00:30 John Daub: English speaker with occasional Japanese place names, food terms, and cultural words. Because they've said that they will get on this as soon as possible, but I don't know when that'll be. All I know is that the last my tatami episode about the tatami room and the kotatsu (heated table), once a viewer put this symbol in the chat, it was over. I tried to stream again and then another troll. Haha, it's funny because that's something maybe I would do if I was a teenager, too. But once it goes into the chat, it's over. I was pretty shocked that one symbol can destroy Apple—it's like the poison in the apple, this one symbol.

02:44 John Daub: I don't know how, but this is the symbol right here. It's from, I believe, Telugu—a southern India language. India has so many languages. I know my mother can speak Marathi, Hindi, and Kannada, which is the language of Bangalore. But I never heard of this language, and the text is so complicated looking. It's just something in it that destroys the code. So if this stream dies suddenly, it'll be a victim of somebody playing around with the code. It was shocking to find out that one symbol can destroy Apple. Anyways, I'm out here in the cold. It's a really chilly night. The weather is going in and out like it does in Tokyo at the end of February.

03:39 John Daub: Those of you making the trip to Japan in the next week should be aware that between the end of February and the beginning of May, the pollen—the hay fever (kafunsho)—is really bad. For me, it starts next week. I can already kind of feel it: my throat is getting raspy, my nose is starting to get runny. It happens because there are days now at the end of winter where it's a few days hot and a few days cold, and things start to bloom. When that happens, all bets are off because everyone on the subway is sneezing. If anyone has influenza, it's all over the place. That's why you want to wear your masks. That's why people in Japan know masks—it's hay fever season. This is mask season.

04:32 John Daub: I didn't have a plan with this livestream because I thought it would die after a few minutes. Somebody would put in this symbol, and nobody has yet. So I don't know what to do now. I guess I can go to the vending machine. Here's the symbol for everybody joining—if people copy and paste that into the chat, it destroys the chat. I had planned to take you to Denny's Japan today. There's a Denny's restaurant near me where the menu—all Denny's are like this—is very strange if you go to Denny's in the United States. All Japanese items, no Grand Slam breakfast. Hardly any breakfast—pancakes are considered dessert. So it's really unique, but I couldn't stream because I was afraid it would crash.

05:46 John Daub: If I start an interesting topic you like and somebody copy-pastes that code in and crashes it, I can't get back on because they'll be laughing with their buddies. They'll keep bombing the livestream and killing it. I wouldn't be able to compete. There's a vending machine nearby, so I just wanted to sneak in before next week to tell you about this bug. Until Apple patches it, I don't know if I'm gonna be livestreaming anything big. I had so many interesting topics, including one with Peter von Gomm where we were going to one of the really secret neighborhoods in Tokyo—not secret secret, but not a lot of tourists know about. And Jennifer—we were gonna meet up and do a livestream. But if Apple doesn't patch this bug and the stream dies, it's like taking hours out of our day for nothing. You just can't do it because there's always that one bad apple—you know what I'm talking about? That one guy who will put that code in and destroy your world.

07:29 John Daub: Alright, I'm at a vending machine. Let's get something—you guys decide what I should get. This is a little area with alcohol and hot drinks. Corn soup, which I'd like—something hot. We have green tea, Monster—no. Cohe—get a beer, hot drink, corn soup with a puking symbol—that's not gonna happen. Corn soup, sake, beer—it's between beer and corn soup. Max Coffee. Corn soup it looks like, but we got beers, Coke Zero, red beans—this one's hot too. Beer, Fanta, Dr. Pepper sneaked in. Alright, corn soup because Stan said so, then maybe a beer after because I said so. I love vending machines—they make that sound when the can hits the bottom. This is a Sapporo vending machine; I don't get drinks from Sapporo Premium very often.

09:32 John Daub: It's hot—nice and hot. Thanks, guys. Ah, this is great. Jeet kudi, kotta kotta, shecky socky—so it's got little pieces of corn. How am I supposed to show you? I don't have a bowl. Wow, you can smell the corn. Oh, this is good. It's a little creamy—basically corn soup with pieces of corn. Can you hear it? I don't have a glass to pour it into, but that's pretty good. Yeah, I'm thinking about getting a beer too, but corn soup will keep me warm. It's not midnight yet, so this isn't a midnight snack run.

10:56 John Daub: Another episode I wanted was to take you to my local Yoshinoya (beef bowl shop) for a midnight snack. I wanted to do Matsuya and get gyudon (beef rice bowl)—you get it from a vending machine ticket, hand it to the guy, and he gives it to you in less than five minutes. The whole stream would take ten minutes, but until this bug is resolved, I'm sidelined. Oh, this is the scarf Amanda gave me at the New York meetup in December—keeps me warm. This is scarf day; not much wind.

11:52 John Daub: Yesterday I went to see Mr. Saichi, my Japanese neighbor who's 97. When he started on the Only in Japan series, he was 94, so he's three years older and starting to forget stuff. I was with him, his granddaughter, father-in-law, daughter's husband. He was talking about a trip to China during the war. I looked at his son-in-law like, "China? I don't remember him ever being in China." But Mr. Saichi kept talking about it. One episode I'm doing is on living in Japan and how people live so old. At 97, he has all the secrets—genetics or something else. I'd ask about his diet, and he'd respond about World War II. Mr. Saichi was in the Philippines for the Japanese Imperial Army because there were no jobs in Japan—most people went into the army as the only job.

