00:00:08 John Daub: You're now watching a live stream from Fukuoka Shrine in Hokicho, Tottori Prefecture, several hundred kilometers away from Tokyo on the other side of the country on the Sea of Japan side, not the Pacific side. In the distance is Fukuoka Shrine. You can see it right in the center of your screen up on the mountain. It's inside of those trees that you see there. We're going to walk up there. They're now practicing taiko drums and flute and getting ready for a party.

00:00:38 John Daub: It's a big festival that's going to be taking place in a few hours. Hey, everybody. I'm positioned awkwardly on the other side of this camera. I'm going to be taking you up into Fukuoka Shrine. Hi, guys. I've been here for a few hours. I woke up extremely ridiculously early. There's a little bit of wind in here in this area. I'm in a rice field. Absolutely beautiful. This is the kind of countryside I think you think of when you imagine what Japan is like. You know, before you make your trip to come to Japan, you kind of wonder, am I going to find places like this? This is the place that you were thinking of. And there's lots and lots of places like it. But right now, this is the place that's special to me.

00:01:09 John Daub: And right in the center of your screen, that's where we're going to walk to over the next couple of minutes. And if you hang on to the live stream, I guess in about six or seven minutes, we should be able to see you. We're going to be up at the shrine. But to get there, we have to go through this rice field, which has been harvested. And down there is a river, a really natural place where you can enjoy the cool sounds of flowing water. I was there yesterday drinking doburoku (unfiltered sake) in a restaurant that looked like a school. And that's kind of a school. But it's a restaurant. It's weird. I'm not going to jump. I saw that. I'm watching some of the comments going by. I do appreciate it.

00:02:15 John Daub: I appreciate you guys watching and tuning in. And hit that like button if you like streams from the countryside. Not just that stream, but this stream, a live stream. So we're going to walk over there towards the shrine now. Just kind of enjoy the cool sounds of nature. And hope that I don't walk on a snake as I make my way over there. I have been kind of worried about that. Never walk through rice paddies, you know, and expect nothing to happen. Sometimes something happens. It's usually not good. But we'll be okay.

00:03:01 John Daub: Today is the main event. This is the reason why I'm here. It's for this tako shinji (octopus ritual). Shinji is another kind of event that they hold at shrines. Shinji means like a ritual. It's a deeply religious experience. It's easy to confuse shinjis with matsuri (festivals) at shrines a little bit. But a shinji, you can tell. It's a little bit more somber. And there seems to be a lot more depth and meaning to what they're doing.

00:04:02 John Daub: Am I going the right way? I could very well be lost. I know exactly where I'm going. We're going to try to go up here. I don't think this is the way. This is like a pipe. What? Some guy. Wow, a big spider web. I should not be here. All right, let's go up this way. All right, I'm going to walk along the rice paddy here. A lot more traffic. And it's not like Tokyo traffic, but there's cars. Usually there's no cars at all. That's a good sign. That means people are starting to make their way to Fukuoka Shrine before the events start. Now, the festival is supposed to kind of start. Ah, they got the taiko drums playing. I don't know if you can hear that. It's still a little distant.

00:04:38 John Daub: Now, you can see on the upper right-hand corner of your screen the torii (shrine gate), the main gate that goes towards the shrine. And they've been practicing the taiko drum for the last hour or so, on and off. So I think we'll be able to get a look and feel of what it's like when they actually do the festival. All right, here's the main path that leads to Fukuoka Shrine. Down there is the bridge. This is a bridge that I've crossed. The red paint's kind of faded a little bit, but you can see the running water. This is the lowest point. And that's actually the main entrance, the first entrance from the main street that comes towards the shrine.

00:05:23 John Daub: And we're going to walk up there. So let's go. It is actually kind of a hike. Now, when you walk up on a path going up to the shrine, you never want to walk right in the center. You want to walk a little bit to the left or the right because that's where, you know, Kami-sama or God is coming down the center. So you want to go to the side, not walk in the center. So I'm a little bit to the left. Now, it's also the NHK crew is also filming there. So I don't want to get in the way. So I got to kind of keep a third eye on the lookout so I don't walk into a shot. You don't want to disturb them because they're the reason why I'm here. Got to give a lot of respect.

