00:00:10 John Daub: Hey everybody, welcome to Niigata Prefecture. That beautiful golden green that you see outside of the window of the Joetsu local train to Echigo-Yuzawa is rice. It's very close to harvest time, which we call inekari (rice harvesting) in Japanese. You'll be able to see some farmers out in the field as we roll by on the way to Echigo-Yuzawa. And joining me on this countryside train report is Hana Victoria, who is a YouTuber herself. She has a channel. She sings. She's a professional. So am I.

00:00:50 John Daub: There's a reason why we have to take the local train. This pass, which is the Tokyo Wide Pass, starts at Echigo-Yuzawa. So you can go from Tokyo, and as far as that's concerned, it's a very small station. But we were dropped off at another station that we could not take to Shinkansen. We've just stopped. We got to stop seven times on the way. This is what the local train ticket looks like from the vending machine here in Niigata. This is from Urasa Station. You can see on the top there in English. Very small. It's 500 yen to get to Echigo-Yuzawa. It takes about 30 minutes, and there's a magnetic strip on the back that shows that you paid, and they'll stamp it as well to confirm with the date that you've validated the ticket. Very neat. Paper ticket, I know, but save the planet.

00:02:02 John Daub: But how have you enjoyed your adventure?

00:02:08 Hana Victoria: It was really nice, and the festival was really nice too. Sorry my hair is messy because you just kind of woke up this morning, but it was really nice, and the food is really delicious. Famous for rice, and the rice is actually really good.

00:02:24 John Daub: Yeah, and the onsen (hot springs). Oh, it was so nice. Awesome. Yeah, it was good. Yeah, it's really good. I'm going to show you some of the countryside, and I want you to stick with us because in about 20 minutes, we actually have to change to the Shinkansen. All right, so then you're going to see us get off on the local train and move on to the Shinkansen, which is the express train. It's going to be a lot of fun.

00:02:48 John Daub: It's kind of cool. I like these trains sometimes, and there's nobody on the train. Like, this is a typical Japanese local train. It's in the afternoon. There's nobody on it. But it's a nice car, so we can be a little bit silly. I've seen people doing pull-ups and crazy things in here. I don't go that far. Yeah, stretching. Yeah, doing like stretch activities. We're not going to go that far, but it does give us a chance to talk a little bit more than we normally would. But oh wow, you can just see from the window just the gorgeous colors of the Japanese countryside of Niigata. It's so beautiful.

00:03:40 John Daub: The doors on the left side. We got sun and clouds. This typically, in about two months, will just all be snow for six months. So from like October to April, there's snow on the ground. So right now, it's pretty nice. End of October maybe it starts to snow, but it looks like Switzerland in a way, in a weird way. Everything out here is a little bit rusted, a little bit older. The stations are a little bit... oh look at that. Look, that super retro, out of business, bubble era business. This is an omiyage (souvenir) and a rental. Oh like probably a ski rental and a restaurant and a gift shop. But this is a low season. Everyone comes here for skiing. So when there's snow, all of the dirt and the rust that makes this place look old is gone and it looks really beautiful. But right now it looks like a bubble era 1980s ghost town.

00:04:55 John Daub: One person got on the train. JPR, JPCROTC, your videos have made me want to be a Japanese English teacher again. Haven't been to Japan since 2011. I missed it. Yeah, that's, you know, come on back to Japan. I left once in 2003, but I came back because I missed it. I guess you can say I left. I never really left, but I did go back to the U.S. for a couple of months and I was a substitute teacher and I said nah I'm coming back to Japan. So when I did, I hitchhiked, said I'm staying here, started my own business. Been here ever since.

00:05:43 John Daub: It's beautiful. The rolling countryside on local trains. It's going to open up a little bit. There we go. Oh it's wonderful. That's nice, huh? It's like, it's such a beautiful view. This is another reason why you shouldn't take Shinkansen. This is a reason why you should take the local trains. Right what you see right now outside your window. This is paradise and I'm kind of glad that we are doing this, Hana.

00:06:12 Hana Victoria: Yeah, me too. It reminds me of Hawaii a little bit. The mountains. I know. Where my mom's from.

