00:01 John Daub: Greetings! Welcome to Tokyo. How you doing everybody? You can hear an ambulance going by. Tokyo is a big city. Lots of stuff is happening and this is another Japan travel update. I wanted to give you some news about what is happening in this country. I've been doing it since about January, yeah January 26th I believe was the first time. And it was about the problems going on over in another country on the other side of the Sea of Japan.

00:31 John Daub: We are now several months into this. This is now June 3rd, 2020. Right now the infections confirmed in Japan for the COVID-19 is 16,930. Recovered 14,650. So it's a pretty good recovery rate. In the entire country 894 people have lost their lives due to the coronavirus. In Tokyo there's 5,250 confirmed, 306 deaths in the city of Tokyo alone. So Tokyo makes up about a third of the infections and a third of the deaths.

00:55 John Daub: Yesterday Governor Koike alerted the public and put Tokyo on alert. A lot of people got alerts from the government and we didn't know exactly what this meant. The alerts were not explained to us. What happened was just I'm going to show you a chart right now. In Tokyo you can see this is the map for Japan. And you can see we're pretty much over the hump. In the middle of April we had the highest amount of cases per day at around over 700 close to 800. And then it's gone down in May and now in June it looks like it's just a trickle. But just yesterday we had 34 new cases which has proven to be a shocker for the city of Tokyo.

02:01 John Daub: They issued an alert, it actually dances—it's a red bridge. It's actually really pretty and it's part of the thumbnail here. If you go out to the river, you see it. It's a reminder though that we're still not out of the woods with this. People were getting complacent. People were not wearing their masks as much and social distancing was getting a little bit closer than it was about two weeks ago. So we can't forget that this is still out there.

03:05 John Daub: I've also activated the memberships. If you've seen the video in the join button, then you know what this means. The memberships have been activated. So you can see we've got a lot of new members that are part of the Only in Japan Go channel and you have access to new emoji. Team Toby, Tony, back down, back down. All right. Tokyo on alert. So the governor issued a statement here warning that Tokyo has signs of a resurgence and no city wants to have a second wave. And if we do, which is probably inevitable, we want the second wave to be not like the first wave.

03:47 John Daub: Thank you, Eugene. So the 34 new cases, just about 10 days ago, we had three people infected. And now we are at 34, which is quite a big increase in terms of those numbers. But in a population of what, 14, 15 million people in central Tokyo, it's still a very small percentage. But a lot of the public doesn't trust those numbers anyways. She called it a call for caution, which I think is really good. If the numbers further increase, the Tokyo government plans to issue requests again to businesses and people would halt social and economic activity.

04:29 John Daub: The one thing that we in Tokyo do not want to do is to regress back to the state of emergency, because everything was closed except for essential services on June 1st, which is just two days ago. And three days ago, if you look back, I was at Akihabara walking around showing you what it was like in phase one, step one of the state of emergency. It was pretty interesting to see that a lot of the game centers were closed but people were still outside—no tourists, no foreign tourists anyways. It was pretty kind of creepy for me because I'm so used to seeing foreigners and maids but the maid cafes were—I guess they're essential businesses because they were open, like all of them.

05:25 John Daub: Tokyo is reopening in steps. Step zero was we were at ground zero, we weren't open. Step one occurred I think it was like May 26th I want to say and then June 1st step 2 started. Step 2 means that restaurants can stay open later, places like cinemas can reopen, you can have meetings up until about a hundred people now. Organizers are required to cap the number of participants at events at 100—before it was about 10 and now step one was 50 and now step two is 100. If a stadium were to open under these policies of step two the stadium cannot exceed 50 percent of the capacity.

06:18 John Daub: Meaning if Japanese professional baseball or any kind of sports or concerts were to be held it has to be only 50 percent or less of the capacity of the stadium—meaning if Tokyo Dome can fit 50,000 people only 24,999 could go in there. For outdoor events the number of participants is limited to 200 and if there was a concert that'd be really small concert. 200 people clapping though is quite a significant sound and the microphone is right in front of them. Always look on the bright side everybody.

07:03 John Daub: I know we're going through some really hard times so I want to try to bring you some good news here. One of the things that crossed my desk—Japan is now okaying saliva virus tests and they say it's safer and an easier measure. Hopefully we can test more people in Tokyo more easily without invasive cotton swabs going up your nose. If you've ever seen the tests being performed, it looked painful. These are basically spitting into a test tube. I hope it's a really wide test tube because it's really hard to get it into that little hole without it dripping down the sides. It would be pretty nasty.

