Only in Japan Go — Transcripts
Summaries + full diarized transcripts
2020-06-12 · Ep 733 · 53m

Driving Tokyo at Dusk "Only Taxi Drivers Drift "

TokyodrivingTokyo night viewpandemic travelcar rental
Summary

Driving Tokyo at Dusk "Only Taxi Drivers Drift "

Overview

In this livestream episode from June 2020, John Daub takes viewers on a dusk drive through central Tokyo shortly after the state of emergency was lifted. Driving a rental Toyota Camry, John navigates the surprisingly quiet streets of Chūō Ward, Marunouchi, and Ginza, offering commentary on the pandemic's impact on the city, particularly the deserted state of Narita Airport earlier that day.

The route covers many of Tokyo's most iconic landmarks, including Tokyo Station, the Imperial Palace, the National Diet Building, and Tokyo Tower. John shares insights into driving etiquette in Japan, the cost of renting cars, and the unique behavior of Tokyo taxi drivers. The drive concludes with a return to the Toyota Rent-A-Car office in Shintomi-chō, highlighting the ease of navigating the city by car during off-peak hours.

This video serves as a time capsule of Tokyo during the early pandemic period, showcasing a city that is typically bustling but momentarily subdued, while still retaining its vibrant night lights and infrastructure.

Highlights

  • 00:04 John introduces the dusk drive from Chūō Bridge.
  • 01:33 Discussion on the lifted state of emergency and pandemic hygiene.
  • 04:53 Explanation of why John lives in Chūō Ward near Tokyo Station.
  • 09:32 Spotting the Shinkansen tracks near Otemachi.
  • 15:02 Driving around the Imperial Palace grounds.
  • 18:20 View of the National Diet Building (Parliament).
  • 24:18 Close-up drive-by of Tokyo Tower.
  • 26:50 John's observation: "Only taxi drivers drift."
  • 32:48 History of the Imperial Hotel (Marilyn Monroe, Joe DiMaggio).
  • 39:23 Arrival in Ginza and the masked lion statue.
  • 44:32 Commentary on Japanese driving etiquette (no honking).
  • 52:39 Returning the car to Toyota Rent-A-Car.

Timeline / Chapters

  • 00:00 Intro & Chūō Bridge
  • 04:00 Approach to Tokyo Station
  • 09:00 Otemachi & Imperial Palace
  • 18:00 Kasumigaseki & Parliament Building
  • 24:00 Tokyo Tower View
  • 30:00 Hibiya Park & Imperial Hotel
  • 39:00 Ginza Night Drive
  • 46:00 Return Route & Car Rental Costs
  • 52:00 Final Return to Rent-A-Car

Japan Travel Tips

  • Car Rental: Toyota Rent-A-Car is recommended for foreigners; companies are accommodating regarding fuel levels (returning near empty is often okay for hybrids).
  • Driving Etiquette: Honking is considered rude in Tokyo; drivers silently express frustration instead. Watch out for bicycles and motorcycles on the left.
  • Navigation: Living near Tokyo Station allows for easy Shinkansen access for work trips across Japan.
  • Pandemic Context: During June 2020, the state of emergency was lifted, but hygiene and social distancing were still strictly observed.
  • Costs: Renting a car costs around $50–$75 USD per day, but gasoline and insurance can double the total cost.
  • Highways: Use an ETC card for automatic toll payment on Tokyo Highways.

Japanese Language & Culture Notes

  • Chūō (中央): Means "central"; John lives in Chūō Ward.
  • State of Emergency: Referred to regarding pandemic restrictions; largely voluntary but highly respected by the public.
  • Taxi Drivers: John notes that some Tokyo taxi drivers drive aggressively ("drift"), contrasting with general polite driving culture.
  • Police: Japanese police are described as protective rather than punitive; they may check bicycles for theft registration.
  • Ginza 4-chōme (銀座四丁目): The main intersection in Ginza, a landmark for navigation.

