00:01 John Daub: Greetings everybody. Hello, welcome. I'm right now in a town called Nakamura, which is Shimanto-shi (Shimanto City) or Shimanto City. There seems to be like two Shimanto cities, but this one is Nakamura. This is closer to the end of the river towards the coast. And I'm at a hotel. It's pretty interesting. They don't have room numbers. Check it out. There's no room number. It's just a name. And it's hard to read, difficult kanji. That's this. So you have to—I was walking down the hallway earlier and I had to find the name. Eventually I found this. It matched the card. And here's the room.

01:16 John Daub: So I'm going to go and check in. What's in here? Oh, this is the toilet here. Should I check that out? No, no, maybe later. All right, let's check the room out. Oh, wow. This is really nice. I've actually already been in here. But oh, wow. Do you want to see this room? Click the like button right now. I'll show you the room. I want you guys to click the like button this time. Nobody was clicking it last time. All right, I'll show you the room. I'm going to come back in because you guys are clicking the link. Here we go. All right. So I'm going to start from the beginning. It's a dark box. Whoa. Check this out, right? The view is incredible. We're on the top of a mountain. It looks like a castle.

01:53 John Daub: Seriously, this hotel from the ground, it does not look like a castle. But it looks like a castle because it's on the top. I had to drive up like this loopy S curve road to get up here. It was dark, kind of scary. But when we got to the top, we were presented with this. The entire city in front of us. And there is nothing higher except maybe that tower over there. There's a nice tower. Cell phone tower. So I'm guessing because of the cell phone tower, we're getting 4G. It does look like a castle. Look, there's a guardrail. There's my Mark X down there in the queue. You can see. Wow. It's amazing.

03:11 John Daub: But I'm going to swing the camera over to the other side because this room has two windows because it's a corner room. Check it out. And we have some nice air coming in. I love this. And down there is the Shimanto River, which I showed you before. And I put a link in the description that Google Maps and you can find exactly where I'm going to be. And if you're in the area, you can come and say hi, I guess. I don't think anybody will. I shouldn't say that. Somebody might. No, don't do it. I was just kidding. But that's the Shimanto River. And you can see, even though this is a city, it is completely surrounded by wilderness, completely surrounded by green and nature. I love this. It does. It could be Hotel Transylvania. A brigade leader could be. Yeah, this is Kochi.

04:12 John Daub: It's still pretty nice colors. It's a little bit after 6:30 p.m. May 11th, I believe. It's just cool. We had an amazing day. There's the live stream. I'm looking out the window. The live stream that I showed you before was of the koinobori (carp streamers), which are like Japanese carp flags. They look like windsocks. And when the wind hits them, they get really long. And they're super beautiful because you only see them along the river or in the countryside. And then you have the massive ones. You don't see them in Tokyo. It's a reason to travel outside the city.

04:51 John Daub: Now, I don't think there are any mosquitoes, but you might take any chances. I love this room. Let me turn it around for you. Check it out. So there's where I came in. This is a single room. All right. This is a single. You can tell because there's only one futon. You probably have two people in here. The prices usually are per person. So it just depends. This one is a little bit smaller than the room I had last night, which was, I also did a live stream. It was a Western Japanese mix. You should definitely check that out if you haven't seen it. That was also on the Shimanto River.

05:26 John Daub: Now this has, we can literally count the tatami mats. So I can tell you one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. So it's hachijo. It's eight tatami mat room. And then here is a three tatami mat room. And this is just for, there's a refrigerator. There's no closet, but this would constitute a closet, I believe. And this box here, I believe on the floor is for no apparent reason other than for decorative purposes. And I do like it. This is cool to have in your room.

06:08 John Daub: Speaking of cool, don't, if this is stocked with ice cold beer, oh, don't do that. Oh, how? How dare you? No, this can't be free. Can it? Can this be free? No, this cannot be free. Oh, why would you do this to me? How dare you? Dare I? Should I drink it? All right, I will. It's like they know me. I've been driving all day. I don't want to go anywhere else. There's a liquor store, a place to get a cold drink at the bottom of the mountain, but no, they put two big bottles right here in the refrigerator. Absolutely cruel.

06:52 John Daub: All right. You know what? I'm happy. This is where things get difficult, folks. Asahi or Kirin? Which one do you prefer? I've had them both. This is a tough one. They're both good. Purple Bandit. How dare you? I knew someone was going to say that. Asahi, Asahi. That's like, wait, I got three Asahis in a row. If it was four, it would have been like a slot machine. Oh, Kirin, Kirin, Asahi, Asahi. The next one, the next one wins. Because I'm drinking one at a time. Asahi, okay. Merv is the winner. Merv put it over the top. Merv, big thank you for that. I did want the Kirin, though. Thanks a lot, Merv.

07:51 John Daub: What a day. So let's sit down together, have a drink, and talk about things, shall we? It's been a long day. I want to talk to you about something. This really does look like a castle. I've never had a room like this ever. In 20 years of staying in Japan, and I stay in a lot of hotels, I've never had a room. First of all, this light above is so cool. Check that out. That's a pretty cool Japanese-style lantern, right? So at night, it's going to have this nice glow to it, I think.

