00:00:02 John Daub: Hello, greetings from Tokyo. Good day, everybody. Good evening. It's now about 11:25 p.m. in Tokyo. In this live stream, we're going to be talking about how Japan can revitalize its countryside. Right now, Japan has a problem.

00:00:29 Kanae Daub: Hi.

00:00:29 John Daub: Japan has a problem revitalizing the countryside. It's trying to. I recently made an episode on Only in Japan where we went to Awaji Island, Awaji Shima in Hyogo Prefecture. This is an island between Honshu and Shikoku. A company called Pasona seems to have an answer. Their solution is what I presented in this episode. Every single prefecture, every single town outside of cities is trying to find ways to attract new economy into their local areas, to attract new visitors, to attract people back because a lot of the young people are leaving their hometowns and going into the cities for university and they don't come back and this is a problem.

00:01:21 John Daub: I'm gonna be talking about solutions and also the live stream here is very important because this is also part of the record of this episode. We're looking for answers and perhaps you have some really good ideas. If you leave a comment in the video below in the playback or in the stream, I really appreciate it and let's see if we can maybe come up with some ideas. We'll start with this. This is Pasona's idea in Awaji Island. It's one of the most striking things that I've seen in the past and I think it's really interesting. But I had a story that I saw on the Internet over the last five or six months. I remember opening up a news article and I saw this image of Hello Kitty, who is one of Japan's biggest ambassadors, from a drone shot from above with the sea and all farm fields around it and I said oh I gotta get this story. I gotta figure out what's going on in Awaji Island. I hadn't been there for 20 years so I went down. I contacted Pasona and Pasona contacted me as well and we collaborated on this episode where I wanted to show what they were doing and to see if it was working and also experience some of the things.

00:02:38 John Daub: This is called the Hello Kitty Showbox. It's specifically designed to bring pop culture into the countryside to create not just jobs for younger people, but also to attract visitors, not just foreign visitors, but domestic visitors to stop in Awaji Island, to stop there and experience it. Will it be successful? I asked a lot of people in the comments on the main channel and we got some really good answers. Some people say yes, some people say no. We'll look at some of that as well. This is also a director's take on this episode. Here's the main channel episode. I will go through this with you and then we're going to find some answers at the end of this episode.

00:03:38 John Daub: Welcome to Awaji Shima or Awaji Island. Behind me is the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge. It is the longest suspension bridge in the world, but it's also really important to me because it was built in 1998 and I came to Japan in 1998. So yeah, it kind of symbolizes the length of time I've been in Japan as well. I was really happy to get a chance to come here to Awaji Island and bring this episode to you. But more importantly, in fact, it's been like that all over Japan, especially when this bridge was built in 1998. It made it really easy for locals to go across.

00:04:20 John Daub: Actually, this is not Kanae's first episode on Only in Japan. She was in another episode. Maybe you remember this. Public Bathing Exposed, Bathtime in Japan, Public Bathing Exposed or The Naked Truth. That was in 2015. And Kanae was in the last scene of that video. I don't know if you are hardcore viewers of this, but you will be able to see her from four years ago in that episode. Just saying. These characters like Hello Kitty, and to join me in this report is Kanae.

00:04:52 Kanae Daub: Hello.

00:04:54 John Daub: Her hello sounds just like her grandfather's, Mr. Seiichi. Hello. This is true, isn't it? Right? Yeah, she's over there. She doesn't want to be on camera. And for the next 24 hours, we're going to be investigating if this regional revitalization is working. We were only on this island Awaji Shima for 24 hours. It really wasn't enough time to get an idea of it. But what we could use in that time is to just see some of the infrastructure of the island, how it has changed since the last time I was there 20 years ago and what it was like now. There really wasn't that many changes except for free shuttle buses to the attractions. The bridge makes it easy to get there. I think there's more signage and it's just more curiosity to go out into the countryside.

00:05:43 John Daub: Let's take a look here at the episode. The music, of course, is crossing the world's longest suspension bridge. Sighted is the usual way to get there from Osaka or Kobe. You're basically leaving the urban area behind for rice paddies and farm fields. When you get to this, this is where I watch the island. One of the most diverse in Japan in the sea between Kobe, Osaka and Himeji is Awaji Shima, part of Hyogo Prefecture, as is Kobe City. The island looks like a piece of steak. They had really good wagyu. To Shikoku, another island. I'm hungry. That's why we're going to focus on the north part of the island where all those solar panels are.

00:06:24 John Daub: Another thing that Awaji Island is doing besides making these attractions is that they've become a source of renewable energy. Loads of windmills. And I was just shocked at how many solar panels that they have. If you use your Google Earth and zoom in there, it's just like the whole north part of it is solar panels. And I guess they're selling electricity back to Hyogo Prefecture. I don't know. But I heard that they have a lot of sunshine on this island, which is the reason why the solar panel farms exist. Around here is tons of rice paddies. And we're going to fly down into this T-shape. Now, Google Earth right now did not put the new building that's there. What you see are a lot of farm fields. And it's just there's nothing really here except for the farms. But I found this image when I was searching it before I scouted the area. And like, well, this is going to be gold. And then eventually we got here this White House. Oh man, was I surprised. It looked like the White House, just like a miniature version of the White House. Really cute. But it really is a unique building, white stunning in the middle of a farm field here.

00:07:43 John Daub: If you'd like to see more, click the like button right now. I'm just kidding. Yeah, you can click the like button if you do. But it's fuel for encouragement. This video is one of those Only in Japan that you see the natural world mixed with pop culture. I just love the drone shots. Look at that. Hello Kitty in the middle of a farm field. It is so impressive to me. And I remember we got the drone. You can see us just down here in the parking lot. We're right there by the white cottage there. And I'm looking at the screen and making sure the drone is legal. You have to get permission to fly a drone here, by the way. You can't just fly drones anywhere. So we have permission to fly this drone. But I'm looking at the screen and going, oh my word. Look at Hello Kitty in the middle of a farm field. This doesn't make sense. Why is this here? I had to get this story. I took the drone from so many different angles as well, because you don't see this image unless it's from the sky. And I guess it was because of the startling point of it. You see the entire farm field. It just looks like it's revitalized. It's a connection with nature, right? You see Hello Kitty here. Look at the nature around it. I thought this was a brilliant idea. It's going to be great on social media.

