I Traveled Across Japan With No Money

I Traveled Across Japan With No Money

Is it possible to travel across Japan without any money? We wanted to put that to the test by traveling across Japan’s most rural and isolated part, the island of Shikoku. We started in the west and set ourselves the challenge to cover 350 km to the other side of the island in 3 days, purely by hitchhiking and relying on the kindness of strangers for food and shelter. All right, let’s start hitchhiking towards the northeast. No way. Yes. Is this the one? Uh we can we go in the back? Uh we go hitchhike. We Okay. Uh uh we go in the back. Okay. Well, that went great. We were up for a challenge. First of all, very few people in the countryside of Japan speak English, and a stereotype we had of Japanese people is that they’re quite reserved and introverted, which means asking strangers for favors could be difficult. With that in mind, we knew that covering 350 km without money for food, shelter, or transport was going to be quite the adventure. Okay, we made it to a convenience store. At least we’ll be able to drop our bags here and talk to some people. Uh, hitchhiku. Yeah, I want to go to Namura. Namura. Perfect. Mhm. I think he’s going into the mountains. I think we have our ride into the mountains. I think so, too, bro. Nice. And your name? Uh, Ti. It is a squeeze, but we’re here. So, I know it’s been a while since the last upload. So, why did it take 4 months? And what’s next for the channel? Well, we’ll get into all of that, but first, let’s get a bit deeper into Japan. There was a place I wanted to show you around. Hi. Okay. Okay. Hi. Hi. Hi. We have arrived at a temple. Shikoku is a very spiritual place and there’s a lot of people that go here to do a pilgrimage where they visit 88 temples. And this is apparently 43 according to this man. And look at that. This is why you come to Chicago. Oh wow. [Music] One of the main reasons that we chose the island of Shikoku for this adventure is the 88 temple pilgrimage trail. A circular route stretching about 1,200 km across the island. Many people come here to seek spiritual healing, to reflect on life and to honor Kobo Daishi, the great Buddhist monk who founded Shingong Buddhism, one of the major sects of Japanese Buddhism. Pilgrims believe that during their journey they are never alone. As Koboaii walks besides them spiritually and for our own journey across Shikoku we like to believe the same thing. This was amazing. Yeah, right. Instantly such a cool experience. Let’s get it first. I’m so excited for the rest of Yeah, I was just so hyped to be back, man. It’s been too long, dude. It had been over 1 and 1/2 years since we had last gone on an adventure together. If you’re watching this, you’ll probably know us from our last project where Pim and I traveled to all seven continents without any money. No problem. I spent over one and a half years working on that project. And by the end, I had accomplished my biggest dream of blowing up on YouTube, which I had been chasing for 5 years. But it came at a price. By the end of it, I was near burnout. And so afterwards, I had to take a few weeks off. Is he going to take us to another one? Oh, dude. I think we’re going to get food. What a kind man. Right. How amazing is he’s literally doing everything to make sure we’re enjoying ourselves. And now we’re getting ice cream. We didn’t even ask him any of this. We just asked for a ride. Oh, wow. Cheers. Wow. Arato. [Music] Okay. He’s uh dropping us off here at the next town. Thank you so much. You are our emperor. Thank you. Okay. Thank you so much. Oh, big. Bye-bye. Say Si dropped us off in Namura. And little did we know that soon things were going to get a whole lot more interesting as we tried to make our way to our next destination, Yuhara. But first, we had to get there. During this adventure, we are constantly looking up the best places to hitchhike to on Google Maps, researching the area. And to do that, we are using SY data plans. SY is an eim and the sponsor of today’s video. Ever since eims became a thing, I’ve never used a physical SIM card ever again. That’s because eSIMs are way cheaper. They’re much easier to use and they help you avoid unexpected roaming charges. All you have to do is download SY on your phone. In the app, it lets you choose a plan for over 190 countries and you simply select the region or country that you plan to visit. I only spent $25 for my 20 GB plan in Japan, which lasted for 30 days. And on top of that, if you use the promo code free travel, you can get a 15% discount to make it even cheaper. The nice thing about an eim is that once it’s installed, it already works upon arrival. So once you land, you can text your mom that you landed safely and you can navigate to your hotel. If you travel to a new country, you won’t have to install a new eim. And you can also easily add extra data on the road. So if we would have ran out of data in the middle of nowhere in Shikoku, we could have easily bought a few extra gigabytes. And also by using s you avoid having to use public Wi-Fi networks which can be quite unsafe. So using SYL also means enhanced security. So if you’re going on an adventure soon, I’d highly recommend you use SY. Use your exclusive 15% discount by using the code free travel at checkout. Download the SY app or go to s.com/free travel. Just minutes after we got dropped off, we coincidentally ran into a girl from England. Once again, you live here? Yeah. Wa, I’m jealous. Why are you guys here? What do you rate our outfits? 