He created a TV series in Japan RunAway Adventure
He created a TV series in Japan RunAway Adventure
Overview
In this episode, John Daub meets up with fellow content creator and producer Dean Newcomb in the vibrant neighborhood of Sangenjaya (三軒茶屋), Tokyo. Seated at a rooftop cafe bar, they discuss Dean's ambitious TV series, Runaway Japan: The Soul of Japan. Unlike typical travel vlogs, Dean's show focuses on human-powered travel—no trains, buses, or cars—covering 50 consecutive days to produce 11 episodes of commercial TV quality.
The conversation delves into Dean's background, starting from his modeling career in the UK and Germany to his eventual settlement in Japan. They compare the modeling standards between Europe and Asia, highlighting the cultural differences in body image. Dean also shares insights into his production company, DN Casting, and his sponsorship with Midai water, sourced from the sacred Mount Daisen (大山) in Tottori Prefecture.
The episode concludes with plans for a friendly competition at a retro batting cage, pitting American baseball culture against British cricket roots. Throughout the discussion, both creators emphasize the importance of high-quality storytelling and the unique appeal of Japan as a destination for athletes and adventurers.
Highlights
- 00:00:04 John introduces the location as Sangenjaya, an area near Shibuya with old alleys and restaurants.
- 00:01:13 Dean explains Runaway Japan is aimed at TV networks first, with social media as a secondary platform.
- 00:03:18 The crew traveled for 50 consecutive days, shooting 11 episodes with a schedule of four days on, one day off.
- 00:04:34 Dean reveals the show's unique constraint: no motorized transport (trains, buses, cars, taxis) allowed.
- 00:07:33 Discussion on combining sports and athletics with tourism, featuring hiking and kayaking.
- 00:08:02 Dean shares an experience at a natural outdoor onsen (温泉) where nudity is accepted in the countryside.
- 00:12:28 Introduction of sponsor Midai water, sourced from Mount Daisen in Tottori Prefecture.
- 00:17:24 Dean discusses the difference in modeling standards between Germany (muscular) and Japan (slender/sharp).
- 00:18:47 Dean describes Japan as sumiyasui (住みやすい - easy to live) due to safety and respect.
- 00:25:05 John announces they will head to batting cages for a challenge after lunch.
Timeline / Chapters
- 00:00:00 Introduction at Sangenjaya rooftop cafe
- 00:01:06 Overview of Runaway Japan TV series
- 00:03:00 Production schedule and episode count
- 00:04:30 Human-powered travel concept explained
- 00:06:00 Baseball vs. Cricket background discussion
- 00:07:00 Show activities: hiking, kayaking, onsen
- 00:08:30 Dean's business: DN Casting and production
- 00:12:00 Sponsorship details: Midai water from Tottori
- 00:16:00 Dean's modeling career path (UK, Germany, Japan)
- 00:18:00 Why Dean stays in Japan: Safety and culture
- 00:22:00 Distribution plans: TV vs. YouTube
- 00:25:00 Closing and batting cage challenge teaser
Japan Travel Tips
- Sangenjaya: A great neighborhood near Shibuya with elevated positions, old alleys, and neat little restaurants. Worth exploring off the main highway.
- Human-Powered Travel: Japan is a "Mecca" for athletes. You can kayak in rivers, lakes, and seas relatively freely compared to other countries, though drone laws are strict.
- Water: Look for Midai water from Tottori Prefecture, sourced from Mount Daisen. It is considered some of the best water in Japan.
- Onsen: In the countryside, outdoor onsens may be visible from public areas. Nudity is not a big deal in these traditional settings.
- Batting Cages: Retro batting cages are available for practicing baseball skills. Typically cost per set of pitches (e.g., 20 pitches).
Japanese Language & Culture Notes
- Sumiyasui (住みやすい): Meaning "easy to live." Dean uses this to describe why he chose Japan over other countries (safety, respect, cleanliness).
- Onsen (温泉): Japanese hot springs. Dean mentions visiting a natural outdoor onsen where local old men jump in naked, highlighting the cultural acceptance of nudity in bathing contexts.