Food & Drink Guide

  • Ebi Katsu Sando: Shrimp cutlet sandwich available at the Imperial Hotel lobby.
  • Kobe Steak: Available at the Imperial Hotel restaurant (noted as pricey, approx. $150 for 150g).
  • Takoyaki: Octopus balls spotted at a new shop in the side streets near Tsukiji.

People

  • John Daub: Host and driver. Provides commentary on locations, driving, and pandemic life.
  • Kanae Daub: John's wife. Mentioned as preferring smaller cars (Toyota Aqua) and driving early morning.
  • Peter von Gomm: John's friend. Mentioned in chat interactions (emoji summoning).
  • Viewers/Travelers: Live chat participants acknowledged by John throughout the drive.

Key Takeaways

  • Tokyo streets were unusually quiet in June 2020 due to the pandemic, offering unique driving conditions.
  • Driving in Tokyo requires vigilance for bicycles and pedestrians, especially on the left side.
  • Rental cars are viable for getting around if you avoid peak traffic hours.
  • Landmarks like Tokyo Tower and the Imperial Palace offer stunning views from the road at dusk.
  • Japanese driving culture emphasizes silence (no honking) and respect.

Notable Quotes

  • 26:50 "You want to know who the Tokyo drifters are? Not that Vin Diesel dude. It's the taxi drivers."
  • 44:32 "In Japan, we don't honk our horns like in New York. You don't hear people honking. They will silently just yell at themselves."
  • 01:33 "Japanese have done a really good job of that over the last two months... people are getting used to going back to the way that life was a little bit, with the changes that are required to stay healthy."
  • 04:53 "I moved here... because I wanted to be close to Tokyo Station. Where I can jump on the Shinkansen with a 5-10 minute taxi ride."
  • 50:12 "Then Cinderella turns into a very angry worker. She doesn't look as happy as she should be."

Related Topics

  • Tokyo Night Drives
  • Pandemic Life in Japan
  • Car Rental in Japan
  • Tokyo Landmarks
  • Driving Etiquette

Search Tags

#only-in-japan-go #tokyo #travel #driving #tokyo-tower #ginza #imperial-palace #pandemic #toyota #rent-a-car #night-drive #japan-travel #chuo-ward #shinkansen


Full Transcript

00:04 John Daub: Greetings everybody! Welcome to another Driving Tokyo, this time at dusk. How you doing? This is Chūō Bridge. I am now driving, gonna be going around the city a little bit on the east side of Tokyo. I don't know if there's an east and a west side actually. We say Sumida-machi and the rest of the city. But I thought I would share with you a little bit of driving. It's very easy for me to flick the screens, all you gotta do is touch a button. Boom! And I'll be able to check some of your comments at traffic lights, but I'm gonna focus on driving on the road. And I want you to enjoy the view. Hope everybody's doing well.

00:48 John Daub: We had a really long day and it was tough for me because I had to say goodbye to a good friend of mine. But Kanae and I had a pretty good day of driving around. We drove to Narita Airport and you saw, if you want to take a look at that livestream that I did just about 3-4 hours ago, Narita Airport was super, super deserted. I guess it has a lot to do with the pandemic, but it was shocking for me because I'd never seen an international airport as busy as the ones in Tokyo like that before, ever. It was shocking. It truly was shocking.

01:33 John Daub: We're gonna be driving straight towards Tokyo Station and I'll try to explain to you what you're seeing a little bit in front of you and behind you. But the state of emergency was lifted in Japan last month. We called it a state of emergency. It wasn't so much that they could do in terms of enforcing it, but people really did stay at home. It was good. Social distancing and different types of hygiene and living with this have been... Japanese have done a really good job of that over the last two months and now we have maybe somewhere between like 5 and 40 people getting sick every day and it's not a lot of people right now. So you'll see in these pictures people are getting used to going back to the way that life was a little bit, with the changes that are required to stay healthy. Yeah. It's nice to see everybody.