00:06:20 John Daub: This is right before the harvest too. So it's just going to be this golden green color for another week or two. It's going to be harvested in a week or two and then it'll just be barren, but this is times right before autumn. See the train's making another stop. I think we got two more stops before we make it into Echigo-Yuzawa. It's so beautiful. I think I could live out here at this time. Oh look at the rice has been, the wind has knocked it down. You can see some of the rice, but it's not to worry that these are all harvested by machine. They'll have rice harvesting machines and it'll be okay. But most of the countryside, Niigata is rice. Look at that, it's rice and buckwheat. They're getting a ton of snow out here too.

00:07:23 John Daub: I was teaching in the United States. So I have two bachelor's degrees, one in economics and one in English literature. So I was teaching English and economics and history in high school as a substitute teacher for just a couple of months and then I came back to Japan. I said I don't want to. It was fun and it was back at my old school. I got a chance to see how life had changed over the ten years at the time that I was living away from the US. That was interesting.

00:08:00 John Daub: All right check it out if the system this is such a beautiful panoramic view right outside the window on the other side to now now we got it starting to open up on this side it's really it's just it's romantic right I was kind of I was here I got my assistant Hana she's not my lover some someone yesterday right into is it your lover wish why you visit my wife's working this is my assistant she's here for the summer helping me I call her my the assistant producer yeah yes if in your resume just put AP that's better than assistant use it right yeah use the experience oh wow stop it we're on the wrong side I should be on this side watching the landscape go by I'm just hoping that the signal stays strong and you guys have a beautiful 720p which is the best we could do with live streaming on YouTube right now from the window and I'll try to bring you as much of this as we can before I get to use our internet connection you might be losing it right now actually Steven Tice writes and get some snacks for you and Hana when you change trains Thank You Steven I'm gonna get her an eki-ben (station bento) because she's been eating like not a lot on the trains yeah it's hard to find the vegetables vegetarian bento she said that's actually a true story wow I would I want to ride this train again can you ride this back yes the weather is absolutely perfect everyone's saying Hana is such a great B guitar take care of your assistant there's a lot of love for Hana out there on the internet yeah Hana is very appreciative she's approaching a thousand subscribers on her channel yeah I just checked today this morning it was 7am and it was 750 and that's pretty crazy yeah Hana Victoria I'll put a link in the description and then in the comments so you can just go over there and check out she's got a new song that's coming out.

00:10:38 Hana Victoria: Yeah what do you sing about like life whiskey booze real things an outlet for me and so it's something that I kind of have to do in order to sort of process these experiences that I have and they're not always happy and you know fun things life is hard and there are a lot of difficult but my way of dealing with them and processing them is through song.

00:11:11 John Daub: Through song. I deal with my problems by eating pizza and working more. I work more. I like to tell a story. I like to read but haven't read a book in a long time because the internet. It's the Internet's fault. Trying to get rid of my smartphone and then Apple announces a new phone. I don't want a new phone. I'm not gonna buy a new phone.

00:11:39 John Daub: Yeah you're like the Japanese Taylor Swift.

00:11:44 Hana Victoria: I don't know about that but I do my best just try to make something that I like and you know my uncle is also a songwriter and he said that you are your worst critic and I've always had that in mind and so if I find something that I make beautiful or good then at least maybe one person else would think of me as good.

00:12:04 John Daub: Right. Pay it forward with love.

00:12:09 Hana Victoria: Trademark.

00:12:10 John Daub: I just trademarked that expression. Pay it forward with love. No, I'm not going to trademark it. I'm going to give it to the people. I never understood why people... I think LeBron James trademarked Taco Tuesdays. I'm like, why? Just let Taco Tuesdays be for all. Don't you love the people?

00:12:35 John Daub: It's alright. It's a beautiful shot of the driver going through the countryside. This is a Joetsu local line. I think he might be new to his job. So that's why there's a trainer with him. So I'll bring you... This window is a little bit better. I'll bring you a little bit of the countryside more. And then we're going to be changing trains imminently. Meaning really soon. And then I've got to buy gifts for the daimyo. So I'm supposed to buy our Patreon supporters gifts here in Echigo-Yuzawa. Alright, we're going through tunnels. This is a part of the track where there's tunnels. So we might go in and out. Just refresh your browser if the signal doesn't seem to be good. And if we go in a tunnel, we'll be going out of it. The Shinkansen tracks is all through tunnel. And the local train is all through the farm fields. I like the local train on this stretch. But if you take the Shinkansen... Literally... Through Niigata, you just see tunnels. Which is another reason why you should just forget the tunnels. And then go through... Forget the tunnels and then just take the local train. There's a reason... There's a good reason why that might be the best option.