- Soul vs. Sole: Dean explains the show title Runaway Japan: The Soul of Japan is a play on words. "Sole" refers to the foot (human-powered travel), while "Soul" refers to the spirit of the country.
- Modeling Standards: In Germany, models are expected to be muscular ("beef up"). In Japan, the preference is for a slender, sharp, and somewhat androgynous look, especially for younger men.
- NHK World: Both John and Dean have worked on the show Journeys in Japan, produced by Japan's public broadcaster NHK.
Food & Drink Guide
- Midai Water (未来水): Sponsored water brand from Tottori Prefecture. The name means "Future Water." Sourced from Mount Daisen. 00:12:28
- Beer: Mentioned casually as something you can enjoy outside in Japan, unlike some other countries. 00:21:00
- Lunch: John mentions having a nice lunch at the cafe before heading to the batting cages. 00:06:29
People
- John Daub: Host of Only in Japan Go. American living in Japan for 30+ years. Former model and actor, now content creator.
- Dean Newcomb: Producer, director, and star of Runaway Japan: The Soul of Japan. Originally from the UK. Former model turned entrepreneur and TV producer. Runs DN Casting.
Key Takeaways
- Content Strategy: Dean is prioritizing traditional TV network deals over social media first, a reverse strategy compared to most modern creators.
- Physical Challenge: The show distinguishes itself by prohibiting motorized transport, relying on cycling, running, hiking, and kayaking.
- Local Sponsorship: Dean partners with local businesses (like Midai water) rather than large corporations to maintain brand alignment with fitness and nature.
- Living in Japan: Safety, respect, and cleanliness are major factors for foreigners choosing to live long-term in Japan.
- Collaboration: There is potential for collaboration between traditional TV production styles and YouTube content creation.
Notable Quotes
- 00:03:24 "Everybody told me was impossible and crazy. And they were right about the crazy part of that."
- 00:04:34 "I do it all with my own physical body, which means I don't touch a train, a bus, a car, a taxi, the whole way around Japan."
- 00:13:55 "It's sacred mountain water from Japan."
- 00:18:47 "They say sumiyasui (easy to live). It's easy to live here."
- 00:21:19 "It's a Mecca. Right. It's the center."
Related Topics
- Only in Japan Go episodes featuring Tottori and Mount Daisen.
- NHK World Journeys in Japan series.
- Human-powered travel challenges.
- Foreign models working in Japan.
- TV production vs. YouTube content creation.
Search Tags
#only-in-japan-go #tokyo #sangenjaya #runaway-japan #dean-newcomb #tv-production #travel-show #human-powered #modeling #baseball #batting-cages #midai-water #mount-daisen #tottori #onsen #sumiyasui #nhk #journeys-in-japan
Full Transcript
00:00:04 John Daub: Hey everybody, welcome to Sangenjaya. This is an area in Tokyo not too far from Shibuya. We're at an elevated position at a nice cafe bar. You can see some of the old alleys that run with lots of neat little restaurants just off the main highway.
00:00:24 John Daub: Hey everybody, I'm joined with this guy. This is Dean Newcomb. He is the producer, director, star, everything for this TV series which is called Runaway in the Soul of Japan. Did I get that right?
00:00:40 Dean Newcomb: You got that exactly right.
00:00:42 John Daub: We're up really high in an elevated position. There's a little bit of wind so we're sitting down low here having a couple of drinks. Show everybody what you got here. I've known Dean for a few years now and the first time we really met was here in Sangenjaya. So we're going to recreate for you today what we did the first time we were here. We're doing it kind of backwards.
00:01:06 John Daub: Let's see here. This is the name of his show, Runaway Japan. Dean, tell us a little bit about Runaway.
00:01:13 Dean Newcomb: So the Soul of Japan is our first series. Actually, a little bit different to you John. We're not going for social media as our main platform. We're trying to now sell that to a TV network. On top of that, we of course got on YouTube and Instagram, the whole social media net.
