00:04 John Daub: Hello everybody. I'm in a really local area of Fukushima. This is on the highway from the sea to the mountains. This area is called Miharu. I'm not really sure myself, but I put a map in the description and it's famous for a legend. And this legend is something I'm going to teach you. It's quite famous here in Japan. It's so famous they put it on the first New Year's postcard stamp. Yeah, that's where I am. If this gives you any indication of how cool the history is here, I'm going to teach you.

01:09 John Daub: I love this town. It's so quiet here. The air is cool and crisp. It's a kind of a cloudy November afternoon. It was snowing a little bit earlier. It's like a very magical, mystical feeling to this whole town. Everything is really old. That's where we're going in. You can see also the workshop. We look through the window where they're making these Miharu koma (wooden spinning horses). A lot of cool stuff outside. Are you ready to go inside?

02:05 John Daub: Let's see if we can figure out the legend. The legend of Miharu koma. Look at all the antiques in here. This is so cool. Oh, there's a picture of the first postcard stamp used for the nengajo (New Year's postcards), in 1954, Showa 29. Look at the lights, the lanterns up there on the roof. Wow. Lots of antiques in here. Everything made of wood. Look at the hats up there. I've never seen hats like this.

03:21 John Daub: Oh my god. Look at all the dust caked on it. Wow. So I want to show you what a Miharu koma is. It looks like this. Okay. It's Miharu koma. And you know, you've heard about the legend of Daruma. And I made a video about this a couple of months ago in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture. And the Daruma brings good luck. It's all made out of wood, just like these.

04:11 John Daub: Miharu koma they have a story. Here's the legend in English. Okay, I'm gonna read it for you. It was plastered, let's tape to the wall here. The legend of Miharu koma. Around the 8th century, a gang of bandits lived in Mount Otakine in the Fukushima area. Shogun Sakanoue no Tamuramaro wanted to suppress them. His spiritual master Enchin, who established Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto, carved 100 wooden horses to wish Tamuramaro a safe victory. Tamuramaro left Kyoto with those horses in his armored chest, so he put these in his armor for protection.

05:01 John Daub: The battle began but his soldiers were exhausted from traversing the long distance and struggled hard. Then suddenly from somewhere unknown, 100 saddled horses appeared. Tamuramaro and his soldiers jumped on them and charged the bandits. As soon as they won the battle, all the horses disappeared. The very next day, a man of the local village found a wooden horse which appeared exhausted from battle. That's the horse from the battle that he had in his chest. He found out that it was carved by Enchin and they believed those wooden horses helped the victory. They copied the wooden horses and gave them to the local children as a charm. It brought miracles. Those children grew up healthy and strong and those who could not have a child would conceive. Wow, so it gave fertility to mothers to have babies. It protected people.

05:53 John Daub: This is the legend of Miharu koma. People believe that it grants you victory, blesses with babies, and cures disease. I could use one of these. Miharu koma comes in two colors. The black horse is for childbearing and nurturing. I don't need that one. The white horse is for longevity. I need that one. Miharu koma was also well known as being chosen for the first New Year's memorial stamp by the Japanese government. That's the legend of Miharu koma as it's written on a piece of paper printed on the wall. It's pretty deep. So all you people who want to have a baby should buy the black one and the white one is for longevity. I need to live a long, happy, prosperous life. Oh look at these antiques here. We're gonna meet one of the makers as well. Look at the dust caked on it. This is a real deal. The two colors here from the story: black and white, fertility, longevity, success. I guess you gotta keep them together.

08:46 Staff: It's interesting, right? This is a traditional dance. It's handmade. Very famous. It's a dance from a long time ago. You can stick your tongue out of that one. It's old style. These are 2000 yen. All handmade. For adults and for kids.

09:44 John Daub: Wow, a lot of famous people have been here. This is such a picturesque little town. There's a shrine up on the hill where you can go and pray for success and fertility, everything. This is kind of a power spot, I think. But it's really cool when you have a little performance put on without any planning like that. Just so it happened. You see the workshop. There's a fireplace here, which is cool.