10 out of 10. Right. Yes. Yes. I have a question for you. Yes. Would you like to buy us some food? Yeah, sure. A Let’s go. Yes. Sorry. What’s your name? Lydia. Lydia. I got this. And right now you just Do you want to drink? Uh, sure. Sure. We’ll take it. Yeah. Well, what are we going to get? Um, um, I would like some caffeine. Alcohol. Alcohol and caffeine. Alcohol and caffeine. Now, let’s get a beer for the sunset tonight. That’d be fire, right? But what about normal drink? We need to stay hydrated, bro. We can get water at a tap. Okay, we’ll get a beer. Absolute legend. Thank you. Would you say you you’re accepted in this village or is it because I have the stereotype of Japanese people that it’s kind of hard to integrate into their culture as a foreigner? Yeah, I think when I first arrived, I felt like that, but it was more like the paranoia, like the things that I’ve been told. And then when I actually showed up at my school, I was like, “Wait, because I’m the only foreigner in this town, people just want to help me and like will always like check on me.” I I am homesick, of course, but like being here, I think I’ve felt like the least stress I’ve ever felt in my life. Like I just go home and I’m like content. Also, there’s no like financial worries because I think I’d be like £80 a month for my £8 a month for my house. Oh my god. You have a whole house. Yeah. I have a two a twotory house with like that backs onto a farm. That’s amazing. I have a balcony that like overlooks like a temple. Wow. Thank you so much. Nice to meet you. See you. This looks amazing. First proper meal of the day. Let’s dig in. Water refill. Thank you, dude. Oh. Come on. Let’s get it, boys. [Music] What is your name? My name is Pim. Hi. She’s bringing us icicles. Wow, dude. We’re getting absolutely spoiled. Cheers. Reubenz, if you haven’t subscribed yet, do it. What are you doing? Why aren’t you subscribed yet? Please. Our next target is to get the next plaque. We already conquered the 100K plaque in the last series and so 1 million’s next. So, please help us get there. Subscribe. Like this later. The last project single-handedly took the channel from 5,000 subs to 270,000 subs. And so, after a few essential weeks of rest, I started feeling the pressure to upload again because this was my one and only chance to keep my YouTube dream alive. As of now, though, I still do most of the behind-the-scenes things on this channel myself. And the reality is that brainstorming ideas, planning trips, editing, all of that adds up very quickly, which is why it took 4 months to be back to uploading again. Onsen onen. Hi go. Uh, my hiato. Oh, you’re going to go to your first onen, bro. Dude, I’m so excited to go to Dude, there’s no better feeling in the world than being surrounded by 10 naked 80-year-old Japanese men that are staring at your car. It’s like it’s the best feeling ever. I’m so excited. Let’s go. Let’s go. Thank you so much for everything. Can I give you a hug? Okay. Picture. Okay. Okay. Okay. Take it. Okay. Okay. Thank you so much. Bye-bye. Bye. We cannot film any onen. It’s not allowed. But we’ll take you with us with an animation. And before I knew it, we were indeed surrounded by a bunch of old naked Japanese men. Onsons are natural hotring bats created by volcanic activity. And it’s a tradition that goes back more than a thousand years. Samurai once soaked after battles to heal their wounds. And today, visitors come here to relax and to calm the mind. Sitting there surrounded by nature and watching the sunset behind the mountains offered a nice opportunity for me to stop thinking about filming for a second and to just be present. [Music] All right, that was an amazing experience. Really grateful that I got to experience that. Now, the plan is to find a ride into town because we’re quite hungry. And then after that, we’ll find a spot to camp. camp. Oh, and we are traveling. No. I don’t know what’s happening. I think they’re having discussion about what to do with us. We’ll pay for it. So, come stay at Riders In. What? Really? Did it? Oh, that’s amazing. Thank you so much, man. Where where is that? That’s amazing. