Well… I wasn’t expecting this in Japan

Well… I wasn’t expecting this in Japan

It’s okay. I’m just going to pop that there just in case you fancy having half. My dreams haven’t come true. If anything, I’m disillusioned with life. Give me a break as a separate one. Yeah, it’s going to be a big statue if you can actually walk around inside it. [Applause] I wasn’t expecting this at all. Hey everyone, welcome to Japan. [Music] All right. This is called the vending machine that makes dreams come true. It’s a,000 yen. It’s like £5, $6 to use this vending machine. But it looks like you can win all manner of stuff. There’s a razor, a watch. I think I can win Pokémon cards or a drone. I’ve got to try a thousand yen vending machine. Especially when you can make my dreams come true. Are there YouTube subscribers in here? Here goes nothing. It’s the illusion of choice. All of these buttons say push to make your dreams come true. We’re going to go with that one. What have I got? It’s big. Will it be worth a,000 yen? Oh my god. I have no idea what this is. What I’ve won is a a cheap tatty piece of brick rack that rolls a piece of string. Absolutely worthless. My dreams haven’t come true. If anything, I’m disillusioned with life. But you have to try. I could have just got Pokémon cards with this money. I wanted the Louis Vuitton back. This is a really cool street though. It feels like stepping back in time. It’s really smoky down here. All these old little hole in the wall dive shops. Big puddles on the floor. Right underneath the Sakaza subway station. And it’s a really popular area, but there’s not many people down here. Stepping back in time. This is what the rest of the area looks like. I’ve seen the view outside here so many times, I feel like. So, it’s funny walking down the street. Are we in? Okay. This is Thanks for coming. David Bull and his shop in Asak as to you. Asaka. Asaka. Asaka. Sound like a pro. I’ll try. I’ll try to sound like a pro. I’m a big fan. So, I came into the shop to say hello. Hasn’t even told me who he is yet. Matthew very nice to meet you. Getting nervous. It’s okay. But in here they do all these woodprints and a lot of these are carved by David himself. As you can see, it says right here, and they’re wonderful. Okay, maybe you know this already. Okay, how do you select the low light mode? I don’t know. I just have it set up and I’m trying not to change it as I go. You know what I mean? It took me over half an hour. I Oh, it’s in there as a separate as a separate kid as a separate one. Yeah. Thanks for coming in. Thank you. That was David B, wood carver extraordinaire and his shop. What a nice fell. We didn’t spend too much time talking about wood carving, but we spent a lot of time talking about the camera I’m using. Yeah, he’s a incredibly talented wood carver. Wow, that was such a privilege going to David Bull’s shop. He’s such a wonderful person. I’ve enjoyed his videos for years and I don’t know, it was just a real privilege to get to meet him and just have a little snoop around his shop and interrupt his sandwich. If you’re ever in Asaka, you should um absolutely pop by if you want a fantastic handcrafted made with love and passion gift. Yeah, recommend that. And I’ll link to all his stuff. I mean, his he had his silver plaque in the window. One day, one day I’ll have a silver plaque as well. I’m doing something a little bit different than what I normally do right now. I’ve actually signed up for something. I’m off to go do a Japanese traditional tea tasting. I’ve got no idea what to expect. Yeah, I’m a little bit self-conscious about going to this because I doubt many people go on their own. And it’s like 37° almost 100 out and I’ve completely sweat through everything I own. So I don’t really feel prepared to go have a sit down in close quarters with other people. What’s the worst that can happen? I’m slightly embarrassed and awkward for an hour. I’ll get over it. Might even be good. We’re right over the road here from the University of Tokyo. I’m looking for a green sign apparently with the word Oaru on it. This is the place. Hi. Hello. There’s a chance I’m doing this on my own, I think. And I am nervous. We’ll see how it goes. Britain they open the box and it’s black. So they call it black. Yes. Yes. Oh wow. That’s so different to anything I’ve ever had. Yes. And then I want to go to the countryside somewhere. I don’t know where yet. Uh, I want to go away from the city for a few