00:06 John Daub: Welcome everybody. This is Hirome Ichiba (Hirome Market) in Kochi City on the island of Shikoku. And that is one happy cat. In this live stream, I'm going to take you inside Hirome Ichiba on a Sunday, which is very crowded. It's one of the most interesting places I've been to. But it's so crowded that I don't get a chance to eat in here. But that doesn't mean you won't if you come to Kochi. This video is just to give you a quick overview. It's a very friendly place. I've already made some friends just walking around scouting this area. So I can introduce you to some of them. Right at the entrance, you're greeted by this happy cat. But Kochi is one of the friendliest places I've been to in Japan. So let's go inside. Hirome Market. It's exciting.

01:04 John Daub: Oh, there they are. Aloha. Hey guys. How you doing? Welcome. This is Hirome Market. They know my name. Oh my god. They're surfers. They're friends from all over Japan—Nagoya, Hiroshima, and Osaka. They come to Shikoku, to Kochi for surfing and they're here to drink and eat. But you're finished. You're already finished. Wow. Not yet. Not quite there. One more finish. So do you come here to Kochi a lot?

02:05 Surfers: Yes, yes, yes. Actually, he's living in Kochi. He's working for the Self-Defense Force in Japan. Yeah, he's working for the base in Kochi.

02:19 John Daub: He's working in the Japan Self-Defense Force. Very cool. Yeah, he's a strong guy. How strong? How many did you drink? That's how strong. And it's your first time here?

02:34 Surfers: Yeah, first time. His first time. How is the waves? How is surfing here in Kochi?

02:41 Surfers: It's really good. Very good waves. This one week is one of the best in this year, I think. All the locals say it's the best in a few months.

02:53 John Daub: Okay. So some of the best surfing in Japan is here?

02:58 Surfers: Yeah, because it's the Pacific side. There's swells coming in and big waves. The Pacific swells.

03:04 John Daub: Do you see any whales out there? Sharks?

03:09 Surfers: Sometimes. Yeah, sharks. Sometimes sharks, but not really.

03:23 John Daub: Just so you know, I can't see any of the chats, but it's alright. Sorry about that. Wow. Okay, great. Are you going home today?

03:34 Surfers: Actually, yes. I have to.

03:36 John Daub: You have to? Aww.

03:39 Surfers: So we are wondering, maybe we quit the job and keep on traveling.

03:45 John Daub: Actually, you could be a YouTuber. That's not a bad idea.

03:48 Surfers: He's an Instagrammer. Insta creator.

03:53 John Daub: Do you have something to show us? Show us your Insta creation. This is native hair of what country?

04:04 Surfers: Osaka. Osaka's native hairstyle.

04:11 John Daub: He'll show us that photo. I'm Indonesian? Oh, Indonesian? Oh, okay. I'm Mabie? What's your Insta channel? How do we find it? There are people who want to see it.

04:30 Surfers: I'll teach you. Masanori_ kodan. M-A-S-A-N-O-R-I underscore K-O-D-A-N.

04:46 John Daub: We're going to access his Instagram, everybody. This is going to be... Whoa. Wow. You have... Okay. You can see these kinds of pictures if you... You just started. Just started? Yeah. He's not so great. He's just funny. That's your friend. That's okay. So, you're going to walk around now?

05:26 Surfers: Yeah, yeah, yeah. The flea market is going on. Did you see the tataki? They make it with the fire? Yeah, it's famous. Very famous.

05:37 John Daub: Do you want to see the tataki? I go show them the tataki. You should go. You should check it. That's very interesting. The bonito is very famous in Kochi. The bonito fish. One of my favorite foods in Kochi is called tataki.

05:52 John Daub: Tataki is bonito fish, and it's been seared—meaning they put it in the fire, so it has like this grilled taste to it. It's really good.

06:03 Surfers: Yeah. It's so yummy. Yummy, yummy, yummy. Here's my card. Thank you. Let me know when you give up your job and come traveling.

06:07 John Daub: We will. Yeah. I got the new job. I will work for him. Don't show up at my house. Oh, sorry, sorry, sorry. Don't show up at my house, though. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you. All right, guys. Don't go. Be careful with that. That's high-quality stuff. I'm on Instagram now. Look at this. That's how it works. It's just a video. It's just like reversed the wrong way. All right, guys. I'll see you. You walk around? Yeah. I'll see you. See you in Japan. Bye-bye. See you in Japan. Arigato. Arigato.

06:50 John Daub: I just want to show you the market real quick. Check this out, okay? This is the hiroba (open space). This is the big area of the market, and you can see so many people. It's just one of the most amazing places to eat. I love this. It's bench eating. You sit next to someone you don't know. You get a chance to meet with them. Lots of drinks being poured. It's not even noon yet. That's how they do it here in Kochi. There's a line. You see all these people here? Guys, by the way, just so you know, I can't see your chat for some reason. What I'm going to do is I'm going to take you over here and show you this.

