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Summaries + full diarized transcripts
2020-09-26 · Ep 809 · 56m

Tokyo Sushi Alleys at Midnight Tsukiji Market

TokyoMidnight walkTsukiji MarketSushiCOVID-19 impact
Summary

Tokyo Sushi Alleys at Midnight Tsukiji Market

Overview

In this atmospheric midnight live stream, John Daub takes viewers on a quiet walk through the outer alleys of Tsukiji Market in Tokyo. Recorded in September 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, the video captures a stark contrast to the area's bustling past. With the inner market having moved to Toyosu in 2018 and tourism halted due to the pandemic, John describes the neighborhood as somewhat of a "ghost town" at night, though still retaining its unique charm and safety.

John navigates the wet, rain-slicked streets using only a smartphone light, highlighting the eerie silence of normally busy sushi alleys. He visits the historic Namiyoke Inari Shrine, explains the history of the market's relocation, and stops at a Family Mart for a beer. The walk culminates at the 24-hour Sushi Zanmai Honten, where he reflects on the quality and value of the chain compared to other high-end options. Throughout the stream, John interacts with live viewers, sharing updates on his projects, including a fireworks Kickstarter and upcoming Wagyu episodes.

Highlights

  • 00:00:01 John introduces the midnight walk in Tsukiji, noting the quiet atmosphere post-pandemic and market relocation.
  • 00:02:31 Walking through dark sushi alleys with a phone light, noting the creepiness of the empty streets.
  • 00:13:54 Observation on Tokyo's safety and respect, noting unchained tables left outside closed shops.
  • 00:18:26 Visit to Namiyoke Inari Shrine, where fishermen historically prayed for safety and good catch.
  • 00:20:21 Explanation of why gyudon and ramen shops proliferated near the market (fishermen wanted non-fish meals).
  • 00:25:40 John buys a beer at Family Mart despite leg injury advice, encouraged by viewer Kaitel.
  • 00:30:43 Arrival at Sushi Zanmai Honten, the 24-hour main shop of the famous chain.
  • 00:38:14 John recommends the aburitoro (blowtorched fatty tuna) and discusses the chain's training standards.
  • 00:49:58 Update on the fireworks Kickstarter project supporting the industry during pandemic cancellations.
  • 00:54:49 Tease of upcoming Shinkansen episodes and new channel content.

Timeline / Chapters

  • 00:00:01 Introduction to Tsukiji at midnight
  • 00:02:31 Walking the dark sushi alleys
  • 00:09:37 Live stream context and safety notes
  • 00:13:54 Tokyo street culture and building history
  • 00:18:26 Namiyoke Inari Shrine visit
  • 00:20:21 History of Tsukiji and Toyosu relocation
  • 00:25:40 Family Mart beer stop
  • 00:30:43 Sushi Zanmai Honten exploration
  • 00:41:10 Review of Sushi Zanmai quality and value
  • 00:49:58 Fireworks Kickstarter update
  • 00:54:49 Upcoming episodes and sign-off

Japan Travel Tips

  • Safety: Tokyo is exceptionally safe for midnight walks, even in quiet market alleys.
  • Etiquette: Keep voices down after 10 p.m. in residential neighborhoods like Tsukiji.
  • Sushi Zanmai: The honten (main shop) in Tsukiji is open 24 hours and offers high-quality sushi at reasonable prices due to high turnover.
  • Convenience Stores: Family Mart and others are ubiquitous; you can buy alcohol late at night.
  • Transport: Many shops are accessible via bicycle; police often patrol on bikes.
  • COVID-19: During the pandemic, business travelers from specific countries (e.g., Singapore) had specific entry protocols involving apps and testing.

Japanese Language & Culture Notes

  • Tsukiji Market: Moved to Toyosu in 2018. The outer market remains but is quieter at night.
  • Namiyoke Inari Shrine: Built during the Manji era (1658–1661). Fishermen prayed here for safety from waves (nami) and good catch.
  • Food Preferences: Fishermen historically avoided sushi after work, preferring gyudon (beef bowl) or ramen, leading to many non-fish restaurants near the market.
  • Building Materials: Older buildings often feature green copper cladding used for fireproofing after the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake.
  • Police Presence: Tokyo police often patrol on bicycles, allowing better community interaction.
  • Showa Era: John notes Tsukiji retains charm from the Showa era (ended 1989), a nostalgic period for many Japanese.

