00:00:00 John Daub: Greetings from Oita City. This is in Kyushu, and behind me right here is the red brick building of Oita. This building has a pretty unique history, a lot of it which I didn't know until I finally came to Oita for the first time just a couple of days ago.

00:00:19 John Daub: Beppu is a famous onsen town nearby, but I'm going to show you Oita City because there's a lot of really interesting stuff here. Manhole! Check this out. That's a really cool manhole cover. I'm what you call a manholer. I collect these manhole cards. Hold on a second. How's everybody doing today? Check this out. I have a manhole cover card. There it is right there. It's a little bit of history. I love the manhole covers.

00:00:54 John Daub: Anyways, this is the building. It has a pretty cool history. I'm going to go inside and show you something they discovered not too long ago that was lost in history. This is the Akarenga-kan (red brick hall). Renga means red brick and kan is hall or building. It's got a pretty cool history.

00:01:29 John Daub: They've actually listed some of the history. I'm going to show you the picture of what it used to look like when it was built. This building was completed in 1913, Taisho 2. You see it written right here, Taisho 2, which is the Taisho era. Here's a picture of it being constructed and down here, completed. It is a rainy day here in Oita.

00:02:03 John Daub: Then in World War II in 1945, there was a really big bombing raid by the Allied forces. A lot of the city was devastated, including a lot of this building. But some of it still remains, and that's what I'm going to show you right now. We're going to go inside this building. If this style looks familiar to some of you, it's because the designer also designed the Marunouchi side of Tokyo Station. Tetsuno Kingo, he was the designer of Tokyo Station in 1914, and he designed this a year before. The red bricks were very popular in the Taisho era after the Meiji era. This looks kind of foreign, but this is the style from that era.

00:03:02 John Daub: As you can see in Oita City these days, a lot of the buildings don't look like that at all. They look like normal Japanese buildings. Hey there, Mr. Das. Indeed. This is what the area looks like. Over there, there's a shotengai (covered shopping arcade). So this is pretty close to the center of the city. Over there is Oita Station, which you can see over here. Let's go inside.

00:03:36 John Daub: This is the former Oita Bank head office. It's been changed now into a store called Oita Made, but Oita Bank still has ATMs here. This is one of the first things you'll see when you come in here. This is a leftover from the reconstruction of the bank. The building burnt down in 1944, reconstructed in 1949. At that time, it was reconstructed differently, meaning the ceilings are high now, but back then they were much lower. It was connected to about where you can see the level here. But later they completely redesigned it the way it was originally in 1913. This is a reminder of the Showa era. So this building goes through three eras: Taisho, Showa, and now Heisei.

00:04:48 John Daub: Right now, it's a beautiful cafe that was opened this year in March. You still got ATMs though. Come on, the background is a bank. Over here, they have a little bit of the history, and there's some really interesting stuff. Akarenga-kan also means red bricks for those joining us. On here is written all the history. This is the Meiji era, then Taisho. Built in Taisho 2. Then the Showa era where it was destroyed in Showa 20, 1945 in July. Four years later, reconstructed in April 1949. Nothing's in English, but you get the idea. The roof was built in the Showa era, this in Heisei, this in Taisho. So it spans three generations. Here's the designer who also designed Tokyo Station: Tetsuno Kingo from Tokyo. He came here to design the Oita Bank building.

00:06:07 John Daub: See the wall right here that's all white? This wall is the way the bank looked when reconstructed after World War II. This wall was also completely white. It wasn't until this year that they got rid of the white and found the brick again. This is the original brick wall that survived the bombings in 1945. You know how? You can see the sumi, the charred wood that was part of the foundation of the wall that's still here today. This is all from 1944. Again, there's the charcoal in there. The wood that was burned. Some places where the charcoal was too weak, they replaced it. This is new wood, obviously. But these here still remain after so many decades. It's a reminder of the history of where Oita was in 1945, a completely flattened city. It was devastated. When you see this, it really is a reminder of where we came from. I'm glad Oita Bank has preserved this building the way that it has. Not a lot of places would do that. It survived the bombing of 1944 here in Oita. There wasn't much else. Completely devastated. Now these days we have this. This wall is still here. The rest has all been reconstructed. These pillars are from the reconstruction in 1949. When they renovated, they decided to keep these in because it takes you from Taisho era to Showa to Heisei. It spans three generations, and that's kind of cool.