08:33 John Daub: All right, let's open this up and celebrate because I was driving a lot today. A lot. And I have some stories to tell you. Look, if they're going to put it in the room, it's going to get drunk. I mean, it's just as simple as that. So all of you people out there watching, and I do appreciate you watching and being a part of the series, kanpai (cheers) to all of you. Kochi has been an amazing success. This has been an amazing trip for me because I've gotten a chance to see a part of Japan that I've been to a lot of places. I have to admit, kanpai, kanpai. I've seen all 47 prefectures twice and almost three times. I mean, I'm not counting anymore. And many Japanese haven't seen as much of the country.

09:49 John Daub: But what I haven't seen is all of the parts of each prefecture. All right. I've seen Kochi City. I've been on the coast. I've seen, it's very beautiful, but I've never been inland into the center of Shikoku. I've never been here. So when I got the chance to come to Shimanto, the Shimanto River area, two days ago we were in Yusuhara. Yusuhara is right in the center of Shikoku, kind of a little bit more over this side. But it's pretty much in the center. This was such a unique experience for me because I've never been in the center of Shikoku. Now I have. And I've checked that off of my list.

10:14 John Daub: And I think, you know, Shikoku is a really interesting island for me because it's a place that not a lot of tourists will go to. And I talked with people in Kagawa Prefecture about what kind of tourists come here. Who are the tourists that make their way to Kagawa or to Shikoku? And there are some Westerners that do come here, but it's a lot of people from Taiwan, from Singapore, mostly from Taiwan because they come for the noodles. Because Sanuki udon. Udon is from Shikoku. Well, it's famous in Shikoku. Sanuki udon. So they said a lot of people, there's direct flights. I'm doing this more for you than it is for me. Just for the visual. So a lot of people coming from Taiwan with direct flights to places in Shikoku.

11:07 John Daub: But there aren't any direct flights from the United States to Shikoku. No direct flights from Europe to Shikoku. I know of. So you have to go through Tokyo or Osaka and then change flights and then come to Kochi. And I was thinking, you know, because a lot of people ask me about what's the best way to market their prefecture or what's the best way to promote a place like Kochi. That's really hard because there's no shinkansen. Meaning if you're coming with your JR pass, it's very hard to come to Kochi. It's off the beaten track. That means a lot of the tourists, I'd say 80 percent of them that come with JR. Maybe almost all of them that come in with the JR pass will not come to Kochi because it's not on the shinkansen. So that makes this actually a really fresh place to go to.

12:04 John Daub: Now, the other day in Yusuhara, I met with a man, a Dutch man who's been making paper for 35 years. He's been living in Japan for 35 years. He makes paper like Japanese style washi paper (traditional Japanese paper). It's so amazing. And I got a chance to make a lantern-like paper with flowers in it together with him. And he's a master. And it was just such an amazing experience for me because I always wanted to make washi paper. The reason why it's so good to make that here is because the water is very pure. It's good water, even though he said it's a little acidic. But that gives it character. But nevertheless, it's a great place to make paper in Kochi.

12:52 John Daub: Yusuhara is this amazing oasis in the middle of a forest. It's an oasis city in the middle of the forest where buildings have been renovated. The city has been completely renovated to make it. I guess it feels like a brand new city with new architecture and designs. I made a live stream there inside of the library. This is a library in the middle of an island that has the least amount of population. And created a library that is so stunning. And I was really moved by that. You'll see that in the live stream. I was moved by a lot of the things in Yusuhara. Actually, I'd love to go back there again a little bit slower.

13:35 John Daub: But on weekdays, it's kind of slow in some of the towns in Kochi because tourists, domestic tourists in Japan come on weekends and a lot of shops are buzzing on weekends and in summers like beach towns. But on weekdays on the off season, it's kind of quiet, which is not a bad thing. This is a great place for camping for canoeing enjoying the river tons of activities. But what makes it unique is that there's not a lot of foreign tourists here. That's awesome. And there's also that feel of what authentic Japan is like that you would get in deep regions. If you're coming on your second trip to Japan like Kochi is like one of the destinations. If you're coming on your third or fourth trip and you're always looking for a new place. This is one of these places now to do it.

14:36 John Daub: You probably need a car and I've been driving all day and that bed is looking better and better and better. I'm so tired, but I will brave on. I'm going to show you the. This is the view for everybody who's joining us. If we can get to a hundred likes, I will do it. But no, I can't go to sleep two reasons. Why this place look at the key. You will never lose this key. It's impossible. It's a piece of wood. I love this key. Look at the keychain. It's on you cannot lose it and others a safety box key. That's nice.