07:59 John Daub: But I saw it on the news. The test tubes are about this big. So it's easy to get your whole mouth in there for the spit. And on the news, they showed in a blue liquid the amount of spit that is required. And it's about 10 cc. I think that's a lot of spit, actually, for these tests. So before you take these tests, drink a lot of water. The new testing method targets those within nine days of displaying symptoms and is covered by public health insurance. It is expected to pose less infection risk to medical staff.

09:09 John Daub: The existing method uses a cotton swab that jabs into your nose to collect mucus from your nose, which has a higher possibility of causing the patient to sneeze or cough in the process. And that is like at 200 miles per hour. Sometimes those plastic face shields are needed in a sneeze when someone's right up close to you. Because I've seen the infrared on the news. It's really bad, you know, when they show you how it works. By the way, it is a sneeze attack.

09:48 John Daub: And I want to say thank you to all of our new members out there. Welcome. You are now a traveler. Welcome to the travelers. For those that have been asking me in the live streams, about wearing masks. There's still about 20% of the people who don't get it. You don't wear a mask just to protect yourself. If someone is wearing a mask and they're sick, and you're wearing a mask and you're sick, it's scientifically proven to reduce the risk of people getting it, like, massively. You've seen the infrared. When you sneeze without a mask, it goes everywhere.

10:50 John Daub: Even having a bandana is a big yes for me. And if you wear a bandana, you look like a bandit, which is pretty cool. I got some news here that will make some people really happy. Japan is starting to open. Tokyo Disneyland is still not opened yet, but there's talks that they might be. However, why there is hope? There's hope because Universal Studios Japan is opening on June 18th. You hear it? There's people clapping and applause and some woo-hoos. Universal Studios Japan is going to be opening soon, and that's a big deal for the domestic travel business.

12:02 John Daub: The reason why Universal Studios Japan has said that they're going to open up on June 18th is because it's at this time in the middle of June that travel is possible between prefectures. Currently, despite being in a stage two or step two opening of Japan, Kanae and I technically should not be going out to other prefectures. In fact, prefectures don't want us to come there, especially if you're from Tokyo, because we have a third of the cases of the infections. But in the middle of the month, if we can keep in Tokyo the numbers down, which means to get away from the 34 new infections from yesterday, we can get this down to the single digits again, we'll start to be able to travel within the prefectures, and it's possible that we could go down to Osaka and go to Universal Studios Japan.

13:17 John Daub: But for the most part, I think that that's going to be limited to people in the Kansai region, which is Osaka, Hyogo, Kobe. And they've done a really good job of minimizing the infections in their region.

14:02 John Daub: So that's the good news. Universal Studios Japan is opening. Now to some tough news. Prime Minister Abe submitted a proposal on Tuesday, which was yesterday, with the government reportedly expected to decide by the end of the month whether to move the start of the nation's academic year from April to September. This is a big deal for everyday life in Japan. For foreign residents who are moving from another country to Japan, this is a big deal. Because it's very hard to bring a child who's in school in America or Canada or somewhere and bring them into Japan because the school years are different. The problem with this is that people slam it as unrealistic. It requires a radical overhaul of the nation's education system to be implemented. So basically it seems like there's a lot of naysayers on this, and they're using Japanese tradition as a reason why they can't move the school year.

16:50 John Daub: Some really good news now. Let's pivot to something interesting that is happening in Osaka. One of the problems with the coronavirus is if you do contract it, it's very hard to trace it. And tracing is a very important way to try to minimize the spread. What Osaka has done is put QR codes in bars and restaurants as they reopen. And when you enter the bar or restaurant, you can scan the QR code, and it registers you at that place and time. So if somebody in the same evening comes down with COVID-19, you'll be notified by an app to tell you that somebody has come down and if you come down with it, you might want to get a checkup.

18:19 John Daub: I think this is a wonderful idea. A lot of people are so elated to go back to the way things were. The interviews in Osaka on the news today, people were ecstatic. They looked like they were so happy. And people were also very reserved, but they were really happy. Like, we can go out drinking again, yay! So this QR code thing is a way to kind of realize the risks that are still involved as we don't have a vaccine. Still, you want to keep social distancing. QR codes where people can scan it, maybe something that other countries might want to try, so we can trace it back to an origin. And the government also says that we should take notes on the people we meet and the time, and also the places that we go in case we do come down with it, we can help them trace it. I think that's a responsible thing to do for your community.

19:11 John Daub: Gerald Augustin, thank you so much. Hey JD, do a vid of Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan. When you go, plan to go there in October. Absolutely. If they have Super Nintendo World, the last time I was at Universal Studios Japan was like 15 years ago. And it's like so different now, so we got to go. The QR code tracing system is a thumbs up from me.

