Cherry Blossom Tunnel in Hirosaki
Cherry Blossom Tunnel in Hirosaki
Overview
In this livestream episode from April 2017, John Daub explores Hirosaki in Aomori Prefecture during the famous Hirosaki Sakura Matsuri (cherry blossom festival). Despite rainy weather, John discovers a stunning pedestrian-only cherry blossom tunnel located between two moats behind Hirosaki Castle. He walks viewers through the tunnel, sharing the serene atmosphere and the contrast of the red bridge against the pink blossoms.
Beyond the scenery, John dives into the festival food scene, sampling local specialties like ayu no shioyaki (grilled sweetfish), niku machi danpo (meat-wrapped rice balls), and freshly baked apple pie—a nod to Aomori's fame as apple country. He interacts with festival-goers, including a grandmother playing goldfish scooping games and a fan from Chile named Sebastian who is hitchhiking across Japan.
The episode also covers John's travel logistics, including his stay at a capsule hotel, his plans to take an early morning ferry to Hakodate, and his Kickstarter stretch goal to reach Wakkanai, the northernmost point of Japan. It is a candid look at festival life in Tohoku, blending travel tips, food reviews, and spontaneous human connections.
Highlights
- 00:00:01 John introduces the cherry blossom tunnel behind Hirosaki Castle.
- 00:00:50 Story about staying in a capsule hotel that looked like a "microwave oven for humans."
- 00:04:12 Walking through the heart of the sakura tunnel during the festival.
- 00:09:40 John clarifies that "Toby" is a crow, not a person, after viewer comments.
- 00:15:01 Discussion of the motorcycle daredevil stunt inside a barrel at the festival.
- 00:19:44 John joins a grandmother playing goldfish scooping (kingyo sukui).
- 00:27:15 Trying freshly baked Marugoto Ringo Cheese Pie (whole apple cheese pie).
- 00:30:20 Meeting Sebastian, a fan from Chile hitchhiking across Japan.
- 00:44:09 Eating niku machi danpo (meat-wrapped rice ball) with mentaiko mayo.
- 00:52:11 Final thoughts and departure plans for Hakodate.
Timeline / Chapters
- 00:00:01 Intro at the cherry blossom tunnel behind Hirosaki Castle.
- 00:00:50 Recap of previous night's stay at Hirosaki Capsule Hotel.
- 00:02:28 Walking the length of the sakura tunnel.
- 00:11:31 Travel plans: Ferry to Hakodate and Kickstarter goals.
- 00:15:01 Festival attractions: Motorcycle stunt and haunted house.
- 00:16:11 Exploring food stalls: Ayu, takoyaki, and candy apples.
- 00:19:44 Goldfish scooping game with a local grandmother.
- 00:27:15 Buying and tasting apple pie.
- 00:30:20 Conversation with Sebastian from Chile.
- 00:40:10 Redeeming himself with a candy apple.
- 00:44:09 Trying the meat-wrapped rice ball.
- 00:52:11 Outro and next destination announcement.
Japan Travel Tips
- Hirosaki Castle: The castle grounds are famous for cherry blossoms. The tunnel behind the castle is pedestrian-only and offers great photo opportunities.
- Festival Timing: The Hirosaki Sakura Matsuri usually runs late April to early May. Weather can be unpredictable (rain is common).
- Transport: Hirosaki is accessible via Shinkansen to Shin-Aomori, then local train. John plans to take a ferry from Aomori to Hakodate (departs early morning, around 4:30 AM).
- Accommodation: Capsule hotels are available in Hirosaki; expect compact spaces.
- Food: Aomori is famous for apples. Look for apple pie and apple-related sweets. Niku machi danpo (meat-wrapped rice) is a unique festival snack.
- Etiquette: Clean up after yourself at festivals (gomi bako may be scarce, so carry trash).
Japanese Language & Culture Notes
- Sakura Matsuri: Cherry blossom festival. A major cultural event celebrating the transient beauty of the flowers.
- Toby (crow): John humorously names every crow he encounters "Toby".
- Shudo: Vermilion color, often seen on bridges and torii gates.
- Yakitate: Freshly baked. Used here for the apple pie.
- Kingyo Sukui: Goldfish scooping game, a classic festival activity using a paper scoop.
- Gomi Bako: Trash can. John notes the importance of cleaning up in Japan.