02:42 John Daub: If you do like this driving in Tokyo and Japan, just driving around, click the like button. I do appreciate it very much. Amazingly hot day. I'm not used to summer yet in Japan. We're about to turn around here. Turn red light. Green light. Come on, green light! Green light! No, not yet. I'm right now driving in a Camry, which was a little bit of a step up from the car that we got last time. Usually we'll rent what's called... We usually rent it from Toyota Rent-A-Car because my company's registered with them and it just makes sense. We usually get something called an Aqua, which is this kind of compact car which is really inexpensive to rent. It's a neat car to drive around in. And for Kanae, it's very comfortable and very easy to drive. Very easy to navigate that with that car.

03:47 John Daub: You're going to see in a little bit Tokyo Station come into view, everybody. Is a Camry a fancy ride? For me, Camry is like... It's kind of a nice car. It's a lot better than I thought it was going to be. To me, it's like a step below a Crown. We needed the space for this car. Tokyo Station is right in front of us. You can see that bright orange in the middle of your screen. This time, instead of taking a left, we're going to take a right and go around Tokyo Station, Nihonbashi, towards Otemachi and Marunouchi. And I'll take you from Marunouchi. We're going to go past the new Apple Store there. We'll cut through Ginza at night, which is going to be really nice. And then I'm going to drive and return the car back.

04:53 John Daub: I live in Chūō Ward, one of the 23 wards of Tokyo. Chūō means central. And I moved here a little bit over two years ago with Kanae after we got married. Because I wanted to be close to Tokyo Station. Where I can jump on the Shinkansen with a 5-10 minute taxi ride, depending on the traffic. Jump on a Shinkansen and get to a job or get to a story that I found really quickly. And be able to come back on the last train and be able to get back home. I've saved so much money not having to ride the subway because I can also get around on my bicycle. All right. So we've got some new members here. Welcome, everybody. Really enjoyed seeing you guys using those new emoji. We're so close to getting two more unlocked emoji as well. We've had a lot of new members today.

05:57 John Daub: Go over to the right here. This is like a dash cam. This is like literally a dashboard camera. That's pretty crazy. Always drive safely. I got two eyes on the road. Two hands on the steering wheel. And whenever there's a break, I can look at the screen. It's not too far away from it. It's always about doing this safely. I've driven these roads so many times before. So it's not like a new experience for me. Tokyo Station. You can see the sign in front of you. Do you see it? Tokyo Station is right there, guys. That's so cool. Where we just went down the main street. And that's Marunouchi behind there. That's the Shinmaru building behind the station. If you haven't been to Tokyo in a while, this is all kind of new here. Just designed to the front of it. And they came in about two years ago. It's really beautiful. And they change the colors of it every now and then.

07:30 John Daub: How you doing? Yes, I know. I'm aware that I'm in need of a haircut. I probably want to get into the left. I want to get into the left lane. So this camera has a lot of power to it. It's pretty powerful. That's where you catch the bus going towards Narita Airport. I'm going to take a left here. You want to make sure when you're driving, always in Japan, please watch out for bicycle riders. Please watch out for pedestrians, of course. But bicycle riders and motorcycle riders, they'll be scooting on the left side of the road here. And it feels kind of dangerous here.

08:23 John Daub: Afonso, thank you. Gold Dalek Hu, welcome. And Horeg Holdeman. Welcome to the travelers. I'll post some pictures today in the community tab that you guys can take a look at. I'll post them in Patreon as well because we have... Do not summon him. Okay? I saw that because I was at a traffic light. Now I'm not looking. Please don't summon him when I'm driving. I've already got a lot on my plate without having to worry about birds swooping down and pooping on the windshield. This building that you see under construction was a beautiful building. It had a lot of trees on it. It looked like an eco building. That guy shouldn't be walking and talking with his phone. Dangerous man. You're asking for it. But the city of Tokyo is very bright. Very bright at night because of all the light reflecting off of the ground.