00:06:06 John Daub: Hey, Luke. Thanks a lot. Hi, John. Really enjoy your trips to the country. Awesome. Yeah, I think I'm going to be doing more of these in November because I'll be traveling. A lot more filming, but I'll also be editing a lot. So the show must go on. All right. We're going up the steps now. These steps are always uneven. It's always best to go slowly up the steps. I'm going to walk to the right side. All right, everybody. This is where you should bow. Good job. Let's make our way up the steps.

00:07:05 John Daub: I was in the rice paddies. It's hot in there. Oh, this is a bee. There's a lot of bees. Why are there bees here? I don't know. Please don't get angry with me. Today is the day of the octopus. Bees are just bees. There are lots of bees here. Hachi (bee) here means bee. Hachi also means 8. It looks like they're practicing up there. Let's go check it out. They might stop in between. Oh, it's Mr. Hadara. He is in charge.

00:09:36 John Daub: For you it's really in the middle of the forest and today is a special day for the shrine so yesterday all the people well I'd say like a dozen people yeah can we know what NHK is filming so the show is called Journeys in Japan and this is my I think fifth time doing a report for Journeys in Japan and it should be available at the end of November yeah around the middle to end of November it's a tako ritual not a festival a festival is more uplifting kind of a fun event this is kind of a quieter more somber but I mean there's a lot of energy to it but it's got a more deeper religious meaning to it and this is the main reason why I'm here like it's very unusual that an octopus would get this kind of attention but you know at this particular place they do so this is an offering and there's the taiko drum the name of the program is Journeys in Japan and on this episode will be broadcast at some time in the middle to the end of the month November you will be able to see on the NHK app and it's NHK World app as well as online streamed live if you don't have NHK World on your TV.

00:11:13 John Daub: But we're gonna we're gonna get a closer look at at them playing the taiko drum it's hard we got a lot of wind here so I usually I usually keep the fort down with the hat I get this Ultraman thing with my hair stands straight up like this it's not it's not pretty but this is also a place of worship but we haven't started the we haven't started the festival yet so I think in just a minute we're gonna record one more time and when they start I'm just gonna be quiet and let you soak in the sounds and sights of them performing the music which is part of part of the shrine but it's also part of a local festival and maybe also the part of the Shinji, the ritual, that's going to be taking place in a couple of hours.

00:12:00 John Daub: Now, I asked if I can participate in this, and they said, oh, there's the flute player. I asked if I could participate, and I can't actually do it for this one, but I think if I come back next year, I'll actually be able to wear a fundoshi (traditional loincloth) or be pretty much naked and take part in the festival, which takes place down there in this building. And they've been holding the festival in this position for many, many years. As far back as I cannot remember, because I was not here, I don't remember, but it's been held for hundreds of years, apparently. And it's based on a tale. Inside, you can see there's an octopus. It's based on this shrine is, the god is an octopus, which is very unusual. Usually it's a bird or a phoenix or some kind of special magical property bird or creature, but this one is an octopus. It's scary, but this one is not scary.

00:13:07 John Daub: I really would like to share with you the music. That's Hanara-san. Hanara-san is in charge of the shrine here, and we talked with her when we first came a few days ago just to get permission and to talk about the shoot, and she's a really nice lady. Oh, here we go. There's something about taiko drums and flutes. Just the beat with that high pitch of the flute. I love it.

00:15:12 John Daub: From the other side? And now they're going to film from a different location. So we'll film from here. Hey, I feel like I want to clap, but that would be wrong. You kind of just want to soak it in.