07:47 John Daub: Over here, they're making the tataki or seared bonito fish. You can see it over here. Back here in the restaurant. Oh, they're not making it right now, but what they're serving right now is seared bonito, and it's the most popular item. It's the most popular item on the menu. You can see it right there. It's still raw in the middle but it's got this really great charred grilled taste over it. You can see it on her plate here. It's so delicious and it's very famous in Kochi. We'll come back in a minute. I think they'll have the fire going again.

08:42 John Daub: We'll come back in a minute. I'm gonna take you around a little bit more just so you get an idea of what this market's like. It's just so cool inside here. People are friendly. I was just walking around, people inviting me. Konnichiwa. YouTuber. YouTuber. People are pretty friendly. It's easy to make friends in Kochi because there aren't a lot of tourists here and when you're kind of unique walking around with a stick, it makes easy for people to come and say hi. And usually vlogging like this is a good way to break the ice. Tons and tons of gifts in here. Let me zoom out. You can see all these things you can buy from Kochi. Snacks and things like this you can take home. I gotta take Kanae home some of those cakes that I bought last time. Some more confections.

09:41 John Daub: This is from Tosa which is an area famous for salt. There's a lot of really good confections here. Lots of little teeny booths. This building is not that big. But inside this building there are 60 plus shops all serving lots of food. Now the area that we were just at is a lot more popular than out here on the rim but there's a lot of really nice shops. I think these are just a little bit more expensive and they have a different feel but then when you turn to the left... Oh let's go walking in there next. We're gonna go back into the center. This is gonna be fun. Just so you know I can't see your chats. I'm going to try to reset this. Alright, is it working? I don't see your messages. Sorry, everybody. I can't see any of the messages, but I'll get back in touch with anybody who does send me Super Chat. I appreciate it.

10:44 John Daub: Let's walk through here. I remember the first time I walked here yesterday, I walked into this big room, and it's just overwhelmingly amazing. I just want to sit here and eat for the rest of the afternoon. But I got to go back to Tokyo. And then you just kind of look over, and it's just people drinking and eating and having fun. Looking for seats. This is the kind of vibe that I think of when I want to go out and eat and have fun. Really good food. Friendly people. Warm vibe. Here's a gyoza restaurant. Alright, let's go back and see if they have the tataki on fire now. Look at the booze here. Oh, man. So many different kinds of sake they have here.

12:00 John Daub: See, the line is insane. Do you see that? So this is one of the most famous shops inside here. This is where they usually have fire blasting right out of the center here. I guess they're done with it. But it's a very long line. I was going to try this for you guys. I have a picture. I actually ate this yesterday. So I'll have a picture. I'll try to put that on Instagram later on. Let me just... I can pan around here. Very cool, isn't it? So colorful. Lots of different shops. Each one of these over here is another shop. They're selling so many different kinds of foods. Mostly local cuisine. Things that are made here in Kochi. All the ingredients are fresh. Lots of seafood. Oh, it's 12 o'clock. That's what the music's for. There's the tataki. Ah, that looks so good. Look at the seared outside of that fish.

13:08 John Daub: All right, I'm back over here. They haven't gotten the tataki going yet. They're preparing it, but I don't see them. They don't have any fire going on right now. I wonder why. So we're going to wait here for a second until they get the fire. But yeah, I came to Kochi yesterday just to... This is a prefecture in Shikoku. It's been a long day. I was up at 5 in the morning to film the Sunday market. And in about 3-4 minutes, I'm going to go outside and I'll show you that Sunday market. But I just wanted to show you this tataki because this is a major part of Kochi cuisine. Tataki. T-A-T-A-K-I. They got the fish. Do you know the flakes on top of the okonomiyaki or the takoyaki? That's what this is, but it's not dry. This is fresh. And they just sear it. And it's so good. I think they're going to start getting the fire out again.

14:29 John Daub: Here they go. He's putting the fire on. All right. This is exciting. Are you ready? Can I get a ready? If you're ready, hit the like button. This is going to be great. Thanks, everybody. Now, they're going to be making... For those joining us right now, this is called tataki. And it's a very famous local cuisine. The bonito fish caught here in Kochi off of the coast. Kochi is right on the Pacific Ocean. As you met at the beginning of this, we met four surfers that come here just to surf. And after they surf, they came to this market. They came to this market to eat and drink and be merry. And they're merry. They had a lot of drinks.