00:01:37 John Daub: I guess you want to know what it is, right? What do we do? Let me bring the camera down here. Everything is reversed by the way because of the way that the YouTube app is reacting with the iPhone right now. So we're down here in a lower position. This is actually a really beautiful cafe. This place is on the rooftop here in Sangenjaya. It just opened so there's not a lot of people here. It's just me and Dean. Just two guys.
00:02:07 John Daub: If you're ever in Sangenjaya, I think half of the charm of this place is just finding it. It's one of those incredible spots that people just don't know about, right?
00:02:18 Dean Newcomb: Yes, it's actually really... It's not that out of the way. It's literally right by the station.
00:02:24 John Daub: I think if we use this table here, we should be fine. Let me get this... Is that fine?
00:02:30 Dean Newcomb: Yeah, let's put the bench over here.
00:02:32 John Daub: How's that? Just for a little bit. And they even don't mind when we just move the furniture around, huh?
00:02:39 Dean Newcomb: Yeah, that'd be cool. We're the only people here for right now.
00:02:42 John Daub: Beautiful day. You can see the sky up there. But Dean, I want to learn more about your show called Runaway Japan, the Soul of Japan. Let me bring in this little sticker. I love this. It's cute, huh?
00:02:57 Dean Newcomb: Yeah. One of our Japanese illustrators did this. So, basically me and four other travelers from... I'm from the UK. And we had one other guy from England. We had a girl from California, a girl half Russian, half Norwegian, and a guy from America. And we went around Japan for 50 days consecutively.
00:03:18 John Daub: Wow.
00:03:18 Dean Newcomb: Which everybody told me was impossible and crazy. And they were right about the crazy part of that.
00:03:24 John Daub: Yeah.
00:03:24 Dean Newcomb: We did pull it off. It almost killed me. And we shot 11 episodes. So, basically we did four days on, one day off, four days on, one day off, consecutive 50 days. And that made 11 episodes.
00:03:37 John Daub: Boom. He has... So, what I'm trying to say is, okay, I make this show Only in Japan. And I have 110 episodes over several years, okay? He, in the span of 50 days, made 11 episodes, full length TV, length 28 minutes?
00:03:54 Dean Newcomb: Yeah, yeah.
00:03:54 John Daub: 28-minute episodes for commercial TV, which is insane.
00:03:59 Dean Newcomb: It is insane. It is. And it goes on because you've got like, once you've made the footage, just doing like narration, graphics, motion graphics, subtitling. You know, the amount of work involved is massive. But I really thought that it was a valuable project. And like yourself, I've been working for NHK World.
00:04:17 John Daub: Right.
00:04:18 Dean Newcomb: We have actually been on the same show called Journeys in Japan. You've done a lot more. You've done like 15?
00:04:24 John Daub: Almost, yeah. Almost 15 Journeys. I've only done three of them. But yeah, it's a pretty cool show where we travel around Japan and highlight some unique places on the other side.
00:04:34 Dean Newcomb: I think that was one of the things that really inspired me doing that show. Because I do like you. I really enjoy that. And I think the content is really strong. And then I thought, you know, maybe it's time that I could kind of add my own personality into making a similar kind of content. I really wanted to introduce Japan. But I think the big thing about Runaway that we've never seen before is I do it all with my own physical body, which means I don't touch a train, a bus, a car, a taxi, the whole way around Japan.
00:05:01 John Daub: Yeah. Like human power.
00:05:05 Dean Newcomb: The southern...
00:05:08 John Daub: You'll see my human power later.
00:05:09 Dean Newcomb: Oh, yeah.
00:05:10 John Daub: That's right. I'm going to bring the camera around. That's right. So last time I came here with Dean a couple of years ago, we went... I'm American. And one of the national sports of Japan is baseball. And Dean, where's your home country?
00:05:25 Dean Newcomb: Oh, my God. It was so...
00:05:26 John Daub: Admit it.
00:05:27 Dean Newcomb: Yeah, yeah.
00:05:28 John Daub: It was so embarrassing. What's your home country?
00:05:30 Dean Newcomb: I'm from England.