09:32 John Daub: If you're lucky, you're going to see the Shinkansen going by as we pass Otemachi Station here. We get the Shinkansen going by. Every five, six minutes. It comes from Ueno. The Tōkaidō Shinkansen. And we're going underneath the tracks of Tokyo Station right now. And we're going towards Otemachi on the Marunouchi side of Tokyo Station. And if you have been following this show, you know exactly where I am because I'm quite often here. I think that's the Aman Hotel right there. Wow. It's such a beautiful hotel. Do you see on the left side? I think that that's the... In one of these buildings, a friend of mine had stayed there. No, it's an office building. But took me in there to take a look at the new Tokyo Aman Hotel. It was stunning. Really beautiful.

10:48 John Daub: Hey, Jess. Welcome. Thanks for being a traveler, Jess. You're here with me. That's what I always say. Like, you guys are here with me. This car is really nice. I can tell you that. It's really nice. Oh, ABNB caught a stream even though it's past midnight here in Hawaii. You did. Welcome aboard. The Toyota Camry destination right now. Imperial Palace. We're going to go see where the emperor is living. I know a lot of you couldn't make it to Tokyo. Well, guess what? You are with me right now in Tokyo. Yeah. On a live dashboard camera.

12:07 John Daub: It's funny because you see that the camera is shaking. The reason why the video isn't so good when you're in Tokyo is because the iPhone has internal stabilization. IBIS. In-body image stabilization. But it shakes when it's using on the YouTube app. It's not actually activated. And this causes like a jello effect. So, I have to find a way to do this without having that. So, I'm going to work on it. Remco found my hat icon. I just put a new emoji for my hat here. It's called lovely. Just me. No, I'm not going to be doing a drift. Dude, that's so dangerous. Just because you're in Tokyo doesn't mean you should start drifting when you drive. There's a movie, alright? And half of it was like CG. So, like only a portion of it. You could... If you do the Peter von Gomm emoji three times, you might summon him. I'm not sure. So, I'm not drifting.

13:29 John Daub: I have a wife to get back to, and she's going to be very angry at you, Peso. Don't want to see Kanae angry. In this lane because that guy stopped with his hazards on. That's right, Peso. You just got it. Oof is right. Whoa. We got a watcher from New Caledonia. How cool is that? Let's peer pressure John into breaking the law. That's not going to happen. Ever. He's got his hazards on! That's the Imperial Palace in front of you! Take your hat off for the Emperor! Respect. I love this road here. It's very, very open. I think you might be able to get a little view of Tokyo Tower. To the right side, maybe? I think Tokyo Tower is right there. But it's behind those buildings. The top of Tokyo Tower is right behind those buildings. So, not gonna see it.

15:02 John Daub: We're driving around the Imperial Palace right now. It's very much like a video game. The sky is still kind of lit up. A little bit of clouds. It's not a colorful sky. But you have the office buildings with those yellow lights on in the distance. This kind of feels like a video game in a way. Doesn't it? Just a little bit? Hey, Florencia! Welcome! Nice to see you here. Just stop at another traffic light. You can see there's very little... You see some of the... They look like really big bonsai trees. That's how you know you're at the Imperial Palace. It's a very clear place. Beautiful, stress-free area. It goes back quite a ways in there. About 150-200 meters in there. And it's quiet. Just like Meiji Shrine. If you've ever been to Meiji Shrine, which is just off of... Just away from Harajuku, you go in there into the forest, it's so quiet. You'll hear a crow every now and then. But it's so quiet in Meiji Shrine. Imperial Palace is sort of like that for the center. There's places where you can go that's just a really, really quiet time here.

16:31 John Daub: So I'm going to drive for another 15-20 minutes, and then we're going to cut off on this live stream. But this is a way for me to say thank you to everybody for watching. And I'm just driving around for the next 20 minutes because I can. I have to return the car by 8 p.m. It's part of the contract I signed with the Rent-A-Car. I promised I would return the car. It's dizzying. Do I really want to go around? I guess I have no choice. I have to go right. Oh my gosh. I wanted to go straight. What happened? Kind of a boring view here. That's Hanzomon. You see the buildings just over that red light in the center of your screen? That's the Hanzomon area. I used to have a friend there for a radio station called Tokyo FM. She was a DJ over there. And I did a couple of... I did her program's title calls. They really did it like electrified, so you couldn't tell it was me too much. Tokyo FM.

