00:08 John Daub: Hello, this is Ishiyama-dera (Ishiyama Temple) in Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture. I'm going down the stairs really quickly because I want to show you something before I go back up. This is the entrance to Ishiyama-dera. It's very beautiful. So that's where you wash your hands at the beginning before you enter the temple.

01:03 John Daub: Once again, I'm at Ishiyama-dera, one of the main temples on a pilgrimage in the area. I've come here with the head of the tourism agency and with one of the local sushi shop guys—Tanaka-san and Inoue-san. They brought me to this temple, and I was really moved by what I saw, so I thought I'd go live and bring you this experience. Check it out.

02:15 John Daub: What a beautiful sight. I'm going to take you now to the top, but first we're going to the hondo (main hall). So this is the main hall of Ishiyama-dera. It is absolutely beautiful. We have special permission to film here.

03:53 John Daub: Over there is the altar and that's Buddha. You can see here's the altar, but there's a rope here that you can hold when you pray. And this rope is connected all the way up—it's a way to feel connected to God. So you touch the place that hurts and then touch here, and it'll help fix your ailments. A lot of it is psychological, but there's a lot of meaning behind it. People come here when they feel sick or ill—they touch their body and then touch Buddha, or write their problems here. Everybody has written a wish or onegai (request).

07:00 Tanaka-san: Did you read it all?

07:01 John Daub: I read it all in manga.

07:03 Tanaka-san: You read it all in manga?

07:06 John Daub: So it's a really long book, but Tanaka-san read it in manga—there's a manga version that's much shorter and more exciting. But it's a very culturally important book to Japan, the Tale of Genji. This here is the Genji room, where it was written.

07:19 John Daub: I'm going to take you up the mountain a little bit further and into this structure—another place where you can pray. It's a very natural place, surrounded by all sorts of trees, birds, moss, rocks. I'm really loving this. Best of all, the sky is blue—it's not raining. It's a perfect day, besides being about 35 degrees Celsius or 90 degrees Fahrenheit out here. You can pray up here as well, and if you look in, you can see Buddha. It's a very spiritual place. I think that's why they put temples in such beautiful, natural places like this—because it is very spiritual. It takes all the stress from Tokyo and throws it out; it's very relaxing.

09:24 John Daub: I'm gonna take you to a view where you can see Lake Biwa—Biwako—and I'm going there later today to get some drone footage for an episode I'm making here. The name of the station is Ishiyama—on the Shinkansen line? No, the Shinkaisoku (limited express) line between Kyoto and Maibara. It's one or two stops from Kyoto—that's pretty close. In the distance you can see Lake Biwa, and this here is a river that comes off of it. If you look on the map at Ishiyama, you'll be able to find exactly where I am. There's somebody down there canoeing on the river—beautiful. Festival—you can hear it all, the shakuhachi (bamboo flute)—that's summer in Japan, the sound of summer. Very relaxing. The way the red—this is shu-iro (vermilion), the color of the sun—just pops out against the green background. On the ground you can see this is the eastern part of Japan? No, this part of the east—ishii means rock, and this is Ishiyama, rock mountain. You can see it really is a rock mountain—I mean, there it is, all rock. And somehow the trees have managed to grow; it's just covered in nature. Life finds a way.

12:04 John Daub: Yeah, Ario, I'm reading some of the comments—you're absolutely right. It's not that hot here; you're in the shade, the trees cool you down a little bit. Being surrounded by a lot of nature is very cooling, because just outside the entrance there's no nature at all and it's scalding hot.

12:30 John Daub: Absolutely beautiful, isn't it? Now I'm walking down—that's pretty much it. I'm going to walk you down to the entrance, but I wanted to share this experience with you. In the autumn this is all lit up like fireworks because the lights are on; the leaves change colors between red, orange, and yellow—it's a very stunning sight.

13:07 Tanaka-san: Have you ever been here in the fall?

13:09 Inoue-san: Here? Of course.

13:11 John Daub: Of course—you live nearby. The water is really beautiful. It's really beautiful, isn't it? It's high—Inoue-san is checking. Tanaka-san up there—it's 34 degrees. Oh, 34 degrees Celsius right now, like 88 degrees Fahrenheit. But it's not just the heat; it's humid heat—it's taken a lot out of me. But this truly is a rock mountain.

14:46 John Daub: So Ishiyama-dera—it's not a stop that a lot of foreign tourists know about. Ishiyama is part of Otsu City, and again, I can't stress this enough: Shiga Prefecture is right next to Kyoto. You just get on the train—ten minutes, you're in another prefecture. Shiga is one of the most natural prefectures in Japan. And Otsu City—if you don't like being around all the crowds, and I think after a day or two in Kyoto you're gonna want to get out of there, this is a great place because it's so much more laid back. You could use this as a hub—I'm really pushing Shiga Prefecture because I've been enjoying my time here. I'm here to film funazushi (fermented carp sushi), which is one-year-old sushi. Inoue-san is a sushi master, and he's been making funazushi for about ten years. And everybody's been really friendly to me, so I want to promote this area a little bit. I haven't seen any foreigners—I'm the only one here, and I'm ten minutes from Kyoto, which is just a little bit strange.

15:56 John Daub: Usually anyone who's been to Kyoto will know it's just filled with westerners, other Asian tourists, Japanese tourists—crowds everywhere. Kyoto is sort of a stressful place for me because I've been there so many times. But it's funny because just ten minutes by train, you're in another city that's just chill. And I'm here at one of the most famous temples in the area, and it compares to Kyoto's beauty but not in terms of Kyoto's crowds—which is a good thing. Because when you come to a temple or shrine, a place of worship, you want to be in a place of peace. And here I have that sense of peace. That's one of the reasons why I'm bringing you this livestream—wanted to share a piece of peace with you, just so you can see what it's like to go to a temple not overrun by tourists. I almost have this place to myself, except for these people. I hope you enjoyed that really short livestream.

17:30 Inoue-san: No, I'm fine.

17:32 John Daub: You're fine? I'm fine. So now I'm going to go over and put the drone up and take a look at the Biwa area. I've been around the lake a couple of times but never actually gotten such a good look at it for as many years as I've been in Japan. So it's going to be a really special treat for me to spend some time right on the lake. Everyone goes to Kyoto and a lot of people sort of miss Biwako, which is a shame. So today that's what I'm here to do, and then I'm going back to Tokyo tonight. Thank you everybody for tuning in to this very live, unplanned stream to share a little bit of Ishiyama-dera. So if you're in Kyoto, hop on a train and come to Otsu and hit Ishiyama-dera.