00:00:12 John Daub: Everybody. So I am now in front of the Tadaima Ryokan. This is the Tadaima Ryokan in Shinjuku. Although this is the Arakicho neighborhood which I showed you in the last stream, it's considered Japan's gourmet town. Kind of a secret gourmet town here in Tokyo. And I'm going to give you a look inside a ryokan in Shinjuku. There aren't that many traditional ryokan in Shinjuku or in the center of Tokyo. This is one of them. This one is. It's kind of special in a way. They even have. You can see they're planting cucumbers and eggplant in the front of it. So it kind of fits in with this neighborhood. It's easy to miss. So I'm going to put a link in the description so you can find this place because all of these road all like alleys and it just winds around so it's hard to find. But with the GPS, I think it'll be easy. I've already opened the door, so let's have a look inside. As you can see, this building is three floors and David is already inside there. So let's go find him up in one of the rooms.

00:02:08 John Daub: All right, so this is a very traditional looking entrance. Almost looks like somebody's house. We have a staff here. Can I get. Can I. Okay. So I can enter with my shoes. Nice to meet you. Okay, so this is the. This is the lobby and back here there's a lounge area which I'm going to show you just a little bit before we go upstairs. Welcome to Japan. And got a little bit of some cherry blossoms on the wall. This is a lounge area where you could have a coffee or sit and relax. That's my bag right there. Just grab a drink, a glass and help yourself. There's a sink. I guess you clean up after yourself. There's also a place for you to cook. I guess we're going to learn more about this from David. He's upstairs. He. He's all right. David. David is 190-something centimeters. He's pretty big. And they, as I told you in the last live stream, they have single rooms which makes this ryokan very, very special. The single rooms, for solo travelers. It's not something that you're going to find in a traditional Japanese accommodation. Usually they come in twos and you have to pay for it no matter how many people you have. So whether you're one or two, you got to pay the price for two people and David is in the room for one. By the way, they have free Wi-Fi, which I like. Ha. That's a big selling point for a lot of tourists. We're going to go upstairs to the third floor. From what I was told, this building used to be a residence. It was an old building, built, I'm guessing, after World War II and renovated now. It is a ryokan. Here's the second floor. We're gonna come back here. You can see some. Looks like kimono material. It's very pretty. Got one more flight to go up. Gotta find David. He told me I could. I could find his room because he wears shoes with an N on it. I'm guessing New Balance. All right, there's the third floor. Okay. Oh, look at that. You can see there's like a sword. Oh, they told me I'm not allowed to touch that, actually, so. Okay. In here. Check in is at 4 PM but I was told you could check in a little bit earlier. I guess it goes this way. All right. Oh, that's David's shoes. Okay, I found him. 305.

00:04:23 David (Guest): Come in.

00:04:25 John Daub: Are you decent? Ah, there he is. Hey, David.

00:04:31 David (Guest): Yeah. Come and take your shoes off.

00:04:32 John Daub: Okay. Hold on a second. Where's my shoes?

00:04:38 David (Guest): Just.

00:04:39 John Daub: Okay.

00:04:40 David (Guest): Be careful with your head.

00:04:41 John Daub: Yeah. Wow. This is. This is a little bit tight. How do you turn the lights on? Is there?

00:04:48 David (Guest): Yeah, it was pretty brilliant, but it's quite long.

00:04:51 John Daub: Oh, there we go. Okay. So this is a typical single room inside here. Are you comfortable?

00:04:59 David (Guest): Yeah, it's very cozy.

00:05:05 John Daub: How many centimeters? How tall are you?

00:05:07 David (Guest): Yes.

00:05:08 John Daub: 193 exact. Ah, exactly.

00:05:14 David (Guest): That's kind of scary.

00:05:16 John Daub: I know, because you told me already. I'm trying to put this at an angle where you can look down on us. So a little thing, a little bit about these rooms. All of them are the same. There are 12 rooms in this ryokan. Up here. You can see there's a storage rack for you to put your luggage. You can also hang a jacket or two up here on the hanger. The doors do not lock. They're like Venetian blinds. So if you have personal belongings that you want to keep safe, you can lock them in these handmade lock boxes, you know, in Jo Khan's. I've never heard of crime in the 20 years I've lived here. So I don't think you need to worry about it. Most people come here and sleep and then they move on. I'm gonna get into the rooms a little bit more. When I go down to the next floor. But I want to just give you a sense of how big this is by turning the camera around. Okay. I think, David, I think if I put this up here, you can see. See eyes. This is sort of cool. All right. Ah, it's pretty tight between, but it's kind of a neat angle.

00:06:30 David (Guest): Oh, wow. Great. Yeah.

00:06:34 John Daub: So there's not a lot of space. There's not a. But this is what a single room is like. It's a much bigger than a capsule hotel.

00:06:45 David (Guest): I mean, it's a. It's a Japanese style room with the tatami. Yeah, it's very much what people used to stay in.