18:20 John Daub: That's pretty nice to drive around Tokyo at this time of day. Nighttime... Dusk is a hard time to drive because it's hard to see. You got the daylight and the nights... the lights aren't as bright. I'll tell you this, okay? Drivers in Tokyo are... Oh, there's the Parliament Building in front. That's the Parliament Building in front. So we're gonna make a left here. That's where Japanese lawmakers vote and make laws and stuff. And look at that sky behind it. Oh, we missed this light. Let's see if we can get a little bit of Tokyo Tower here.

19:39 John Daub: There's some kind of festival going on. Actually, on the left side, that's not a police officer. It's a delivery man. I can hear... Do you hear that? Taiko drums in the distance. I think I can go straight. I'm gonna make a left a little bit on here. And then... I believe we'll be able to see... We'll be able to see some Tokyo Tower. I'll loop back around. There's the highway. So you can get onto the Tokyo Highway on the right side. If you have an ETC card, you go right through. It's sort of like Fast Pass. So this is Toranomon area. There's a building on the right side you can't really see. It's out of view. Kasumigaseki is in this area.

22:06 John Daub: I just turned to the left. Whoa, that's a mafia car. I shouldn't say that out loud. Okay, this is Akasaka, everybody. How cool is this? Let's see if I can make a left turn here. I don't want to go around. I'm gonna end up in Shibuya. Which is not where I wanted to end up. This is Roppongi. Wow, we're in Roppongi? What? Okay. I guess I'm taking you to Roppongi. Oh no! Wow, look at the traffic! What happened here? Hold on. Look at all this traffic here. What? All right. I know where I'm turning now. I just never come this way. I guess because when you're walking, you're not seeing the things from the car level. All these people to the right are getting onto the highway, including the sports car. Whoa! These guys got some serious wheels. All right, we're gonna take a left here. I know where I am.

24:18 John Daub: You should see Tokyo Tower. Yes! This is so awesome. I'm driving into the Tokyo Tower. This is pretty awesome. I'm driving into Camry. That's still kind of awesome. I'm tilting it up here so you get a better view. Oh wait, I don't want to be in that lane. I want to keep going straight. I can't see it from here. It's pretty cool, right? It's pretty cool. Thanks guys for this. Becca Ortiz, don't be drifting in Tokyo. All right, got you Scott. Kubish, get some drive through. It's hard to find here. Nice to see you, John M. Kiki Miyazaki looking forward to driving around Japanese countryside. I know. Missing the midnight indoor campsite cam camping with Okapi. Stay alert. Thank you. I am very alert. I'm doing my best at least. Safety first.

25:50 John Daub: Everybody, that was pretty cool. We got a really in your face view of Tokyo Tower. Now once I get there, I'm gonna hang a left when I go past there. I've walked through here so many times. This is a big intersection though. I'll get this set up better. Most people hanging going to the left here. I kind of think I should go past Tokyo Tower. Look, they doubled up on that motorbike. That's pretty cool. Follow that motorcycle. This is so cool. Tokyo Tower is massive right now but you can't really see it because you're looking at the map. You're looking at the map. Turn around. You guys want to see Tokyo Tower, click the thumbs up button. Seriously, you're going to want to click the thumbs up button. Oh there it is. It's in the way. Is the suction cups? No. No. Oh the suction cups are in the way. How dare them. All you can see is its leg. I'm watching the road anyways so not a big deal. That guy just flew out of nowhere. He just came from nowhere. That dude... Tokyo drivers aren't crazy especially the taxi drivers man and a lot of these people are seniors like in their 60s. They're retired I guess they get a thrill out of that. You want to know who the Tokyo drifters are? Not that Vin Diesel dude. It's the taxi drivers. Some of them anyways. They're hardcore. What time is it here? Okay we got some time. I can take you this way and I'll still get back in time. Taxi drivers are insane! Insane! Some of them anyways. When you say step on it, some of them really do step on it. Sometimes if you don't say that, they do it. I don't know. That's a cool car. Look at that. What is that? A Ferrari? It's a Ferrari. It's a Lamborghini. Shinoni rights in.