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you, you guys. Legends. You guys legend. Bro, bro, bro, let’s go, man. We only started asking people like 1 minute after we finished the onen. And already, again, we didn’t even ask for this. We asked just like, “Hey, can we get a ride into town?” Okay, let’s go. Together, let’s go. Okay. Okay. We’re being guided to our hotel in the dark here by our new friends. This is it. This is it. This is our home. [Music] Oh no. All right. Are you sure? Oh my surprise. No money. They’re noodles. That’s amazing. She works at the onen and she heard that we don’t have money and so then she went to get instant noodles. Tomorrow event tomorrow 8:30 really amazing. Okay, dude. We already ride for tomorrow. Legends. Thank you so much. Yes, we love we love giving. Yeah, you like giving. Ah, beautiful. Yes. Have a good Thank you. Thank you. Bye. Bye-bye. Thank you so much for everything. Thank you, Arato. Bye-bye. Oh, dude. So inspiring that they said we like giving. I I love that so much. Damn, we like giving. I feel like that’s kind of a theme here. The theme of the whole day, right? People they they genuinely seem to enjoy giving. It’s not because they feel obliged to. It’s something that’s so deeply rooted into their culture that it’s just they just love doing it, right? It’s amazing. So inspiring, man. Cheers, guys. Campai. campai. It had been a great day, but the challenge was far from over. We still had a lot of things we wanted to experience in Shikoku, including wild camping at a scenic spot. And we still had a long way to hitchhike to the other side of the island as well. And so we woke up early the next morning. You like my outfit? Okay, let’s go. What a way to wake up. Instant ride. So, let’s try to make it further northeast towards the other side of Chicago. [Music] So, how does it feel to finally accomplish a dream that you’ve been chasing for 5 years? Well, it feels amazing. I can’t tell you how happy I get every time I realize that this is starting to be my job now. Meeting strangers, exploring this beautiful world and sharing hopeful stories. It’s the dream life and I’m so grateful to be living it. Hi. Hi. Oniri. Hi. You’re going to have your first anigiri. Uh, okay. Wow. Literally the perfect way to wake up. Insane views, coffee. Cheers, gang. Cheers. Kind stranger and some food. And no seat belt. Without a seat belt is just a little scary, dude. The way she drives over these mountain roads. No, no, no. Don’t Don’t drive on that side. I don’t Yeah, I don’t like this. This is it. This is our last day. Don’t say that. Please don’t say that. I’m calling it. Shut the [ __ ] up. Calling it. That is crazy. That is crazy. Oh my lord. Look at this. Guys, I’m holding on for dear life. And the way she’s smiling while she’s smiling. That’s the best part. Wagyu beef. Wow. toa red beef. Let’s get it. Yeah. Okay. Right. Okay. I think they’re tasty. Yeah, I think so, too. Bye, tasty cows. Thank you so much for showing us around. We are very grateful. Hey, this is a good Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Let’s go. Let’s go, dude. Bro, we’re alive. [Music] We’re stranded here on top of the mountain and uh barely anyone goes here obviously because there’s nothing to see here at this viewpoint. In the afternoon of day two, our streak of luck finally ended. Oh boy. Hiko. Hi. Hi. Sorry. Tushita. Okay. Sorry. Sorry. No. Okay. Okay. Okay. No. Okay. Arato. After 2 hours, we finally found a ride down the mountain. Let’s go, dude. We thought we were saved, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. Well, looks like we’re stranded again in a place without much traffic. Honestly, there’s less traffic here than on the top of the mountain just now. We’re not at all progressing as fast as we need to to make it to the other side of Shikoko by the end of this within 3 days. It’s crazy that we started 5 hours ago and we we’re 18 minutes away from our starting point. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. It’s okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Oh, wow. Sorry. Sorry. [Music] Nice to meet you. So, uh Oh, you’re like a king. The king of the castle. Oh, yes. Thank you so much. Thank you. Ice cream. 1 2 3. Okay. Bye-bye. Gam, right, let’s get some food. Very good. It’s getting late. The sun is almost set. Yeah, I think it’s very likely going to be wild camping. Yeah. After the sunset, we hitched one more ride and eventually found a beautiful spot to camp. Decision has been made. We are going to wild camp right there on the bank of the river. What a beautiful place. Look at this. A kind lady in the area filled up our water bottles and brought us to the best wild camping spot along the river at the campsite. And by the time we were there, it was already dark. We found our camping spot that set up the tent. All right, she’s all ready for us. We have our beers, dude. To all the people that helped us today. Yeah. Campai. Kai. No better way to end the day than with a beer, the sound of a river. It’s crazy how we just didn’t experience this for one and a half years and then the moment we’re back to it, it’s just the same magic. How does it feel to be back on adventures? Dude, I can’t tell you how amazing it is. I’ve literally been visualizing