00:06:52 John Daub: Three tatami. Three tatami.

00:06:54 David (Guest): Yeah, that's right. And it's brand new, and it's basically what people used to stay in when they were traveling in Japan 200 years ago. This is like a kind of size.

00:07:06 John Daub: You hear that? So this is sort of the size that you'd get traditionally in Japan. Let me bring this camera down.

00:07:18 David (Guest): Why don't you try that Venetian blind?

00:07:21 John Daub: Okay. All right, let's get. Let's give it, give it a try. Hold it or. Yeah, go ahead. I'll magnify.

00:07:39 John Daub: So it goes all the way down to the floor. These run very much like the blinds. When I was a kid, I used to have Venetian blinds like this. So it goes down to the floor. Now the thing with this, David, is that the walls don't go all the way up to the ceiling. I've noticed for me, that's not a problem. But for some people, I don't, you know, it's. If you're a snorer or somebody is snoring, they do give you earplugs. And I noticed when I first came in here that the walls don't go all the way to the ceiling. One good thing about that is that it creates more ventilation so you have air flowing. The air conditioner is actually outside and it'll air condition the entire room, but you can't hear your neighbors.

00:08:31 David (Guest): It's lively.

00:08:32 John Daub: It's lively. But I love that we have tatami mats in this room.

00:08:41 David (Guest): That's the best thing about being or staying in Japan is the tatami mats. Have you ever stayed in a house with tatami mats?

00:08:51 John Daub: Yes, my apartment, last apartment had tatami mats. And I was sad to see it go. I think it had nine. It was maybe three or four times bigger than this particular room. But yet tatami is something that's harder and harder to find in Japan. In the city of Tokyo. Anyways. Most of the rooms now are western with wood floors.

00:09:13 David (Guest): They've got the futon. But the great thing about tatami is that you can just sleep on it without a futon. It's not as hard as a wooden floor.

00:09:21 John Daub: Right? It is very soft.

00:09:22 David (Guest): I like taking naps on it.

00:09:25 John Daub: Yeah, yeah. This is why. This is why we couldn't find David earlier, because he was in here resting in this room after eating a massive tonkatsu meal in the stream before this. But I'm gonna. I'm gonna. I'm gonna go down. I'm gonna open this up here. I'm okay one handed. So open up the door. All right. And then you can lock the door by taking the venetian blinds and moving it to the right. And it locks in place. And now your door is open. Nice little picture on the left side here. There. Inside of this room is a trash can, a table, there's the tissues, everything you need to know.

00:10:07 David (Guest): You got a yukata? We didn't mention that, but there's a yukata.

00:10:10 John Daub: Get your own yukata with belt, earplugs for when you sleep and your neighbors snoring maybe, which is a great touch. A towel, toothbrush. All the amenities you pretty much need in order to have a comfortable stay, which is what you would expect at a ryokan. Right? I wouldn't expect. I wouldn't expect not to have a yukata in a ryokan. Imagine a yukata list. Wait. Okay. So he's 193 cm and he's okay in here. This is no capsule hotel, ladies and gentlemen. This is a full. And I love the light as well. This is a very traditional paper lantern type of light.

00:10:45 David (Guest): It's paper.

00:10:47 John Daub: And you have this soji paper door here. Can you open that or? No, it's. It's.

00:10:53 David (Guest): Let's light it.

00:10:55 John Daub: Yeah.

00:10:55 David (Guest): This is what the rooms of old were like in the old guest houses.

00:11:00 John Daub: Yeah, it's comfortable. I like the colors. Very subdued, very earthy, which is the Japanese style. Let me go outside here. So these rooms are already full. These are the Japanese numbers 301. And if you can't tell, just look up here right there. There's your answer. Tall people can change light bulbs easily. Vinay, how would you know that? In my last apartment I was jumping to try to get the light fixture off. But this is in the corridor. And what I can tell you about this is that the air conditioner is at the end of it right there. And right now in April and May, it's so comfortable. The weather is that you don't need any heat or air conditioning. It's pretty good. The fact that these are open on the top, you can add your luggage here, which is good. So you can put your bags outside, or you can put it in here if the room is a little bit tight, which is very convenient because travelers are traveling with luggage. According to the owner, most of the people staying here are coming for an experience. They come for the experience of staying in a ryokan. And this really does a great job of making that possible. You don't, as I said in the beginning of the live stream, you don't have a lot of ryokan in the center of Tokyo. It's just not something that people do. There's hotel chains and things like this, but none of them can recreate that traditional feeling of being on tatami. Not at this kind of price, anyways. And if you're a solo traveler, the prices are pretty reasonable because you'd have to pay for a double room even if you were one person. So this seems to be an ideal situation for that. But I see right here behind you. Toilet. We've got to check out the toilets. I can't let this go. Let's take a look. All right. Smells. Okay. I'm just saying.

00:13:04 David (Guest): Got the bidet functions.