00:08:44 John Daub: Here in front, they have a lot of stuff from Oita, and we're going to show that to you in a minute. So if you're interested, stay tuned. But there's one thing that's really interesting. Do you see this clock here? Check it out. Look at this clock: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and the top part has nothing. Do you know why? That's a question for you. If you know, chat in right now. What do you think?

00:09:22 John Daub: Mr. Mishiro. Mr. Mishiro. Can I ask you a favor? This is Mr. Mishiro from Oita Bank. When did you start building this new building? This year in March. Why did you want to protect it? This is a very old historical building built by Tatsuno Kingo, who built Tokyo Station. It was built a year before Tokyo Station. Oita wanted to preserve the history behind it.

00:10:27 Mr. Mishiro: This building is significant because it was designed by Tatsuno Kingo, who designed Tokyo Station in 1914. But this one was built one year before. That's a source of pride.

00:10:50 John Daub: So this was the head office for Oita Bank for a very long time. Now it looks completely different. Thank you. So this was for a long time the head office, and now it's a place to highlight stuff made here in Oita. That's a really great idea. The bank has instead of making this the head office again, which they could easily do in a historical building, it's a way to highlight the prefecture. That's pretty cool. I wish more people would do that.

00:11:38 John Daub: Are there any other interesting points? I've introduced the corner, the walls, and the ceiling as well. When I was doing business, the ceiling was that high. That was the height of the first floor during the reconstruction in 1949. We took everything out that wasn't there, and saw the design as it was in 1913, the second year of Taisho. It was more or less like this, with some repairs, but the basic design is like this.

00:12:45 John Daub: Yeah, this is the feeling of the high ceilings from that style that was taken out in the reconstruction, and now it's returned. I was pointing to this line; that was the height of the ceiling before they re-renovated. They've made it wider, giving it a hall-like feeling to the interior. What I like here also is this cafe. What kind of cafe is this? This is a specialty coffee cafe that represents Tautona coffee. It's not a chain; it's a specialty coffee shop that's locally made. I like that. Preserving local brands. I'm a big supporter of small businesses.

00:13:46 John Daub: There's one more. If you take a look here, this chair is all different. This is a work by a builder called Sunurundo. He's order-made. When renovating the exterior, he made all the wooden parts. Do you see these chairs and tables? The chairs are made like that to match the design. When they took down the walls to renovate, they didn't want to waste the wood. They took the wood from the foundation of this bank and reused it to make the furniture. Order-made furniture from the wood that was put away. You can see that's not easy; the wood is not perfect. The imperfections show the history and wear of the building. This table is made from the wood of the foundation. Whenever you sit in the chairs, you're sitting in the building. That's really cool. These little details, if nobody tells you, you might not know them.

00:15:37 John Daub: Bach Kenneth writes in: Have you ever considered living in an RV for four months traveling around Japan? No, but that's a good idea. Ms. Clark, grab a drink on me, thank you. Nathan, thank you. Here is a little something for the ads I've been blocking. Now we don't have to put any ads in. Thank you very much. Who came up with this idea? We did. Good. Thank you. They came up with this to preserve the history, and moved the head office to another building. I don't think a lot of banks would do that. So I have to give them credit.

00:16:25 John Daub: I'm here in Oita to make an episode of my main channel at a big attraction nearby. When they told me about the history of this building, I thought people should know about it because it's pretty cool, and I don't think anybody's ever covered it. Now, the clock I introduced before: the reason the time is like this is because this is bank time. 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. That's bank time. The numbers are when people are working; the empty part is when nobody is here. This clock is supposed to be in bank time because this used to be a bank.

00:17:22 John Daub: I'm going to show you some of the products on sale here because it's neat. I don't know a lot about Oita Prefecture. I've been to every prefecture in Japan at least twice, so this is my fourth time to Oita. But when I came into this building and looked around, it was a chance to see what fuels this economy, what makes this place strong. These are waters from Oita Prefecture: from Beppu and Oita City. This is naturally carbonated water, one of the few natural spots in Japan. Like a Perrier spot; Oita has some of the best water. Here they make sake and shochu. Because of the organic water bubbling out with minerals, you'll see cosmetics, face packs, things good for the skin.