00:16:00 John Daub: Let me just take you behind the shrine away from these big spiders, which are really big. You don't want to put your hand there and see what they'll do. I've thought about it. But they've made huge spider webs, and spiders seem to love wooden structures. Other people have walked through here, so I know we're not going to break any spider webs. I'm not a big fan of, you know, Spider-Man. I'm more into, like, Aquaman and other superheroes that don't involve insects. Ant-Man is right out. Look at the little squirrel. Oh, look, he's got moss on him. Hey there, little guy. That's cute. These are all really old statues to, I believe, protect the shrine. People out here today. We're lucky to have a nice sunny day. We're going to start soon.

00:20:13 John Daub: Bamboo. Young bamboo trees. And inside the square is a holy area. They set up a little altar here, I guess. I don't know if I should go in there. But it is a very deeply religious area. So I'm just going to stay away from that. You can see they've set up. They did this set up yesterday. These are bamboo trees. This is where the event is going to be held. It's such a beautiful view from here. Hey, TRN87, welcome. Welcome to everybody else that's watching.

00:21:38 John Daub: So once again, for those who are joining us right now, this is a live stream from Tottori Prefecture, the countryside of Japan. This is called Fukuoka Shrine, Fukuoka Jinja. And it celebrates the octopus called tako. This one is unusual. It's a little bit unusual, but in about in a couple of hours, they're going to start with guys in fundoshi, which are just like thongs.

00:22:04 John Daub: Oh my God. No! What is it? What is this? It's like a praying mantis. It's dangerous. It's not going to get through. Are you going to bite it? You're not going to bite it? Wow. Are they women or men? Because women eat the head of a man. Wow. Stop it. Stop it! Oh. That's amazing. Ah, hello. It looks pretty. Wow. You have some strange eyes. Ah, praying. It's praying. It's scary. I don't mind. You know you're breaking the law in some states. Praying mantises have rights. Can you fly? Wow! Where did you find it? Inside? Inside the shrine. The egg is. It's pregnant. Yeah. Alright. Where do you put the egg? Inside the shrine? Inside the shrine, you should lay the eggs. Interesting. Just interesting for other people. There's an egg! Sorry, mom! Good luck, mom! Put your egg somewhere else, okay? Not on me. Thank you. I'm sorry for the violence that happened to you. And if this was the state of New Jersey or some other states, I did not break the law. We did not injure you. You seem just fine. I don't know why some states in America have laws protecting praying mantises. I don't know. I read that somewhere. Internet.

00:24:23 John Daub: Alright, so this is kind of the community center. I guess outside where people can meet and talk and discuss things. Life. And it's almost lunch time. So in about an hour, I'm also going to be eating a lunch here. I have a bento that's been prepared for me. And a bento with what do we got here? Got some bowls. Oh, there's like snacks and stuff in here. Oh, it looks like booze. Sake. Looks like religious sake. And like they're having snacks and tea. So it's some nice guys sitting around having tea on tatami. It's a very traditional Japanese scene from the countryside. Because there's a lot of people coming in today. There's a lot of bags inside the room. But typically this room is completely empty. Except for maybe a table and a heater. Traditional ancient plastic cups. It says PMX. Very much what we're dealing with here.

00:25:36 John Daub: Like all Japanese homes, you gotta take off your shoes before you enter. Take off your Crocs. Leave them at the genkan (entryway). It keeps the inside clean. You know, one of the biggest things that changed me was living in Japan is that I take my shoes off everywhere I go when I go in. Even if everyone else has their shoes on. I personally don't feel comfortable wearing my shoes inside anymore. I remember watching TV dramas as a kid. Like in high school and college. Friends, Seinfeld. They'd be on the sofa with their shoes on. Or in bed with their shoes on. I guess it's a strange culture that we have where people wear shoes indoors in the West. Maybe it goes back to the cowboy days where everything was made of dirt. But in Japan, the floor the reason why we take off our shoes is because the floor is the place where we sit. It's supposed to be clean. So you don't want to sit in filth. And what you walk on is not what you want to sit on when you go indoors.