- Konnichiwa / Arigatou Gozaimasu: Standard greetings and thanks used during interactions.
Food & Drink Guide
- Marugoto Ringo Cheese Pie (Whole Apple Cheese Pie): 00:27:15 Freshly baked apple pie with custard. John loves it. Price: 300 yen.
- Niku Machi Danpo (Meat-Wrapped Rice Ball): 00:44:09 Rice wrapped in pork/bacon with mentaiko mayo. Described as "incredibly unhealthy" but delicious. Price: 500 yen.
- Ayu no Shioyaki (Grilled Salted Sweetfish): 00:16:11 Sweetfish on a stick, good with beer.
- Ichigo Ame (Strawberry Candy Apple): 00:18:27 John redeems himself after dropping one the previous day.
- Yakitori: 00:16:11 Grilled chicken skewers available at stalls.
People
- John Daub: Host. Exploring Hirosaki, filming livestreams, interacting with locals.
- Sebastian: A fan from Chile hitchhiking across Japan. Met John at the festival. Traveling from San Diego via Tokyo, heading to Hokkaido.
- Grandma (Goldfish Game): Local festival participant who helps John and another girl catch goldfish.
- Apple Pie Vendor: Sold John the freshly baked pie, chatted about the weather and business.
- Toby (crow): John's recurring mascot crow, mentioned several times.
Key Takeaways
- Hirosaki Park is one of Japan's best cherry blossom viewing spots, even in rain.
- Aomori's local food scene features unique items like meat-wrapped rice balls and apple pies.
- Festival games like goldfish scooping are great ways to interact with locals.
- Hitchhiking and budget travel are viable options in Japan, even in northern regions.
- John's Kickstarter success allows him to extend his trip to Wakkanai.
Notable Quotes
- 00:00:50 "The capsule that I stayed in looked like a microwave oven for humans. It was pretty freaky."
- 00:09:40 "Poor Toby (crow), totally never expected to be..."
- 00:13:26 "That's the end of Honshu Island... and the start of another massive landmass, another island, Hokkaido."
- 00:27:15 "This is amazing. Yeah, it's apple round. Apple round? Yes, like this. That's amazing."
- 00:33:01 "Japan's not as expensive as you think, basically, right? It's not as expensive as you think."
- 00:44:09 "Incredibly unhealthy. Which is perfect."
Related Topics
- Hirosaki Castle
- Tohoku Travel
- Cherry Blossom Forecast
- Japanese Festivals
- Hitchhiking in Japan
- Aomori Food
Search Tags
#only-in-japan-go #hirosaki #aomori #cherry-blossoms #sakura #festival #street-food #travel #livestream #tohoku #castle #apple-pie #hitchhiking #spring #japan-travel
Full Transcript
00:00:01 John Daub: Good morning from Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture in the north of Tohoku, the very north of Honshu Island. Yes, I'm still in Hirosaki, and yeah, it's still raining, but on the back side of the castle I found a sakura (cherry blossom) tunnel. And whenever I find a cherry blossom tunnel, I want to get my camera out and start filming right away because these things are special. And this one is really special because it's limited to just pedestrians, just people walking, and it's sort of between two moats, which makes it even more special. And the fact that the castle's right there doesn't hurt. I'm gonna just walk to the end here and then turn it around and take you directly through the heart of this tunnel.
00:00:50 John Daub: So before I get there, it's about 100 meters. Yeah, so last night I stayed in a capsule hotel, the Hirosaki Capsule Hotel. It was pretty clean, except for the fact that the capsule that I stayed in looked like a microwave oven for humans. It was pretty freaky. I put a picture of it on Instagram. The rain has sort of made it difficult to film, but you work with the conditions that you have and you just have fun with it. Last night, when I finished a livestream on the Only in Japan Go channel, the lightning and thunder were so close, I had to run to the station, get my luggage out of a locker, and then take a taxi back to the capsule hotel. I slept pretty good, which means I'm gonna have an awesome day. Usually I don't sleep well at all on this trip but oh look at that beautiful red bridge. Wonderful. I can go down here. I gotta get back up to the bank here.