00:05:32 John Daub: Okay. So we play cricket. Cricket. We do not play baseball. And yeah, it was a bit shameful, really, but... No, I think we're about equal because I haven't played baseball in a very long time. You need nine players on each team. You need 18 people basically to play a full game of baseball. So... But going to the batting cages, which is what we have here, it's a retro batting cage. After we have lunch, I've got this really nice lunch here. So after we eat this and I talk a little bit with Dean, we're going to go to the batting cages in about 30 minutes. And then... I'll bring the camera here. There you go. So we're going to go to the batting cages and recreate the challenge where the American versus the Brit and we go at it in a baseball cage. Who's your money on, huh?
00:06:25 Dean Newcomb: Now, this is my coach, right? You know, I teach you where to put my feet, how to hold...
00:06:29 John Daub: But I didn't know anything about how to play baseball, how to swing. I was trying to anti-coach you because I wanted to win. I was like, how many balls can we hit? So we're going to recreate this challenge and see how many balls at this retro batting cages we can hit. There's 20 pitches. How many out of 20 pitches can we actually hit? Now, I don't know who's going to win, to be honest with you, because it's all about eye, hand coordination and you're in much better shape than I am.
00:06:58 Dean Newcomb: Yeah, in good shape for my thing. So in the show, cycling, running, hiking, kayaking, some really cool like exercises.
00:07:06 John Daub: You do it all.
00:07:07 Dean Newcomb: Show us that one picture. You do it all in your series. Yeah, there's a flyer. There's a lot. We do spend a lot of time doing the Facebook and Instagram pages for still content. So there's loads of pictures of that, of the adventure. And basically, that's in between the border of Mie and Wakayama Prefecture where we found this amazing shrine called Kamikura.
00:07:33 John Daub: I like this because it's taken sports and athletics and physical challenge and kind of combined it with tourism, right?
00:07:40 Dean Newcomb: Yeah, exactly.
00:07:42 John Daub: There's a few more pictures on the back. I think you'll like this one. So an up close and personal experience in a very natural onsen, which is outside. And you can actually see the onsen from pretty much all over the town, like off the bridge. And nobody seems to mind. The old men just jump in there naked. And nudity is not a big deal.
00:08:02 Dean Newcomb: It's not a big deal. In the countryside.
00:08:04 John Daub: Yeah. So we gave it a go. You certainly did. We're tactically covering the bits. I see Bloody Bricks is in here. Thank you very much, Mario. Yes, so we're going to be doing a little bit of baseball culture. And the reason why I think that this is so important for you guys to meet Dean is because he's somebody who's been here in Japan for about 10 years now.
00:08:24 Dean Newcomb: That's right.
00:08:24 John Daub: You're coming in 10 years now. And he's somebody who came in here first initially through modeling.
00:08:31 Dean Newcomb: Correct.
00:08:32 John Daub: Right. And now you've moved into, you know, you're in the business of modeling. You're in the business of entrepreneurship, television, media.
00:08:37 Dean Newcomb: I guess so, yes.
00:08:37 John Daub: And you have your own business which is expanding. Is it called Runaway as well?
00:08:42 Dean Newcomb: Well, I guess my two main business areas are production and casting. So I have DN Casting where I cast wonderful people like you.
00:08:52 John Daub: Sometimes, yes.
00:08:53 Dean Newcomb: And I have a production company just set up for, like a lot of production companies set up to do corporate videos and all kinds of stuff. We are literally focused on making only this show. And we want to make travel content in Japan. That's it.
00:09:06 John Daub: That's a really exciting goal because I think as Japan moves more and more bridging between what they do here in Japan and the Western world, more people like me and Dean are kind of needed in Japan to help make content or explain things to people in a non-Japanese way, in a way that other people can understand. And Japanese content and producers, if you ever watch YouTube Japan, you'll see they got their own style. It's not exactly the same thing that we do. We're more just different. That's the only way to say it. We're different than the way that the Japanese YouTubers do it. So this is really important. But you chose, Dean, not to use YouTube. You chose to go full out to make a TV show, which is kind of a dying...