13:27 John Daub: At 18, he was sent to the Philippines on patrol as a security guard. He didn't really want to be there—like a lot of people, they didn't know what they were doing. He lost everybody in his platoon; he was the only one living, hiding in the forest. He ate papaya, mangoes, coconuts, and loves the Philippines—wants to go back. His son-in-law's like, no, he wanted to come home. But he has fond memories of the war and really loves the Philippines. After the war, he was arrested by Americans. Interestingly, Americans treated POWs really well knowing reconciliation would come. Mr. Saichi loves America because of the treatment—he was starving in the jungle, then got delicious food: chocolate, bread, canned corned beef, GI stuff.

15:42 John Daub: The irony: others captured with him died because they overate. They'd lived solitary in the jungle, then ate so much corned beef, bread, chocolate—their bodies weren't used to it. A lot died that way—something I didn't know. Every time I see him, he tells WWII stories from the Japanese point of view—not what I got in school. It's eye-opening. I'm hoping to talk with Mr. Saichi again; he talked for an hour. His stories are fascinating—he had to go because it was the only job, yet now loves the US and Philippines. After the war, he came back by boat from Philippines through Kyushu, then to Hiroshima by train, then Tokyo.

17:36 John Daub: I asked what Hiroshima was like after WWII—just after the bomb. He said, hell. I can't imagine. I lived in Hiroshima for two years in the early 2000s, walked past the A-Bomb Dome often, especially at night. I livestreamed about it hitchhiking through. Nobody took pictures—nothing survived from his childhood. Imagine: no record of his past because of the war and lack of cameras pre-1950s. He has no service pictures. My grandfather has them from WWII, but in Japan, not much records—stuff was bombed. Tokyo was destroyed and rebuilt, but history marks it still.

19:45 John Daub: When he got back to Tokyo, it was fast. I couldn't livestream yesterday because of the bug—made an Instagram post instead. This bug has killed my livestreams; shame I couldn't share this. I'll ask Mr. Saichi more when he's better—he's in hospital recovering from a broken back, broke his spine. All the corn chunks are at the bottom now, and it's cold. Real corn. I'd love more insight on Mr. Saichi and others. He's 97, was 18 in the war—firsthand accounts are vanishing.

21:30 John Daub: A few years ago, a friend had access to kamikaze (divine wind) pilots' letters before suicide missions. Early pilots were adults; later, as young as 15 from Kagoshima, Kyushu. There's an excellent museum with pictures of every pilot. Many couldn't do it—knew they were doing harm, went into the sea. Honor meant no return or defection—a sake shot, "Banzai!" three times, then mission. Records from WWII are leaving us daily. I want firsthand views like Mr. Saichi's—Japan changed so much. People kept to themselves post-war; elderly aren't close friends. Mr. Saichi's lively for 97—a couple years ago at 94, he'd do ten push-ups on the floor to show he could.

24:51 John Daub: He's maturing now, forgetting stories. I'll try bringing more firsthand WWII accounts—what it was like, how Japan changed. Pre-WWII, tough country—Tokyo suffered Great Kanto Earthquake (1923), moving Tsukiji Market from Nihonbashi. Rebuilding, expansion, WWII destruction, then US-help growth. Fascinating to document. Viewers are informed on Japan history; details matter more the longer I stay—why, who, how.

26:39 John Daub: This livestream surprised me—challenged trolls with the Telugu symbol, nobody shut it down. Longest in a week. Back from Abashiri last week; prison food video online in 24 hours. Editing three more main channel videos—lots coming next month. Calling it world's something on prison food—compare to healthy school lunches. Japan's prison food looks so good and healthy—I could eat it daily. But deeper, prison life's bad anywhere. Japanese prisons strict, regimented like school—you can't go home.

29:10 John Daub: Highly recommend Abashiri Prison Museum—only place to try real prison food and enter a Japanese prison (now museum). Cells have tatami, TVs, futons, toilets. Fascinating, hands-on—best museum I've visited. Sat in a cell, heard door slam, knew I'd get out. Finishing episode tonight, uploading tomorrow—thumbnail on Instagram.

31:17 John Daub: Trolls tried Telugu symbol—didn't crash. Maybe YouTube fixed it; we won. Japanese prisons: couldn't access Tokyo prison or record stations. Abashiri in north Hokkaido—Japan's Alcatraz, harshest winter (-18°C when I was there). Political prisoners, deaths building roads 100 years ago. Hokkaido like Australia's penal colony—Edo period exiles built infrastructure. Got warden permission to film inside and drone—usually not allowed. He was nice, comped prison food.

36:50 John Daub: Really cold—corn soup spilled corn in my pocket, no gloves. Bug didn't crash. That's Matsuya gyudon restaurant—wanted midnight run yesterday, but streams crashed. Too late now. Chilly in Tokyo, snow tomorrow—cold night. Purpose was challenging trolls—they tried, nothing happened. Didn't have much else, but shared what I've been up to. Next: Osaka trip, possible Asakusa/Tokyo meetup end of month on Facebook. Patreon near 300—milestone. If we hit it, maybe daily livestreams in March (30 days, 3rd month, 300 patrons).

39:22 John Daub: Live channel covers topics main can't. Business inquiries: not big sponsored, but fun ones like 7-Eleven truck loading. Patreon funds trips like Abashiri—two episodes, five streams. Amazing support.