10:51 John Daub: These are basically charms. They're all handmade. What's really special is they're all carved out of one block of wood. It makes it stronger. It makes it really special. It's all hand carved. He was telling us earlier. That's why it's all hand carved. When you think about that, it's not made in a factory somewhere. He makes them here. He just carves them and carves them. He's been carving them for years and years. We have products that are stuff that's still being made by hand here in the countryside by the people instead of stuff imported from another country that was made in a factory. When we take a look at this stuff, we probably think they're made in a factory somewhere. The reality is that these are all handmade. The value of it... We're used to paying a dollar or something. It's cheap but that doesn't take into account the actual time required to make it. This is really small but probably quite complicated to make. Yeah. You feeling me?

12:15 John Daub: Really cool. Look at the detail on this. It's really solid. This is a charm. White is for longevity. Long life. Black is for protection of children. That's the meaning. For babies, yeah. Fertility and babies. These are to protect babies and bring good luck. This is to protect your life for a long time. I like that. I sometimes take... I don't know what the value of stuff is anymore but it's all made from wood from this area. When you think about it, yeah. It's actually probably pretty cheap. Look at the different sizes too. They get bigger and bigger. I think I'm going to get one. I'm so mesmerized with these. I love the antiques as well. Look at these old phones. Do they still work? Wow, it's like made out of pure metal. That can't be cheap. They really made phones back then. Everything these days is made out of plastic. You find stuff that's made out of wood and glass and metal. The way it's supposed to be. The roof here is pretty impressive.

15:27 John Daub: I started working as a farm worker. I started working in winter. Then it got cold. Winter earthquake. So your family has been here for a long time. Wow! How many generations? That's amazing. America was born 200 years ago. My country. I'm in the same place as your family. That's amazing. You're streaming a lot. I'm watching you on 400 yen right now. That's amazing. I've been living in Japan for 20 years. This is amazing. He speaks Japanese. Amazing. He speaks Japanese very well. My Japanese is not that good. It's good enough. It gets me by. It's really cool.

17:17 John Daub: I like this history. I like places like this. It's not easy to get here. I think this is why I'm trying to get my driver's license in Japan. Because you need to drive to get places like this. And Japan is filled with really wonderful places like this. Like magical, mystical villages in the mountains. And you need a car to get there. You can't get there by train or JR Pass. All the great places that you can get by train are overrun with tourists. Like Takayama in Gifu Prefecture. Takayama is a beautiful, magical place. Everywhere you look, there's like Westerners there. Because it's easy to get there by train. If you want to go someplace really deep, you need a car. I gotta get my license. Why is it so hard to get certified to get a license in Japan? Safety first, right? But as soon as I get my license, I'll be able to drive to places like this. And find really out of the way places. I mean, just look out the window. It's like a time warp, isn't it? This is like a different world, isn't it?

18:26 John Daub: I'm gonna come back and buy something. But first, I just wanna take you around town a little bit before I sign off. Isn't that place so cool? You just stumble upon stuff as you're walking around or traveling around. And you stop and have a curious look around. You find these mystical, magical places. Alright, up there on the hill, you can see the shrine. You see it up there? And there is where you can pray for all sorts of stuff. Longevity, babies, all sorts of stuff that people prayed for for hundreds of years. Very cool. Thank you. Thank you for the super chats. I saw Tam sent me a pretty big one. I appreciate that. I will... He asked me to get another battery for this stabilizer, which I definitely will need. I'm gonna order that on Amazon. So I appreciate that. And Jim as well. I appreciate always the support. There's lots of other stuff around here. I just wanna show you quickly, walk around this area and give you a glimpse of what you can see if you have a car.