Food & Drink Guide

  • Sushi: Available at Sushi Zanmai Honten 24/7. John recommends the Maguro Zanmai and aburitoro (blowtorched fatty tuna).
  • Aburitoro: Blowtorched fatty tuna (otoro), described as melting in the mouth.
  • Omu-gyu-kare: Omelet beef curry seen at Sukiya for ¥750.
  • Gyudon: Beef bowl, historically popular among market workers.
  • Beer: John drinks an Ebisu beer from Family Mart. Also mentions Sapporo Kitaka.
  • Tiramisu: Bought for Kanae from a supermarket.
  • Takoyaki: Gintagyo chain headquarters nearby; usually 24 hours but closed during this visit.

People

  • John Daub: Host and narrator. Walking through Tsukiji, interacting with live stream viewers.
  • Kanae Daub: John's wife. Mentioned as eating tiramisu and waiting at home.
  • Mike Chen: Fellow YouTuber. Mentioned as having eaten sushi at Sushi Zanmai with John previously.
  • Live Stream Viewers: Numerous viewers interact via chat (e.g., Kaitel, Ado, Joe, Jennifer French), influencing John's actions (e.g., buying beer).

Key Takeaways

  • Tsukiji's outer market is significantly quieter at night due to the inner market's relocation and the pandemic.
  • Sushi Zanmai offers consistent quality and value because chefs train at a central headquarters and turnover is high.
  • Tokyo remains safe for night walks, but respect for neighbors (quietness) is crucial.
  • The fireworks industry suffered significant losses during the pandemic, prompting John's Kickstarter support project.

Notable Quotes

  • 00:00:01 "This place was buzzing because you'd always get fresh sushi. The entire city would come here for midnight binges."
  • 00:01:19 "Even in the city of Tokyo, you want to be really quiet and respect the neighbors."
  • 00:13:54 "Anybody can pick this up, nothing's chained down. You're probably leaving with a whole table set but nobody does that you know?"
  • 00:18:26 "The reason why there's pizzerias and gyudon and not a lot of sushi actually closer to the market because fishermen want to eat anything except for fish."
  • 00:38:14 "Oh the aburitoro, that is the best, it is like blowtorched otoro. Oh man that like melts in your mouth."
  • 00:41:10 "Tsukiji is one of the places where still retains some of the charm of the Showa era."
  • 00:49:58 "We did a pretty nice thing I think to the community by funding a mini fireworks show."

Related Topics

  • Tsukiji vs. Toyosu Market
  • Sushi Zanmai Chain Review
  • Tokyo Midnight Walks
  • Japanese Fireworks Festivals
  • Wagyu Beef History
  • COVID-19 Travel Restrictions in Japan

Search Tags

#only-in-japan-go #tokyo #tsukiji #sushi #midnight-walk #covid-19 #sushi-zanmai #namiyoke-inari-shrine #ginza #toyosu #live-stream #john-daub #japan-travel #street-food #izakaya


Full Transcript

00:00:01 John Daub: How you doing everybody? It's midnight. This is Tokyo, of course, Tsukiji Market. It had just rained earlier today, so I thought the alleys and streets here would be pretty unique after midnight. And it is. Coupled with the fact that this market closed in 2018, the inner market where the auctions were, the fish were being sold, and moved to Toyosu, which is about three or four kilometers down the road straight this way. A lot of people are out of business, moved in that direction, creating something of a ghost town. Now at night on weekdays, even on weekends, this place was buzzing because you'd always get fresh sushi. The entire city would come here for midnight binges. However, what you're about to see today is the result of not just COVID, the corona pandemic, but also the fact that this town is at night, dare I say it, dead.

00:01:19 John Daub: We have to keep it down because people are out of business. As you know, most people do live in this neighborhood after 10 p.m. Even in the city of Tokyo, you want to be really quiet and respect the neighbors. So my voice is right next to the microphone, but it's very, very quiet compared to my usual voice, which is actually kind of booming. Hey, Yervon. How you doing? No, that was made with the iPhone. Shane, Tony P., guys got the midnight munchies. This is the president of Sushi Zanmai. This company was only established in 2003, I believe, and it's grown so much it's one of the largest national sushi chains. They've been suffering a little bit because of the lack of tourists and the pandemic—all the restaurants are—but they expanded based on tourism and we've seen a couple of them shut down in this area. There's about 12 Sushi Zanmai in this area.