15:21 John Daub: This is an onsen (hot spring bath). They have an onsen on the first floor, which I'm going to go soak in for an hour or maybe like 20 minutes and then I'm going to back up all the video that I took today. A ton of video. I took a lot of drone footage. I did the opening and closing to a Shimanto River episode some driving shots riding on a bicycle. So I've got to back that all up and then we have a dinner at 7:30, which is soon. So yeah, I don't have too much time with you guys, but I just wanted to show you this hotel and I think it is pretty unique again. It's in the description. I do recommend it. If you are coming to Kochi, you need a rent a car.

16:16 John Daub: All right, if you do come to this area, you need a rent a car and I've been driving the Mark X. Oh, thanks. We got to 114 likes. I like likes that's like I eat them like Pacman eats pellets. So this is the car. I came in and there's my car. This is the Mark X baby. This is going to be discontinued. Listen, they're discontinuing the Mark X this year. So I decided to rent only Mark X's because I do not want them ever to discontinue it. And the only way to get a Mark X is to go to Toyota rent a car. Or buy one, but I love this little teeny luxury car. It's semi luxury. That's why I like it. It's like a mini Lexus. I don't want a Lexus because I don't want to seem like a rich person. I'm not and I don't want people to. I just want this. Okay, it's good enough.

17:20 John Daub: Any car that has an X in it. Like this is Series X boom bought. Fujifilm has an X series. Boom. I bought a Fuji X100X. It's awesome. Anything with an X in it except for maybe the name Xavier, which is a little weird, but it's not a bad name. It's probably someone with Xavier watching. Sorry Xavier beautiful, isn't it? It's cool in the evenings and hot during the day. It was about 25 degrees Celsius, which is close to 80 during the afternoon and I got a little bit of sunburn nothing that I won't get over. There's the Shimanto River again. The river that goes through the center of Shikoku, which is the biggest river the longest river in Shikoku Island and the 10th biggest in Japan, but it's the cleanest river in Japan meaning people still live off of it.

18:23 John Daub: And one of the reasons why it's the cleanest is because it has never been dammed and I don't mean that in the devil sense. I mean like physical dam they haven't created one here and it's kind of neat. There's a word for it. I forget what it is, but it's kind of a cheesy word. I prefer non-dammed. That's how you spell it. There's a dammed that there's no N in this one. Okay, because that's a bad word. Some people think it's a bad word. I was a kid. I think I said it once I got in trouble. My mom said don't say that word. I said I was talking about a dam. Mom got in trouble for being a smart aleck. She knew what she was talking about. So I got in trouble. Don't try to be smart aleck with your mom. Always listen to your mom.

19:34 John Daub: Chris Hansen's brother's last name was Dam. He had to change it Dutch name. Thanks Chris. All right. So there you go. I'm moving back here. So you get a nice view of the room. I hope you guys like it. It is a pretty nice room. I don't know how much it costs because I did not reserve it. But I believe it's not as expensive as you would think a castle room would be like but it does feel like a castle. I do like it and the refrigerator came with beer. So that must make me Emperor don't want to presume such a thing. It's cool room.

20:16 John Daub: Nothing is better than sleeping on a futon. I love futons. The one reason why you can sleep on the futon comfortably is because the tatami mats are quite soft. They're quite soft. So it's not really as hard as you think it would be and I think you know, the first thing I want to leave you with is a story when I first came to Japan. I slept on a futon. I didn't sleep on a bed. I slept in a Japanese style apartment. This is 20 years ago and for the first three weeks my body was sore because I've been sleeping on very soft beds all my life. Not very soft but beds are soft ish and the futon was harder. But after three weeks, my body got stronger. I think from sleeping on the futon and I felt better. I felt more active from it. I guess soft beds and sofas make us lazy. Maybe real men sleep on the floor. Real men sleep on futons on tatami. That makes you tough, I guess.

21:23 John Daub: So I've been sleeping on them ever since and Kanae wants a bed and I told her how dare you this is Japan. We sleep on futons, but our room does not have tatami. So it makes no sense. I'm just being stubborn now. I got to buy her a bed. But hey, hey, cam cam shaft. You did make it. So that's all I want to leave you with. I just wanted to show you this if you guys like it click the thumbs up button. And if you have any questions do write it in the comments section down there. Say do see for greetings from Poland. Hey, I've been to Krakow and Warsaw many times. It's a beautiful place. Krakow is a wonderful city. Love to go back to Poland.

22:05 John Daub: There you go. Hope you enjoyed this live stream. I'll be in Kochi one more day. So maybe I'll do another live stream tomorrow either from the airport or Kochi Castle, which would be really cool or something from this prefecture. I think it is a special place. I know it's not easy to get here. In order to get here you have to take another flight from Tokyo or Osaka. But when you do come here, I think it's just really cool. I feel like reinvigorated because of all this fresh air. And it's just so different from Tokyo. Look at the city just surrounded by forests. This is awesome. And that's why I'm so excited to be here. And that's why I'll do another live stream tomorrow to bring you here. But right now got to go to dinner. So and hit the onsen. Have a good night, everybody. I'll see you in the next live stream. Leave me comment below. Bye. Bye. Quiet that city is there's nobody down there. That's like a male there. So car.