ahead and renovate it and it is out of commission currently. So, that being said, kind of made a quick choice of just coming here to the Raiku Gorge. We’re currently at the train station that used to be in the area before they removed it. But across the street, right over here, right there, is the uh the gorge, and it is gorgeous. Pun intended. Right. It’s pretty sweet. They have a thing called the lover’s port or portal, which is a heart-shaped kind of hole in a rock where you’re supposed to throw one yen coin to prove your love, I suppose. They also had a god’s rock, which is this rock in the middle of the gorge. I don’t know how well it’s going to come out of the video cuz it’s pretty far away, but it’s split cleanly into two in the middle of the gorge, which is pretty awesome. Um, and then before we actually went to the gorge, we actually walked over to the info center for the gorge and walked around and and kind of looked at they’re really proud of their train system that no longer exists here. And so there’s actually a ton of information about that. They also had information about local uh traditions and festivals as well, which is cool. We uh you know just walked around there, got our stamp, and then went over to the gorge before making our way over across the bridge and across the street to uh to this train site. And after this, I think we’re headed on to the hotel before going to get dinner and uh kind of calling it an early night. Yeah, there’s uh not much else. We’ve pulled two things from tomorrow. So, I guess everything tomorrow will be moved up as well. Uh the only debate is whether we should do laundry tonight or tomorrow. And uh I’m thinking that we do it tomorrow. I will go ahead and say we will see you in a moment here as we go off to our next spot. Back in a sec. And welcome back. We are sitting at the Jal Hotel in Sai. After leaving the Raiku Gorge, we went over to Saii Market. That is actually a famous market here. I saw it on a Nogi Zaku 46 show where they’re famous for ohi. And one of the cool things about it is that on the weekends they actually are so busy that people are coming in from other prefixures. So they’re driving in from quite far away to actually just get these desserts. We were just right next to it because the Riku Gorge is literally just about a five minute drive from there. So not bad. After the going to the supermarket and grabbing the ohi, we came back here to the hotel. Um, that was very purposeful. We’re all very tired. And we went to was it Shira Shioama or Shiraama? I think Shiraama Co is the restaurant name. I’ll have to write it down if I got it wrong. But it’s based, the name is based off of the port that’s right next to Matushima. And the reason the name is based off of that port is because they serve sushi that comes directly from that port. It is the largest magro or tuna fishery in all of Japan and they get their fish fresh from there. It just so happens that about two nights ago, I met a gentleman named Ichiro on our way out to go get dinner and he’s the one that suggested a beef tongue barbecue joint for us. So after that, he’s like, you know, if you guys are interested, we have some of the best sushi in the country. We’re highly rated on Tablo. And we went over to his restaurant today to check it out. Lynn put it the best as the place looks very sterile on the inside. It didn’t really look like a restaurant and it used to be a rotating sushi place, but they no longer have the rotating portion. You just order straight from them and they kind of serve it to you. They do have a iPad that you could order everything from, which was kind of nice. Unfortunately, I got the dates mixed up. I told Ichidro that we’re going to be there tomorrow and unfortunately like because I got that mix up we had to go today otherwise we weren’t going to be able to eat there at all and I didn’t want that to happen so we went today he unfortunately was off so I just told the boss don’t worry about it cuz after we ordered and everything I wasn’t trying to get anything out of him I was like hey is Ichidro here you know we were already getting our food and the boss it just so happens that was a manager I didn’t know it was just some guy that was randomly walking walking by at the moment, an employee that I thought and it ended up being the store manager. He’s like, “Oh, no. He’s he’s not here. Why do you know him?” And I was like, “Oh, we met him the other day and we chat and the reason we’re eating here is cuz he said he’d be here, but you know, I think that was supposed to be for tomorrow.” And he’s like, “Oh, yeah, no, he got off at 5:00 today.” It’s like, “Oh, that that’s too bad. All right. Well, you know, next time then, I guess.” and he he walked off and he called Ichro and Itchro happily came back to the store to to sign on again even though he just did a full shift to come like serve us sushi and stuff and chat with us and kind of enjoy his time and we enjoyed our time. Uh really felt like we were just shooting the breeze and eating and it was a real good time. I feel everyone at the table was having a great time. We got a ton of sushi. And for as much sushi and sake, everything at like Okay, I should say this. Ichiro did give us some free stuff. So, we did it wasn’t everything cuz I’m the the price was like 60 bucks and we got enough sushi for three people to be full. But he did throw in a few dishes for free. He’s just like, “Do you know what this is? You should try this.” And then he also recommended a great sake for the table which the name slips me right now. And so highly recommended. It was it was sweet and not dry. So it was really nice. It was smooth. It was very pleasant. After finishing up dinner, we then went to go walk the local Shotenkai that’s here where we kind of ran into a Doniote and we went in there and Ben and Lynn both bought some souvenirs, uh, stuff that they could find at Donkey. And then when we left Donkey, we went across the street to an arcade to play a couple of games uh before Lynn went to go try to get something to drink. Oh no, we then went from the arcade to a capsule store. One of those gota gotcha stores where it’s just full of of coin operated machines for you to kind of get your prizes. And Lynn left early to go get something to drink. I just thought she went to the cafe across the street. So, I went in and