this moment where we’re just out on the road again, the two of us, for one and a half years while I was just non-stop sat in my room editing, just wondering whether all the editing is worth it, wondering whether all that work is going to come to something. So, and then the whole series blew up and this is the first trip paid for by YouTube. So, I’m so freaking hyped and so grateful that it all just worked out. Are you present enough though? because it must be hard like Yeah. On the one hand, now there are also expectations. Exactly. Exactly. So, on the one hand, I’m super hyped to just be back doing this and at the same time, there’s a little part of me that’s still scared that it’ll drop off. And, you know, there there is this pressure to keep this up. Despite the fact that it feels amazing to be living the dream, I can’t help but feel stressed at times. Over the last 5 years, I’ve sacrificed a lot for this dream, and now that I have it, I can’t lose it. How’s it for you coming back from your new life in Australia? I’m I’m so super hyped and Yeah, like there’s nothing that makes me more happy than telling stories with you. Yeah. Uh traveling the world, interacting with people, sharing love, and uh Yeah. I just I just hope we’re happy with the result. Yeah. And that’s our own expectations weren’t too high. [Music] Good morning. Good morning. Lots of ground to make still to make it to the other side of the island. But first, let’s take a swim. So, I bought these swimming wear and Reuben thinks it’s for promotion for company, but they’re actually going to dissolve as soon as he touches the water. So, there’s this company called Dissolve and they make amazing swimwear and sports clothing. And look at that. Beautiful swimming pants. Let’s test it out. Dissolve is the [ __ ] You look so good in those swimwear, bro. Thank you, man. Shout out to Soul Diesel. Diesel. Yeah. My favorite company. Three, two, one, go. [Music] Holy [ __ ] bro. What the hell? What’s going on? Wonder what’s going on, Reuben. Yeah, you bought this on purpose. Ain’t no company. Dissolve is such a good company, dude. What the [ __ ] is Because they dissolve in water. [ __ ] So Pim was like, “Yeah, I got this this company. You just have to wear this wear and then they’ll send us some nice clothes.” cuz I was like [ __ ] ser and now I’m looking down at my car. What the [ __ ] is [Laughter] what? They genuinely deserve this. My god, I’m done. What the [ __ ] [Music] Right, day three. I think we’re going to be here a while. Yeah. Again, this is not a spot where we can talk to people, so someone’s going to have to stop, which usually takes a while. I’m super hungry. I really need some food. I didn’t eat enough the last two days. Same. Oh, I’m so tired. I’m so hungry. With every car that passes, our chances of making it to the other end of Shikoku are getting smaller and smaller. We’ve been here so long. I don’t know what to do anymore. Let’s try without the outfits. Yeah. Valley. Uh or finally. Yes. Oh, it’s been 2 hours. We still had lots of ground to cover and our 72 hours were almost up. But first, we had other interests. Oh, there’s even a little convenience store here, I think. Awesome. Oh, we’re so hungry. I smell the food. You smell that? All right. These people will help us. Food for us. Oh. Oh, let’s go, dude. Yes. Okay, dude. Japan is too easy for this. Oh, wow. This is so cool. Okay. Okay. Okay. Let’s go, dude. This is perfect. Oh, look at this table. They’ve just got this huge grill plate that keeps the food warm and they just eat off of it. Look at this, bro. This is exactly what we want. Yeah. So, this is fresh raw fish and then another cooked fish and then some vegetables, chicken. Delicious. This is what I’ve been dreaming about for the last 3 hours. Reuben. Pim. Hi. Pim. Hi. And you? Tada. Tada. Tada. Yamasta. Yamashta. Yamasta. My name isro. Crazy. Crazy. Akiro. Akishiro. Hani. Hani. Nice. Now repeat all those names. Reuben. Come by. Come by. Come by. Kai, [Music] Wow, look at this. We just keep getting more food. Oh, man. This food, man. Completely reviving me, right? Are we ever going to stop eating it? No. It took Did any of you ever do the 88 temple pilgrimage? I am currently working to have the Shikoku pilgrimage registered as a world heritage site. Wow. Wow. Very good. Very good. Wow. A word that these people kept repeating to us was omotashi and it defined exactly what we had been experiencing for the past days. Omoashi is a Japanese concept encompassing deeprooted philosophy of hospitality characterized by selfless service and a genuine desire to create a positive experience for others. It emphasizes thoughtfulness, respect, and a sincere effort to anticipate and fulfill needs without expecting anything in return. It’s something that people in Shikoku clearly live by, and it was so inspiring to experience it firsthand. We can really feel that the culture of hospitality is so big here in Shikoku. So, thank you very much. Okay. Hello. you. Ah, thank