00:26:45 John Daub: Heavy? There's a snake! Why was that exciting me? There's a snake. What? Hey Eric, thank you very much. Eric Halloran, thank you. He says there's a snake. Alright, let's go. Whoa! That's dangerous. I see it. Ah! Look at it! It's eating something! What? It's a frog. That's a python! You guys see that? That's why I said don't walk in the fields. Where is it? I don't know. It's not poisonous. They said he caught a frog. Do you see it in the center of your screen? I don't want to disturb it. No! It's moving! That's gross! Ah man, I don't. It's eating the frog. You see it in the center of your screen? I told you that rice fields are dangerous. It's still in the center of your screen. I just panned out so you could see what the rice field looks like. Oh man! It's eating a frog. It's really chomping on it.

00:28:11 John Daub: I know you might be seeing this in 720p or worse. I'm seeing this in like native vision. And the snake is glistening in the sun. It's all slimy. Oh look it ate a. It's like moving the leaves of the grass down there. I mean should I go should I get closer and investigate? What do you think? George Lopez dares me to touch it. George, if you were here, my friend, I'd might touch it. But you're not. So you know what, George? We're going to keep our internet to smartphone boundaries. I'm just going to like leave it there. Oh man, snakes. That's actually not a big one. He's starting to move a little bit. This livestream has been hijacked by a snake in the center of your screen live. Slithering. Alright, I'm going to get out of here. That's just too creepy.

00:29:16 John Daub: Did you see? I don't know if you saw it like a minute ago. The snake was actually standing with the frog in its mouth. I saw it. I'm going to have to play back to see if I can see it. Oh now it's starting to move. It's starting to move. I guess it's eating the frog. Oh, I can see the head now. Oh man, that's too much for me. And I started this livestream walking in the grass. In the fields. With thicker grass. And they said that there was no snakes here. They totally lied to get me to do this scene. I don't like it. Let's get out of here. Nothing good can happen but with hanging out with snakes. Why would they show me that? Yeah, the snake's probably going to go to sleep. That's when we can take it and barbecue it. That's right. Snakes and spiders. See up there? That's a big one. They love to make a home on the side of wooden buildings here.

00:30:37 John Daub: Yeah, Jim. I think that Jim in Tacoma. I'm almost positive they lied to me to get me to do the shot. If I I've seen big, big snakes in the rice fields before. Here in Tottori last year when I came here. And I know what they don't know. That's my hesitancy.

00:31:15 John Daub: Oh, what's this for? 800 yen. They're selling something. They're doing something. They're drinking. I guess everyone's drinking booze. Thank you. Thank you. Are there any big snakes around here? No, not really. But they're small. They're small. Are they about one meter long? The ones that came in straight are about one meter long. They don't attack humans, right? It doesn't matter. They run away. They don't bite? They don't bite. In Japan, they only attack the mantis. Okay. That's all. He said that the snake won't attack in Japan. They usually escape people. I don't know if he's telling me the truth either.

00:32:26 John Daub: Did you see a snake? Do you want to see a snake? It's close. It's just over here, really. There's a snake. Really? Yes. It's eating the shell. Really? Yes. Let's get it. Yusaka, there's a snake in the field. I found it. Really? Where? Over there. Behind the building? Yes. Yes. Over here. There's still one. We're going to go back. Goto, take it with your hands. Where? Where? It was eating a frog. Hey, Matthew Burns. Thank you very much. It's a real dog. Do you want to see it? Where? It's scary, right? Yes. Did it run away? There's more. Be careful. Be careful. Did you see it, Kyle? Did you see it? The legs were sticking out of the snake's mouth. The frog's legs were sticking out of the snake's mouth. That's pretty. Don't go. Don't go. It's scary. I couldn't get it. It's eating the legs. It's eating the legs. It's going to eat your leg. Yeah. Where's Totoro? Totoro will help you. Totoro ran away. Totoro also ran away. Totoro left us. He saw the little snake and went, eee. Like elephants and mice, right? Elephants don't like mice.