29:10 John Daub: Actually, I think I want it to go straight a little bit more. Yeah. I think I messed up. It's all good. I can kind of swing in after the traffic goes by. That's a hotel. Alright, we don't get a lot. Alright, go ahead, guy. We're good. Safety first. Let's hang a left here. We're going now towards Hibiya Park on this road. We'll go on this a little bit further. This is an area, I believe it's called Uchisaiwaichō. We're close to there. We'll go past the Imperial Hotel on the right side. And Hibiya Park will be on the left side. And then what we're going to do is... Yeah, let's do that. I'm going to hang a right into Ginza. And after Hibiya Park, if you take a right, it's kind of a neat scene. The problem is that the sky has gotten a little bit too dark to really make it impactful. But if you catch it when the sky is just starting to get dark and there's some color, it's such a beautiful one because you can see the Shinkansen and the Yamanote line going by over it. And behind it, you got a really beautiful view. Ginza illuminated back there. I like that. There's some good Airbnbs in this Uchisaiwaichō area.

31:21 John Daub: Let's enjoy this intersection for a little bit. There we go, lock it in place. You can see the hood. Beautiful hood of the Toyota Camry. Hey, PinW1971, welcome to the Traveler. This is Tokyo. It's just about 7:30pm. I've been driving a lot today. I really do like this car. It's a hybrid. It's got kind of a luxury feel to it. Not too expensive, but it's maybe $40 or $50 more than the Aqua that I usually rent, which is very nice, nice easy drive for Kanae. This one seems to be a little bit too big for her. I guess they call this the Standard Plus or something. Standard Premium. On the same category as the Mark X, which is my favorite Toyota car. This is a sedan that has a really nice boost to it. It gets not really good gas mileage, but it's a fun car to drive. Good power to it.

32:48 John Daub: Alright, we're getting close to Hibiya Park. Shimbashi would be on the right. If you were to turn right, you would hit Shimbashi. Yeah, we're going straight. This is where a lot of government buildings are, so we're kind of looping around. We came the other way and turned right towards the Imperial Palace about 15-20 minutes ago. Just right there is the Imperial Hotel, which is where the Queen of England stays when she comes, or at least she stayed there. And where Joe DiMaggio stayed with Marilyn Monroe when they were on honeymoon. And I didn't even know that Joe DiMaggio came to Japan with Marilyn Monroe for honeymoon. That's kind of pretty cool history. They've got amazing pictures inside of the Imperial Hotel. Go inside the lobby from the main entrance and then hang a left right away. You'll see all these pictures, these artifacts from all the people, all the celebrities that have visited. Lots of presidents have visited and stayed at the Imperial Hotel. Good place to get an ebi katsu sando. They got a really famous one in there. Good food in there. Delicious Kobe steak restaurant on the top but I think was 150... it was like 150 dollars for 150 grams or something. Was pretty pricey for a Kobe steak.

34:22 John Daub: Karaoke carpool would be pretty good but all the songs are copyrighted man. They can do that on TV because they're like TV networks and stuff and they can get the copyright stuff. We can't do that. We get like banned and in trouble. I just started driving like about two years ago. This would have been really impossible for me to do two years ago but now I've really gotten used to it and a lot of it is just getting over your nerves and then for Americans driving on this side of the road it's also about just getting used to it. Taking left turns which are like right turns in America. Right turns to like left turns and now when I go back to the US I'm really confused on the left side. We're going past the Imperial Hotel and Hibiya Park which is all those trees on the left side you see there and not too far after the Imperial Hotel we're gonna be hanging a right. How's the signal everybody? Hope everything looks pretty good here we go.