00:14:09 John Daub: Christopher Wilson writes in. Had to pull over to comment. But driving six-month-year-old son around to get him to sleep. Ah, Christopher. Thanks for saying hi. And I hope your son gets to sleep. I like that though. Taking your son out to drive. To fall asleep. Nothing is better than falling asleep on a train. Or in a car. With the engine going. I asked my dad to do that once. Took me in the station wagon. And we drove around. And I think we fell asleep in the back. It was the only way we could get us to fall asleep. I think he wanted to go for a drive anyways.

00:14:45 John Daub: That's beautiful. I think that's Echigo-Yuzawa in the distance. So we're getting close to our destination. It follows the river. A lot of the train tracks out in the countryside. It will follow the rivers. Especially in the mountains. Because this is where the lowlands are. Where they can possibly do that.

00:15:13 John Daub: If you guys like these local train rides. I might do another one with Kanae with a pass. Definitely hit the like button. And encourage me. I need your likes. Because number one. This is a social network. And number two. I need encouragement. I need a lot of encouragement. Hana needs some encouragement. And she appreciates any subscriber. Literally every subscriber to her is so valuable. She's like. You were like. John I got six subscribers yesterday. How many did you get? Four maybe. I love that. That's an energy. I got ten. Yeah. She knows their names. Right? She knows who they are. Yeah. This these people subscribed. So everyone is precious. Her name is spelled H-A-N-A. That's a Japanese way. Oh there's a guy out there. He moves fast. These trains move fast. This is it. Okay guys. We're on the next stop here. So this is a really good ride. But stick with us because the ride is just getting warmed up. That's the Shinkansen. And we're going to take you to the Shinkansen. One way or another. You're coming with me.

00:16:44 John Daub: Should we go out on this pass or on this pass Hana? We're going to go out on this ticket. You do that. I'm going out on my Wide Pass. Let's see what happens. Oh I can take this.

00:17:13 John Daub: Promotion for the Shinagawa Skin Clinic. You too can look this good. B-Y-O-N. She looks better with reflection on her back. Oh. This one is, is the heavy camera bag because I was filming a festival. I don't, I don't know if we can do by the daimyo your gifts. In 20 minutes. I know that's pretty tight. Gonna be pretty tight. I don't know. I think we can do it. I think anything is possible. Yes. Anything's possible. But I get to run through if you saw the live stream. We did on Echigo-Yuzawa. I have to run through that station again to the end, find something I like, buy it, run back to the Shinkansen, get an eki-ben for Hana, and then we're gonna eat on the Shinkansen. So just follow us, okay? Stick with us. This is gonna be an adventure one way or another. If the signal cuts out, just stick around. Come back. Hit the like button.

00:18:49 John Daub: Alright, welcome to Echigo-Yuzawa, the local way. They have rental bikes. That's really cool. Right in the station. Wait, so you can just take these bikes? I don't get it. So I'm gonna try to go out on my pass here. We can... Let's go to the local... Yeah, so you can either save your ticket or get out on your pass. Yeah. We've got the Tokyo Wide Pass, which allows us to travel unlimited to here, but only until here. Alright, let's do this. Some of you... Oh my god. Some of you are saying this looks familiar. It should. Because... Because we were here. Here. That's where we ate the sasa dango (bamboo leaf dumplings). Oh, I gotta get Kanae's sasa dango. Yeah. Kanae said that's the one thing she wants more than the copper coffee pot. Copper coffee cup. Coffee copper pot. Coffee cup. More than the coffee copper pot she wants the sasa dango. I'm like, do you want the coffee copper... The copper coffee pot? And she goes, uh, yeah, I prefer the sasa dango. Good choice. Good choice.

00:20:31 John Daub: We're going to the back to get their gifts. Okay. Wait, Hana. So this is... Actually, this is a nice gift. Will this fit in the box? These are all Hakkaisan Japanese sake confections. These are cookies. These cookies look good. Does it come with the sake thing? Yeah. I gotta find something that'll fit in the box, though. Oh, yeah. This is Japanese sake. What is that? Pudding? That's, uh, fruit sherbet. Japanese sake fruit sherbet. Yes. Buzzer. Sherbet. All right. Let's keep... Let's go to the back. There's the... There's the copper coffee pot. Copper coffee pot. It's hard.