00:02:31 John Daub: All right guys, now we're gonna walk through this alley and I'm kind of scared about it but I did bring a light. So I'm gonna go through here, I hope everything is gonna be okay. Just walk with me through the alleys where sushi is made but not today. It does look quite sushi-y, there are a couple of shops but they just closed. I asked the guy if he would make me sushi, said no, he's going to bed. I do have a light so I'm gonna... if there's anything that happens to me... sounds that was so creepy. Oh these are some of the trucks, this is one of the trucks that they use in the fish market shop and it's here right now. You can see I guess they're still moving some of the fish around, it's kind of interesting. He's closing up the shop, I don't even want to say hi. There's some people over there, let's avoid people so I'm going to go down this alley, let's go down this way.

00:05:52 John Daub: Hey John Kimura how you doing, Ranjit. We'll see what we can find, maybe we'll find some sushi, I don't know. Hey Yun Wong is here, pretty scary, Justin Nugent. So I feel like my first visit Japan should be on a six thousand dollar budget so I can support a bunch of restaurants for my visit, that would be really appreciated. Well I'm gonna turn the light off. This is the corner of Tsukiji Market, we're gonna walk back in. This isn't actually an alley, this is more of a main street. If this was a square this is the outer side of the square. This place used to be buzzing at night even on weekdays definitely because salarymen would come out here and they would drink with clients, take them to some of the best sushi in Japan to some of these street alleys and that's where they would do business especially in the Ginza area.

00:08:04 John Daub: But now I guess because of COVID you can see some people are enjoying sushi over there. Because the pandemic I'm trying to stay away from the street but I'm not sure if they're going to be able to get to the street. I'm just gonna walk around one alley this way. Okay a little bit different people, let's walk down this way, it's creepier. Good thing about Tokyo, no spiders. Hey you shouldn't be riding two on a bicycle, it's slightly illegal, police stop you they I think they fine you uh three thousand yen just saying, you can do the right thing. This is the alley, one of the alleys that I think we started at, I don't know they all kind of look the same. You can get so lost in Tsukiji right? Question, what does that say on the street? Right there. It says tomare (stop), which means stop in Japanese. But guys we have a pretty smart group here.

00:09:37 John Daub: We're live in Tokyo. Thanks so much for joining me on a walk. Now I came out here for two reasons. One, I had a big dinner and I need to get some exercise. Two, I just wanted to come here at night because it seemed like it'd be a pretty good idea. All right just walk. Those are where those kids went. What is he? They're up to no good. Over there is the shrine. We're going to end the live stream around that area so we'll be there in about 5, 10 minutes. Let's go this way. Keep walking, let's put some distance between us. Got to watch where you step. I don't think he knew he had an audience of 1,500 people.

00:12:09 John Daub: Would you go down there? Some strange liquid. Stay away from that okay? Just keep going straight and find a better alley. Those who can't visit Tokyo because of the pandemic, you're always here with Only in Japan Go. Click that like button. If you want me to do more midnight walks through various neighborhoods in the city of Tokyo, one of the safest cities in the world, probably the safest. Look how cool it is here. The iPhone 11 Pro is doing a great job with low light here. These are all sushi restaurants at night and they're closed.

00:13:54 John Daub: There's got to be a convenience store around here. Even in Tokyo when they close the shops you can see they'll just put the stools out like that. Anybody can pick this up, nothing's chained down. You're probably leaving with a whole table set but nobody does that you know? People are pretty respectful. Tsukiji is a neighborhood. A lot of these buildings here if you look up they're all a mix match of decades. Some of them going all the way back to the great Kanto earthquake of 1923. You'll see some of the buildings have a green copper on them. They use the copper to try to fireproof the buildings in case another big fire happened in the city of Tokyo. And that copper has turned, I guess it's a copper alloy, kind of a green. So you'll see some buildings in Tokyo they're kind of being torn down more and more but there are a couple of them over this direction. We're going to be heading there after we go this way towards the shrine.

00:15:17 John Daub: There's a light rain right now and the weather has gotten cool. The summer humidity melted away around September 10th and we've had really nice cool weather. Opened the windows at night. There is some pollen in the air and a lot of people have allergies now, fall allergies. We have some and I find myself having trouble sleeping because of the pollen, it just sort of reacts with me, keeps me up at night. So there's a Family Mart across the street but as you can clearly see there's a fence between us and Japanese convenience store. So we'll have to stay to this side since Tsukiji is part of this live stream. And over there in the distance you see Midnight Ramen. You're like on the other side of the Pacific or something so you're stuck here inside of my iPhone. All right turn here back to the alleys of Tsukiji.