00:09:54 Dean Newcomb: Yeah, interesting, huh? It is, right? I think that's just because our background is so different. I'm definitely no social media wizard and I definitely don't have the experience and drive to do that. I don't have any experience on YouTube. I never had my own personal channel or anything like that. So even though you've obviously given me the coaching over the years of how to do it...
00:10:09 John Daub: Okay, well, come on over here. But I think that Dean should totally do YouTube, just on the side, just for himself maybe. And I think he's got this natural thing where he can connect with people, right? I think it's something he should do. So we've got to encourage him to do that, all right? Anyways, he can hear me, so... I think he should do YouTube.
00:10:27 Dean Newcomb: You heard me. You think so?
00:10:27 John Daub: I think so. I think you've got some really great ideas. But your... The thing with doing the TV stuff is that your production quality is insanely high. You have gimbals, drones, you have cameramen, teams, audio, everything while you're on the run doing athlete.
00:10:41 Dean Newcomb: It really is a challenge because I know I produce all these shows by myself and I have the same kind of challenges, but not on the scale that you have because you have other people besides yourself.
00:10:50 John Daub: Sure. Yeah. That's a mouthful. The only reason that I guess I took it on and did it that way is just because that's what I knew, you know, from doing all my years as a model actor or talent, as they say here. And that was what I was exposed to constantly. So even if I was only the model, only the actor, I could always see behind the camera the people who are shooting this, the directors are making this happen. And if you open your mind to this world, you're learning all the time, right? So you're not only modeling, but you're thinking, hey, that's a cool camera over there. And I like the angle. I like the lighting. And you're trying to pick up as much as you can. And then I'd done it for 10 years. And it just seemed like I could probably pull this off. And I was like, I'm going to do it. Yeah, hopefully this year we will start broadcasting in Japan first.
00:11:36 Dean Newcomb: OK. And then overseas. And then the world. But the verses will be pretty much the same. It's just that we're going to have like a Japanese narrator. We have this amazing guy who is half African, half Japanese.
00:11:48 John Daub: Wow.
00:11:48 Dean Newcomb: Speaks English well, speaks Japanese fluently. So he's going to be our Japanese voice talent. And then, yeah. And then, of course, we have the Western version with English subtitling and voiceovers. So yeah, multilingual.
00:12:04 John Daub: Right. Wow. And you said this is series one. You have season one in the can already. And you're working on season two.
00:12:09 Dean Newcomb: Absolutely. Yeah. But yeah, slowly, slowly. I kind of really jumped this first 50 days. Everything happened so fast. I got I managed to get a little bit of investment budget.
00:12:20 John Daub: Yeah. Go away. And she shows you actually have a water company, too.
00:12:23 Dean Newcomb: I do. These guys are also sponsors.
00:12:26 John Daub: Sponsor. Yeah. Midai is.
00:12:28 Dean Newcomb: And the really great thing is that I guess I care a lot about branding. So I didn't want to be sponsored by, let's say, a sugary soft drink or tobacco company or something that didn't really work with the image of being fit and running around Japan.
00:12:45 John Daub: I mean, like Coca-Cola and the alcoholic Chuhai that they just released in Japan. Maybe not. Coca-Cola is the best. I tried not to say names, but yeah, these guys. Don't name the names. You will love these guys as well.
00:12:56 Dean Newcomb: I'll send you some water. Okay. And the good thing about them, they're called Midai.
00:13:00 John Daub: The way is it?
00:13:01 Dean Newcomb: Yeah. So the word Midai is future.
00:13:05 John Daub: Future.
00:13:05 Dean Newcomb: Exactly. Yeah. And water.
00:13:06 John Daub: I see.
00:13:09 Dean Newcomb: Yeah. Midai and water. Midai Zoo. And they're from a prefecture called Tottori. And there's a really beautiful mountain that's shaped a bit. You've probably seen Fuji. It has that beautiful.
00:13:20 John Daub: Daisen.
00:13:21 Dean Newcomb: Daisen. Yeah.
00:13:21 John Daub: You've been to Daisen. You guys know Daisen quite well. I've done a couple of live streams there. And that's where I did two Journeys in Japan. So my Journeys in Japan were always in Tottori at Daisen last year and then two years ago in Mihonoseki. So yeah, this is something that's... Daisen water. And it's a... This is not a circle. Here's probably too much information, but this is a... I don't know the shape name. It has like 20 odd sides.