00:09:13 John Daub: But I'm a kind of person who has a journalistic desire to ask the question: Why does this exist? Why is this even here? This is the inside of it. And you can't really see it too much in this. But the floor is also a screen. And this boat was going around and it would float on the wall behind. And then it would come onto the stage. So it was sort of one of the attractions is that it's such a unique high-tech theater. The purpose of this is to eat. It's basically a restaurant. It's basically a very classy Hello Kitty restaurant. That's vegan. Some of it looks like it could be meat. But it's not. Like this tofu meatball. Or this fish-looking item. It looks so good. It was really good.

00:10:02 John Daub: Was it good? Yeah. Yeah, she said yes. She wouldn't say no because we're live right now. It was good though. I especially like the thing that looked like fish. But it's not fish. It was some sort of tofu. I don't know how the chefs do it. But it's really interesting. Vegan cuisine, I have to say, can trick the mind into thinking it's meat. It came in beautiful lacquerware and visitors eat it while watching a show on the massive screen or live performances. This is considered a bento. A bento is a boxed lunch. I think all of you know what a bento is. But it comes in two floors. It's a two-floor, two-level, two-story bento box, which is really interesting. And the staff will bring them both to you for impact. And then they open it up. And then they take the cover off. And then in front of you is what just seems like a ton of food. This place also had all-you-can-eat mochi bar. Genius. I think there was ice cream as well. And all-you-can-eat cake. And then all-you-can-eat, I think there was some vegetables because it's Awaji Island. They want to showcase the vegetables. I thought that was fantastic.

00:11:15 John Daub: Was this my cup of tea? Yeah, not so much. I'm not a Hello Kitty fan. I respect Hello Kitty. But why Hello Kitty? And why Awaji Island? This is the journalist part. Is this the answer to revitalizing the countryside? I talked with one of the managers in charge of helping with the regional revitalization program here. The hotel we stayed in had Hello Kitty themed rooms. This hotel is called the Grand Chariot. And if you look on booking.com or jalan.net or any of the booking sites, you're going to see this is quite pricey. It's called glamping or glamour camping. These are like huts, like luxury huts. And because we were coming here to make this video, we got to stay in here for free. It was complimentary. We didn't pay for this opportunity. But we didn't take any money to make this episode either. So we were really honored. And I said this is such a cool place. Is it okay if I feature this in this video as well? And they said yes, of course. But they're using Hello Kitty in this particular room. We didn't stay in the Hello Kitty room. We stayed in another room. But this particular room with Hello Kitty, it's just this little interesting thing that works together well with their theme in Awaji Island is bringing pop culture in. It seemed out of place. But it's also genius. All the little things in here, they know how to use social media. They know people are going to Instagram the heck out of this, right?

00:12:52 John Daub: And this is Soumiki-san, very very nice guy. You'll see him if you go to the hotel maybe. Create a harmonious community. We use Hello Kitty's image together. So Sanrio is one of the nicest companies, I think. They're the people who own Hello Kitty. They very freely give out the copyright to others to use it. And it's so smart because it increases Hello Kitty's exposure. I've seen Hello Kitty on stamps. I've seen Hello Kitty in hotel rooms and restaurants. It's all over the place. So Sanrio is so nice. They're giving them to the island to help to boost tourism. And I don't believe that they're taking any money or much at all for this. So I think if it works out, it's very good for Sanrio and for Hello Kitty. And if it doesn't, I think it was just a nice gesture. This is something where I think companies are not being greedy. But they're really working together to find answers to help bring, to spread out tourism all around Japan. So you have to give Sanrio and Pasona, this company, a lot of credit for what they're doing. If they're profitable with it, all the more power to them for taking the risk to do this. But it's a step in the right direction.

00:14:13 John Daub: Awaji Island does not have any trains to get here. This is an important interview because it sets up why this is necessary and whether or not you think it's going to succeed. Public transportation in the countryside in general, not just Awaji Island, is very very not easy. You can tell the trains might be once an hour. Buses are hard to figure out. If you're a foreign tourist and you don't speak Japanese, you don't know how to get around. So visiting the countryside is very challenging. But for those who do and stick around and have the time, it's also very rewarding because you will take more of the culture. You'll eat better food. You'll have an experience that nobody else will have. It's just getting there. And he admits here there are no trains on Awaji Island. You need a car. Rent a car is the best way. So JR Rail Pass is not possible here. However, I still think if you make the effort, you're rewarded for that effort whenever you travel. You go to mountainous regions in the Himalayas or you go deep into Eastern Europe or something, you're rewarded with amazing views and things that no one has ever seen before. And that is the experience I think we're all looking for. Adventure. And they see this as adventure. So they don't know if this is going to work. This is what's interesting with Pasona and this. They themselves don't know it's going to work. They're just giving it their best try. And I think that that is so commendable and not enough companies are out there doing this. Everyone's always looking for profit, but there can be profit in trying to expand into places that no one's at right now. And I hope that more companies do this.

00:16:01 John Daub: We're going to talk a little bit more about this at the end of it and I'm going to look at your questions. So let's go into the first project that Pasona did. Is this Awaji City Nojima Elementary School? Awaji Shi Tate-no Shima Shogakko? She's better with the kanji. Always has. So they've taken this school, which was pretty much abandoned. The population was shrinking. There was no use for the school anymore. So they consolidated the students and it was pretty much abandoned. There's a lot of abandoned schools in Japan. My friend Angela from a channel called Internationally Me has started a school to teach Japanese in Aomori. She's a teacher in Akita. I give her a lot of credit too for bringing more jobs and more interest into the countryside. I think it's called the Akita Inaka School, which you should check out. But Pasona has taken this school and turned it into restaurants, shops, and made it into an attraction or put life back into it without changing it. It's still obviously looking like a school with on the top of it a clock tower, which was used for the kids to know what time it is to go back into the class. They left it that way for a reason. I think people should remember what it was. And that's what gives it the great symbolism or connects with people. This used to be a school. Now it has a second purpose. And they didn't tear it down. They didn't build something new. They just fixed it up. I love that.