00:13:06 John Daub: You do have all of the control panel and the bidet function, so you're going to get the perfect toilet experience. I'm not opening it up because I don't know what's inside. Just leave it go. Oh, it's been cleaned. It's been cleaned. Very nice. There are two, and there's a community sink area, but there aren't that many people staying here. There's only 12 rooms in the entire ryokan. So I think probably in the morning and in the evening before bed, it's a little bit busy, but most of the people, as you can see, the size of the single was just comfortable enough for one person. But most people just come here. They go on to the neighborhood where we showed you where we ate for lunch. And then they'll come back here and kind of just crash. Just have a little bit of the traditional.

00:13:50 David (Guest): It's your base and it's Japan. Traditional Japan, your home base.

00:13:57 John Daub: Yeah.

00:13:59 David (Guest): And if you want to hang out here, there's the lounge, and that's fun, too. It's a good atmosphere because you can meet people from other countries.

00:14:06 John Daub: Right.

00:14:07 David (Guest): The hotel manager is interesting person.

00:14:10 John Daub: Interesting person, to say the least. So this is sort of a crossroads of the area. Arakicho. I'm going to go down and check out the other room, the double room. So I'll. I'll meet you downstairs, I guess. All right. Very nice. Yeah, yeah. So there's. There's actually some people who already checked in at night. You probably want to be a little bit quieter and be more respectful of the neighbors. According to the owner, there's a policy where you can't speak on the telephone in this area between 10 PM and 7 AM it's sort of a quiet time. And that makes sense because once again, like, people are sleeping and it's kind of close. I like the community. It's sort of this one here, 204. So I'm going to go in here and show you a double room. Once again, take your shoes off Japanese style. Yeah. And there are two slippers if you want to go in here. And here's the light. Okay. So what I'm going to do is put this. I have here a wide angle lens, and I kind of want to give. Yeah.

00:15:49 John Daub: Crocs. Slippers are crocs. What? Those are totally Crocs. So we have croc slippers. I put my shoes.

00:16:00 David (Guest): So they used to have the geta, which is the traditional Japanese slippers, but they. They are. They're wooden and they always actually.

00:16:09 John Daub: Yeah, these go croc, croc, croc. So what I have here is a wide angle lens, and I think with this we might be able to see a little bit more. Let's see here, right in the center. And I'm gonna have to take it off of the gimbal. Yeah, there you go. So, yeah, here we are. So I'm gonna move it off of the gimbal. Stay with me for a second. Yes.

00:16:51 John Daub: Hi. Now you can see the scope of this room with a wide angle lens, and it is a little bit darker. This window isn't as big, but it can be comfortable for two people. I noticed where I put the camera in, there's a little alcove, a little area where you can put your luggage. Basically, though, David, I think this is where you would just sleep. There's no TV in here, so there's no entertainment at all, really. Meaning you shouldn't. You know, most people are couples that come here.

00:17:32 David (Guest): We've got all kinds. People that comes single travelers, couples. Even families. Yeah, even groups, like big groups. Five, six people just get rooms next to each other or opposite on the same floor.

00:17:46 John Daub: Right. So now, the owner told me that there were families coming here. Again, you have a table. There's a book here to show you how to use. You cut that. Let me see if I can get. Maybe I put this lower. You can get a better idea. There we go. All right, so this is the end of it. So you can see the room when you enter in here, you have right here on the floor, three towels, two towels, two hand towels, two yukata, two belts, and two earplugs so you can block out any snorers. There's a trash can in the corner here. This is a twin room, so there are two futons. A double room would have one bigger futon, but to be honest with you, there's no real difference between a twin room and a double room. Except for this. Oh, and I should clean my lens. I think it's just not. I think it's just not on there. To clean the lens. That was nice of him. I guess they're watching the live stream. All right. I should clean the lens. All right. Welcome back. Does it make a difference? All right. Maybe it's a little bit better, but I just want to give you a little bit of a. Yeah, it's. It's okay. I just want. I want you to see what the size of the room is like. And this is what it is here. Yeah, Very nice. Hard to get. It's hard to get a good camera angle because it is pretty tight. But I think this is a really unique experience. When you couple this with the town that we ate in and a traditional room like this, this is a pretty neat experience that you have.

00:19:38 David (Guest): I agree. Yeah.

00:19:40 John Daub: Yeah.

00:19:44 David (Guest): Not only do you have the room, the town, the bath, you can also get a traditional Japanese breakfast.

00:19:51 John Daub: Oh, right. Yeah.

00:19:52 David (Guest): In the morning. So, yeah, seamless experience.