00:02:28 John Daub: Okay, so here's the end of the cherry blossom tunnel. I'm gonna turn the camera around and just walk the length of it so for about three minutes you're not gonna hear anything from me except maybe the patter of the rain on my umbrella. It's still sort of early in the morning, it's about 11:30. There aren't that many people here just yet, which is good because I want to give you a really clean image of the entire tunnel. Okay, here we go.
00:04:12 John Daub: Everybody tuning in right now, I'm in Hirosaki, Aomori at the Hirosaki Sakura Matsuri (cherry blossom festival) and this is a cherry blossom tunnel right behind Hirosaki Castle.
00:09:40 John Daub: Very nice. Thank you Chad, thank you for that very much and no it wasn't Toby's fault that that kid was crying. I saw whoever commented on that. Poor Toby (crow), totally never expected to be... Wow, did I just walk that far? I'm putting the umbrella down, that's why my hair is wet. I haven't been using the umbrella anyways. Look how far we came. You see in the distance the red bridge. You see the rain pattering, pitter-pattering on the surface of the water here. Yeah, I love the contrast with the red. That's one reason why I'm wearing the orange jacket so I chose this color jacket for a couple of reasons. One, it sticks out and it doesn't look too much different than the red that's placed like the bridge there. Or shudo (vermilion) is the color of the sun or the orange torii gates. Well, it looks like it's red, but they're really orange torii gates at Fushimi Inari (the 10,000 gate shrine in Kyoto). So I kind of picked this color out because it stood out. And the fact that cars won't run over me right away, they'll at least see the color orange before they hit me, right?
00:11:31 John Daub: I've had a really good time on this trip. So I'm going to walk the length of the cherry blossoms one more time. And then I'm going to get a bite to eat. I don't know if I'm going to livestream the food again. If you want to see all the food, you can see it on the Only in Japan channel, which was yesterday's afternoon stream, which was insane. It ended with a ghost lady. She was showing me around and then she just disappeared. The two ladies, they lived in Hachinohe. Oh, and you know what? If you're watching that livestream, thanks, Carl. If you're watching that livestream yesterday, I gave the lady my business card and she called me this morning when I was getting a cup of coffee at a bakery nearby. She told me I got to come to Hachinohe. Hachinohe is a city about 30 minutes on the Shinkansen from here. She wanted to pick me up and take me there yesterday. And I was very tempted to go because she runs a soba shop in Hachinohe, a very famous soba shop. And I think I'm going to come back maybe in the summer and check out this area of Aomori because have you ever seen any video from Hachinohe? Because I haven't. It's like the second biggest city in Aomori, the third biggest if Hirosaki is number one. I think it's number two. So I got to come back because she's so nice. And when you meet nice people like that, you want to go back and visit them. I felt bad that on this trip, my time is very limited. I have to be in Hakodate tomorrow for a very special episode I'm thinking of making at a hotel there. It's still top secret because I want to do it first.
00:13:26 John Daub: Hakodate. If you don't know much about it, definitely look it up or wait for the livestreams to start coming tomorrow. I'm taking the ferry tomorrow at 4:30 in the morning. So that means I have to get to Aomori tonight, pitch my tent next to the ferry terminal, and I have to wake up at 3:45 to catch the ferry, pack up my tent, get on the ferry and watch the sunrise over the strait between Hokkaido and Honshu. That's the end of Honshu Island, the biggest that I've been hitchhiking, and the start of another massive landmass, another island, Hokkaido. And because people have been so generous, giving on Kickstarter, buying the DVDs, I'm going to do a stretch goal and go all the way to Wakkanai. And I'm thinking, if I get, I'm really close. If I get to $20,000, which I can't even believe, I'm going to jump into the sea. And there's still icebergs in there. So that's sort of my crazy goal. I'm going to jump in at the northernmost point of Japan. I'm going to jump into the sea just for like a few seconds and record it. If I can break the $20,000 barrier for this trip, which is way beyond any expectations I ever had for funding this trip. Which is totally awesome, right? I never expected the Kickstarter project to do so well.
00:15:01 John Daub: All right, well, I'm back at that red bridge that I showed you about five minutes ago. Oh yeah. You know, oh my gosh. Yeah, I want to go back and see that motorcycle thing again. Why don't I do that? He was really friendly, the motorcycle rider. I talked to him afterwards. Nice guy. That's just over there. I don't know if they started it yet, though. And a motorcycle. Exactly. I don't know about the Haunted Island. But that motorcycle was so awesome. We haven't seen last night's livestream. Look around like the 30-minute mark after I spent way too much time getting a yakidango. That motorcycle thing was the coolest thing, one of the coolest things I've seen on this trip, if not the coolest. Because who sees a motorcycle going around like this massive barrel? How did he stay? I guess centrifuge. I mean, there's some science behind it, but this guy's a daredevil, man.