00:17:56 John Daub: This is a place of Awaji Island that they put in a Naruto and Boruto theme park. This was not easy to get. I've worked with Shueisha, which is the parent company for Shonen Jump, one of the biggest weekly manga in the world. Shonen Jump is huge. And Naruto and Boruto are characters from Shonen Jump. And this is a Shueisha collaboration. Shueisha is very very protective of their copyright. So what Pasona did in bringing in the countryside to make this park is pretty huge actually because people are very very protective of it. This is a major thing here. So that is more impressive than the park itself. I have to be honest with you. I was more impressed that they could build this park here than the actual park itself because I know how hard it is to get these kinds of parks together. So once again, it's a great collaboration of companies coming together to do this. It's a pretty awesome looking park. I'm not into Naruto too much, but I think if you are, this might be like your amazing area. You can see here, the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge from Awaji Island. It's just a towering structure, the tallest one. It's over 100 meters high. So the countryside has that for it. But people often will just cross the bridge and go into Shikoku and they always bypass Awaji Island. And their hope is that people do stop and stick around. I think it's starting to happen. But they're working really hard.

00:19:38 John Daub: Here you can see the windmills up here. And on the coast, which again is more farms and just wilderness, they put here, which was I believe like abandoned boathouse or something, a warehouse or a boathouse. They've taken the abandoned house and they turned it into a seaside attraction. Now people will want to stop here. A beautiful cafe with these yellow umbrellas. An amazingly huge Kitty-chan head, which you can see from space. Like Hello Kitty from space. That's pretty cool. It's definitely an Instagrammable thing because we know how today's society works. We like to take selfies about everything. You'd want to take one in front of this. I did. I don't take a lot of selfies. But I did with this. It's just massive. It's beautiful. Awaji Island looks like it's almost tropical. You have beautiful palm trees, blue skies, such a beautifully clear seaside here. And these lovely tables that are empty. I mean, wouldn't you want to just sit here and relax? Never mind that you don't like Hello Kitty, or you do. This is the perfect place to just chill on a non-populated area. It's so glamorous inside. It almost doesn't fit at all. But it does. And of course Hello Kitty fans are busting. A lot of tourists, especially from Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, will make their way here. These are really fun things that you can Instagram. Again, this gets more social media, which again gets people more interested into it. And that's pretty much the use of the sea. That's pretty much your plan. But is this enough to get you to stop to visit Awaji Island? Is it? And is this a recipe for revitalizing the countryside? Only time will tell. But one thing is for sure, Awaji Island is really trying their best to challenge themselves and revitalize a beautiful island between some of Japan's most visited cities. Let me know your thoughts below. That's pretty amazing. To me, this is like a postcard kind of an image. In fact, it could be for the Patreon postcard club.

00:21:52 John Daub: So what do you think? Do you think that this is the answer? Do you think that there is another way? Kanae and I went to Fukui Prefecture and we went to a place... Hey Kanae! Not to you Fukui! Fukui Prefecture! That street. Where was that place? What was it called? Saba Kaido? I know Saba Kaido but, Kumagawa Juku. Yeah. Kumagawa Juku. So the Kumagawa, which is like Bear River. And this place has been revitalized. It was really akiya or abandoned houses and some young people went in there and bought the abandoned houses along the Saba Kaido which was a historical road from Obama City on the Sea of Japan that brought mackerel to Kyoto and this road was the main road to get to Imperial City. It was the, I mean in the Edo period, this was the major highway. You could not move. There were so many people going there. Nowadays, it's empty because people don't need to take this to take mackerel into Kyoto anymore. So what they did was they bought the abandoned houses and they know the history of the place. It's still beautiful. They made it, they put some life back into it. Kanae's high school friends started a cafe there and we went to Fukui-ken to go and see this. It's really beautiful and it's a place I think that we're probably going to want to go back to. They're starting tours of the area. They've got these nice paddies. They've got like more like ecology tourism where you get to learn about farming and wildlife in the area. The hotel that they've created is like a really old building that's been renewed. You get to experience the local foods with local ingredients. I like that. That's their recipe. So there's other ways to do this.

00:23:54 John Daub: I asked my Patreon supporters also this question. And I got maybe a couple of answers. I'm going to read the answers here. So Tracy Lee wrote, and I really think that they're on the right track with the Hello Kitty Hotel. Although not practical to do throughout Japan, maybe encouraging other prefectures to adopt a manga or anime character that is viewed highly or holds value for the country. We've seen examples of different areas highlighting a character like the recent shot of you and Kanae Totoro. Yeah! That's Totoro. Somebody built the bus stop in the middle of nowhere in Miyazaki. Such a rich history. Japan is a draw anyway. By adding more known mascots might do the trick. So Tracy Lee has a really positive opinion of it and thinks sometimes just one little thing. Everybody knows the countryside and not everybody knows what makes each place special. But if you add something that attracts somebody there that like pushes them over the edge to make the trip. That's huge. So Hello Kitty is loved by millions and millions of people. That might be enough.

00:25:05 John Daub: And Mariamo writes in here, eco-friendly quad tours. Exactly. I think that the younger generation is looking for eco-friendly, sustainable tourism. Things where you're eating organic foods and learning about the local area, the local ecology. Maybe this doesn't fit for every demographic. But I know younger people are thinking more and more about this. What can we do to help our planet more? And I think if you travel to Japan, it's a good way to share that experience. Because Japan has so much history. They're doing a lot of things with that too. So eco-friendly quad tours. All different kinds of tours. I'm already seeing that with Japan here. Other things that they're doing. Totoro is down in Miyazaki. We found this bus stop created by somebody. We've seen Fukui-ken taking akiya or abandoned buildings and redoing a historical trail. We've seen, thank you BS Fat Boy. It's always nice to see you. Thank you so much. We're seeing Awaji Island using pop culture. I'm seeing places in Aomori Prefecture that are finding creative ways. But what do you think?