00:19:57 John Daub: Yeah, Very good. Cool. So I'm going to take this off now. You can see it does make a big difference. And put this back on the gimbal. And most people are booking through either the website or I guess, sites like booking.com booking.com. You can get a place here. Now we're back on the gimbal. Boom. Nice. So the double room pretty much has the same amenities as the single room, except it's just bigger. There's also the lockbox up here. There's the rack to put your luggage on the top. There's some coat hangers for two people in this one. And then you have the curtains. And you shouldn't worry too much about security. In ryokan, you don't always find doors, but sometimes the doors are like this. They're. Yeah. And then you have the. You don't. Yeah. I think it's good we showed how to close it. But I think it's pretty interesting how you have just enough privacy. It's comfortable. Yes. It's pretty difficult to get in. Yes. Nice. This is pretty cool. I had no idea that this place existed until David introduced it to me. 12 rooms in this ryokan. Once again. On the second floor, you got.

00:21:34 John Daub: One toilet and one shot. Is this a shower? Okay.

00:21:37 David (Guest): This one.

00:21:39 John Daub: This one's a shower.

00:21:40 David (Guest): Shower room. Yeah. So you got a bath. But if you wanted to wash outside the bath hours, it's really clean.

00:21:48 John Daub: I guess it's because it's new or just really clean?

00:21:51 David (Guest): Both.

00:21:51 John Daub: Both. Please take your shoes off here. Everything is in English too, which means the staff can speak English. All right. Very clean hair dryers and a very tall man hiding in the toilet. Oh, there's the other toilet. All right. So when we leave, we should close the door behind us. I like the little touches like this. It does give you a feeling that you are in a Japanese home. And one of the things that I like about it, not just because it has tatami, but you feel, because this was a Japanese home at one time, it still has that feeling that you're in somebody's house. And I like that. I like that a lot. Let's go down to the first floor. You said there was also a bath here.

00:22:41 David (Guest): Oh, you haven't seen the bath yet?

00:22:42 John Daub: No, no.

00:22:43 David (Guest): Check out the bath.

00:22:45 John Daub: The bath.

00:22:46 David (Guest): You must.

00:22:47 John Daub: But I won't be taking a bath. Not right now anyways.

00:22:50 David (Guest): You could.

00:22:52 John Daub: Lead the way. All right. Follow David. So the bath. I don't know about the signal. We're kind of deep in the center of the building, but. Oh, there's somebody in there. Oh, no, no. I, I. Okay. Vacant.

00:23:06 David (Guest): This is. This is occupied. But it's vacant.

00:23:11 John Daub: Oh, vacant. So if you're in there before you go in, turn it to occupied, or else you'll have some people screaming.

00:23:18 David (Guest): Yeah, we're a bit early, too. 4:00 PM Maybe we're getting there, but here's a. Here's a photo of the bath we're going to go in. There you go relax in our typical Japanese bath. But there's nothing typical about it because it's kind of bigger and then. And I like the wood trim around it. So, I mean, it's not exactly. Doesn't look like my bathtub at home. I'll put it that way. All right, we're gonna try. We're going to try the. I'm not sure about the signal, how good it is in here, but we'll give it a try. Gotta take your shoes off here as well. It's very traditional. Whenever. Whenever you have a step. Actually, this is a good indication that you should be taking your shoes off before you go in. And if you were ever in doubt, there's a sign after all, right? Oh, yeah. So, okay, well, the floor is dry, so we can go in here. But you can see before you go into the bath, community bath. You would bathe yourself off. There's. It comes with shampoo, conditioner, and body soap. You'd take that small towel that was in your room, and you would use that to scrub yourself. You can either use the shower or this, but you don't want to get your. The water into the community bath. The bath is filled once, everybody. So. So the bath is filled. You soak in the bath for, like, 10 minutes. Get out, dry yourself off. Get out. I usually wash and then I'll dry myself off and then go back to bed or go to bed.

00:24:47 David (Guest): But is there water in there now?

00:24:50 John Daub: There should be. Oh, there's no water. Oh, it hasn't been filled yet. Okay. So usually this is filled and you don't drain it when you're done. The reason you take a shower before you get in the bath is so you're clean and you don't pollute the community bath water, which they've been doing in Japan traditionally, because it saves the water. This saves the hot water if. If you were ever in doubt on what to do. Yeah, they got graphics here, the do's and don'ts of bathing in Japan. Usually a lot of fun to watch. As you see, people. No bathing suits. Don't bathe with your towel. Take a bath before you go in the tub. Don't go in there with mud all over your face. I hope that's mud. And don't. And don't. Don't get water on your neighbors. But I think that's not a problem. It looks like a solo bath, but don't go with shampoo as well in the bath water. Make sure you wipe yourself off sufficiently before going back to the dressing room. So don't bring in water in. But the rules are on the wall, so you pretty much get the basics. You can leave your clothes here in the baskets, and if you do get water, you can wash it up. Yeah. And don't forget to turn off the lights. They. You have. They've thought of everything.

00:26:06 David (Guest): The right spot, Right? Let's do just that. Turn light off.

00:26:11 John Daub: Nice. Put your shoes on and make it out.

00:26:19 John Daub: Wait. There's one other thing I want to show. Because I'm looking at it. She's on. This looks like a secret door. Is this something I can show? This is a side entrance. It's locked.