days. Yeah, maybe the like north part is like more. Mhm. I’m trying a little bit first. Yes. Eating tea leaves. Huh? I’m getting a full lesson. I’m going to be building after this, I think, with all the caffeine. He’s actually get even more tea. I’ve now had the green tea, eaten the green tea, had the black tea. I’m learning a lot. Oh, I see. Oh, yeah. Gotcha. And upside down to Yeah, it’s And today we use five g to make matcha. So, open your cup. Relax your arm. I’m tense. I’m Yeah, because you’re tense and it’s uh impossible to make very quick move. Oh, I see. So, relax. Relax. Not only use your wrist, not only use your elbow. Elbow. Yeah. Like imagine use your whole arm. Strong chance I messed this up. It’s not as good as yours, but it’s okay. Yeah. But very good. Very good. And then with your right hand, turn clockwise three times. One, two, three. And this one golden fish in there. Oh dear. A little fish. Yeah. Do I cut it in half or? Yeah. Yeah. You having half? Oh, no. No. You sure? No. No. It’s I think you should have half. No, no, no. It’s okay. I’m just going to pop that there just in case you fancy having half. M. and filming things all the time for stuff like this cannot concentrate one things and uh yeah it’s easily to forget why I’m uh have some form what should I do I forget gen matcha gen matcha gen matcha yes brown rice tea wow that’s really nice it’s very like popular in Japan as well like because very not bitter Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. This was wonderful. Thank you so much. Wow, that was such a calm, peaceful, informative, and wonderful experience. I found out about this from Get Your Guide, unsponsored, unless they want to sponsor, and I’ll put the link below. So, if you want to do the same thing, you can. and it’s just by Tokyo University, so it’s not too hard to find. But that was wonderful. What um one-off experience. I’m so pleased I decided to do this and didn’t, you know, chicken out cuz I’m doing it on my own. Trying to get run over now. I’m desperate for a wei. I’ll tell you how much. [Music] [Applause] I’m in Kawagua, which is about an hour or 2 hours away from Tokyo, depending on where you start from in Tokyo. Took me two hours to get here. It’s a famous old uh town. It’s got some old streets. It’s nicknamed Little Edo. So, let’s go have a bit of an explore. All right, let’s try not to get run over by a bike and work out where I’m going. Let’s go. There was a thunderstorm here in Tokyo last night. So, the temperature here is like 10° colder than it has been anywhere else, which is wonderful because it might be the first day in a month I won’t die from heat exhaustion. There’s even a bit of drizzle. It feels like home. This area is the warehouse district, I think. So, a lot of these old buildings are a couple hundred years old or 100 years old. They’re still the faces of the old warehouses that were here. They’ve all been turned into shops. But this area was known as the place that provided all the food for Tokyo. Those little paper balloons are called kami fussa, I believe. And they used to be given out as like a free gift after you’ve been to the pharmacist or a doctor’s appointment. And they’re meant to be modeled after things that will make you smile. That’s why they look like penguins and pandas. There are lots of people selling lots of things that I don’t need, but I do kind of want. You definitely don’t feel like you’re anywhere near Tokyo. when you’re walking down here, which is fantastic. I’ve got nothing against Tokyo. I’m very excited about going into Tokyo. But this is more my speed. While he’s down here, something. Nothing. Who knows? He just lured me down. What is this place? Whatever it was, I know I wasn’t meant to be in there. I get the feeling. I’m just snooping around. Snoop around the back alleys. It’s cool walking through. There’s all these workshops and you can see people making pottery, making knives, making all manner of things, food. What a wonderful little place. What is this place? This bell tower is meant to be the symbol of the city here. And it was a bell tower first. It was built in about 1600 something. And then they built a fire tower on top of the bell tower. And then the bell tower burnt down. And even this reconstructed tower is way over a hundred years old. It’s a very beautiful symbol of the city. I think it says here it burned down a bunch of times. Wow. Everywhere you walk around here feels like a little secret garden. It’s