00:16:11 John Daub: Ah, beautiful. Gosh, it's hard not to keep the livestream going and go get some food. End this with food. What do you think? I don't know. Should I end this with food? It's just all food. Oh, wait, there's games and stuff. And rifles. Hirosaki's a badass town, man. They got motorcycles. Rifles. Ghosts. Oh boy, that looks good, too. Oh, yakitori. Ah, thank you so much. There's a little game center in here. Um, what the heck is that? It's like a really creepy baby head. That might be the creepiest thing I've seen. Oh my lord. I see some weird stuff in Japan. And that's not Toby (crow). That's not Toby, man. Poor Toby. He's actually a really nice guy, okay? He's a really nice guy. I hope Toby comes to Japan sometime. I gotta get him on the show if I can. It's not Toby. Oh, chocolate bananas. Those are always good. There's lots of food. Ah, ayu (sweetfish). Ayu fish. Did you guys know ayu fish? Ayu is a sweetfish that's on sticks. This is ayu no shioyaki (grilled salted sweetfish). It's really good with beer.
00:18:27 John Daub: Can I get ayu fish? I don't know. Let me see what else they got. Like takoyaki. Yeah. Like takoyaki. Alright. Ah, Jimmy, thank you. Thank you very much, Jimmy. For the sea unicorn. I gotta go find a sea unicorn now. And thank you, Mari. Thank you very much. Ichigo ame (strawberry candy). Oh, that's the candy apple. Candy apple. I have to redeem myself for the candy apple. If you remember yesterday, I had a candy apple that I got. And while I was eating the candy apple, I took a massive bite. I crunched that thing and then it fell into the gutter. And I thought for a second, yeah, maybe I could like get it back, but it didn't happen.
00:19:44 John Daub: Oh, look at these girls over here. You think they... Maybe they have a suggestion of something I should eat. Oh, this is yakitori. I'll ask them in a second. Hold on. Okay. Hot dogs and onigiri. The practice crew. Oh, hello. Hello. What are you doing? I'm making a king. Wow. That looks difficult. Yes. Can you do it? Please watch. Oh, okay. Here I go. Okay. Go. I can't. Slowly, slowly. There's no goldfish. There's no goldfish. Oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh. Now, oh, oh, oh. Do your best, do your best, do your best. Oh, oh, oh. It's okay, it's okay, it's okay. Now, oh, oh, oh. Close to the oh, oh, oh. Close to the oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh. Don't pressure it. Slowly, slowly. Oh, oh, oh. Go, go, go. Oh, oh, oh. Please cheer for me. Go for it. Go for it. This is my first time seeing you do that. That's great. Thank you very much. Continue, continue. Yes. Oh, that's great. That's wonderful. I really succeeded. I can do it, I can do it. I can do it, right? Go for it. I tried a lot. I'll join you again. I'll join you again, right? It's really hard to move. Oh, it's great. Oh, no. It's great. It's great. It's great. You did your best. I'll join again. I'm going to try again! You're going to try again? It's so fun! It looks like fun! Yeah, let's enjoy!
00:21:52 John Daub: Well that was fun! She invited me to come watch the thing. Whenever I film people, I try to give them my card because it's polite. I'm a king of buying water bottles! Which one should I go next? Where should I go next? I don't think I can do it! Go, go, go! I have a card. I'm going to try again! You're going to try again? Go, go, go! Go, go, go! Go, go, go! Go, go, go! Go, go, go! It's like a one-way ticket. Go, go, go! It's better to go big. It's hard to go. Ah! I got it wrong! Oh no! Oh my god. That's a nice lady. She's giving her another shot. Thank you, grandma! Thank you, grandma! I'll do my best! Do your best! Is it better to go big? Yeah, it's better. I'll go with a one-way ticket. Big, big! Big, big! It's a big one! It's a big one! Big! Wow! Are you happy? I'm happy! I'm so happy! Oh, that's great! That's great! You did it! Wonderful job! You did a good job! Grandma, you should try again! You're good! I have to go. This is my show. I'm a YouTuber! Wow! That's great! See you! Thank you!