00:26:15 John Daub: How about making sure that works. Barrier. That's one of the solutions for right now, I believe. That's what they're doing right now to fix that. The second thing that I think, and it's a great question, is more signage in English because the Saba Kaido, for example, had some English signs, but it's hard to navigate the whole path in English still. But the Wi-Fi does help. The most important thing for any of this to work, and I am looking at your comments right here. Raf, thank you so much. I'm going to look at your comments in a second. The most important thing, I think this is so critical, the young people have to go home. And I think it's going to happen inevitably no matter what, because the young people are coming to Tokyo, Osaka, prefectural capitals. They're finding jobs there that pay quite well. And then they start families. And then that's when they see that the quality of life in the cities is good, but actually they would prefer to move with their families back home. I went to Miyazaki in January and I met a guy at the prefectural office who used to work for a TV company in Tokyo. Very good job, but he was worn out. They really wear you out when you work for TV in Tokyo. And he moved back to the local prefecture and was working in the PR department for the prefecture. That's how he found my channel and they invited me out there. The friendliest guy, I've never seen his smile so big. He was just so happy with the quality of his life. It just went back to normal, like human level because Tokyo, you're working so hard and he makes good money. But he's back home and he's reconnecting with who he used to be as a kid. And he's bringing new ideas that he learned from his time in the city back to his hometown. And he's creating new videos and using the skills that he has to attract people in there not just foreign tourists but Japanese as well. I think that's the answer to bring back the young people, to get that entrepreneurial spirit to start new businesses to start trendy cafes to make the countryside cool again and say hey if I came here this is the renaissance. I've seen places in Tochigi Prefecture in the forest where young people have just started cafes and this culture like in the jungle. There's places up in Furano. There's a village near the Prince Hotel in Furano you can go deep into it and they have this village where you're eating ice cream in a forest and I think that's such an amazing experience. It's coming with entrepreneurs getting bank loans and they need to make that successful that to me is the answer. Japanese young people bringing life back to the countryside what Angela is doing with her business in Akita and whatever a lot of other people are doing. Young people putting energy back in where there's mostly elderly people that will attract a lot of people.

00:30:03 John Daub: So really great feedback. Any other questions or political decentralization might help, but it's been talked for ages by government and it isn't done. I think I don't want to get too much in the political thing, but you're very right. Politics has a huge say to doing this. I know that they do give government subsidies to local municipalities to grow their economies. I do know that the government cannot be the only answer. It has to do with people, the young people getting the right money, the right help to create the right businesses. And it's up to the entrepreneur, I always believe. But I know that Tokyo doesn't get any of the subsidies and three municipalities in Saitama do not get any subsidies. Those all go to the government. I don't know which of the people in the countryside that needs it the most. But I don't know if government is sometimes a hindrance as much as a help, but I think they're getting the idea. You cannot expect Japan to be the same speed as the United States. They just have their own way to do things and you have to respect that whether you like it or not, whether you agree with it or not. But you can disagree with it and you have to not just disagree with it, you have to do something about it. And the young people are starting to do that. Like with Kanae, what is it? Soul's Coffee, right? Yeah. Her friend's coffee shop is called Soul's Coffee. We'll go and do a live stream there and introduce to you what she wants to do. She's a young woman in her early 30s who has now a chain of coffee shops and she's starting to invest in the countryside just like everybody else. This is somebody putting their mind where their mouth is. They're out there just doing it. That's the experience. That's the real amazing thing. Everything starts from the local businessman and the local entrepreneur and their ideas.

00:31:53 John Daub: Try to cultivate drives to work. Try to cultivate a more friendly, welcoming vibe. Yes, Japanese are hospitable, very hospitable. Come visit, see our beautiful country, bring your tourism dollars, then get out. That's not entirely wrong, but every country has very strict immigration policies. Look at the United States and look at Europe. You have travel visas. You come to visit. It's not just Japan. Every country wants you to visit and spend the dollars. This is not new and unique to Japan. Japan does it in not a pushy way. Just yesterday, we were invited into a knife shop. The guy did not push me to buy a knife. He just was so proud of the knives that he was... Go back and look at that live stream. He was just really proud of the knives, the quality and the history of what he was doing to show us this and then didn't pressure us to buy a knife at all. I don't think it's like that at all. I do think that every country... They'd be idiots if they don't want you to spend more money there. Japan does it in a less pushy way, I think. That's my opinion as someone who's very biased living here.

00:32:56 John Daub: Saw you on Food Ranger, John. The Food Ranger collaboration video should be coming up this weekend. Trevor is an amazing guy. We had a fun udon adventure in Shikoku. One of the reasons why I wanted to take Trevor home was because I wanted to take him to Shikoku. Trevor and the Food Ranger, boom! This comes back to the tourism. One of the reasons why I wanted to bring Trevor to the countryside, because he did an episode in Hokkaido. He did one in Tokyo, in Osaka. I wanted to take him to noodle country in Shikoku. On our Patreon's dime, thank you Patreon supporters, we rented a car and we split the cost. I went down there by Shinkansen and we drove a car to noodle country and I showed Trevor the countryside of Japan. I showed him the best udon restaurants in Japan, along with Tokyo Ramen Guide. Ramen Guide Japan. The four of us and Ting, his wife, traveled by rented car and I introduced him to the Japanese countryside. I was so proud to do that because I'm not Japanese, but I love Japan very much as my home. To show another YouTuber, who's such a big YouTuber, the Japanese countryside and see him fall in love with it too, with the people, made me really really happy. So, Raf, just a shout out. Really enjoyed the video. I think this is a great original marketing idea for the island. Thank you very much, Raf. I appreciate that very much. I think it's very good for Awaji Island and it's a start. And I don't think it's a perfect plan and they don't know it's a perfect plan. It's a plan and everything starts with something. And then a plan must, doesn't have to be perfect.

