00:02 John Daub: Welcome to Tokyo Station everybody. I'm gonna be going on the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Osaka Station. Today is Unagi no Hi (Eel Day), the day that everybody eats unagi to stay cool. I don't know why, it's a tradition. July 21st. We don't have a lot of time. This is a Shinkansen run where I book and try to make sure I don't miss my train.

00:27 John Daub: This is the Marunouchi side of Tokyo Station. It's really pretty. It was just renovated a few years ago and was built, I think, in 1912 by a very famous architect at the time in a European style. It looks very much like Amsterdam Centraal. Let's go inside and get. We're on a mission to find an unagi bento and the signal might go in and out but I want to give you also a look and see who's actually traveling.

01:02 John Daub: This is essential travel for us. We have no choice because of a business meeting that we have down in Osaka that can't be done over Zoom. Uh oh, I have to find the ticket here. I think there's two tickets. There we go. I need this ticket.

01:36 Staff: Excuse me, do you need two tickets?

01:39 John Daub: Just this one.

01:42 Staff: Just this one? Okay, I got it.

01:44 John Daub: Thank you. Alright. Sometimes it's confusing. We're cruising Tokyo to Osaka. So, we're going to be making a trip to try to get a bento. We don't have a lot of time. Luckily, I know exactly where to buy the bento. It's right there. Hey Danny! Barry Q is here too. How you doing guys?

02:23 John Daub: Alright, let's get this bento. We have 10 minutes to get on the train. Social distancing. Unagi bento. Ah, there it is right there. Check it out guys. We also have a good selection. There's an uni bento. That looks so good. Alright, let's get this. With a tea maybe. Although they have some nice looking beers here. Mr. Das would be impressed with the selection of Asahi. Boom. I'm just going to go with water. Let's go with mugicha (barley tea) actually.

03:10 John Daub: This is the summer drink that will keep you nice and cool. Wow, there's lots of bentos. They've closed these though. Check it out. Everybody's getting a bento. Alright, let's go pay for it.

03:33 Staff: Please.

03:42 Staff: Please.

03:47 Staff: Please.

03:47 Staff: Please.

03:56 John Daub: Today is the day of the unagi.

04:03 Staff: Yes, it is.

04:06 John Daub: Thank you.

04:07 Staff: Thank you.

04:08 Staff: You can take it. It's alright.

04:10 John Daub: Thank you. Today is eel day. Alright, check this out. Look at all the bentos they have on the windows here. That's an ekiben (station bento). Alright goodbye, ekiben shop. Let's make our way to the platform. Irvan, I saw that. You might win this one.

04:37 John Daub: Alright, my Shinkansen is not that far away from here. Good morning, this is a Shinkansen run. Basically I run to the Shinkansen and try not to miss my Shinkansen. That would be bad. Especially because there's other people waiting for me, but I do have my ticket right here, so we're gonna be good. Let's get on board. Look at that duck bill looking. Looks like a duck. Or Darth Vader. I think the Shinkansen is very much shaped like it's from the dark side. Which would make Hello High 821 very happy.

05:27 Staff: The central ticket exit entrance. We need a ticket.

05:33 John Daub: Oh, is that so?

05:43 Staff: Yes.

05:43 John Daub: Sometimes you need to put both tickets in it's a little bit confusing. Both tickets are necessary. Hey John Kim it is here long time no see. 851 that's our train right there. 851 boom platform 18. Let's go platform 18. Take the escalator. This is a pucci call later. It's like seven steps, but take it while you can. Car number four seat A row A seat. That one look at these people.

06:39 John Daub: Overdressed for the Shinkansen it's ridiculous I think it's what car you in. I'm car number four so I think it's this way all right see you guys later you in the green car huh you're in the green car that's awesome. As I said we're on a business trip here we have five minutes don't worry we're plenty of time. I just paid $20 for a bento because this is unagi no hi. This one is bound for Hiroshima and I've got a mask on and I've got glasses I'm gonna be wearing because you have to be safe.