00:26:40 David (Ryokan Manager): This is for when you're. The front door is locked from 10 PM.

00:26:47 John Daub: Hold on a second.

00:26:49 David (Ryokan Manager): So the front door is locked from 10 PM so if you want to go out drinking, come back late, just come to this door. You'll code.

00:26:56 John Daub: Also, they give the guests a secret code.

00:26:58 David (Ryokan Manager): That's the first thing we give guests. When the guest comes, you get your code.

00:27:03 John Daub: Secret code.

00:27:04 David (Ryokan Manager): That's right.

00:27:04 John Daub: Say the word secret code, then laugh.

00:27:09 David (Ryokan Manager): Otherwise you can't get back in.

00:27:10 John Daub: You can't get back in without the secret code. Sorry.

00:27:12 David (Ryokan Manager): No problems. You can stay out.

00:27:16 John Daub: You need the secret code. We're back into the loud. Into the lobby. Oh, now you're on the Internet, are you?

00:27:22 John Daub: Watch your step. Are you watching it? Oh, they're watching the live stream right now. That's crazy. So very cool. This is a nice lobby. It's. It's not. It's not too big, but I. I think this is what makes it. David. This. What makes it feel like a house when you enter. It's not. It's not overpowering. It's not big. It's not filled with marble. It's not filled.

00:27:46 David (Guest): It's a genkan.

00:27:47 John Daub: Yeah, it's a genkan. It's like what you have in somebody's house or residence. I like that.

00:27:52 David (Guest): Did you see the map of old Arakicho?

00:27:55 John Daub: Okay.

00:27:55 David (Guest): This is the map of Arakicho in 1853. Edible period.

00:28:00 John Daub: Right. 1853 map. And if you come here, you can look at it in glorious 4K if your vision is good.

00:28:09 David (Guest): Where's the real column? I can't find it. This is the garden.

00:28:14 John Daub: I think we're trying to find where we are. You could either look in this map or use Google GPS. We're around there. But that. This is from 150 years ago.

00:28:31 John Daub: Oh, this is when the daimyo was here.

00:28:32 David (Guest): Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Dining.

00:28:34 John Daub: Yeah.

00:28:34 David (Guest): At that time. And Shinjuku Gyoen is up there.

00:28:37 John Daub: That's Shinjuku Park. Shinjuku Gyoen. And we're very close to where Shinjuku Station would be, I guess over here, more towards up here. How long would it take to walk there to get?

00:28:50 David (Guest): 20, 30 minutes.

00:28:52 John Daub: 20 minutes. 20, 30 minutes.

00:28:53 David (Guest): These maps are really funny because you notice that if you read the Japanese, the Japanese knees will turn. It's not always. It's sometimes sideways.

00:29:02 John Daub: Ah.

00:29:03 David (Guest): Like it's. It's the direction of the entrance to the house.

00:29:06 John Daub: Oh. So the. The. It's written on the side because that indicates that the entrance would be here then.

00:29:14 David (Guest): Yeah. So I see the. The interesting is in all directions. You don't know. Like, you think it's upside down. This is upside down because you enter from. From the top. So it's a bit of a way of thinking.

00:29:28 John Daub: Wi-Fi G Mascara. Wi-Fi. Of course. English as well. Just a little bit of English. Wonderful. Yes. There's free Wi-Fi in the rooms as well.

00:29:41 David (Guest): Come. Come and show off your English then.

00:29:43 John Daub: Yeah, show us your English so we can listen. Oh, oh, and okay. But I just want to show this up. They have. They have guides of Tokyo in English, Spanish, Italian, German, French, Korean, Chinese and traditional Chinese. I believe so. And then it might even go even deeper down there. Just. Just want to say that we enjoy this accommodation and sometimes. And I organized a party with my guests.

00:30:18 John Daub: With alcohol.

00:30:19 David (Ryokan Manager): Yeah, of course. I like beer. You like?

00:30:23 John Daub: Do we like? I like. I like very much.

00:30:26 David (Ryokan Manager): Yeah. I show that game. It interests Japanese game.

00:30:30 John Daub: Oh, wow.

00:30:31 David (Ryokan Manager): Every time we enjoy this game. It said the Japanese wasabi lotion roulette.

00:30:38 John Daub: Oh, my. You know, this does not have a happy ending for somebody. Somebody's gonna get in deep, deep trouble.

00:30:45 David (Ryokan Manager): You just right.

00:30:48 John Daub: Me?

00:30:49 David (Ryokan Manager): Of course.

00:30:50 John Daub: Why me? Okay, hold on a second. We're gonna try this. All right. I was trying. Put this here. We gotta try. This is called Russian roulette. No, Japanese Russian roulette. Wait, I'm not dealing with. David's gonna try this too, right? We're all trying. Everybody.

00:31:06 David (Guest): Everybody.

00:31:08 John Daub: Okay. I'll go first.

00:31:09 David (Guest): Okay.