15:18 John Daub: Oh, look. And they use straw. Do you see that? There he goes. He's burning it. He's burning it. And that straw gives the bonito fish some flavor to it. Look at that. Fascinating. So he puts in that straw and sears the bonito. And that's what everyone's waiting in line for, to get a chunk of this. Oh, I can already smell it. Other people are taking pictures over there. This is the best part of the whole live stream. Whenever you get fire, you know it's going to be a really good live stream. Thanks, everybody. I can't actually see the chats for some reason. But I appreciate the super chats. I see them coming in. I see the number of people watching, the numbers of thumbs up, and the total. So I appreciate it.

16:23 John Daub: He's going to put some more straw in there, I think. There you go. Yes. I watched him do this for five, ten minutes before. It's just mesmerizing to see anything being cooked in fire. I don't know why. But this bonito fish is very famous in Kochi. It's getting some of that flavor in there. And I'll show you what it looks like after he starts cutting it up now. Look at it. There's steaming off of the stick. He's got a knife. He's going to chop it up. And he puts it right on the plate and then serves them to the customers. And they get it while it's still really hot. And that's sort of the attraction of this shop. It's all really super fresh. I think this is like Japan's barbecue area, Kochi. Look at that. There you go. Oh, it smells so good, too. Like, it's just wafting over here where I am. The meat is raw in the middle, but the outside seared and gives it an amazing taste.

17:46 John Daub: This is a really cool market. All right. I'm going to get out of here now and show you a little bit of the Sunday market. It's a shame I can't see any of your chats. I do apologize. It's fun. This is fun. I wish I had another hour. I'm going to the airport in about 30 minutes. So I wish I had another hour. I'm taking you out the entrance that I came in the first time, which is the back entrance. And it takes you straight to Kochi Castle. In fact, from here, you can see Kochi Castle. So I'll show you a little bit of the castle if you didn't get a chance to see that. How are you doing? That looks like Sakamoto Ryoma. Let's get out of here. I miss my surfer friends already.

19:01 John Daub: This is what it looks like. Look at the bacon. Good. Oh, man. And that's what it looks like at the entrance. But it's not until you go around that you see the big open area. Yeah. After you go around, that's where you see it. And then you just want to stay for a while. When you go in there, you want to sit down and stay for a while. All right. Let's go outside. Now we're outside. Up there, over the trees, that's Kochi Castle. But you can't see it from here. Oh, that's a shame. I think there'll be a place where you can see it. Actually. I'm going to take you now to a place where you can see Kochi Castle. How do you like that? So this is the famous Sunday market in Kochi.

20:06 John Daub: Hey, you guys want some culture? Boom. Sunday in Kochi has these dancing. I forget what it's called. It's on the tip of my tongue. But it's a special kind of dance. It's just about the moves. And it's a dance that you could do to almost any music. It's just about the moves. Let's just run over there. I don't want to miss it. You know, when you see the scoop, you have to get the scoop. You have to get the story. Get there. Oh, good. So you can do this to J-pop. You can do this to rock & roll. You can do this kind of dancing to just about any music. It's just about the dance moves. So just check it out a little bit here.

21:09 John Daub: Okay. Escape the culture. Copyrighted music. It's really hard. You can't win. Now, this is a main channel episode. I don't want to ruin it. So I'm just going to take you through there for like five seconds. There's a whole story behind this. And I don't want to ruin it for you. But this market is the oldest market in Japan. It's one of the longest as well. It's over a kilometer, I think. So it takes a long time to get to the end. But they sell a lot of vegan stuff. A lot of organic. All of these farmers are local. They all come from the surrounding countryside. Drive in. I woke up at five in the morning to watch them set up. Got a chance to meet a lot of them. I got to eat a lot of food.

22:01 John Daub: But there's something called inakazushi (country sushi). And the inakazushi is no fish. And you can get it without dashi or soy sauce, which makes it vegan friendly. And you get it from one of these people probably selling it at the stands. They make it at their home. They bring it in the morning. And then they sell. That's it. Konnichiwa. Yeah, so it's a pretty cool vibe here. If you are in Kochi on Sunday, you got to hit this market. You totally got to hit this market. I'm going to skedaddle and move in through here. And we're going to go up the stairway of Otesuji-ya, which is a new building here. And then from the top of this stairway, from the top here, you're going to get a chance to see the market from above. It's a pretty nice view. And then you're going to get to see Kochi Castle. How cool is that?

23:01 John Daub: I love that market. Hirome Market. Put it on your map. Places you got to go. Hirome Market. Get there early and stay for a while. Just start ordering food. There's no... And don't worry about how to do it. Get a seat, snag a seat, just start getting food and talking to people. Don't worry about anything. Oh, yeah, there we go. Boom. You can see Kochi Castle right in the center of your screen. And this is one of the reasons why this is one of the longest markets. They moved the market here after World War Two. Before World War Two was in a different place. After World War Two, they moved it here. It's been here ever since. Three hundred and ninety year old market. It's crazy, huh?