00:21:29 John Daub: Hello. Yes. Rock and roll. If you want to see us drink like that guy, see the livestream from two days ago. Or that guy. He's saying, Stop in the name of love. Love of sake. All right, Hana. We've got 20 minutes. This store just opened. I know. All right. Japanese sake. These confections. Ramji Silent, get her both because I was never here. Ramji Silent! Oh, man. All right, I got to get... My problem... I'm going to get it, but my problem is time more than... Time. These would be nice, too. These are nice. What is it? Mochi gomu. Made with rice. Made with rice? Yeah. What's the expiration date? Never? October 28th. Oh, these could work. Is it... These are mochi? These are senbei (rice crackers). Why is it kind of soft? Mochi gomu. It's a cross between mochi and senbei. That's interesting. Are they sweet? I don't know. We don't have a lot of time, Hana. So we're going to have to do this quickly. Just do it quickly. I was thinking of getting the daimyo some of these glasses, but I don't know, the breakable. And I always get food. These are the sake glasses that I showed before. And there's a reason for the target, I guess. To look at the color and the consistency that you can see from these. And these are only $2.50. This would be really nice for the daimyo, I think. But I'm going to be back to the station. So I might get some stuff for the daimyo next time.

00:23:33 John Daub: Hey, Erzai is in the house. Hey, John, I will make a quick stop on the Doi station in the next exact same line. What a coincidence. Yeah. And then travel towards Niigata. That's on local lines. Definitely. I love the train-themed streams. You definitely have to travel by local train line because it's so much better when... Oh, that one with the seaweed looks good. The local trains are so much better when you can see the scenery going by. That looks so good. It's so fresh because the rice here is of excellent quality. I don't have browse time. So shall I just get the senbei? These look really good with the apple pie cat. That's a nice set, I think. I wish I could try them. Is it sweet? Is there sugar in it? This has mochi. I'm looking at the ingredients to make sure I'm giving something special to our daimyo.

00:24:43 John Daub: Yes? All right. Can you put 20 of these in the basket? Okay. Put 20 of those in the basket. We're getting 20. Actually, 21. Or 22. I'll get you one. Do you want one? All right. Put in 21. Actually, 22. 22. I was going to get this too, but we're going to run out of space. This is one of my favorite sakes. This one is so smooth to drink, but it's $50. And Kanae's dad would like this one. This is Robert De Niro's favorite sake. So I'm going to get one of these. Diana says, get it. All right. You got it? So just take this money and you buy it. How much is 20? That's like... Here. Just buy it. Okay. Okay. I'll be fine. Get a ryoshusho (receipt). Yeah. I got to get official receipts for everything. Kanae told me. She's in charge of accounting. You can see. It looks so good. Ryoshusho, onegaishimasu (receipt, please).

00:27:11 John Daub: Did it. Boom. All right. We got, we just got a new, uh, Patreon supporter that I can send this to. Um, so that's why I have to pick 20. Did you get it? Is it, we have enough money? All right. So everyone who's a Patreon supporter is getting one. This is pretty cool. I'm gonna go look at that coffee the coffee copper coffee pot copper coffee pot all right that's a what an awesome assistant I got a really good assistant she's gonna take care of that I'm gonna go get the copper coffee pot we have we have 10 minutes we're doing a really good job oh gosh this is the sake brownies all right next time daimyo if you're in on this sake flavored brownies oh man I'm so in on that I can but this time it's all about rice because it's rice season like a copper coffee pot copper copper coffee pot can I wonder when these copper coffee mugs it's a bigger size but it's a see myself when I coffee cup la nani got you got this casais a decade size to auto [Japanese inaudible] but a ninjaじゃないものでアニージュじゃない アニジュじゃない the need you no way in a guy's she might see her oh you don't say I need you means it has it's double paneled so it stays yeah it stays warmer longer yeah she wanted to get this and the Internet said to get it so I'm gonna get it yeah all right boom boom all right we're almost there they have a makeshift one the They have some really nice stuff. There's a lot of shopping, Hana. I know. These are really nice too. Check this out. These are gold leaf beer glasses and a gold sake glass. That's crazy. I can't get tax free. I have to pay our taxes. Be good. It's beautiful.