00:13:45 Dean Newcomb: Oh, yeah.
00:13:46 John Daub: And that's representing... It's a very spiritual mountain and they have a shrine up there. Yeah. And that's a symbol which is relevant to the shrine there. So it's like sacred.
00:13:55 Dean Newcomb: It's sacred mountain water from Japan.
00:13:56 John Daub: Yeah. Daisen has some of the best water in Japan. It's in the top three for sure. I know Suntory, which is another company. We don't want to name names, but Suntory has two bottling plants and they're the biggest water producer in Japan for bottled water. One of them is in the Minami Alps and the second one, which people in Osaka get, comes from Daisen. That's where their second water plant is. They store the snow from that area and melt it all year round to make the bottled water, which is pretty incredible. But I'm really happy that you get sponsors. And they're local sponsors. This is not big corporations. These are local people. I like that connecting local businesses with an international audience. I dig that.
00:14:38 Dean Newcomb: It's important to me. We did the first series like... I'm sure you see in any picture, I wore this crazy kind of Japanese talent style outfit with red shorts and bow tie.
00:14:49 John Daub: We discussed that. It's nuts. The bow tie guy. And then from here on, we thought that that would just grab some exposure, get noticed. And then from here on, I want to find a Japanese company who's making clothing to invest in us and water makes sense, energy bars. So hopefully we can tie up with a few companies and then instead of this just being like a one season thing, it's way deeper than that. It's a format, a new way of traveling and making content. So we don't know necessarily if it's going to be season two going away and making 10 episodes. Or it might be like a special one of content where I try to kayak from Japan to Korea.
00:15:26 John Daub: No way. Wait, can you do that? Can you kayak all the way to Korea? I saw some dude, he got into one of those puffy plastic balls that they inflate and he went all the way across the channel to Holland from England. He got kind of sick. Whatever you can imagine, whatever you can conceive. Japan to Korea, bridging two countries with the physical body.
00:15:49 Dean Newcomb: Yeah. Wow. So they've got, there's actually an island in the middle. Without that, I wouldn't be able to take it.
00:15:54 John Daub: Oh yeah. Okay. Yeah. I was gonna, I was gonna say. You can take a break. Very cool. So who knows? Like I'm, I'm still kind of feeling out what's, what's the next thing. So tell us, so you originally came to Japan as a model though.
00:16:09 Dean Newcomb: Yeah.
00:16:09 John Daub: So tell us a little bit about that. Most people will come here as like English teachers, you know?
00:16:13 Dean Newcomb: Yeah, I guess so. I had worked a little bit as a model in UK where I'm from. New Zealand. Well, Singapore. And I actually ended up in Germany who, because of my size, I'm six foot two, 180 centimeters. I'm quite big bill.
00:16:33 John Daub: That's not that big really. Not like John.
00:16:36 Dean Newcomb: Yeah. So Germany seemed to match the image. And then I just got this random invitation from a friend to like, I'd met a Japanese or many Japanese people actually while I was traveling in New Zealand. And working there. And somebody said, Hey, why don't you come for Christmas and New Year to Japan and check it out? So I went over and I'm thinking, well, you know, Japan's like the top of the fashion industry maybe for Asia. So surely I can model there. And I'm just going to, you know, I was quite arrogant maybe because I thought I'm just going to walk into a top agency and start modeling in Japan.
00:17:08 John Daub: But you did that. It didn't work out like that.
00:17:10 Dean Newcomb: It didn't. Because I'd just been in Germany and everybody's saying, can you, can you put on a bit more meat, beef up a bit? Because we like everybody. We're going to do Adidas. Oh, the German style. And then I get to Japan and they're like, you have a nice look, but can you get smaller?