00:34:25 John Daub: I can take you down there. Let's end the live stream. I'll take you down there to the negi (green onion) fields. I want to show you some of the green leeks, and then I'm going to have to eat my lunch as well. It's kind of neat to once again show you Fukuoka Shrine. I'll give you kind of a look inside of what it's like to be here during the preparations of a ritual that they do every year. If you want to see the complete ritual, you can go on NHK World at the end of next month. They need some time to edit. All right. Let's go down there. I want to take a closer look at the crop. That was pretty interesting. The snake's name is Totoro. The internet is dubbing it. Thanks, Liz. Liz Tofer, thank you for your time. Thanks for that.

00:35:12 John Daub: We're going to walk through this torii. Once again, stay to the right or to the left. Don't walk down through the center. Be careful of these steps. I'm telling you, the steps at shrines in Japan and around the world never seem to be even. You got to kind of concentrate, not trip. There's a cameraman. I guess he's trying to get a shot right in the center, or he's turned into a statue from Medusa who's hiding down in the river. Let's get out of his shot. Sorry. Channel Umu says, step on the snake. Yeah, you know, that's not going to happen, but we might be able to see another. Poor frog, huh? That one frog bit the dust.

00:36:28 John Daub: It is absolutely beautiful here in Tottori Prefecture. I love coming here. This is my seventh or eighth time to Tottori. To this side of Japan. And every time is really, it's pretty special to me because I feel like I'm in Japan. Nothing against Tokyo, nothing against Osaka, nothing against Kyoto. It's when you leave the cities and you leave all of the attractions. To me, the attraction, the real attraction to me is the people. It's the people and the food. And you can't beat the people and the food away from the cities. Inside the cities, you just get a different, a completely different experience. Here, it's more.

00:37:14 John Daub: Are you eating? A bento? Okay, I'm going. So that's the NHK crew and they're eating lunch. Hey, Daniel writes in, loving these countryside streams. The ski lift one yesterday was amazing. Yeah, don't miss that. Hey, guys, come back here. Come back here. Come back. There you are. Yeah, don't miss. Yesterday, I did a live stream from a ski lift that took me up to an amazing point in the world. I was in a place where I was kind of suspended. It looked like between the clouds and the land. And I was able to shoot. I guess it was around 18 minutes in. This shot that looked like the scene. One of the people who commented, it looked like the scene where in the movie Gladiator where he had been killed and he was like just floating between life and death. It was such a like a magical point that looked like something from a movie. It was one of the most amazing views with the sun was just penetrating. And I was able to see through the clouds in certain angles and just spraying light in so many different directions while the clouds are moving. And you could see so far in the distance.

00:38:23 John Daub: All right, here we are. Definitely check out that stream from yesterday. Nobody got the notifications for it because I'd streamed a couple hours before that. And YouTube won't give out notifications to everybody. This is, now I'm afraid to go through there because of the snake. We're live. So if somebody, something does bite me, somebody call in hospital. Or an ambulance. Nothing's going to happen, but we are live. This is happening real time. You're looking at Japanese negi real time. I'm not sure what the value of this is to you. But I did learn something interesting about this.

00:39:06 John Daub: You see that these green, these leeks, we call them leeks in English. We call them negi in Japanese. They're like really long green onions. The reason why that they have these paths here is that this is actually a mound. And the reason why they've built up the mound is because in Japan, the white part of the leek is the most important, not the green. And if you build the mound, that increases the length of the white part of the negi. So in Japan, you get really long leeks that emphasize the white part of it. And the green part, most of it people throw away. I thought that was really interesting to learn. I learned yesterday because I have a picture on Instagram if you go to check that out. The leeks here are so good. I love them. The ones in Tottori are a little bit sweeter. I think they've got really good soil because of Mount Daisen, which is the volcano, the big Mount Fuji looking mountain. I guess that's over there. Over yonder. That's what I guess we would say. But Japanese leeks are one of my favorite vegetables just because they got so much flavor in it for better or for worse. Yeah. Not everybody is a big fan of it, but I like to eat them raw with a little bit of miso. It's really good. I'm one of very few people who like them raw. But it's got a pretty neat color and they grow pretty quick. If you cut one, you'll see them grow the next day if you leave them in water.