07:55 John Daub: Today oh it's a vitamin thing all right we're in the front of the Shinkansen or is it. Can I the shink don't ask me why in Japan just abbreviate everything it's easier that way. AWX turbos here Yun Wong is here Jeff Ang is here our whole family and we have some good new members as well. You're welcome welcome to the Shinkansen platform I'm taking in car number four that's where we're sitting there's a little kiosk where you can buy some ekiben and some drinks for those of you who can visit Japan it's kind of a nice look at what you would have had if you were here I don't mean to rub it in but it is not as I said the best time to travel.

09:02 John Daub: This I'm in car number four but I'm gonna take you to the front of the Shinkansen because it's always pretty badass to see the front of it and the good thing is that we're going inside of the Shinkansen. Shinkansen does not look crowded at all. There's not a lot of people in there. That's a good thing. Again, we're on a business trip. It is because we couldn't get out of it. It is essential travel. We can't just uh we have to keep it going. All right we got two minutes. Why do I always cut it close? Wow that's cool looking train. All right let's go inside.

10:04 John Daub: There's almost nobody here. Look at this. It's basically empty. This is really a good thing. All right I gotta get to my car number four. So we have to walk through a couple of cars here. Oh it's getting more crowded. Oh they do have a telephone on the Shinkansen. Actually non-reserved is nobody in there. Yeah I don't know. There's nobody in non-reserved. It's like a ghost town. I might just go sit there. No I might go sit in the front car actually because it's just it's empty. Yeah. I'll be back. I'll come visit you later. That was rude. Let's go back to the front car because we can. It's just safer. Safety first.

12:41 Staff: Thank you for taking the Shinkansen. This train is Nozomi bound for Hakata [?].

12:49 John Daub: Oh Kanae. Kanae said to make sure to wipe everything. All right. There's nobody here right? There's nobody here. So why not enjoy it? So wipe everything down. This is how you do train in the pandemic.

13:11 Staff: This is the Nozomi Super Express bound for Hiroshima. We will be stopping at Shinagawa, Shin-Yokohama, Nagoya, Kyoto, Shin-Osaka, Shin-Kobe, Himeji and Okayama stations before arriving at Hiroshima.

13:30 John Daub: Alright, say goodbye to Tokyo everybody. Because we have a bento coming up here. That was the Yamanote line that just went by. This isn't going to be a nagi bento unboxing. Oh no Tokyo Tower. Sometimes you can go, oh there's another shink Shinkansen.

14:22 John Daub: So, I'm pretty excited about this. I'm going to have to take a picture though. Because that's what we do. Here we go. Unagi bento. Three seconds. Like this. So good. Hit like if you like the unagi bento. We need to get to 300 likes. If we get to 300 likes, I will eat this bento right away. It's up to you. Who starts taking pictures of the bento on the train? You do too, right? I'm not the only one, right? Anyways, let's just do this here. This is an unagi bento. It's one of my favorites. Oh, mama. Look at this thing. Of course, the unagi bento also has chopsticks right here.

16:06 John Daub: This was $20. Crazy. Hey, Tony. How are you doing? There's nobody on the Shinkansen. This unagi hails from Kagoshima. Kagoshima unagi. It's good to know where your food is. This is beautiful. This is a nice cut. Itadakimasu. It's a beautiful cut. Look at this. Whose mouth is watering? Click like if your mouth is watering. Just click like.

16:52 John Daub: We're in Shinagawa station. Hey Tony P's here! Hey Tony! So I'm going to wait a little bit until let's wait until people go by and then we're going to eat the bento. So until people go by, I'm going to just talk to you. Usually Shinagawa is a very a lot of people come on in Shinagawa. You can see there's already a line of people here. Alright, there's two people coming on. I think we're going to be okay.