00:31:10 John Daub: All right. I'll go first. I volunteer for this. All right, so. Okay, wait. So something inside it.

00:31:17 David (Guest): Yes, you said, what's up?

00:31:18 John Daub: But I can't.

00:31:19 David (Ryokan Manager): Wasabi or jam?

00:31:23 John Daub: Wait a minute. So the person who gets the wasabi gets like the.

00:31:29 David (Ryokan Manager): May, I think that you have lucky.

00:31:31 John Daub: I got a lot of luck. I'm a lucky man. Okay.

00:31:50 David (Guest): Okay? I go for the. Sorry, like maybe. Maybe somebody could choose for me.

00:31:59 John Daub: Go right for the middle.

00:32:00 David (Guest): I want somebody who's watching to choose which one. 1, 2, 3. They can't see it, actually. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Which one? I'll take the first one.

00:32:10 John Daub: Do it, do it, do it. Wasabi, wasabi, wasabi, wasabi. Give that man a water. Come here. You've been. You've been on the other side. Japanese Russian roulette. Yeah. There's always a loser. Now. Look at him suffer. David, are you. Are those tears of happiness I see? Oh, anything but happiness. Yeah. Cheers. That's funny. That's like a traditional. A traditional game. There's more than one magic bullet of wasabi in there. Look at David in massive pain. Oh, man. Safe. Safe. Do you go drinking, like, every night, but every weekend? Every weekend. So weekend game, because not everybody survives. And, David, are you gonna be okay for the rest? We got two more live streams to do. David, this isn't the end of it. There's more. You gonna be okay?

00:33:55 David (Guest): Yes. Yes.

00:33:55 John Daub: All right. You want another one with jam? There's only. There's no wasabi. Oh, there were two. You totally stacked it. I knew it. I knew it. I. Oh, man. Oh, man. So it wasn't. It wasn't. It was stacked against you, the odds. You had, like, a 30% chance of failure, but so did I. What.

00:34:19 David (Guest): What did you do before you were working here?

00:34:24 David (Ryokan Manager): That's a hosting in the Airbnb and the. We. We have. I have a lot of. For the guest. And I started this. Enjoy every day, every night.

00:34:36 John Daub: So you did Airbnb before this?

00:34:38 David (Ryokan Manager): Yeah.

00:34:39 John Daub: Wow. What. What's.

00:34:41 David (Guest): How was your rating as an Airbnb host?

00:34:46 John Daub: How is your rating. Airbnb rating? Review the good. Good, Bad.

00:34:53 David (Ryokan Manager): Yeah.

00:34:54 John Daub: Hi.

00:34:54 David (Ryokan Manager): I'm so. Super host.

00:34:57 John Daub: Yeah, super host. Very nice.

00:35:03 David (Ryokan Manager): So 85, 800 guests from 50 countries.

00:35:07 John Daub: Only two years here. Yeah.

00:35:09 David (Ryokan Manager): I don't know.

00:35:12 John Daub: Okay.

00:35:13 David (Ryokan Manager): This accommodation, it have four months and about 500 guests on 47 countries.

00:35:22 John Daub: Wow. In four months. Yeah. 47 countries.

00:35:26 David (Ryokan Manager): I have one program. I cannot remember guest name.

00:35:31 John Daub: If you could, then you're gonna. You can remember. You can remember where the wasabi is, right? You can remember where the wasabi is. So that's sort of pretty important. But I guess when so many guests are coming in, of course you can't remember the names, but if you call them John, that's a pretty good guess because most people have that name. I'm just saying.

00:35:50 John Daub: Or David or David.

00:35:51 David (Guest): Yeah. These are pretty good guesses here. Good. So why are Arakicho Kuni.

00:35:58 David (Ryokan Manager): It's so old and there's a lot of restaurant. Russian restaurants. It's good place.

00:36:04 John Daub: And

00:36:08 David (Guest): you know all the good places here.

00:36:10 John Daub: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:36:11 David (Guest): Can you like. We want to go out and have dinner and even go to a bar. Like, do you have any good recommendations?

00:36:20 David (Ryokan Manager): Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:36:21 David (Guest): So.

00:36:22 David (Ryokan Manager): A lot of Japanese place are changing. Like same restaurant, same bar. But this, this town is old and the original special. There's a lot of restaurants and it's. I think so a lot of guests. So I. Enjoying the traditional and special Japanese culture.

00:36:44 John Daub: Right?

00:36:45 David (Ryokan Manager): Yeah, I think we usually try.

00:36:46 John Daub: Yeah, I think we're gonna try tonight, right?

00:36:49 David (Guest): Yeah, we're going to go to. Because you, you told me about a place called Donkey.

00:36:54 David (Ryokan Manager): Donkey.

00:36:55 David (Guest): Oh, yeah. So we want to. We want to try.

00:36:57 David (Ryokan Manager): That place

00:37:00 John Daub: for dinner is yakiniku. Right. It's. It's kind of a meat place. I don't want to ruin the surprise. Surprised? But you said there was something different about Donkey. Yeah.