ordered a coffee there and had that for kind of that late night snack before finding out Lynn was actually across the street at a drugstore just buying a bottle of uh of ulong tea. Uh we then met back up and walked back to the hotel uh which we are here now. We did try the famous Ohi just now from Saiis. It was delicious. There are three flavors that it comes in. Red bean, uh, kinaco, which is a soybean, like a roasted soybean flour, and then, um, black sesame. And all three of us agree that the black sesame is where it’s at. Like the three flavors are are good. I was hoping the kinakaco would have been better, but being that it was just the it was a little dry in my opinion. It’s it it just made the the the the black sesame all that much better. It was like the perfect flavor. So, we just finished all those, enjoyed them, and now it’s uh time to go to bed. I am dead tired. And uh oh, I will say that like we got up quite early today, like 7:30ish, so it’s been a long day. Um, tomorrow’s going to rain, so we don’t know for sure what we’re going to be doing yet, but we will figure that out when the time comes. Anyhow, it’s been fun. Have a good night, and I will see you in the morning or in the next video. All right, and hello. Obviously, this is editing Charlie from the future. I realized that I never did a room tour of the Jaw Hotel in Sai. I actually did the room tour. I just never mentioned it, I should say. Uh because of that, I want to go ahead and include it right here. Figured I’ll just cut in at the very end right here to finish off the video. The room is not that fantastic, but it is like somewhere that we stayed. It’s the last night we’re staying in Sundai. So, why don’t we just go ahead and get right to it. All right. And here we are in the room. The hallway or the elevators right there comes up and we are in room 326. And as you come into the room, there is an immediate closet. Although if you do that, it does get in the way of the door. So, this does have to be closed. We do have some um slippers. They have a press. That’s kind of cool. Weird arrangement of the coat hanger. Rather than going this way, it goes in to the wall. It’s not that deep. Maybe about a foot. And then come over here to the restroom. There is a step there. Just your basic. I mean, at least the sink and the tub have a different faucet deal, but overall, okay, this is just your basic business hotel. It does have a smart toilet, which is kind of nicer. One of the fancy toilets. Over here is the coffee and tea bar area. does look like we have hot water boiler. Ice pale. There is our fridge. Oh, with water in it. So, we do have some water. It’s nice. Then the luggage tray. A little chase I think that is. And then a chair table. Our TV area right here. And then the three beds. That’s uh practically the room. And I think actually, yeah, turn around here. There goes the door. That’s pretty much it. Let’s go ahead and go back to the other angle to finish up the night. And so, as you see, the the room’s just your standard room. Because it’s our last night here in Sunday, I wanted something that was easy and close to the station. That way when after we return the car tomorrow, we could actually just go and get to the station and hop on out to Utenomia, which is we’re going back to Toigi. And I believe I mentioned this in when we were last in Utenomia. There we’ll be renting another car. The whole idea is I don’t want have to spend money on driving all the way down when just getting a train ticket and sitting on the train was a lot easier. Also [Music] kind of a hitting cost that we weren’t expecting. Like I thought the hotel provided parking for free. They don’t. There is a slight charge on parking here, but they have one of those cool parking garages where you It’s like an elevator. You park the car inside the elevator and it rotates in and out. There are no in-n-out privileges. So once you’re in, you’re in. And we kind of just did that when we came back to the hotel. Figured we’re just leaving it there for the night. We’re not really going to be going to do anything else other than going to get dinner and walking in the arcade as we did. But yeah, that’s our night here in Sai and we will go ahead and see you in the next video.
It’s only been a few months, but we’re back. This time we’re here to attend the Star Wars Celebration in Tokyo! Since we’re here though, we might as well explore a little more of Japan.
Starting the day off at Ginzan Onsen [銀山温泉], we got a fantastic breakfast and then toured the town. Checking out the silver mine and waterfall, we headed back to grab souvenirs.
Once we finished shopping, we packed our bags and checked out. Heading back to Sendai to see one of the best shrines in the city; National Treasure Osaki Hachiman Shrine [大崎八幡宮]. We didn’t know we’d see chickens around there…
From there, we made our way to the Sendai Castle Honmaru Ruins [仙台城 本丸跡]. These ruins are really close to a university and we were able to get some local delicacies at a nearby food court for REALLY inexpensive.
Next, we were going to go to Funaoka Castle Park Slope Car [船岡城址公園スロープカー], but unfortunately it was under renovations. Changing gears, we pulled some of the planned places from tomorrow.
We visited the Rairaikyo Gorge [磊々峡] and Saichi Supermarket [主婦の店 さいち]. They were both next to each other and easy to get to. The gorge is fantastic, and I wish there was a way to kayak/boat down it. We had to just enjoy the view from above. As for the market, it was famous in the area for Ohagi.
Ohagi is a sweet treat similar to mochi. I learned about the store from various variety shows, but the latest was from Nogizaka Under Construction (NUC) Ep 373 (linked below). We grabbed 1 of each of the flavors before making our way back to the hotel.
After checking in, we went to get dinner at Shiogamako Sendai [廻鮮寿司 塩釜港 仙台店]. This restaurant had a chef (Ichiro-san) that we met a last night, and suggested the beef tongue restaurant to us. We told him that we’d be back, and this was us keeping our promise. The sushi at this restaurant was top rated, and we really enjoyed our time eating and chatting with our new friend.
Lastly, we went to Clisroad Shopping Street [クリスロード商店街] and shopped the night away, going to various shops [including Don Quixote] and cafes.
NUC Ep 373:
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