17:42 John Daub: This is crazy, right? I gotta get some work done too. I'm going to Osaka, then to Wakayama. Wakayama is a prefecture with not a lot of people there. That's a good thing. We have to be very responsible and careful. I also have sunglasses. Now I'm ready to rob a bank. You can't tell who I am, right? This is the way you do it. Now this is total protection now. The ghost train.

18:30 John Daub: How do I eat this? We're about to leave Yokohama. Let's try this now. I'm always having fun here. This is an unagi sauce that comes with it. The unagi sauce is one of the best things about the unagi bento. It's very tangy, like a salty sweet. The great thing about it is that it gets into the rice. Oh wait, I forgot. On the other side of this is the unagi pepper. The sauce just soaks into the rice. It's a thing of beauty, isn't it?

19:55 John Daub: So we eat unagi on July 20th, on this day, because the vitamins from the unagi is good for you in summer. We lose a lot of vitamins through sweat. However, the last few days have been very cool. I'm even wearing a jacket right now, if you can believe that. Look at how beautiful this cut of unagi is. Food can be beautiful, people.

20:28 Staff: The telephone is switched to the manner mode. Please help to avoid any inconvenience to the people around you.

20:39 Staff: The food and other essential items are all kept in a safe place. If you notice any dead things or food, please inform the staff or the station staff. If an emergency occurs in the car, please inform the staff directly, or the emergency control system or the emergency button in the car.

21:10 Staff: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Shinkansen. This is the Nozomi Super Express bound for Hiroshima. We will be stopping at Shin-Yokohama, Nagoya, Kyoto, Shin-Osaka, Shin-Kobe, Himeji, and Okayama stations before arriving at Hiroshima Terminal.

21:36 John Daub: Unagi is so tender. It is so... I don't need a fork. It's so tender. It's so soft.

21:43 Staff: Smoking is not allowed on this train, except in the designated smoking rooms located in cars 3, 7, and 15. The smoking room in car number 10 is for passengers in the green cars.

21:58 John Daub: It comes with a pickle of daikon. It's also quite good. I also have another mask. Don't worry, I'm okay.

22:09 Staff: We ask that you switch your mobile phones to silent mode.

22:15 John Daub: These masks help to bottle in the moisture so your droplets don't go all over the place. Talking is also not good. One more thing. The unagi sauce soaks into the rice. That's so good. When the sauce goes into the rice, that's what an unagi bento is all about.

23:06 John Daub: Irvan writes in here, ride the green car next time. You got it. How about the grand class? There's a class above the green car. And Shane writes in what Shane writes in. So now Irvan and Shane are at equal levels now. You two are funny. In a good way. You guys make my day. Alexis Cashel. Never had unagi before. Can you describe the taste? Sure. Really quickly here.

23:47 John Daub: Unagi has a very soft taste. It's a very soft meat. This one has been cooked a little bit so it's kind of chewy a little bit. But usually it's grilled. So as I was saying about the unagi, it's the sauce that tastes really good. It's a little bit sweet and salty. And it's a very savory sauce. And that goes quite well with the unagi. But it's a very tender piece of fish. It's meaty and it's a little bit oily. And that oil has a delicious taste that you savor. And you have to try it at least once. And don't buy cheap unagi. This is important. Buy unagi that's caught fresh from the rivers. And trust me, it is so good if you pay a little bit more for a better cut of unagi. A better treated unagi. And it also pays for more sustainable fishing instead of just farming these things. Although farming is sustainable. But it just tastes better. You gotta try it once in your life.

24:55 John Daub: Alright guys, that's all I got for you. I want to say goodbye. This is supposed to be a short one. So I want to show you a little bit of the countryside outside the window. This is more the suburbs and Tokyo sprawls all the way to Mt. Fuji. And I'm going to Osaka tonight. I'm going to Osaka so expect a few live streams over the next 2-3 days. As I take you to another side of Japan. Hey there I am. There you are. Mt. Fuji next stop but on a cloudy day I don't think we're going to get a chance to see it. If you do, I'll have it on Instagram. Bye everybody.