00:19:24 John Daub: Let me show you what I bought last time. This is so cool. It looks like a piece of bamboo, but actually it's a pen. I don't know how they got the pen in there, but it's really cool. Creative idea to use bamboo as a pen, about $4 to $5. Here's the designer from Oita. Some textiles. These are cups made out of wood, bamboo; it's light. This is really beautiful. Sample. Japan has some of the best glass. Glassmakers put this together. I know Otaru near Sapporo has really good glass, but this is well done: a candlestick holder. I like the natural bubbles; looks like Mount Fuji maybe.

00:21:41 John Daub: A couple other things: they have really cool knives and cutlery made from wood. Each has its own personality. Crack open one of those sake bottles on me. But the bank people are watching. These are really cool too, a little over a hundred dollars. Very thin piece of wood. I don't think it will break. Don't know how they do that. This one's a hundred twenty dollars; really beautiful. I like how they've taken a historical building and made it a place to feature local crafts, foods, and goods. I wish more people would do that. Oita Made launched this year: a good idea as a place to feature locally made products.

00:23:55 John Daub: Since we can drink this tea. Excuse me, what is this tea? It's a tea from Ichoha. Ichoha? You know Ichoha? Not at all. It's herbal tea from icho leaves. Good for the stomach. From ginkgo trees. Cheers everybody. Kona Moon, you've just won. Well done. $10 for one large pack? There's 12 packs in there. Here's another from Tao Organic Kitchen. What is this? Waitameid Select. Syrup: makomo, nashi, akebi syrup, enzyme syrup. Does that sound appetizing? Enzyme syrup. We have soap, onsen soap made from onsen. This area is known for its onsen. A lot of products come from onsen. These are bath additives from minerals to make an onsen at home. If you come to Japan, buy some; add to your bath for the onsen feeling. Good souvenir: minerals for skin and body. This is soup dashi, rice from this area.

00:30:39 John Daub: Once again, specialty cafe. I had a cup of coffee; really good. I hope you enjoyed this. Pretty neat story, a way to see a little history. This wall survived the bombing of 1945; you can see remnants of the charred wood. These black patches are from 1945. Pretty neat that this wall is a source of pride. Oita City is a tough town; they're hosting the Rugby World Cup next year because it's a tough town like steel towns. Rebuilt from the ashes of 1945 and came back strong. Very beautiful building inside. If you're in Oita, check this place out: the red building.

00:32:06 John Daub: Any questions? I hope you enjoyed that. This is what Oita City looks like. Definitely hit that like button if you like historical stuff; it's a way to indicate you want more. Over here, shops, bus station, shotengai. I'll be here another 30 hours then back home. Main purpose is one of Oita's main attractions, but thought it cool to look at the Akarenga, the brick building, and show a piece of history. Thank you for watching. Might do another livestream tomorrow.

00:33:25 John Daub: If you come to Oita, there's something neat: in the distance, a Christmas tree. We've gone into bonus time past 200 likes. If we get 300, we'll go to something cool at the end of the street. This is the shotengai, indoor shopping arcade with a cover. Beyond the Christmas tree is something really cool. History of these places: before World War II, communities met at watering holes to pump water for cooking, bathing. When plumbing came, sento declined, less community talk. Older people say sense of community isn't as strong. But they bring it back by gathering younger people.

00:35:17 John Daub: We're going inside the shotengai. Big Christmas tree, lots of shops. But to the left of the tree, that pink thing like a sakura tree. We're going towards FamilyMart. Right now not many people because weekday, but evenings lots. Reminds me of watering holes where communities gathered. This is a cable spindle with electrical through it, added USB to charge phones. At night, tons of people plugged in for community charging. If your phone needs juice, come here. Tons of them, free. Really cool idea, all about community. Nice sakura pink tree with tons of USB ports.

00:37:00 John Daub: Mr. Das: how long before you get an Android? Going to be a while; using iPhone XS, internal stabilization too strong. Android next for sure. There you go. Goodbye to Oita City for today. Thank you for joining. Questions in comments: what do you think of the history? Should more buildings integrate historical ones into new foundations to preserve history, not forget where we came from? What do you think? Should more communities do this? Building in your community to protect? Let me know. Bye bye from Oita City, capital of Oita Prefecture, a pretty cool town. See you next time.