you. What’s happening? Okay, we play with you. Okay. Okay. You I’m off now to greet the train called Millennium Story. Okay, let’s go. Okay. I think there’s a train coming in like 20 minutes and they’re going to greet the train. Very good. Very good. Very good. Right. All right, we’re on our we’re on our way to greet the train. This is the funniest [ __ ] I’ve ever done in my life. Look at this. They’re on their way to greet the train. Pim doesn’t even know he’s he’s on the toilet. Pim, come omashi. Omashi. Here he was again. It seemed that welcoming visitors with a reception ritual was also part of how the locals practice ominashi. Okay. Don’t even ask. I stopped mid poop for this. Apparently, a train is coming and they’re going to greet the train. Huh? And they gave me these drums to greet the train. Oh, you have drums. [Music] What is going on, dude? [Music] I think I’m just going to leave you here. You’re perfectly in your natural habitat. I’ll just stay here for the rest of my life. Yeah, dude. [Laughter] [Music] [Music] 2 minutes. 2 minutes. Okay, the train is coming in 2 minutes. [Music] How did we end up here? But I have no clue. [Music] Woo! Yeah, wow. That was amazing. My is go to Okay, we we come with you. Yeah. Oh, amazing. Let’s go, dude. Nice. What’s the story about this train? Sorry, I was pooping at the time. Dude, I don’t know either. I know as much as you. They just put a drum in my in my hands. They’re like, there’s a train coming. We’re going to greet the train. Dude, I died when we walked. Giving us more food. Dude, they prepared a whole food package for us. No way. Wow. It’s full of chicken and tomato and beer. Amazing. Let’s go. Wow. You made it a happy life. Happy life. Okay. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Yeah. Happy life. Bye-bye. Oh, what an experience. I love it. Thank you. Thank you, man. Okay. Even though our last day was nearly over, we still had a long way to go. And so, for the rest of the day, we hitchhiked like crazy in an attempt to make it to the beach before the 72-hour limit we set for ourselves was over. So, we’re going further east. Thank you so much, man. Put your stuff in. All right. Thank you very much. Thank you, man. Enjoy it. Pleasure. [Music] Let’s go. Let’s go. Let’s go. Let’s go. Okay. Can we come with you? Now, these people were initially going to drop us an hour down the road, but then we’re going to the beach. Would you like Okay. Hi. Hi. Hi. Arato. Arato. They offered to drop us all the way at the beach, which was hours upon hours out of their way. But they seem to enjoy our company and wanted to help. Tim’s asleep. He doesn’t know it. But they’re taking us straight to the beach, which means what? Freaking conquered the challenge. Are they going to take us to the beach? Yeah. Beach. Hey, dude. Let’s go, bro. Hey, no problem. No problem. No problem. No problem. As we hitchhiked our final ride of this adventure and crept closer to the beach, we reflected on the past few days. And there was one word that summarized our experience perfectly. The selfless culture of hospitality on this island had been tangible from the very moment we started. You are very kind and we are very grateful for this experience. We enjoy. Yeah. Apart from the few times that we were really stranded in the middle of nowhere without many cars, this has been so easy and uh that’s all because of the kind people here. [Music] Now omatanashi might be a Japanese term, but it’s something that we’ve been lucky enough to experience all over the world in every single continent. And every time we do this, we’re recharged with a sense of hope and a feeling that the world isn’t as bad as we sometimes feel it is. Nothing makes me happier than sharing these hopeful stories with all of you watching. And so, if you’re still here after the series, after the 4 month silence, and after this long video, I can’t thank you enough. And don’t worry, we’re not stopping anytime soon. Despite the doubts and fears, I’m so confident that we’re on the right path. Right now, we have truly made it out of the mountains. We’re creeping closer and closer to our end goal, which is the sea. As for our plans for this channel, our dreams are endless. Our goal is to continue on the path that we carved with the last series and to build the best adventure channel on the platform. This video is the first of six of the Japan series. And over the next year, you can expect a lot of experimenting with different concepts on this channel. I’m not sure where this is going, but I have the feeling we’ve barely scratched the surface of a very long and beautiful journey. And I’m so grateful to have every single one of you here with us for the ride. Okay, we made it to the beach. [Music] Thank you for tuning in again and welcome to season 2 project sunrise. [Music] Sunrise sunrise. [Music]

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HINODE. Chapter 1: Omotenashi

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