19:49 John Daub: Tough love now. Brace yourselves. About two weeks ago, I reported that Japan was gearing up to open the country to foreign tourism again. And yes, Australians, New Zealand, Vietnamese, and I think Thailand as well as Taiwan are being considered. There's about five countries that are being considered for an end to the entry ban into Japan. Australia and New Zealand have done an extraordinary job. Vietnam has no infections at all. Great job on Vietnam. Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore. There's talk about reopening.

21:11 John Daub: Here's the tough love news. According to the Japan Tourism Agency, regarding 50% off. There was talk that they were going to give 50% off of all travelers coming to Japan when they reopened. It was a $12 billion stimulus for tourism. And people were already planning on like first class tickets and stuff. That was never going to happen anyways. But here is the message from the agency off of their Twitter: Regarding reports by some news outlets that the Japanese government is considering a campaign to help foreign tourists visiting Japan by offering support for half of their travel expenses, please note that the go-to travel campaign under consideration by the Japanese government is to stimulate domestic travel demand within Japan after the COVID-19 pandemic and only cover a portion of the travel expenses.

23:00 John Daub: It's not an end to our hopes that this could happen. Something could happen. But you can't come to Japan anyways. You're banned. Mexico, you were put on that list. So don't worry about it now. I think summer travel to Japan is not going to be possible for the United States and for a lot of countries. By August, perhaps Australia and New Zealand, if they even want to come here. But what this does mean is that we probably will be getting about a $200 stimulus to go out and eat at restaurants more and to go and travel and stay at a ryokan or to go to an onsen or do something inside Japan. So the stimulus package will be hitting us soon.

24:42 John Daub: If I'm here, you're here. This is what you subscribe for. I will take you with me in rented cars and whatever. So you can go around and travel. It's not all bad news.

26:37 John Daub: So I'm going to take some of your questions now about traveling here. It's not too early to start to plan your trip. A lot of hotels for spring are like booked because there's an assumption that spring will be okay for travel again. Spring won't be okay for travel again.

27:41 John Daub: When do you think this is from AU Lex 1165. What do you think about Europe, its choice of opening foreign tourism between European borders in two weeks, even though the cases are currently still high? I mean, are they high high or are they starting to go down? I think the economies are so fragile right now. I think that even if you open up tourism, not everybody's going to want to go. It's something that requires building momentum. My feeling on Europe is that Europe has to do what Europe has to do.

29:19 John Daub: Marie V. I'd like to travel to Japan, but I'll be alone and I'm a bit insecure. Is there some group traveling or groups, families that welcome tourists? You can always come on a package tour. H.I.S., JTB. A lot of other companies put together package tours. I highly recommend that you take a reputable one. But taking a tour is not my style. I like to travel alone and then I meet people. Usually if you stay not in hotels, but at guesthouses, youth hostels, places where there are other travelers, you make friends very quickly. Backpackers like the freedom to be able to travel wherever they want to go. They meet somebody and say, hey, are you going to Osaka? No, I'm going to Takayama. That sounds cool. Can I come with you? And then boom, you have a travel buddy.

30:24 John Daub: If you do take a tour, pick one that's that has people in your age group. Sometimes everybody is like in their sixties, seventies and eighties, which actually is pretty cool because they tell some amazing stories. The greatest generation has some amazing stories that you don't want to miss. But if you're hesitant or you're a little bit worried about travel and you haven't ever left the country, I think taking a tour is not a bad thing to ease yourself into travel. Japan's a pretty safe place to go. After you get here in Japan, you can also take bus tours. The Hato Bus has some really good tours.

33:06 John Daub: Any thoughts on the U.S. riots? Kanae and I have been watching the news over the last week since we saw that image in Minneapolis. That was horrifying. Nobody should ever have to live in fear of authority. Not in the United States, not in Japan, not anywhere, really. The riots, it's heartbreaking. That's my opinion of it. The message is getting lost in violence. I went on Instagram and posted for Blackout Tuesday and I had about four or five people who wrote hateful comments. And I lost about 100 followers on Instagram by posting that. I think it would have been worse if I had done nothing at all out of fear of losing subscribers for something that's bigger than me. We all think of ourselves as individuals. But we have to remember we're all part of society. We're all part of the human race. And we have to care for one another. All lives matter. Black lives matter.

35:47 John Daub: People are educated and brought up in different ways. I've had friends that were bigots. I try not to judge anybody. And I know people make mistakes. And people can change. I strongly believe that people can change. Because if they can't, then there's no hope. This is a time, this moment is something that we need to stop and think.