pretty wonderful. Let’s keep on exploring. I’m a big fan so far. You know, the one thing that stops me in some Asian countries is that I hate red bean paste. And there’s always red bean paste in everything. Custard I like, but you never know what you’re going to get. Are you going to get red bean paste? Are you going to get custard? Good day or bad day lies directly on that. You know, it sounds silly and obviously it’s a bit of a touristy thing to think, but this is what I want from Japan. Old streets, wooden buildings. I want all of Japan to be like it was about 100 years ago, only open to the public and still has Google Maps. I am just very happy to be here. It’s without a doubt. I’ve always wanted to come to Japan, so I’m very happy to be here. Finally, I am wandering down another alley right now. Gosh, there’s not that many people here. There really aren’t many tourists, foreign or Japanese, or just that many people here at all. It’s great. Don’t you love it when wandering pays off? I found a place called Penny Candy Lane. Apparently, this place used to make all of the candy for Japan after an earthquake hit Tokyo. This was the only place that made candy, so it made all the candy for the entire country. Used to be 70 sweet shops around here. I like sweets. Well, can you imagine how it would have smelled 100 years ago when there was 70 sweet shops all operating here? Pretty good, I bet. [Music] Thank you. I got to the other one. What did I get? I’m not 100% sure, but let’s try it. I just tried to find one that didn’t say sweet potato. I don’t know what these are actually called, but I’ve seen them before, but I’ve never had one before. Wow. I wasn’t sure if they were going to be sweet or savory. They’re very savory. They’re so salty. They taste like a little chewy dumpling covered in soy sauce or some type of salty sauce. I like them. They’re like Japan’s version of is the way I would describe them. Salty, salty. [Laughter] Did you see those guys? Oh man, what a dream parade. If you’ve only got a few days in Tokyo and you want to go somewhere to do something that feels traditional, feels like the Japan from the back of your mind and you want to eat all the baked goods and see the workshops and see the old buildings, come here. I really recommend this place. It’s just been wonderful. This is a very peaceful place to try that snack I bought. I have no idea what it is. It’s probably sweet potato in it. Let’s give it a shot. A special way to open this thing. Come on. That’ll do it. Just like a little cake. Smells good. Like a little fruit cake. Not against that. While avoiding the one made of sweet potato, I have found the one filled with red beans. But it’s pretty good. It would be like a fruit cake if it had fruit in and not beans, if that makes sense. It’s very sweet, nutty almost. It’s pretty good. What’s important is it’s from Penny Candy Alley, which is where I wanted to buy a sweet from. It’s definitely got beans in there. I like beans, just not in sweets. It’s not my favorite thing I’ve ever had in my whole life, but it’s not terrible. And what’s important is in my mind at least, it’s authentic and that’s what counts. Not 100% sure, but that looks like kitsune to me. The fox spirit. This has to be one of the best places I’ve ever come to that I’ve just wandered around and stumbled upon just beautiful and interesting things. I’m trying to go to a certain temple and I just got sidelined here because this was equally lovely. Right, better keep on the straight and narrow otherwise I’ll never get to where I’m trying to go to. So, we’re still in Kagawave, but I’ve come to a place called Kitain Palace. And what’s cool about this place is it’s all that’s left of the original Edo Palace in Tokyo because the Shogun around here had some of the buildings moved from that Imperial Palace to here and then the Imperial Palace was destroyed in an earthquake and in World War II. So these buildings which were transplanted here are all that’s left of the original castle. the the original palace. What a cool place. What’s peculiar to me at least is that other than a few school kids, there’s no one here at all. [Music] Even by the standards of this smaller town, that was a very peaceful place to be. [Music] See today, [Music] I’ve come back into Tokyo now, and the plan for the first half of the day at least is I’m going to make some chopsticks because I’m I’m very crafty. I’m a crafty man. I’m not. I’m terrible, but I’m going