35:34 John Daub: A second. Oh no okay I guess I gotta go straight. I missed that up now I messed it up. No oh yeah I want to show you Ginza. What's the way doing? No I missed a turn. Drama the horror. Alright I gotta go around now. Ah why it's okay everything's gonna be right now you turn wonderful okay it's good now. Work with it. Okay. So we're going to swing around here. We're going to turn right again because I wanted to take you to Ginza. You deserve a Ginza visit, right? Everybody wants to go to Ginza, raise your hands. I do. Alright. Raise your hands. Click the like button if you want to go to Ginza. There goes the Yamanote Line. We were underneath this road 30 minutes ago. So we're backtracking. Now I'm going to take a right. Take a right here. Can I take a right? No, I don't think I can take a right. Tokyo Station is to the left. No! Oh, it's alright. We're going to do this. It's a good thing. This is my neighborhood.

37:54 John Daub: I don't know that area where I was driving that well. The Roppongi area. Now I know it. When you drive around, you start to learn the roads. It's important to do that. These night drives and the day drives are kind of neat. For Kanae, it's better for her to drive at like 5 in the morning. There's nobody out there except for police officers who will be able to check her every move. It can be a little stressful driving in the morning too because of all the police officers. They're here to protect us, not to bust us in Japan. The police are here to make sure that we do a good job. Japanese police are pretty cool. Just don't try to be friends with them. Let them do their job. I got my bicycle checked about three weeks ago. No, it's really two months ago. A police officer checked my bicycle and my ID to make sure that I wasn't a bike thief. I didn't take offense at that. But she was really nice. She has to do a job and I gotta do a job. So it's all good.

39:23 John Daub: Alright, here we are guys. Welcome to Ginza! Premium goods. High quality manufacturing. Ginza is very classy. It's got these white lights on the left and right of the avenue as you drive through here. The long signs on the left and right. It's just different. Shinjuku is more in your face. Colorful. Ginza tries to keep it more classier. Which I guess takes away from the personality of this area. Although it is really nice at night. The back alleys on the left and right are even better. The back alleys are pretty amazing. Next time we do a night drive I'll try to go through Shinjuku, Shibuya and Harajuku at night in the car. If it's not a live stream I might do it as a strovie. I just film it and talk like you're here. I upload it in 4K this way. Or HD. Well, they all turn green. All the lights turn green. Alright, that's the Apple store on the right side. I think you all know where I am. Apple store is open. Check it out.

41:28 John Daub: Life is back to normal. Seems like that, right? A lot of the stores are... The situation in the US... I just want to put this out there. The situation in the US is not the same as in Japan. Completely different countries. Completely different situation here. I'm taking a left here. You can see the Nissan building straight ahead. This is Ginza Yon-chōme. Ginza's fourth intersection. It's a pretty powerful view here. Mitsukoshi with the lion is just to my left. I can almost reach out and touch him. He's wearing a mask. I don't know if you can see. The lion is wearing a mask. That's pretty cool. Everyone is taking pictures of the masked lion. There's an emoji of me with a mask on there too. This light is kind of long. Alright, here we go. Look at that massive concept car. Nissan's concept car in the middle. Looks like a festival inside there. Look at that. Like a dance club. I want to get in that car. Nissan right around town. Pretty gnarly.

43:19 John Daub: Listen, alright. I know you guys are in love. Just go quicker. Show your love in other ways. Like walking faster. Go ahead. Look at this taxi driver. How rude are you? Hey, I was here first. I got priority as well. He's in a hurry to slow down in front of me. Look at these people. Thankfully I'm not one that suffers from road rage. I accept who I am. Who you are. There's Kabukichō on the left side. Do you see that? Kabukichō everybody. Kabukichō. Hey Kabukichō. Kabukichō's gone. We just passed Kabukichō and we're in the Tsukiji area. A lot of shaky going on here. We're in the Tsukiji area. I'm going to turn left here. And I have to return the car to my neighborhood. Toyota Rent-A-Car. Neighborhood. Rent-A-Car.