37:25 John Daub: Japan Times released here a banned list. They posted all the countries that are banned to come into Japan and the dates. April 3rd, Singapore's in there, United States and Canada. And most recently on the banned list, welcome Mexico and Maldives. Colombia, Honduras, Bahamas, Uruguay. A lot of South American countries are on the banned list. As well as Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. Countries added to Japan's entry banned list, May 27th: India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, El Salvador, Argentina, South Africa, Guinea and Ghana. If you are a permanent resident, reentry may be allowed for those leaving after May 16th. But a lot of people have been asking me about this on the banned list. Japan Times has a really good banned list that's been updated.

39:48 John Daub: Ando1135. Do you think as an American I should wait on sending out applications to English teaching companies for next year? I don't think you should wait. Next year is next year. A lot of things can change until then. The reason why you still want to apply for jobs if that's something that you're considering is because you want the company to see that you're very deeply interested. Send resumes by mail because it has a bigger impact. Then if you do it digitally, you can do both. Taking the time to send a letter to human resources shows that you are, you'll take the time to do the little things. That would be the deciding factor for me if I was hiring.

41:28 John Daub: Anjin-san, 2021, thank you. If you're a member insider, a Go Insider, I'm going to be doing a newsletter once a month around the middle of June. And it'll have some of the secret places on one of the 47 prefectures that I've taken notes on that'll help you with your travel that's probably not in any guidebooks. For those of you who still want to travel to Japan, it looks like the fall will be the earliest. There's wakuchin or vaccine talk here in Japan. Domestic companies are not trusting the foreign companies to do it because of the supply chain. They want to also have a domestic vaccine for Japan.

43:51 John Daub: So the rainy season will be starting usually in Tokyo on June 10th. So next week you see this white glare. That is sun. And Kanae and I are outside and we're like soaking it up like a sponge because next week rainy season starts and then we have clouds. But from clouds comes thunder and lightning. Nothing is better to me than sitting on the balcony with a glass of wine or grape juice. Nothing is better than sitting and watching thunder and lightning strike buildings in the distance. Typhoon season really starts in late September, October.

44:48 John Daub: Did you know? Small fact. Important fact that Tokyo had the Olympics granted to them in 1940. But the Olympics were canceled in 1940 due to the war. So 1964, 1940, 1964 and 2020 were years of the Olympics. 1936 they were held in Germany in Berlin during the reign of Adolf Hitler. And then in 1940 they were going to come to Japan who was an axis power. It's pretty amazing that 36 Germany, 40 Japan right during that time. I've been studying the history of the 1940 Olympics and what they were going to build, how the stadiums were going to be. It's very fascinating to see the canceled Tokyo Olympics of 1940. And that was the reason why people had a lot of pride in 1964 when the Olympics did come to Tokyo.

45:52 John Daub: The Olympics on a solid year is almost always doomed. 1980 there was a boycott. Americans didn't go to the Soviet Union. The IOC did announce that if the Olympics is not held next year there will be no Olympics. So it's next year or bust everybody. I think next year is the year summer will be held rain or shine, virus or no virus. We're going to have Olympics here. We can have some events. Just cancel some events. You don't have to do them all. Why couldn't they have a video Olympics? VR Olympics. We'll also have even more tech. 5G will be well accelerated by then we'll have self-driving cars for sure.

49:02 John Daub: Thank you everybody for all of our new members. If you have any questions you can always leave a comment below I look at them in the first 24 hours. For our members that are travelers now, I'm going to be putting polls in there so that I can gauge what content is really interesting for you. One of the things that is valuable with having memberships is now in a more concentrated group of people that are really deeply interested in the channel, I can gauge what topics work and what topics don't work with polls.

49:54 John Daub: Let's get some thumbs up if you like these updates. The next Japan travel update will be held probably seven to 10 days from now. And I'm going to keep doing these through the summer due to the popularity of them and give you news on what's happening here in Japan. I think it's very important for those that are booking like several thousand dollars worth of travel costs. You need to know what's happening here in Japan. Through the Only in Japan Go channel, based on my travel around the country, I can give you firsthand information on what I'm seeing around the city. And what I saw in Akihabara is that people were getting a little bit complacent. And the alert yesterday, which didn't have any bite to it. Nothing changed other than Rainbow Bridge and the Tokyo Metropolitan Building, which is City Hall, turned red. A solid deep red. It's beautiful in an eerie way. As a reminder of people to exercise caution, because there was a spike in a city outside of the center of Tokyo. A hospital had a cluster spot.

51:41 John Daub: See you next time, everybody. There might be a live stream coming tonight. What's next video? Maybe tonight.