23:54 John Daub: But what I love about it is that it's all really done by the farmers themselves. I mean, they come here, they set up their booths and around 3 p.m. they start taking it down if they sell out of stuff and it starts closing down. It's from officially nine to six. But the market opens at 5 a.m. as soon as they set down their stakes and put up their tents, stuff's for sale. And they move fast. Literally. I mean, there's a 90 year old woman. She's there with her back hunched over. And she's setting up her stand. And I'm watching these old ladies and wondering where do they get the energy? I'm forty five, half their age, literally half their age. And I get half the energy that these ladies do. I don't know how they do it. It's impressive. The grandmas of Japan, grandmas here tend to stick around a little bit longer than the grandpas. And that's Hirome Market, the one right there beyond the flag where the cars are on top of it inside that building is Hirome Market. And this is where you should go when you come to Kochi. Highly, highly recommend.

25:09 John Daub: There you go. There's the pride of Kochi. I think that's the Kochi flag. Each prefecture has their own flag. That could be the one that Kochi has. Not sure. It's nice to see the market from above. This in front of us is the high school. So the high school girls that you saw had just come out of school. So that's a famous high school here in the center of Kochi. Right next to the castle. You can see there's some people who are going to school on a Sunday. That's not right. If they're leaving, it doesn't make sense. I wouldn't want to go to school on a Sunday. It's a beautiful day like this. If you're interested in Kochi Castle, I did a live stream on this about exactly two weeks ago to the day I was inside there running around like pretending like it was a samurai. It's pretty ridiculous. But there you have it. It's a little bit of Kochi. I showed you yesterday a walking tour from Kochi Station to here. And now from here you can connect that live stream and see the rest. Pretty cool.

26:33 John Daub: It's going to be sad to leave Kochi. It was just here for 24 hours, but I'll be back because it was just a $50 flight from Tokyo. It's just $50 flight. One and a half hours. I was here in Kochi. Crazy, right? It's crazy to think about it. $50. I'm here. So I'm going to bring maybe Kanae and we'll check out Kochi for a couple of days. The best, though, when you do come to Kochi, you want to probably rent a car. Renting a car is the best way to get around Japan's countryside. So even if you take the Shinkansen, you get to Hiroshima, rent a car and just go out around Hiroshima for a day, totally you're going to experience so many new things that are off the track. You're going to see off the tourist track because there is a tourist track. Everyone gets a JR pass and they ride from Tokyo to Kyoto and Osaka and Kobe and Hiroshima and then they come home, maybe Himeji on the way. Maybe they'll go see one thing like a castle or something. But I'm telling you, you got to get off that path. You got to see something different like this. There's no tourists. Well, the domestic tourists. But everyone here is local. You know, it's pretty crazy.

28:03 John Daub: I like just some of these hats. The pilgrims actually wear these hats. It's not a touristy thing. These are actual hats that people will wear here in Shikoku. If you buy them in Vietnam, you're a tourist. If you buy it here, you're a pilgrim. It's a big difference. Some sweets from the Tosa area. And there's my hotel. That's where I stayed for the night. Compliments of Tyler. Hey, big thanks to our friend Tyler. Good. Once again, I can't see your chats. I don't know why I'm touching the screen, but I hope you did enjoy this live stream. Leave me a comment if you have a question about this area. Kochi anything. Leave me a comment in the YouTube description in the bottom of the video here, and I will try to look at it at the airport in an hour. But what a day. What a day. I'm going to crash real hard probably 3 p.m. I was up at 4:30 to come out here to film at 5 a.m. But it was a really great day.

29:15 John Daub: Oh, I could show you this really quickly. I'm always going to have one more thing. This here is imo ten (sweet potato tempura). Imo ten is deep fried satsuma imo (sweet potato). And this is the most famous shop on the street. And they're deep frying the imo ten right now. Look at that. It's so good. It's so good. And I totally wish that I could take some of this back. But you're going to have to watch the main channel episode. This will be on the main channel episode. I eat it in there. I eat it and do one of those eating faces. You know what I'm talking about. Talking about a great day. What a great day. All right, everybody. Leave me a comment below. If you have a question, hit the subscribe button and the bell. If you like some of these live streams from all over Japan, I'm always traveling, always looking around, going to new places. Kanae and I are going to Kanazawa this week coming up. So you're going to see a couple of live streams from Kanazawa. Looking forward to that. That's Ishikawa Prefecture on the Sea of Japan side. If you have any questions on that, let me know. So I seriously can't see the chat. It stinks. Here's some ramen. So I'll leave you here the last 20 seconds listening to the peeps of the button walk bell and enjoying just a little bit of the Sunday market because it's Sunday in Japan, you should enjoy it a little bit. Thanks, everyone.