44:32 John Daub: Fatima, I'm not going to honk my horn. That's rude. You're just going to scare people. If I honk my horn, that's just going to scare people, right? That's not good. In Japan, we don't honk our horns like in New York. You don't hear people honking. They will silently just yell at themselves. Come on, move it. Come on. What are you doing? It's the way we do things here. It's quiet it is, right? We're in central Tokyo. Not one honking horn. I love it. That's Kachidoki Bridge up there. We're going to cut across. And I'm going to return the car to Toyota Rent-A-Car. I love Toyota Rent-A-Car. Nippon Rent-A-Car is pretty good too. Honda has a rent-a-car place, but it's not as popular.

45:48 John Daub: There's a Takoyaki place. Hey, that's new. I love the side streets and these smaller streets here. Because you'll discover things that you'd... Really cool things because the rent is so high on those main streets we were driving up. Like there's a Daiso inside of a pharmacy. Matsumoto Kiyoshi Daiso combo. What? I've never seen that before. Right there. You'll find things like that when you drive on the side streets here. You don't get that if you are driving on the main roads. Those stores when they do change, it is quite pricey. Kanai just wrote me, I forgot a Toyota Rent-A-Car form back at home. It's okay. It's green.

46:39 John Daub: What is the average cost to rent a car in Tokyo? You know what? The car is probably going to be somewhere between like $50 and $75. But it's the other stuff that adds up. Gasoline. It's crazy expensive. And in the end you can like double the car rental fee. So I'm guessing that this is going to cost me a pretty penny. Yeah. This is going to cost me a pretty penny. It's all for a good cause. Which is take my friend to the airport. He's on this flight back now. He's got to do 14 day quarantine in Canada too. That's going to stay. This is Shintomi-chō. Forgetting my Tokyo geography. I always return the car with an empty tank of gas. It's not even empty. I've only used maybe... It's not even a quarter of use because it's a hybrid. But they don't overcharge you with gasoline at the rental car agencies. If you do it with like Hertz or something like the gas rates usually three or four times what you get at the pump out there. Here it's not that much off of the normal price. So it's not really... Because I don't use a lot of gas with hybrids I just don't go to the gas station. I just do it as is. I always apologize though. I'm like, I'm so sorry I didn't fill the gas tank. And they go, it's okay, it's okay. They're very nice. Very, very nice at the Toyota Rent-A-Car.

49:11 John Daub: Let's go left and then a right. I think we're close. Yeah, we're close. Alright, the Toyota Rent-A-Car is a right and a right. So, this is when I say thank you. Thank you so much for this. I'm so happy for everybody who's become a member. And I want to say this, alright? You do not have to be a member. And this month's memberships, all of it is going to a charity after Google's done. Google takes their share. The rest of it's going to a charity that Kanae and I pick. And I know that they're going to really appreciate this too. It's a community thing. I think that's something that we can do. So, I think that's a good thing.

50:12 John Daub: Alright. I know where I am. Do you know where you are? I think I know where I am. Okay, no, no, no. Okay, okay. I can't go to the Toyota Rent-A-Car this way. I have to go to the left. Is there an arrow? Can I go straight? I'm so confused. I don't know. I just passed the Toyota Rent-A-Car! I'm going to loop around now. I'm going to show you a really pretty bridge right here. Do you see that in front of us? That is the Hatchōbori Bridge. I started the livestream about three months ago. At night, it's so pretty. Just on the left side of your screen. That's the way I'm going to be walking home. I just missed that turn now, showing you the bridge. It's okay. We have ten minutes to take this car back. Then Cinderella turns into a very angry worker. She doesn't look as happy as she should be. It's a one-way street. Poopy! That's right. When I use foul language, it's usually in the term of something that's just slipped out or poopy. Which is a Google-sanctioned word for family-friendly. Sometimes, though, it does. You know what? U-turns are really hard.

52:39 John Daub: Alright, everybody. That's all she wrote. I'm going to pull into the Toyota Rent-A-Car. And then that's all she wrote, okay? That's the end of the livestream when that happens. Thanks, guys. Enjoy the last 30 seconds as I pull into the Rent-A-Car place. Tokyo time 20:23. Again, go grab a coffee on me, John. Thank you, Tokyo time. I think I'll do that tomorrow morning. I think it's a little bit late. Slightly late. Slightly.

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