00:34:43 John Daub: One of the biggest challenges Japan faces is that they sometimes do not initiate a plan until they believe it's perfect. When? Sometimes it just requires a minimal investment to start something and evolve with it to see where the market can take you. That's the only way through trial and error to really find out if it will work. You do some research, then you start something up and see how to evolve with it. That's how I started with Only in Japan. And how the channel has grown because I, from the feedback from viewers, you can kind of learn your lessons and take your licks through the criticism and you can adjust. And that's how you get successful in anything. And that's gonna be the same with this initiative. Some wonderful feedback from the live stream right here. A plan should be smart though. Hello Kitty in the countryside? From Hickory Smoke Tuna, the professor. I agree with you. I think question mark is good. It's a good question to ask. All I know is that it's a start. I don't know if it's gonna succeed or fail. I just know that it's something. And it's something more than Awaji Island did.

00:36:00 John Daub: What really, the interview with Pasona was quite long. And some of the stuff that I cut out really went into more of the details. One of the things they said is that they were invited in from the local people and said, look, let's just try something. And see if it works. And they were very open to this because local areas are sometimes very traditional and protecting and they don't wanna let in outsiders. And they don't want to give up their traditional culture, change the landscape, bring in tourists. I was watching a YouTuber called Honest Guide about Prague. And he said, look, Prague is one of the most touristy places in the world right now, Praha. But you know, there's a way that you can coexist. It comes through education with the tourists and tolerance from the locals. Look at Tokyo, it's crazy with the tourists. It's totally different from three years ago. And you can see three years ago, five years ago, you can tell that the locals are a little bit on edge now because there's so many tourists breaking or not knowing the local culture. But gradually I think the tolerance is getting there and the local and the tourists are also getting more accepting and learning about Japanese culture through channels like Only in Japan Go and other channels. So I think that's a good way to do it. But Awaji Island was very open to this idea to just try anything with the land that we have. Again, the population is shrinking. There's a lot of akiya or abandoned houses there. So it's just an idea. So question mark, I think it's good to be skeptical, but I'm somebody who saw the images and said, wow, this is so striking. This might work. I'm somebody who is not going to judge it. I'm somebody who will go and investigate and then make a judgment. I won't judge a book by the cover, but I will read the first couple of pages. And I think if I think the book stinks, I might go to the end and just read the ending and see if it did stink. And if it did, then probably put it down. But sometimes the ending can be good. I say, wait a minute, I want to read the rest of this. So I never really judge anything before I know more about it. And Awaji Island, I think it's a good start. And myself, I'm not sure. But I can tell you, what I am sure is that Pasona is a very big company that seems to have really good business practices. And they have a lot of passion in this. And it requires an entrepreneur with a lot of passion into this. You don't invest just money. That never works. You have to invest your heart into whatever you do. And they seem to be doing that. And you can see through Soumiki-san, who we interviewed, he has that passion. And so do the other people that are investing in this. I was impressed by that.

00:38:48 John Daub: I spent a week in Tokyo a month ago. First time was amazing. I spent a couple of months studying on YouTube. Next month, I plan to see Kyoto and Osaka. And I hope that you take one trip, maybe for a couple of days, out to the countryside. This is something that I really think that people should do. Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima. There's a trail. Everybody's on this trail. And if you just make a trip out to the countryside for a couple of days, stay in a traditional ryokan, you'll see some amazing landscapes and things that, that's what you're looking for. That's what you're looking for. I went to a neighborhood not far from where I live called Monzen-Nakacho. Very few tourists. It's a budget area for those that find it. That's what you're looking for. It's not the urban centers. Kyoto is not a beautiful city in the centers of the city, to be honest with you. It's buses, it's traffic. It's just like 1960s. It's not that beautiful. But when you get out to the fringes to Higashiyama and Arashiyama, it's very beautiful. But it's so crowded and stressful. It's when you want to see Japan, you don't see the culture really. In the cities, this is how I feel. You see it in the way people live their lives out in the countryside. That's what I try to bring it to you in the Only in Japan show on the square watermelon episode. We went to Shikoku, the udon noodle episode. I took you to Aomori's airport in the middle of winter, Abashiri in the very north of Hokkaido. I go all over the country for one reason. I love Japan so much. I want to see you get off of that beaten track. To me, I'm part of your revitalization plan. Mr. Dear Mr. Abe, Prime Minister Abe, I would like to do more. Please contact me at this phone number. I could do more.

00:41:02 John Daub: So I think that going out and just experiencing it and if I could open a door with this channel for you to get off of that path, Mr. Miss or Mr. Bear. I would like to see you do that and not just visit Kyoto and Osaka, but go out into Wakayama, the countryside or something. Yeah, thanks. These are wonderful questions. Kyushu and Seto Inland Sea are underrated very much so and the only way you would know that is if you go you just don't see a lot of Instagram posts or social media on that everything is Tokyo Tokyo because the Olympics it's when you go outside you start to discover something just a little bit bigger i'll go to a theme park i remember i recommend Fuji-Q lots of amazing coasters absolutely and you know Nagoya is also not it doesn't seem like such an exciting city but Nagoya is pushed to try to get tourism they opened up the Lego Land in collaboration with the Legos group so now there's a Lego Land massive park in Nagoya and Nagoya is doing this with theme parks trying to find people to come in through attractions like that i think that's one way to go the biggest problem is if you invest in theme parks too much we see what happened in the 1980s in Japan during the bubble era a lot of businesses a lot of the theme parks like not a dreamland and uh what is the one with um uh Gulliver who's in the the um oh what is i'm reading the book right now believe it or not Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels uh there was a um theme park from Google's Earth you could zoom down and you would see Gulliver tied down by um Lilliputians and if everyone was commenting like what the heck is this Gulliver really exists tied down it was an abandoned amusement park from the 1980s Japan had a ton of abandoned amusement parks and i think they learned their lesson you don't just build an amusement park unless you have a real plan they don't work out so well that's why i think the young people know this and they learned the lessons from the bubble era because after the bubble bursts is theme parks don't work out too well how do you compete with Tokyo Disneyland and Universal Studios it's just really hard to do a local thing Fuji-Q is maybe the exception they just build the biggest roller coaster in the world but building a theme park is one way to do it.