00:24:05 John Daub: Wow! That was fun that she shared that experience with us, right? You know, you just start livestreaming and you don't know what's going to happen when you walk around with people. Hey, Cha! You don't know what's going to happen. That's cool, she caught the fish. I think she sort of cheated though. I think she scooped it up in the water. I don't know. But the old lady gave her another one for a free chance and she got a big fish. Yesterday I was watching a little kid who was five and he couldn't do it. He kept crying and crying and crying and the old lady just gave him the fish anyway. Okay, so what food should I get? Oh gosh, we're running on 25 minutes already with this livestream. It's just so much fun! Yeah, I'm finding all this stuff to do. People are talking to me and telling me to come and watch them, you know, stuff. Why not? What makes me really happy is that yesterday food, oh yeah, yakitori sounds good. Yesterday there was really heavy rain and lightning storms and wind and the cherry blossoms didn't get blown off, so everything looked really good. Yeah, but the cherry blossoms are still here. I was here yesterday, last night. You can see the stage behind me where they had the shamisen, like the rock guitar shamisen where there was this really kimono Mona Lady rocking real hard. I mean, she had like one string or something, but she made that string count. You look at last night's, the end of last night's livestream was awesome.
00:25:55 John Daub: And we're going right now, I'm walking towards the haunted mansion, the haunted house. I'm not doing it again. You know why I'm not doing it again? Because I know exactly where they're hiding. And what I'm going to do is, I'm going to scare them. That's what I'm going to try to do. I'm going to crawl and then pop out and go, and scare the monsters. Is that possible? I'm going to get my revenge. Totally, that's something I would do. It's still really beautiful. And you can see, I'm going to walk really quickly through this cherry blossom area before I go to get some food. I'm cutting off at 30 minutes for sure. You can see, oh, okay. That's where the people were doing it. I do want to buy some more food just to support some of these businesses here. These people have been, you know, the weather's been awful. The turnout has been really low. So I'm going to eat my lunch here. No, there's that haunted mansion again. Haunted house. The ghost house. With devils. I didn't think I'd ever be back and yet here I am again the next day.
00:27:15 John Daub: Oh, wait a minute. This is apple pie. Oh, hello there. Do they have yakitate (freshly baked) apple pie? Thank you. Here you go. Marugoto Ringo Cheese Pie (whole apple cheese pie). No way. Wow, apple pie. Wow, yakitate apple pie. Do they have it? What's this? Wow. Let's try it. Oh, wait a minute. This is amazing. Yeah, it's apple round. Apple round? Yes, like this. That's amazing. There's a body. It's a little bit big. It's ridiculous. I don't know. How long have you been here? Oh, for a long time. Oh, for a long time? 19 years. Oh, wow. Good job. Very good. Oh, thank you. Here's your apple pie. Thank you. Okay, wait a minute. I have to get my wallet out. Okay, get it out. Ah, it's in the bag. Oh, it's not in the bag. It's in the bag. It's not in the bag. It's in the bag. You can sleep over there. Oh, really? Yeah. Okay. Right now, I'm hosting this live. I'm hosting this live. I'm sorry. Okay. Be careful. I'm a YouTuber, so I'm going to work. Stay there! I gotta find my wallet. It's really sunny today. It's sunny tomorrow. Oh really? I wish it was tomorrow. Tomorrow is better. It's going to rain again tomorrow. Oh really? Again? It's going to rain again. But it was really windy yesterday. It was really windy yesterday. It was the best day of the day. I found it! I was a little worried. It's not that bad. 300 yen for a day. I'll eat it tomorrow. Thank you. Thank you. Here you go. Thank you. Oh! Here you go. Thank you. Oh, hello. I'm a big fan of yours. Oh really? I say hello to everybody. Hi! Hi, everybody. Big fan. Nice to meet you, man. Nice to meet you, too. I'm livestreaming right now.
00:30:20 Sebastian (Chile): Yeah, I've kind of been losing out on your series, because I have been traveling for three weeks.
00:30:24 John Daub: Yeah, I'm going to support after this. I'm just in Hirosaki for today. I was in Sendai before. Still in my capsule hotel. Oh, so you're going up north. Were you at the Hirosaki Capsule Hotel last night?