00:17:24 John Daub: Oh my God. Oh, that's interesting. I just spent three months in the gym getting big and now I have to like drop from 85 maybe down to 75 kilos. Yeah. I guess because the style that the Japanese like is a lot more less masculine, I guess. Especially on younger guys as well. It's very androgynous and similar to maybe the females, you know, it's gotta be, you've got to be slim and sharp in the face. Yeah. It's got to be slender and sharp. And in Germany I guess it's more buff and muscular, more oils and stuff.
00:17:54 Dean Newcomb: That's my image. Now, luckily I'm in my thirties, so people don't give me a hard time about putting on muscle.
00:18:00 John Daub: So I just kind of do what I want. I'm in my forties. I'm building the other side of the waist now. You should see these forearms I'm holding the camera. But yeah, I think that's really interesting. You came in through modeling, but you decided to stay. I mean you, you could have gone to Hong Kong. You could have gone to other places, but why Japan?
00:18:21 Dean Newcomb: I did try as I went from going from Japan, I went to Singapore from Japan. I went to Korea. I even did six months in Korea. So long spell. And so I tried out different markets, see if my image would work. And, but I mean, most of it comes down to how do you feel in the place that you're living? And like for anybody out there who's been to Japan, they just, they know this just, it's a really nice place to be. They treat me with a lot of respect here. It's they say sumiyasui (easy to live). It's easy to live here.
00:18:47 John Daub: Yeah. Sumiyasui. I could, I could make my living. I like, I like people here. They're friendly. It's clean. It's safe.
00:18:54 Dean Newcomb: It's safe.
00:18:56 John Daub: I come from England. I'm not in home. So that matters. Right. It's people don't walk up to you and punch you in the street. You know, they do that.
00:19:03 Dean Newcomb: They do that in England, I guess.
00:19:07 John Daub: Wow. Yeah. So yeah, these are a lot of charming factors about Japan. And then like, and then you get into our world of the cultural aspect of Japan and it's just so deep. There's no end to it. In fact, I'm always every day I'm learning something.
00:19:20 Dean Newcomb: Yeah. Yeah. I feel the same, you know, 10 years and I still know nothing.
00:19:21 John Daub: You know, I'm still like peeling back layers and searching for like what, because we're way out there. Like we call it Soul of Japan.
00:19:29 Dean Newcomb: Right. Play on words. Soul foot, the bottom of your foot, the sole. S O L E. S O U L. And we go searching for the S O U L soul, the soul of Japan. And like, but who am I to say what is the soul of Japan? Right. But I, I suggest in every episode, an element which makes up. The soul of Japan. Why is Japan so fascinating? Why is it so interesting?
00:19:50 John Daub: So if you went to Korea, it'd be S E O U L. Remains to be seen. The soul of Korea, maybe. But it's really repeatable, right? Like the soul of Korea, the soul of Tohoku, the soul of Hokkaido. I think that's, I think that's really great. And, and, with these kinds of activities with these, it's, instead of just going over there, this is one of the things where I think your idea is really amazing. While your show's really amazing is because instead of just going out there, like everybody else. Me. And just introducing a place you use another medium to do it. Use sports, you use activities and each area of Japan has like great hiking or mountains or there's challenges all over this country that Japanese do as well. So I think that that's, that that's really fun. Like the kayaking is not something that I knew was really big here in Japan, but there you are out there kayaking in the sea.
00:20:40 Dean Newcomb: The amazing thing is, you would never know if you have a kayak. Yeah. You're pretty much free to just jump in any river. Any lake, any sea. And it's like in Japan, a lot of things require permissions, but if you have your own kayak, you can pretty, you're pretty much just free. You can literally just take it to Lake Biwa. And just paddle all over the place, you know? So yeah, it's the freedom of Japan.
00:21:00 John Daub: Just like crack open a beer and walk around town. I have, you know, maybe not walk around town, but you can eat, you can drink beers outside. You can kayak just about anywhere. The drones are different though. There are rules and laws to drones. Be careful guys. But, uh, yeah, I see what you mean. Like. This whole place is in a way for athletes. It's a playground. It's a Mecca.
00:21:19 Dean Newcomb: It's a Mecca.
00:21:20 John Daub: Right. It's the center. Somehow, there's like 130 million people here, right?