00:43:11 John Daub: Um i i go to you like we need more organized trekking adventures i think there's a lot of people this is um Raheem there's a lot of people who are doing that they're just not on they're just not JTB and his and brands a lot of it is local businesses i lived in a city called Fujinomiya i lived in 16 different cities in Japan in Fujinomiya there were local local entrepreneurs like i said they had a local business and and a local company they had um a lot of people who were on trips of mount around Mount Fuji they had um hiking and things like this but they weren't really promoted heavily it was hard to find because they're so small there's so much noise i think you really have to do a little bit of research to find local businesses um and i'm somebody who likes to support local businesses in order to do uh to to to find them so I think just requires some work. I'm doing the best that I can with the Only in Japan Go channel to try and show you these places through walking tours. I discover things myself that I didn't know each time. And Kanae and I are going to the countryside more and more to do live streams. We did it in Fukuoka. We're going all over the place. And this is all supported by Patreon. So thank you to the patrons. But we really really want to show you something different. So that's stuff that we just can't find on the internet.

00:44:37 John Daub: Yeah, the noise. Noise is all the stuff that you see from brands and businesses and what Tokyo is not, what Japan is not. I see too much of that. To me, that's noise. What Japan is more peaceful, relaxing, getting away from the tourist areas in nature, finding a shrine in a mountain that no one's at. Whoa. We had a picture in Fukui. What's that shrine called? Do you remember? You gotta see this picture. You gotta see this picture. Hold on a second. Do you have that picture, Kanae? I gotta show you this picture. I got it on my Instagram. What am I talking about? It was, I could not believe how beautiful this place was. And there were very few tourists. Yeah, it was a waterfall. And yeah, it was a waterfall. And no one was there. It was the most beautiful. And I remember we got comments from a lot of really big Instagrammers with the verified checkmark on there. They said, where is this place? And I said, Fukui. Fukui. Oh, you have it? Okay, Kanae took a picture. Can you see that? Look at this. One second. I have to turn the game on down. Can you turn the game on down? I, like, I, this, this green brightness. Here it is right here. Check this out. Check this out. Do you see it? Do you see it? I'm excited. Check this out. I have to check it out. Look at this. You can't really pause it. There's like 15 different streams from this waterfall. It's not like a massive waterfall coming down with a torii gate for the Shinto shrine over here. These beautiful big wood trees. All this green. There's a little bit of blue sky popping out here. Tons of moss. And there's like nobody there. I guess people just don't know about it. And I'm always looking for places like this. It's called Uriwari Waterfall in Fukui Prefecture. And there's a ton of comments in here that said, where is this? Like, I want to go here. It's like, well, how do you not know about this? It's just because you have to get off of this thinking that, I think, in Japan, when you visit, you have the first trip, which is like, oh, I'm in Japan. Look at this. Tokyo's got all these lights. Akihabara. Manga. Characters. Mascots. This is crazy. Bright. Crowded. Beautiful food. Delicious food. Crazy people. Why are they dressed like that? What? It's like insane.

00:47:40 John Daub: And then there's the second trip, where you settle down and you start to learn more about the culture. And I think you really do need two or three trips in any country, not just Japan. So if you invest time in the countryside, the countryside will reward you. I've always said that since now. But the point is, it's true. It's very very true. Because I lived out in the countryside and I met beautiful, very fun and beautiful people that, with big hearts, that opened their world more easily to me. Like in Tokyo, you wouldn't get to meet your neighbors so much. I don't even know my neighbors here. We hardly say hello to each other, even though I always say, Konnichiwa. Sometimes they just walk right by. It's Tokyo. But in the countryside, people open up their hearts. They open up their houses. They open up who they are. They are more. And I learned more about the culture in my first seven years than I have maybe in my last seven years living in Tokyo because people are so closed off. And that's the beauty of the countryside all over the world. It's not just Japan, everybody. You know that. A lot of you might be watching from the countryside, right? David Kimura is here. Didn't know about it or hard to get to. I think, again, like, tropical oasis and tropical paradises are always going to be hard to get to. That's part of the reason why they're so beautiful and unspoiled. If it's easy to get to, it's going to be filled with tourists. If it's a little bit challenging, that's when you soak in the beauty. That's when the travel and the trip is worth it.

00:49:10 John Daub: In the year 2000, I always travel for crazy reasons. The year 2000 was one crazy trip. I traveled across China to get through the Himalayas, through Tibet, through Nepal to Calcutta, which is now Kolkata. And I took a train and toy train up to Darjeeling. All I wanted to do was drink a cup of Darjeeling tea at the origin. This is this is my trip in the year 2000 after I lived in Bondi Beach in Australia for a month. I had an illegal job serving shaved ice on Bondi Beach. They didn't really pay that well. They paid me in shaved ice. It was good. But I made a lot of friends. I gave the shaved ice away. I was well known in the neighborhood. But the point is, though, that I had one objective to drink a cup of tea in Darjeeling overlooking Mount Kanchenjunga, which is the big Himalaya, the third or fourth highest peak in the Himalayas. And I got there and I felt so good sitting there on the balcony of this very cheap guesthouse with my feet up on the railing. And I'm in a little wooden chair and drinking a cup of hot tea that the waitress brought to me and just looking at a beautiful clear view of Mount Kanchenjunga. And I said it took me two months to get there. And this was the most amazing feeling. It's a trip. It's never about how easy it is. And I know a lot of you might not have a lot of time. But my experience has always been. It's always the trip that you remember and that little goal at the end. I took a can of coffee. Some of you might know this from a TED Talk that I did. I took a can of coffee, Kilimanjaro coffee that I've been drinking from a vending machine. I took the Trans-Mongolian Railroad from Beijing across Mongolia and then Siberia, Lake Baikal, Moscow, Belarus, all the way to Amsterdam, and then went down to South Africa and then up to Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, through Nairobi to Tanzania, found the cheapest guide. And we hiked up to the top of Kilimanjaro and I drank a can of that coffee and I got I have a picture of it from Kilimanjaro. And it doesn't matter. It's a stupid, silly goal. And it's very hard to get there to the top of Kilimanjaro. But on the way, it's just like so many different memories. Of course, you don't have that kind of time. That's the kind of tourism that I like. You just have this goal of being somewhere at this spot and make a route that's not easy to get to. And I was I always met a lot of friends, made a lot of friends, saw a lot of things the same in the Japanese countryside. You have to be up for that challenge. You have to be up for adventure. There's always risks in adventure. Indiana Jones got injured. OK, Indiana Jones never had people punching him and spiders all over him. But I mean, who doesn't want to be Indiana Jones, right? Who doesn't want to have that adventure? People pay for that kind of stuff. So I think you have to have the same expectations for you. Everybody travels differently. But that's been my point of view, my way of traveling and whether or not Kanae likes it is yet to be determined. We have not had one of those trips yet.