to make some chopsticks. That’s what I’m doing. So, I’m coming to a workshop here in Tokyo to see how chopsticks are all made and I’m going to get it done. I believe in myself. One down, one to go. [Music] So next is sanding. We have two sanding papers. One is for the edges, the corners tip and this tip. And number two is for the surfaces of that size. Rub it and sand it. Got I don’t know how much I meant to sand this. Sand them into non-existent. I’ve sanded within an inch of my life. I’m good. I’m good. I’m good. Thank you. Thank you so much. And you? Have a nice day. Well, I’ve made chopsticks. That was a fun little excursion. I enjoyed that. And I’ll tell you now, both of the women who were Anyway, it’s fine. Let’s not think about that. But it’s my mom’s birthday coming up. And while not wellcrafted, they were, you know, they were handmade from the heart. So maybe that’s a good gift. Yeah, I recommend doing that if you got some time and some friends to go and made chopsticks with. It was good. Here they are, the finished product. And they use the filings as packaging, which is pretty smart. on this way. [Music] Good morning. It’s a sleepy Sunday morning here. I’ve come down to Kamakura, which is about it’s about an hour away from central Tokyo. Took me about an hour 45 to get here. It’s meant to be one of the nicest day trips to take out of Tokyo. And don’t get me wrong, Tokyo is great, but it’s busy. There’s a lot of people. This is quieter. In fact, so quiet nothing’s open yet, which I’m assuming is going to change. Where am I going? These are helpful. Kind of feel like I’m just trapesing off into the woods. Even if there’s nothing to see and do here, it’s just nice to be in a small, quiet town away from everything. Yes, this is so steep. It’ probably be more peaceful here if everyone wasn’t weed whacking. About a thousand years ago, a Shinto believer had a vision that there would be a spring here that a god told him that there would be a magical a healing spring of some description here. So, he went up into the mountains and sure enough, this is what he found. And the folklore that grew around this was that any money that was washed in the waters from the shrines around here in the springs would come back to you many times over once spent. So, I have a plan. Well, I thought it made sense to wash my whole bank account if I can. So, theoretically, all the money that I spend in my account should Look, it’s a theory. I’m working on it. You got to try, don’t you? You can tell I’ve kind of got here early. They’re still opening up shop, all those little stands so that you can buy incense and buy offerings. I’m not a thousand% sure where I am right now, but I have to say it looks nice. I’m just wandering off into the woods again. The birds just sound absolutely incredible around here. if you can hear them. This place is amazing. Oh, there’s a sign. Let’s read the sign. Looks like this was place was set up by the same person as the last place. And he had another dream when he was ill. And he also started the shogunus around here. So I guess he was some type of military leader as well, setting up all these shrines in Kamakura. I know he’s probably a fierce deity of some description, but he is wearing a cute little bandana. There’s just thousands of those little statues. Looks like they’re revamping this place. A bit under construction. It’s funny whenever you walk around somewhere like this, you feel like you’re just walking into another world. I know it sounds a bit cliche, but it feels like you could be spirited away. All right, on with my mission for the day. Lots to go, lots to see. What a nice little hidden gem. Well, hidden. There’s just no one here. It’s on the map. We got the same plan. I tell you what, a good old Japanese lady just said good morning to me and it did feel good. Country road, take me home. I was just reading this sign, making sure I knew exactly where I was going, when I realized it’s it’s just right here. The place isn’t as big as the map makes it look. Actually, difficult to get lost. It’s kind of difficult to get into scale just how big this giant bronze Buddha is. It’s 93 tons. Apparently, that’s a lot of bronze. I’m guessing those are his shoes. He used to be inside a building, but the building kept on getting destroyed by storms over and over and over again. So, they decided just to have it as an outdoor Buddha. It’s going to be a big statue if you can actually walk around inside