00:30:21 John Daub: Hana, did you think about your eki-ben? My eki-ben. What should we do? I feel like I need to just see it. Get the sasa dango en route. Oh yeah, sure. Dude, you gotta get it. On the route. Get it. Sasa dango. Just get a bag. It's like 700 yen. Just get a bag. Bag it. Do it. Don't forget the dango. Yes, you're right, Bridget. Don't forget the dango. How much is it? It's okay. It's 1000 yen. Okay. I'll take it. It's 120 yen. Okay. I'll take it. Just get it. Don't forget the dango. Okay. I'll take it. Don't forget the dango. I'll take it. It's 120 yen. Thank you. Thank you. Alright, I did it. Hana's getting a sasa dango. Dude, we did this. 20 minutes in and out. And this means we get to run for the train. Hana's going to love this. She's never done a train run before. Oh, she didn't buy it yet? Oh, no. You can get like a pack for 700 yen or something. How much was it? Okay. Did you want it? Oh, you got five? Okay. Yeah. Can I love sasa dango? Alright, we got this. You got it? Alright. Good job, Hana. Alright. Now it's time for the Shinkansen train. Oh, geisha. Alright. It's time to get on the Shink.

00:32:43 John Daub: Onegaishimasu (please). Shimase. Minashimasu (excuse me). Minashimasu. Alright. Oh, it's an auto gate. Hana, which one is it? Oh, it's a 12. It's a 12. We have five minutes. We've got, that's plenty of time. That's plenty of time. You want an eki-ben? Hana, it's plenty of time. Okay. Is this? No, it's not plenty of time. All right. Just, do you want something? No, it's okay. Are you sure you want something? You want something? How about this? You want this? Ikura (salmon roe)? Ikura? No, none of that's vegetarian. Okay, it's just an hour. It's fine. Alright, let's go. It's supposed to be an eki-ben adventure. This way? Juseki (reserved seats), juseki. Wow, this one doesn't have an escalator. Alright, just hop it, hop it. Don't worry. This is not my first time. You're a first timer, huh? The Shinkansen run. Wait! Hold the train! Wait! They never... That doesn't work. It works for a bus. It doesn't work for a train. Oh, baby. Are you sure this is the right platform? Are you sure this is the right one? No, it doesn't know. Oh, it's the other side? Seriously? Seriously? That one? Alright, we're on the wrong platform. Hold that train.

00:34:48 John Daub: I think we can eat. Can I? Can we eat one of your sasa dango? Oh, geisha. Alright, keep going. This is Tokyo Wide. Okay. The lady for Japan Rail East Access who cleans the station. I was like, yeah, this is Tokyo. Hana! Wait, you're going so fast! She's like double speed than me. This is your graduation, Hana. This one? Alright, run! We're not done! Whoa, we got seven cars to go? Oh, what a beautiful train. I love me machine consent. It's even better when it's a pass. Tokyo Wide Pass. Echigo-Yuzawa. Oh, this is non-reserved? So you gotta give up? You gotta give up? No! I don't give up until I get to car number one. Non-reserved is cars one through five. Look, Hana. Hana. Don't give up until the end. Elliot Ness, played by Kevin Costner. You're gonna get Capone. Ah! Here comes a... I lost my bag. The shoulder strap busted. Alright. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. Okay. Is it... Hana, is it this one? I think it's this one, no? Is it the left one or the right one? I think this one because it's leaving right now. Alright, so this one. Hana, let's go this one. This one. This one's too crowded. It's too crowded. Hana, we can do it. Go for the next one. Totally can do it. Done. Luggage rack. I knew there was a luggage rack. That's why. Alright, you can put it down here. Let's leave a $50 bottle of sake there. Better put it that way. Alright, shall we sit? Yes. Alright, go ahead. I'm gonna say goodbye to our people. Alright. Say bye-bye to Hana. Subscribe to my channel. She just... I said that. She didn't say it.

00:38:10 John Daub: Goodbye, Echigo-Yuzawa. I love you, Echigo-Yuzawa. I love the countryside. Bye train. Bye station. Bye rice fields. Bye delicious sake. Bye mountains. I'm on the train. Thanks, everybody. We almost instantly go into a tunnel. So, this is the end of the livestream. But this is fun. We went from local train shopping, Shinkansen, rice fields, copper coffee pot, copper coffee cup, sasa dango, and the view finishing content, as you see, it's not as delicious or beautiful as on the local trains. So, thanks, everybody. Have a good day. Have a good night. See you in the next livestream. Signal die. Signal die. How long can we go?