00:37:11 David (Guest): If you heard of something called. So that's our speciality.

00:37:16 John Daub: All right. I'm looking forward to introducing you to Hormon, which is Nonki. It's not very far from. From the ryokan as well as the

00:37:25 David (Guest): final destination, which is a bar which

00:37:30 John Daub: is run by Buddhist monks.

00:37:34 David (Guest): Monks, alcohol and vegetarian food.

00:37:38 John Daub: Now, in Buddhism, there's no actual Buddhist bar. So it's a Buddhist themed bar? No. Or it's an actual Buddhist bar. Buddhists drink booze. The monks will drink booze.

00:37:49 David (Guest): I haven't seen them drink because they're working there. So the, the bartenders are monks. So the guy who started. It's about 20 years ago is. Is a monk.

00:37:57 John Daub: Wow. So the Buddhist guy. So the. At the Buddhist bar is. That's the last place you're going to be doing in the live stream, the Buddhist bar. And I think we're gonna start that at 8:00 PM, right?

00:38:11 David (Guest): Yeah. So we're gonna start a bit before because we're gonna first walk there in the night time. Yeah, we're gonna hit the bar exactly 8 o'clock.

00:38:19 John Daub: 8 o'clock.

00:38:19 David (Ryokan Manager): Clock.

00:38:20 David (Guest): They're gonna do a very bo. Buddhist thing for us.

00:38:22 John Daub: A very Buddhist thing. What could this Buddhist thing be?

00:38:25 David (Guest): A small Buddhist ceremony which they do for the people that visit their bar.

00:38:32 John Daub: Yeah. You know, just, just to put a. Put a ribbon on this. And because I think we're in this live stream right, right here. When you come abroad and you, you, you come to Tokyo especially, you're looking for something that's a really Japanese experience. And you know, when, when, when my parents came here for my wedding, I recommended them to stay at a hotel in Asakusa and they really enjoyed that experience, but they stayed in a hotel. I think if you're maybe in your 20s, 30s and 40s. I think this is really comfortable because it's not just about this ryokan. I think that the ryokan is pretty, pretty cool. But it's about this whole town, isn't it?

00:39:19 David (Guest): It's a very relaxed atmosphere here. You've got the rooms, but you can also hang out in the lounge with the other guests. You can bring in your own food, your own booze. You can, right here at the table. Breakfast as well. You can have. They have their own breakfast. You can have breakfast here. You can have your own breakfast.

00:39:41 John Daub: What, what's it like, what's it like here at night? Is it. Is it like a live. I'm guessing that this, this room here, this lounge is like. There's people drinking. Yeah, yeah.

00:39:54 David (Guest): I mean we said earlier like 12 rooms. So you're gonna have, you know, maximum 10 to 15 guests every night. Half of them are going to be hanging out in the, in the lounge. If you've got a group of people, they might all hang out together and if they're enough people, then they can have a party down here.

00:40:12 John Daub: Right.

00:40:12 David (Guest): They can just bring in their beers and have a nabe, like a hot pot with vegetables and meat or some nabi pots on the counter. And it's a very casual, fun atmosphere. It's a great place to meet people and learn about the neighborhood as well.

00:40:30 John Daub: I like it. I like the fact there's also breakfast here and it's very reasonably priced. Actually, there's two breakfasts here. I just noticed this. I didn't know. So for breakfast you do people eat here?

00:40:40 David (Guest): Yeah, this is the. You have breakfast in the lounge.

00:40:43 John Daub: Wake up and have a taste of ancient Japan. Wake up and have a taste of ancient Japan. I like the way it's sold here. Limited to 8 servings per day.

00:40:53 David (Guest): It's got miso, miso soup.

00:40:56 John Daub: Yeah. The grilled fish or salmon in the

00:41:00 David (Guest): center, rice, pickles, green tea.

00:41:03 John Daub: That's very nice.

00:41:04 David (Guest): You can really feel there in Japan. But if you'd rather not have fish,

00:41:09 John Daub: fish in the morning.

00:41:10 David (Guest): If you want to say more familiar, you've got the western style breakfast.

00:41:13 John Daub: Sausage, eggs. I would probably go for that because I get Japanese breakfast at home.

00:41:18 David (Guest): Oh, really?

00:41:19 John Daub: Yes. I like me like some pancakes. Well, no, just on special days. I like. I like eating at the hotel actually. Waking up, having breakfast and going back to the room and going back to bed for another 20 minutes, just soaking it, let it stand and rest. And thank you for showing me this place, David. I was really. I didn't know about this town until you introduced it to me a couple months ago. So I'm glad that we have a chance to take a look here at this ryokan. The price people are going to be asking how much is it to stay here? And the answer is the single.

00:42:02 David (Guest): So single rooms from about 7,000 yen per night.

00:42:06 John Daub: Okay.