it. Wow, this is so cool. It’s not every day they let you go inside the Buddha. Other than the temples and the shrines, Kamakura has a very it’s a seaside town. It’s got that kind of feeling of a seaside town with seaside town shops and things to do and see. And it really does feel like a nice place to come and get away from Tokyo. It really does. I’m on the wrong side of the tracks here. I don’t know how to get to the other side without paying again. Who knows? We’ll find out. I need to be on that side. I think he’s done that before. I have no idea what’s going on. So, there’s a little train that you can get. I don’t know how all this works, if I’m honest. We’ll find out. I think this should work. Theoretically, I can get to my next destination on a little train. We’ll find out. I don’t know how often this little train is. My guess not very. [Music] You know, I was going to ride the train all the way to my next destination. I think I saw a car boot sale. So, that’s exciting. Holy crap, there was a car boot sale. I think there’s like a surfing tournament going on. So, I guess this is all set up for that. Or maybe just it’s a Sunday morning type of thing around here. It feels as though it’s less of a car boot sale, more of like a pop-up vintage market. There’s a lot of cool clothes and stuff here. It doesn’t feel like it all came out of someone’s closet. We’re going over there. How far is that? In my mind, not very. In reality, it is definitely in the distance. I’ll be honest, this walk isn’t quite as lovely and picturesque as I was hoping it would be. It’s just on a road and in the distance that turns out it’s about 2 milesi away. So, I’m just going to do that. Holy crap, that bike is cool. I need to work on learning how to ride a moped and a motorbike and stuff like that. I think that could help me on these journeys. That’s the thing with being foreign, right? I’d love to know what was going on. Take part even. I don’t. I’m an outsider. Honestly, I don’t even know if I meant to be walking up here. But everyone’s drinking beer, so I think I’m all right. I’d love to be taking part. I just I just have no idea what it is. Well, I’m glad I walked instead of getting the train so I wouldn’t have seen all this stuff. So, that’s something, right? That’s got to be good. This island I’ve been walking to is called Inoshima. It’s my last stop in Kakura. So, let’s have a little look around and see what’s going on. Certainly seems to be a lot of people. I’m glad I started so early today. It’s packed now. This isn’t one I was expecting at all. It’s cool though. Just heaving with people. Feels like today’s the day to be here. I’ve joined a crowd of people. So, we’ll see what’s happening. [Applause] Whatever was going on involved a lot of shouting, a lot of drinking, and a lot of nakedity. But everyone seemed to have a great time, and so did I. So, I feel very lucky to have stumbled upon all this today by accident. I was just here to peacefully enjoy some shrines. But, you know, that’s what you get when you wander around. You speak English? Yes. Actually, I’m a YouTuber. I interviewing foreigner. Just a few question. So, thanks for your time. Yeah. Where you from? I’m from the UK. UK. How long have you been in Japan? Like, what is going on today? Something’s happening today. I have no idea what it is. I’ve been enjoying it, but I don’t know what’s going on. So, yeah, a bit of isolation, loneliness, I think. Really? I see. How do you deal with it? Pardon? How do you deal with it? Uh, smile and get on with it and try to enjoy as much as you can. Just enjoy as much as you can. So, I’ve just done a street interview. My second street interview whilst I’ve been traveling in the last few weeks. Hi guys. I was going to ask, yeah, do you know what the celebration is today? people all the drums and people walking around the streets and over there right yeah yeah so actually uh I’m familiar with that you know traditional thing but so they wearing so traditional clothes right yeah so which is called mawashi mashi mawashi so mashi is always uh like you know uh always so small restaurant wearing it yeah so that’s why like I don’t know why they are wearing that clothes today but like pretty traditional thing around here. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They’re having a great time. There’s a lot of shouting going on and a lot of drinking happening today, I’ve noticed. So, but I’m enjoying it. So, anyway, thank you. Yeah. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. I probably should have mentioned my YouTube channel. Eh, I absolutely didn’t. But the comforting thing was is that that Japanese guy also didn’t know what was going on today really other than it’s lots of traditional stuff which makes me feel a little bit better about it. Feels kind of weird but everyone is drinking so I’m joining in. You can pay to go on an escalator all the way to the top. Apparently it’s 260 steps. 260 steps. Child’s play. I’ll pound this then. Pound those steps. I don’t even know what’s at the top of this if I’m honest. Everyone just seems to be going up there. So, that’s where I’m going. 260 steps. They don’t know who they’re dealing with. It’s like a series of shrines and temples and stuff all across like a big mountain almost. Only 250 meters to the cocking garden. You got to go to the cocking garden, haven’t you? You’d be you’d be a fool not to. I thought these were statues, but they’re not. They’re just moving quite slow. [Music] I’m certainly not regretting the stairs. And even if I was, I wouldn’t mention it. I’d lie tell you it was a great idea. [Music] Did it? I’m pretty sure this is the top. I’m just not sure what that means, but we’ll find out together, I suppose. What am I at the top of? Free admission. Two of my favorite words. I’ve made it. I’m in the cocking garden, just like I’ve always wanted. Samuel cocking. Of course, I wouldn’t be so gious to assume otherwise. Oh, this is peaceful. It’s like a little botanical garden up here. Arboritum almost. One of those two. I think I’m just carrying on this way. This place just goes on and on and on. There shops, temples, little galleries. Am I coming to the end? Is this merely the beginning? There’s no way to know. Inoshima has been something I really wasn’t expecting it to be. I mean, it’s been great. It’s just been very unexpected. Now I’m in a cave, which I feel like this whole thing has been leading to being in a cave. Hocasai drew this place. So, wood carving, you know, the the Great Wave. It’s the same artist, Hakasai. That’s where we are. That’s so cool. It’s so amazing to see all these beautiful pieces of art and that’s where we are right now. That’s awesome. Multiple caves. [Music] Thank you. I don’t feel like it’s quite dark enough to necessitate a candle, but I’ve got I will say that candle does add to the dramatics of the whole situation. So, it’s full of all these different statues and iconography down here. And the legend is is that you can get all the way to Mount Fuji, an ice cave there, through caves from here. That would be cool. I wasn’t expecting this at all. But here we are. All right. This place is cool. I like it. You got a candle. You got some caves. What’s not to enjoy? Ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding. This cave has got mysterious music to it as well. So, I like that. [Music] That’s the dragon that’s meant to live on this island. Very spooky. So the legend news is that that dragon, a fiveheaded dragon was here and a maiden appeared and the dragon wanted to marry the maiden and eventually the dragon changed its ways and the maiden ran off with it and they live on this island. Something along those lines. But that’s the dragon. And if you’re clapping in front of it, it roars, which I do like. What an unexpected day, I tell you. I love days like this. That is it for another episode of Yes Land. Thank you so much for joining me. I appreciate you so much. If you enjoyed it, you can like, you can subscribe, you can comment, or you could share this video with someone who you think might also enjoy it. Until next time everyone. With Mount Fuji technically in the distance, I’ll have you now. Be kind to yourself. Be kind to someone else. And as always, onwards and upwards. Don’t fall into a rock pool. Oh god. [Music]

Welcome to episode one of my Japanese adventure as we: explore Kawagoe and Kamakura, make chopsticks and experience Tea Ceremony, as well as discover some of the strange places in Tokyo and try to work out just what this island celebration is all about?

🐈 Watch more episodes of the ‘Alone Across’ Series here ➡︎ https://tinyurl.com/2nbhpusx

Dave Bull Woodblock Printmaker – https://www.youtube.com/@UCKSrgKjevPmNZxCAyTZP5cQ
Not Sponsored but the Tea Ceremony I did was the ‘Ocharu Tea Ceremony’ on GetYourGuide and the ‘Chopstick Making Workshop in Ginza’ was also from GetYourGuide.com

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