00:30:34 Sebastian (Chile): No, no, no, no, on Sendai, on 9 hours.
00:30:36 John Daub: Oh, alright. Yeah, I started in Tokyo, like, did side trips there. Yeah. Went to Hiroshima, did the Shimanami Kaido, Miyajima, then Osaka for 10 days, then Kanazawa, Sendai. That's a big trip. Yeah, it's a month. A month. Now I'm here, staying the night in Sapporo. Yeah. Four nights in Hokkaido. Four nights in Hokkaido? Yeah, and then a week in Tokyo. Oh, wow. But yeah, your videos have helped a lot, actually.
00:30:59 John Daub: Have they helped? Okay, cool. I made a lot of the stuff that you did with Kevin and... Oh, the street food? Yeah. In Osaka, in Dotonbori, and all that stuff. Oh, cool. Where are you from?
00:31:08 Sebastian (Chile): I'm from Chile.
00:31:09 John Daub: Chile? Alright, San Diego. Ah, wonderful. Big trip. It has been wonderful. It's so far, you have to stay here for a month, right? It was a 45-hour trip. 45 hours? Yeah. From San Diego to Tokyo? Yeah, no, I did two layovers. Yeah. One in Houston and one in LA, but the one in LA was 14 hours, so... USA. Oh, yeah, but it was great. I got the day to see the beach and all that stuff, so... Oh, okay. Have you seen much here today? Today? No, I just arrived like... Ah, konnichiwa. Like an hour ago? Konnichiwa. Eh, you're eating cucumbers? Yes. It's summer, right? Yes. It's cold today. It's cold. Yeah. Eh, what is this? What are you drinking? It's light bulb soda. Eh, wait a minute, did you put in the LED? What? Did you put in the LED? Isn't that amazing? I'm fishing. Eh, where did you buy it? Here. Ah, here. Light bulb soda. Eh, here. Here. Here. Okay, I'll drink. Arigatou gozaimasu. No, I'm not. I just arrived like two hours ago. Yeah. And my train leaves Aomori to Sapporo at 5, 5:30. Wow. So yeah. I've been like rushing. Sure. But it's really nice, Hirosaki, especially in this season. Oh yeah. I mean, except for the weather, this has been one of the best stops that I've had on the trip.
00:32:28 John Daub: You're doing like the hitchhiking thing?
00:32:32 Sebastian (Chile): Hitchhiking thing. Yeah, I've been on the road for a month now. Tomorrow I'm going to... Tonight I'm going to Aomori City and then take the ferry at 4:30 in the morning to Hakodate. And then I start hitchhiking up to Sapporo and then the very north. Yeah, I'm going after this. Three nights in Sapporo, then one night in Toya. Okay. And then that day in Hakodate for the cherry blossoms and then the weekend. Wow. Yeah, I'm on the final stretch. Wow. Has it been expensive?
00:33:01 John Daub: You know what? Not so much. Right. I'm not on a budget. I saved a lot before coming here. But I am wasting much less money than I was expecting. Like 5,000, 6,000 yen a day. Oh, good. But just included because I have the old accommodations like paid before. But it's not that bad. I thought it was going to be much worse. Especially coming from the south, you know? Japan's not as expensive as you think, basically, right? It's not as expensive as you think. Have you seen the motorcycle?
00:33:30 Sebastian (Chile): Yeah. No. Not yet. I just arrived here like half an hour ago.
00:33:35 John Daub: Oh, half an hour ago and you came right here? Yeah. Yesterday I livestreamed from this motorcycle show. He's inside of a barrel and he's riding the motorcycle at an angle. It's insane. I haven't even seen the castle yet. Oh, really? I don't even know where it is. It's up there. 310 yen to get in but it's okay. Yeah, but just for the picture. You should see it. Yeah, I'm just going to go see it. Well. Alright, nice to see you. What's your name?
00:33:58 Sebastian (Chile): Sebastian.
00:33:58 John Daub: Sebastian. Nice to meet you, Sebastian. Nice to meet you, man. This will be on the Only in Japan Go channel. Great. Have a nice trip. Take care. Thank you. Awesome. So that's Sebastian from Chile. He watches the show. And I had it right before I started the livestream. A really nice girl from Australia stopped me and she said she's going to put a picture. She took a picture and she's going to put it on Instagram. So that's really nice of her.