00:42:07 David (Guest): So if you want a double. So a double or a twin room. So two people in a room then for two people it's around 13,000.

00:42:15 John Daub: Just double it.

00:42:16 David (Guest): Yeah, well, yeah, more or less double. That's right. But you. Sometimes they'll have special sales discounts. So. Yeah, take a look. Check the other booking sites. Booking.com or other. Other booking reservation websites. Yeah, depends on the seasons. So yeah.

00:42:35 John Daub: Is that the best place to book? Booking.com or can they.

00:42:39 David (Guest): Agoda.com does it too. Agoda.com booking.com agoda booking.

00:42:44 John Daub: The usual suspects. So you can compare prices and I think it fluctuates based on season. I've noticed if you're coming during the low season, the prices will reflect that for the most part.

00:42:55 David (Guest): The rainy season.

00:42:56 John Daub: The rainy season is coming next, right?

00:42:59 David (Guest): Good time to visit.

00:43:00 John Daub: I think it kind of started this morning. We had some rain. It's been a little bit cool. That's why I'm wearing a jacket. This morning it was cold and now it's starting to warm up a little bit with the sun coming out. But it does depend on the season. But here, when you come to Tokyo, there's four seasons in Japan, so it doesn't really matter. You're going to get a really traditional experience next to Shinjuku, which is still like blowing my mind because again, my image of Shinjuku is a bustling city town with salarymen, trains, bars, loud noises, bright lights. And yet this is not like that. This is traditional Japan.

00:43:39 David (Guest): Quiet, traditional secrets, everything.

00:43:43 John Daub: That's not me. I'm the complete opposite of this town. I don't fit in here. I'm. I've been in it. Maybe at Shinjuku, but this is pretty cool. I like this lounge. I like the rooms. I like the vibe here. People are going to be starting to check in.

00:43:59 David (Guest): It's 4:00 PM. I mean, this hotel is a good place. If you're visiting Japan, stay here and the staff can guide you around. But if you're living in Japan already, or if you've decided to stay somewhere else, we've got the website Tadaima Japan, where we write out all our articles about different places. So we'll put guides in English.

00:44:27 John Daub: Is there a relationship between the website and the ryokan?

00:44:30 David (Guest): Yeah, absolutely. So we're working on the. There we go. Here we go. Show my. In case you don't know how you spell it, Tadaima Japan website. So it's run by the same people. So we, we are connected to this.

00:44:47 John Daub: What does tadaima mean? We say. We say when we come back. Right?

00:44:53 David (Guest): Means welcome back.

00:44:54 John Daub: Yeah, I'm home. I sit like, like, you know, I just, I just got married. Okay. And one of the things that I noticed with married life is because I used to live alone, I wouldn't say anything when I came back into my house. I would just enter and just like drop on the floor. Just goes tired. Now when I come home, I gotta say stuff. So I gotta say. I say tadaima and then my wife says okuri. Right?

00:45:20 David (Guest): That's right. That's what the. The. So the answer is.

00:45:28 John Daub: She doesn't say that. She doesn't say that. But it's pretty neat now that now that I don't live alone, some of the more traditions of Japan, like announcing when you come home, like honey, I'm home. You say tadaima and that's the name of the ryokan, which is pretty cool. So I guess you're home when you're here. Like this is. Could be your home. It feels like a home. It really does. Yeah. So let me. Before we end this, let's go outside and I want to end this live stream outside so we can see the building once again. If you're joining us late, we are in the Tadaima Ryokan in Shinjuku and David is showing me around, which is pretty cool. I did not know about this neighborhood until about a couple months ago. And I've been living here for a long time. I don't know how it escaped my radar, but now it has not. And I'm happy that now. Bye bye. Bye bye. Oh, that's the other one. Okay. Nice. All right. I don't know how this escaped my radar. This. This town, but now it's on it. And after eating that tonkatsu again, we're doing it. Four live streams today. That tonkatsu restaurant where Suzuki san was. And now we've been at the ryokan. After this, we're going to yakiniku. Are you hungry?

00:46:57 David (Guest): I hope so.

00:46:59 John Daub: I hope so.

00:47:01 David (Guest): I'm starting to get hungry.

00:47:08 John Daub: Starting to get hungry. I'm like, I'm getting there. But we're gonna go to the restaurant at 5 PM around 5 PM, right? That's right.

00:47:09 David (Guest): Yeah.

00:47:09 John Daub: Yeah. About 5 PM we're gonna do the the next live stream and then after that we have one more at the Buddhist bar. And if you're interested in Japanese nightlife, think about a place like this, a quiet neighborhood where you can chant before you say kanpai. I guess I'm not really sure. We're gonna find out, right? We're gonna find out the answer. But let's walk down here. We could put put the ryokan into view. So thanks for joining us. On the second livestream of the day. We're gonna be back, so hit the subscribe button and the like button and see you next time, like in a couple of hours. As you look at David building up hunger, do some push ups in that room. Bye, everybody.