00:40:34 John Daub: The temperature is, thanks for asking about that. The temperature is pretty comfortable. 50 degrees Fahrenheit or 10 degrees Celsius, maybe plus or minus because the sun is out. It's somewhere between 50 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit. But it's been cold over the last couple of days, which is why I'm wearing this. And for continuity of the video, I have to kind of wear the same thing every day. Even though, you know, it'll seem like just one day, but takes almost a week to film these kinds of shows for TV. Hey, Logan13, I love your channel. Both keep up the good work. Thank you very much. I really appreciate all the encouragement to keep live streaming from Japan. Out here in the countryside and other places around Japan. It's a lot of fun for me and I'm glad now we have the technology to do stuff like this, like live stream. It still blows me away that I'm like, live, we're live.

00:41:28 John Daub: How do I get over there without going through the rice field to go get my bento? Do you guys want to see the bento? If you want to see the bento, hit the like button. If we get the 250 likes before I reach those red flags, this is where audience participation can either change and shape this show. If I get the 250 likes before I get to those red banners, I will show you my lunch. If not, it's not going to happen. Looks like it's not going to happen. Check out that little micro farm. Oh, and they put cans on there. See those? Like cans of booze. Finished cans to keep the crows away. Oh, wow. We got to like 270 likes. Okay, I changed it to 300. All of you that were on the fence, hit like. And before I get to that flag, I'm still going to do it. But do it anyways. That's why I call for likes. Anyways, if you're watching this on playback, it's not so much fun. But for everyone watching this live, it's sort of neat to see the interaction of everybody commenting in live. You have to be here live to really enjoy it.

00:42:49 John Daub: All right, guys. So I'm going to walk up and just show you the bento. And I'm going to end the live stream there because you've been pretty good. If you do have any questions about this ritual or about Tottori Prefecture or anything, just anything about Japan, leave a comment in the questions below or you can catch me on Patreon. I believe some of the people in the live stream have been promoting the Patreon. But I do respond by email there because I get a lot of messages. So it's nice to share with people information about Japan, people who are going to be making the journey here, and to give some insight on what they can see and not see. All right. I always kind of bow here. There you go. Nice bow. All right. Let's go see the bento.

00:44:03 John Daub: There's a snake. Is that mine? That looks good. Wow. There's quite a lot of volume. There you go. There's lunch. That's big. Jasmine tea. Jasmine tea. All right. Let's open this up. I'm not actually going to eat this on camera. I just wanted to share with you what it looks like. I can tell you already it's going to taste amazing. And I'll give you a couple of shots of what it looks like. But I got to focus on eating now. Konnichiwa. Konnichiwa. Konnichiwa. Yay. They're coming to the festival. Here we go. To the ritual.

00:45:34 John Daub: So what do we got here? We got deep fried chicken with tartar sauce, karaage (fried chicken). A little bit of salad. A shrimp. Don't eat the head. Some egg. There's potato. What is it? Frog. Frog. It's not a frog. No frog. There's no frogs here. It's like a meatball. What is this? It's not shiitake, is it? Something. Beef. Beef. Snake. Snake. It's not snake. This looks like a nashi (Asian pear). Like a nashi kind of dessert is here. Another salad and some rice. No umeboshi (pickled plum). That's strange. A piece of ham. There's always a piece of ham in there. But it does look really good. So there you go. Thanks guys. All right. Have a good day. Good night. Wherever you are. I'm going to eat my lunch. Hope you enjoyed this from the countryside. We're going to have a tako shinji in a couple of hours. Have a nice day. Enjoy this view for the next 20 seconds as I say goodbye from another world. The other side of the world from you. Unless you're here. Then just, you know, pop up and say hello. Bye everyone.