00:52:42 John Daub: Yes, my dime. There are no cookie cutter solutions. They need to be careful in any implementation and not ruin the very nature tradition culture. They're not. Not all want to become a tourist destination either. That's a very very good point. I think that there's a lot of compromising going on in the countryside. There is no cookie cutter solution. This is absolutely right. What works in Awaji Island might not work in other places. In fact, I don't think it would. Awaji Island is pretty special in that way. It's located in the Kansai region between Himeji Castle, which is one of the most visited castles in Japan, and Osaka. So I think it has a pretty good chance. It's just a little bit tough to get there. But out in the countryside in like Gunma, for example, or a video that I made to introduce the Tomioka Silk Mill in Gunma Prefecture, that mill is a world heritage, but not a lot of people are interested in it. You can't put Hello Kitty in a world heritage area. That's ridiculous. Okay. So I think these areas have to find different ways. I think if young people go there and they start to get interested in it, they're going to be interested in it. And if you start making amazing cuisine or find world class chefs to invest in the local ingredients of Gunma and start making Gunma cuisine. Sorry, people of Gunma. I think that would be a pretty big draw. You start with something and then things grow around it. And then you have an infrastructure and you have an economy, which is great.

00:54:23 John Daub: But the other thing that no one is talking about yet is in 2025, I believe you're going to hear more about this, but the Chuo Shinkansen, the Maglev, the magnetic levitation train, is start to see that more talked about. I guess it's going to be about five years before that happens. That's going out into the countryside a little bit. So that also will help to revitalize places. It's not a straight shot on the same way the Shinkansen is. A train station can add a lot of life. Usually they build businesses around it. and it makes it easier to get to. So the Chuo Shinkansen will give some other cities out in the countryside another shot, add some life into it, I think, and that's a good thing. That project is going to take a long time, but I believe we'll see some more progress on that. They're already building the stations for it and the tracks for it, so we'll see some more progress on that. That's going to be a big deal for Japan's infrastructure. You can get to Osaka in an hour. It takes like two hours and 20 minutes or something, two hours on the Nozomi. You can get there in like half the time. That's crazy, right? So that's going to be fun. It's going to be fun to see. Let's see what else we got in the chats here. Trekaris, it can't be just tourists. It has to be about bringing people back to live in these areas. Absolutely, Trekaris has it right. I think incentive... What the government can do, perhaps, is incentivize entrepreneurs to come back, make it easier for them to get loans, especially if they grew up in that area, you'd think it would be a lot easier for them to bring their ideas and invest. To have people... To have successful entrepreneurs teach younger entrepreneurs. Everybody has a dream. There's a guy on Terra's house right now. He wants to be in a Marvel comic. He wants to be Spider-Man, right? Of course, the kids, he's kind of cuckoo, but if his passions can be... If he can be taught creative ways to use that passion, because passion sells to make his hometown, which I hope is in the middle of nowhere, that would be really good. I think that'd be really good. If you can take people's passions and teach them how to be successful business people, that's what it takes.

00:56:45 John Daub: These are wonderful comments here. I'm going to take this on for another couple of minutes, guys. It may be out of topic, but do you have a video about Japanese trains? I do. There's four of them. Japanese night train, called Japanese Sleeper Car Adventure, I believe. The Pikachu train, Pokemon With You train, and the Keihan Railway in Kyoto, out to the countryside, which is a beautiful video. If you have not seen that on the main channel, see the scenic train from Kyoto. I love that train. Again, outside of Kyoto's urban... The urban center, out to the countryside. Kyoto is pretty big. I don't know if you know this. Kyoto is pretty darn big. It's a prefecture, okay? It's not just the city. It goes to the Sea of Japan, all the way out there. Tons of farms and fields, and they make tons of sake. I think you really have to see. The latest train video was here. Japanese scenic train ride experience in Kyoto. So this video here. I had access to work with the railway. To show you how to use one-man trains. This is our conductor. And then take you out to the countryside. The A's online is what it's called. It was a pretty cool episode that we had a lot of fun with. To take you to the last station. So there's some train... I'm going to do more with trains. Trust me. Trains. I'm a train otaku. I love trains. I'm going to be doing more with trains over the next year. So thanks for bringing that up. Trains are our way to get to the countryside. But so we're renting cars.

00:58:24 John Daub: Hey, John. It's Jason. Jason from Nihonbashi. Jason! From Singapore, right? Really great to meet you. And Alex never thought it would happen. We saw Jason after the live stream. A couple of days ago. He came up and said hi. I think you tracked us down just as we were leaving. Thanks for coming in to say hi. It was nice to meet you too. I guess you're back. I guess you're back in Singapore by now. A lot warmer. It's gotten colder here, Jason. Alex writes in. Countryside appeal is caused by ancient structures and stories. I think that that's a very good point. The countryside needs to take advantage of the local legends, local folklore, local ghost stories, the traditions and cultures that are different and unique. One of the most, one of the toughest things to convince the Japanese countryside to do is to do things that might, to tell the stories that might bring criticism. Or they're sometimes embarrassed by their differences. Like, again, the nail that stands up gets hammered down. You know this expression? The one that's different gets hammered down. And people are sometimes afraid to be different. But I'm telling the countryside right now, be as different as you possibly can. Be as crazy as you possibly can. Be as unique. Have the craziest mascot as you possibly can. Do something with food that's different. Have a vending machine. Have a vending machine that's just as insane as it possibly can be. Like, Kagoshima has a crepe vending machine. That was a live stream that I did on the main channel. I think it's got like 500,000 views. They put a crepe in a glass container that's the size of a Coke can. And they put it in there. And the glass keeps it cooler. And they refrigerate it so when you get the crepe out of the vending machine, you recycle the glass and then you have a crepe for like $2. And it was really good. They refresh the vending machine all the time. It's sold out often because it's such a genius idea to take a drink vending machine and put crepes in it instead of drinks. Whatever you can shove in that little size of a Coke can, you can make a vending machine out of it. These little ideas come from entrepreneurs that will refresh the countryside.