00:34:24 John Daub: Alright. Wow, I got so much stuff. You know what? I'm going to eat this pie right here. This looks so good. Alright. Alright. Everyone's watching. The apple pie is freshly baked. You can eat it now. Okay. So I'm going to eat this really, really good apple pie. Alright. Stay there, Osmo. These live feeds are getting fun, aren't they? Okay, here we go. So this is the apple pie. It's still warm. And the reason why I'm eating an apple pie here is because Aomori is famous for apples. Here you go. Here you go. Enjoy. Thank you. Oh, there's cheese in it. No, it's not cheese. It's not cheese. Cheese. It's not cheese. It's not cheese. It's custard. And I love custard. I had a big custard yesterday. It's good. Custard pie. It's good. Thank you. You're welcome. You're welcome. Ah, I got to the apple. You're welcome. You're welcome. You're welcome. You're welcome. Apple pie. I got a pen. I got an apple. Apple pen. Oh, it's still raining. Let's see here. Ah, Akashi. Thank you so much, man. Akashi. Thank you for the food money. I appreciate it very much, Akashi. And Elton, thank you too as well. Thank you very much, thank you very much. We should definitely do it again.
00:36:40 John Daub: My umbrella has seen better days. Alright, I promised I'd go and catch a fish, so that's what I'm gonna go do. There's another fish catching place over here in the corner, I think. I love the people here. Whenever they put something on a stick that I didn't expect, it's so awesome. This looks like okonomiyaki on a stick. What the heck is that? You've seen this? It's like okonomiyaki on a stick. Alright, never mind. I'm getting lost on a tangent. Oh crap, it's the haunted house. Memories of last night. Oh no, I'm haunted now by... There it is, with bacon. Kino tabemashita (I ate it). Sugoi oishikatta (it was super delicious). I'm gonna eat this. Alright, let's go find some fish. I'm trying it once because it might be... No wait, what happens if I catch the fish? Do I have to take the fish with me all the way to Hokkaido? If I catch the fish, do I have to take the fish with me? Wait, I haven't thought this through. What do I do with the fish? That's cruel though. I don't have any place to put it. There it is, there. I can catch the fish. Yeah, there's a place where I can catch fish right there. But what do I do with the fish? I'm not gonna make it into sushi, Michael. I'm not gonna put... I can't put the fish in my mouth. Although I could. I'm not gonna do that for any amount of money because that's just not right. These are goldfish. Oh man. You know what? Why don't I... Elton, maybe I'll do the candy... I want to catch the fish. But the... I have no place to put the fish. That's just cruel.
00:40:10 John Daub: Oh, she got the candy apple. Are those apples? Yes. Where did you buy them? Over there? Over there. Over there. Oh, the left side. Oh, they're over here. Thank you. Those two girls right there, they're eating the candy apple. Should I redeem myself? Should I see if it's still in the gutter? Can I see? Maybe it's grown into a tree? Despite the rain, having a good time. I really am. I got cherry blossoms on my umbrella. They're not gonna last very long. You know who's coming up to Hirosaki tomorrow? Mira, Canada Jean-san, who's a YouTuber. She said she's gonna be coming up this way tomorrow. But I'm not gonna be here. So I was gonna leave her a message under a rock and give her the GPS. And then she could find those. I'm gonna leave a message under the rock and then maybe... It's sort of like childish. Which is cool. Niku machi danpo (meat-wrapped rice ball). Did I eat this before? Oh yeah, I did. I love it. Okay. Oh my god. This is so good. This is so, so good. What they've done is they take rice and they wrap it in meat. Which is like bacon. Really. Oh my lord. Oh my. That's a lot of meat. Should I get this? Alright, you know what? I'm just gonna get it. I'm sorry. I wanna get the fish too. I wanna get the fish but I can't... I don't have any place to put the fish if I catch it. Alright, let's do this. Alright, I'm gonna get this. And then I'll get the apple on the way. Alright, let's do this. Oh wow. Let's get this. Looks good. Here. Here. Here. Here. I ate green onion last time but I want to eat something different. Which one? Which one do you recommend? Mentaimayo or something that has nothing in it. Nothing? Nothing. I see. Then, this one. I've learned Japanese very well. Not at all. Are you going to come back? I'll come back after eating. Oh, you're going to eat it right away. Yes. Please take 500 yen. 5. 500 yen. This one has mayo mentaiko (spicy cod roe mayonnaise). Mayonnaise mentaiko and rice. It looks delicious. Here is 500 yen. Here. Thank you. Thank you. It looks delicious. This looks incredible. Incredibly unhealthy. Which is perfect.