00:21:27 Dean Newcomb: Yes.
00:21:28 John Daub: 90% of the land is not like habitable. It's forest, it's rivers, it's lakes. It's um, and we're talking serious mountains. Yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah. They have, they have a hundred great peaks that a lot of the elderly people will try to hike up before they die. Yeah. Yeah. So it's just stacked with the natural world. And when people ask me, where's the best place to feel Japan? It's not in the cities. You can feel a little bit there, but it's really going outside of the city centers. And you do that in your show by, by like walking, running, biking. And it, it, that it's really how can we watch your show?
00:22:02 Dean Newcomb: Um, it's not on TV yet. Yeah. So how would we really difficult bit? Because so many people are saying, I want to see it. Where can I see it? I want to see it. I got the DVDs, actually. There's a YouTube channel on it. It's just mostly full of quite random content but the trailer's up there and you're gonna have to bear with me a little bit because it's very difficult for me to say uh let's say put this up on youtube before we get a broadcasting deal because it affects how i um i manage the future of the show with the tv stations but however once we do broadcast it we're probably gonna release the content in instead of a 27 minute piece maybe four six or seven minute pieces as bite-sized content and we'll do that through the youtube channel whether it be our own or through like a us you know a hosting service.
00:22:47 John Daub: That's really interesting you know there's more than one way to approach putting content up on the internet there's more than one way to produce a show uh nowadays most people are look through the prism of netflix or amazon prime and uh youtube which is consumer generated media but now more and more actually all of the big tv networks are putting their stuff on youtube and they're putting their stuff on youtube as well as youtube And you too! So it seems like all of the platforms are starting to cross each other. I think that's exciting for me and you as well because you've obviously been so successful and like I'm so inspired by this guy all the time. Like what you've done with Only in Japan is just so amazing. It's incredible, you know?
00:23:26 Dean Newcomb: We're just having fun guys. And I feel like I've had my own success but in a completely different world over here. And like I think the combination of us two kind of banging heads together and like collaborating could be super exciting. Bringing TV and you know like you could be in an episode of Runaway.
00:23:45 John Daub: That'd be fun! I don't know if I could take on the challenge though. Does anybody want to see John like you know running through nature?
00:23:52 Dean Newcomb: No, there's nothing to say here. Please move on. I do that anyways in the show but I think though that you know what's really interesting is we both come from TV backgrounds. I started before Only in Japan with NHK.
00:24:05 John Daub: I started NHK in 2008. So I kind of when I make the main channel episodes I look at a programming point of view. These aren't vlogs. This is a vlog but these aren't vlogs that I actually produce and you don't produce vlogs as well. It's very high quality professional material with editing. You put a lot of time and effort into it and the story isn't just about you. That's what I like about it. It's about Japan. It's about the challenge. It's about the human soul as well as the soul of Japan as it's in the name of your series. So he does have some of that. So if you want to see some content on YouTube definitely check it out. I'll put a link in the description. There's also a website that you have to support. Is the Kickstarter still going?
00:24:45 Dean Newcomb: We did a Kickstarter. It was successful. Not quite on your level but it was successful.
00:24:51 John Daub: That's another issue for those of you back to Kickstarter. But I'm really happy to introduce you to Dean and hopefully we can get Dean onto the main channel and do some other content because he's a really fun guy. Nice guy to work with.
00:25:05 Dean Newcomb: Thanks.
00:25:05 John Daub: I've known you for a few years now so it's pretty cool to after we eat lunch then have a batting challenge. That's going to be the film now. Yeah, that's going to be the film. So thanks for introducing your show to us. We're going to go to the batting cages in about 15 minutes. The link to that is already online so you can get the notification and see that. It's going to start around 1.05 or 1.10 pm which is... 12.43 now. 12.43. So about 20 minutes we're going to be at the batting cages. So stay tuned. Stay tuned for the next live stream. Thank you Jim for the shout out on that for Patreon. And thanks everybody. Thank you Bloody Bricks and everybody else for giving the super chats. I do appreciate it. See you again in about 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes. Don't laugh. Bye bye everybody.