01:00:43 John Daub: So it's going to be a demographic change. This is my final opinion. And I really thank everybody. Please click the Like button if you like these questions and answers and finding solutions. Encourage me to do more. So that comes from you, the viewers. My answer to this is that any change must be organic. Not in food organic, but it must be Japanese young people and Japanese local people having ideas for their own community. And it must be invested, must have investment from local governments where they make local decisions. I think that's what local people can live with. There's no cookie cutter answer, as we've already decided. Everybody has a different way to do it. And I think that if you can find ways to revitalize your hometown, a lot of them are just decaying. If you can fill those akiya abandoned houses with people, give them really cheap rent, give them like tax free on their business for a year, maybe. I don't know. Encourage people to open up a business in smaller towns. I would. I would love to be at a cafe on a hilltop overlooking the nature and spend the night there. And I would spend a lot of money there. I'm telling you right now to get away from it all. We need more attractions in Japan that are away from Tokyo and Kyoto and Hiroshima. And they exist. But we need more. So this is a great thing. What Awaji Island is doing. It's a great thing. What's happening all over the place. It's a great thing. What railways like Keihan are doing by making these really cool trains to attract people. To go out into the countryside. Keihan's got some pretty cool trains. This Tozan line is pretty awesome, I thought. Just the shape of it and the nostalgic wooden floors and things like this. Think about that because they want to get tourists to ride the train. Not just foreign tourists but Japanese tourists. I hope this has been useful. And I hope we can find some solutions. Again, I'm not going to do this myself. I'm not sanctioned by the government to help them do this. I just think Japan is my home and I want to help as much as possible. And I know that we have a worldwide audience all over the place of smart people. Because I think we've got some pretty darn smart people watching this. If you have some ideas or experiences that happened in your country or things that can be implemented in Japan. Let's make the comment section really useful. Let's see if maybe it'll... There'll be urban planners that use this. And we'll see some massive changes in the country. And that's one idea sparks a hundred more ideas which can spark a hundred more. That's always been my experience. So the feedback is very much appreciated.

01:03:50 John Daub: Love this shirt. What is this? I guess L.L.Bean. I like L.L.Bean. I don't know. Maybe I think L.L.Bean is sustainable Maine small business. But they're pretty big these days. Most of my visits have not been in the Maine centers. That's good. I think again like you're going to see a lot of comments below of people that have shared their experience in the countryside. So if you don't just have a solution, share a place that you visited in the Japanese countryside that you think that maybe others should go to. The people who watch this livestream are going to be people who are thinking the same as you. I don't think anyone who's coming to go to... They want to see the SkyTree is going to watch this livestream. It's going to be people that want to go out the countryside and see something new and different and unique. And improving access. As Matsumi... Hey Matsumi! I think improving access to these small countrysides will help with tourism. I'm going to be doing an episode on renting a car. And that might scare a lot of people. I was scared to death to get a license. I did not want to drive in Japan. It's on the other side of the road as in the United States. But my world opened up a hundred times bigger. I'm not exaggerating just a little. By getting a license and now driving the car. I've changed the way I see Japan. Because now all of those places that we think are inaccessible. You can drive to. And it's so much fun driving in the countryside. Because the roads are not... There's not any traffic out in Kochi Prefecture. Most of the roads are wide open. Hokkaido. Just the traffic jams in Hokkaido. You're driving through forests and hills. And out on the coast. The coastal areas where you have these rocky cliffs. It looks like Iceland in parts of Hokkaido. You're driving around it. It's very special to rent a car in Japan. And I want to encourage more people to do that. So I'm going to be making an episode on it this month. I think that will be ready for release. About how I rented a car and my experience of doing that. I think that might be beneficial. Train is very convenient. Trains are cool. I love trains. But sometimes you can take the train to a station. And rent a car for six hours. For like 5,000 yen. Which is cheaper than taking the bus. To get there. And you can drive all around. And then have a lunch in the countryside. And then you just return the car. It's cheaper. Easier. And more fun to rent a car in Japan. Than in the United States. I've always thought that Hertz and Avis and all the rental car companies are real painful. And find ways to add fees. They don't do that in Japan. Toyota Rental Car has been very very nice. And I've never had to pay more. Or they've never dinged me on anything. Like ridiculous. And even returning the car with an empty tank. It only cost me like 20 bucks to fill it up. They're very reasonable with the gasoline prices. So renting a car here. I think is affordable. And it's really a different and a new way to do it. And you only need an international driver's license. I live here. So I need to get a Japanese driver's license. But tourists can drive with an international driver's license. And I think it's just. That is your access to adventure. If it's on a bicycle. Or hitchhiking. That's up to you. But you can also rent a car. And if you have a family of four. Or you have some friends. Renting a car and sharing the driving duties. Makes a lot of sense. Just take it slow. And you'll be fine. That's been my experience. And I have very little of driving here. The back of a motorcycle. Boom. Great idea. I like that. I like that. Travel with no advertising. Thank you, Nosh, for that. I'm just looking at some of the final comments. Make sure you get an ETC card. Right? I'm going to pass here. So there you go. Leave me a comment. Tell me what you think. Join our Discord server. Join the conversation there. 24 hours a day. Seven days a week. On Discord. I really appreciate our Patreon supporters. Now I can plug a little bit. I have this month's postcard. It was a scene from Tottori Prefecture's Mount Daisen from the rice harvest. Every month I have a new postcard. We have like five available. So if you're interested. You can go to Patreon. And get some of that. And you can get a postcard. Yeah. Thanks, everybody. Good night. Good night, Kanae. She just said good night. She's already asleep. Thanks, everybody. See you next time.