00:44:09 John Daub: Okay. My umbrella has seen better days. I'm just going to move now away from the storefront. Okay. How can I eat this? Wow, it smells so good. It's like you can smell the mayonnaise and the soy sauce in it. This is so good. Look at that. And it's on a stick. You can see the soy sauce dripping off of it right there. Okay, here we go. Okay. Look at the... The bacon wrapped on it. Do you see the bacon wrapped around it? This is insane. Why? There's inside is rice. You can see the rice. Okay. And then the bacon wrapped around it. Okay, I'm going to shut up and just eat the darn thing. Here we go. Rice. Bacon. And pork. I don't think it's bacon. It's pork and mayonnaise. Awesome combination. And the rice up here in Tohoku is awesome. It really is good. And I lost it. Darn. I have to do the laundry anyways when I get to Hakodate. Oh well. Really good. I like the fact that it's got rice in it. Because I've been eating just meat, meat, meat, and sugar desserts. Problem is sometimes food on a stick doesn't stay on the stick. It stays... If you don't... If you don't strategize how to eat it, it'll just land on the ground. That was good. Man, I've made a massive mess. Falling apart here.
00:47:21 John Daub: So, candy apple? Candy apple. All right. This is turning into an hour. Didn't I say I was going to stop livestreaming at 30 minutes in? It's not turning into an hour. All right. In Japan, you always clean up after yourself. And I try to leave things cleaner than when I found them. Just because that's what people do. Gomi bako (trash can). Where the heck is the gomi? Somebody took a picture of me. The lady took a picture right now. And then she... When I looked at her, she just turned around and ran away. So I had to like chase her down and stick this selfie stick in her face. And go, hey lady. If you just ask, I would gladly do a crazy pose for you. Oh, candy apples. What did she saw? They got the... Those girls got the candy apples too. Oh, candy apples. I got to throw this mayonnaise stuff away. The umbrella is not working anymore. Even the security staff, they're wearing plastic on their heads. Turn around camera. There you are. Oh, I just passed the security... The apples. There's the lady who was washing the... Let's see if my apple is still there. I don't see my apple. I'm going to put that there for a second. I don't see my apple. So maybe a rabid dog came through here and ate my apple. Alright, apple. Alright. No mayonnaise. I don't see any mayonnaise on me. I'm just going to leave this here. Oh my lord. It's all... It's completely destroyed my umbrella. Easy come, easy go. The kids are getting the apple. I've had really bad luck. Oh, please give me an apple. The last one. You're coming with me. 300 yen. Here you are. Here you are. Here you are. Here you are. Here you are. You're coming with me. Oh, sorry. You were surprised, right? Alright. So, we meet again. One, two, three, four, five. It's not as easy as you think. Five. Mmm. Very good. So, I'm happy I could end on a sweet note. It's been another pretty amazing adventure. Very creepy, yeah. Very, very creepy. So, I've gotten my revenge and I'm going to finish this whole thing, but I'm not going to, you know, make you suffer through me gnawing a candy apple. This looks like a good time to end it.
00:52:11 John Daub: So, I'm going to turn this camera around, show you some beautiful cherry blossoms for the next couple of seconds. And see you again on the road. I'm going off to Hakodate tomorrow. That's my, sort of, my goal. So, I'm going to be really, really happy by tomorrow morning. And I'll see if I can livestream off of the ferry. So, once again, thank you so much for those that gave us Super Chat. See you here. Google sucks. I'm reading the name here. He spelled it wrong. Google sucks. Sorry, Google. But that's a pretty cool username. Thank you very much for the Super Chat and everybody who's contributed to this. That's a local, that, Elton, this is good. Catch the fish and then release the fish. Why didn't I think of that? Alright, I'm going to go and do that, but I'll just take a picture on Instagram. I have to stop the feed. Thank you so much for everybody watching the stream. I'm going to turn the camera around for a couple of seconds. Check out the last scenes from Hirosaki. See you on the road.