19:50 John Daub: This is also another beautiful shop where they're making... This is what was on the postcard stamp. Look at it. So beautiful. So old. You know? And there's the Miharu koma, which is what he was making in the shop. It's just so... You feel like you're in another time zone. Like another area, another country. When you're in a place like this. It's such a big contrast to Tokyo. They're making stuff. So they really are handmade. Very cool.

20:52 John Daub: What are you making? Oh, hello. Oh, this? You're making this? Oh, wow.

21:01 Staff: Excuse me. Which country are you from?

21:05 John Daub: I'm American.

21:06 Staff: There's a Japanese person in America.

21:08 John Daub: Oh, really? I don't understand Japanese at all.

21:13 Staff: Oh, I see.

21:15 John Daub: It's difficult to speak Japanese.

21:21 Staff: Oh, yeah.

23:24 Artisan (Spain): I work in Valencia with the Fiesta de las Fallas (festival of giant paper figures). I am an artisan from Spain. I came because I think this type of figure has a lot to do with the Fallas. They are paper figures, although they do not burn, but they are also paper figures. So, for a month I have been receiving classes and exchanging work techniques.

23:47 John Daub: Wow, very interesting. I forgot Spanish. I learned Spanish in Guatemala, but I haven't used it for a long time, so I'll remember it when I use it a little. You live here?

24:10 Artisan (Spain): Yes, I live here for a month. I live in Valencia, Spain, but this time I am moving to Japan.

24:27 John Daub: What are you making now?

24:29 Artisan (Spain): I am making a bean-shaped daruma. I am making it with tin foil. I painted it with tin foil, and then I painted the skin, eyes, and ears. I painted the cup as well.

24:55 John Daub: Akoyama-san, sorry. A lot of celebrities have stayed here, right? Many famous people have been here before. You can see all the signatures of celebrities around Japan. So, where are you going to go in a month? Are you going back to Spain?

25:30 Artisan (Spain): I will finish here, and then I will go to the other side of the country with my friends. And then I will go back to Spain.

25:52 John Daub: Do you want to stay here? He doesn't want to go back to Spain. He wants to stay here. I'm used to it. I've been living in Japan for 20 years. I'm in Tokyo now. I lived in Iwaki 20 years ago. Oh, Iwaki. Near here. It has changed. It really looks like a different city. You can't speak Spanish or Japanese, so I have to explain it to you in English. Wonderful. So, that's so cool. Thank you. You can check out the channel Only in Japan on YouTube. Is there any rice? At the end of the shop, there's a blog. valenciadecartonpiedra.blogspot.com. Very cool. This shop is also very interesting. These are being made for the season right now. Very nice. Better than a Christmas tree. Christmas trees are pretty nice.

27:55 John Daub: All my other channels are live streaming. Now, live streaming. That was nice. That was interesting. I don't know if anybody who speaks Spanish or Japanese can understand that, but he's been here for a short period of time. He's helping out and learning about this culture. He's going to tour around the country afterwards and go back to Spain. But he doesn't want to go back to Spain because he's very used to living here. His Japanese is really good. Hopefully, he can find a way to stay here. There's a lot of people who want to come and live in Japan. It's just not... You need to have a visa and a purpose, a home, and a job. So, I hope you enjoyed this little miniature episode in this small town somewhere in Fukushima Prefecture. If you have a car, you too can make your way here and buy a Miharu koma and be a part of the legend. It's up to you. Get your Japanese driver's license and start driving.

29:21 John Daub: I hope Mia-san is not gone. Oh, Mia-san, you left. Okay, I'll come back. They're gone. Do you think they just left me here? Oh, no. Oh, there you are. I'm glad. Wow. So, this is Mia. And Shige. Mr. Shige. From Akita but living in Fukushima. From Yamagata prefecture. Wonderful. What did you buy? It's for you. For me? Yeah, souvenir. Wonderful. Cool. So, we're gonna head off on the road and check out the next place. 13 onsen. We're hitting another one coming soon. So, wherever you are in the world, have a really nice day. The weather's turning out to be pretty nice here in Fukushima. So, see you next time, everybody.