00:16:25 John Daub: That alley that I walked in the first one was really really scary because I kept thinking there was something behind me. Look at all that beer mixed in with some soda pop. Whoa that's sake, casks of sake inside there. Awesome. You can see light rain coming down right now, it's pretty. With a little bit of the rain it keeps me cool but it also has a little bit of texture to the atmosphere. So now some more small sushi shops that are shut down. A lot of them were making a business with deliveries, you know lunchtime deliveries. That's how a lot of them are staying afloat. What? Oh this is to keep the birds away, they don't actually work. For all of the kids born after like 2005 that's a CD, we used to listen to music on those. It's true, Dennis still does.

00:18:26 John Daub: If you have any questions ask Dennis. Oh that's peach-flavored water, interesting. Look at these parking lots have these uh touchscreens. I'd pay it forward but I think it just takes digital money. All right we're gonna check out this uh shrine here. This is where people would go to pray for sushi, the fishermen would come here and pray for a good catch back in the day. Some businesses have come in here, there's a pizzeria here. And I got a little bit of a story. The reason why there's pizzerias and gyudon and not a lot of sushi actually closer to the market because fishermen want to eat anything except for fish. After they got done they wanted gyudon, they wanted like chicken, they wanted ramen.

00:20:21 John Daub: So the first Yoshinoya which is a beef bowl restaurant gyudon was actually inside of this market, 1930s I believe right after they've opened up the new fish market. The fish market before Tsukiji was in Nihonbashi which is oh I don't know like maybe four kilometers more towards the center. And after the Great Kanto earthquake in 1923 they moved the fish market here which is now closed. You see the white there? They turned what used to be the inner market into a massive parking lot. It's kind of sad that I can see the parking lot from the outside. If you cross the river look on the other side you can look into what used to be Tsukiji Market and it is really sad. This used to be the entrance into the market and just down the street over here you would be able to go in and see the maguro (tuna) auction. And that building is still there but they're dismantling a lot of stuff, it's kind of sad.

00:22:08 John Daub: Namiyoke Inari Shrine. It is said that Namiyoke Inari Shrine was built during the Manji era, 1658 to 1661. Interesting. It's pretty lit up and you get a good view. I think it's more impressive at night than it is during the day. This is tamago (egg), it is shaped like an egg, it says tamago, tamagoyaki (rolled omelet). One of them says sushi, this one says sushi. This is the front of the shrine. There's a bell that you can ring but I'm not going to ring that at midnight, it's just a little bit too much here.

00:24:20 John Daub: Just did a secret live stream for Insiders a couple days ago showing the new camera. That's another reason why I came out here actually because I recently got a new camera that I was checking the low light and just like when the streets are kind of glowing like this. Do you see? Let's get to the rain coming down, it's really pretty and it looks like the rain is going to get a little bit stronger so I'm not going to be out here much longer. I'm surprised there's no convenience store, I thought there'd be one. Oh there's a Family Mart. A couple went in there but they know I'm live streaming, they saw me, I exposed myself with the camera. Not what I just said, never just delete the last 15 seconds. The rain's coming down.

00:25:40 John Daub: I can't drink a beer Mr. Das and they told me that due to my leg I shouldn't do that. But I guess we can have a quick look inside and maybe I'll get a beer. This is Kitaka from Sapporo, flying squirrel. I'm not drinking coffee, just keep me up all night. Hey Alice, sending you get well wishes from both of us. Hey how you doing David? Kaitel, beer. All right Kaitel has spoken. Kaitel told me to get a beer can I? It's not me it's Kaitel, blame him. Let's go see what we got here, ready to go inside. Just keep it real, just keep it down, don't make any noises, low profile. They did have sushi, I'm not hungry, I just ate. I'm married, I have a wife. Does it say midnight snack on the title? It says midnight sushi alley, didn't mean I was gonna... Look I don't want to get sick from eating at midnight. Everybody knows you don't feed Gizmo after midnight. What are you guys from the millennials? Probably never seen Gremlins right?

00:29:37 John Daub: It is really hard to film in restaurants and get permission at this time in Tokyo because of the population and the crowdedness. They don't want... it's really hard to film here right now in Tokyo. So you have to get outside of the city if you want to get permission to film. This is a new Ebisu and I probably won't drink the entire thing, just putting that out there. This one is I guess it's for fall, it's not a red one, this has a different amber taste to it like a brown one. So kanpai everybody, it's pretty nice. Thank you Family Mart, nice music in there, nice and warm and dry. Those are the two people that have been stalking me, we saw them at the shrine and now we saw them inside the Family Mart and now they're over there. They're like kind of following me or am I following them? It's hard to say.

00:30:43 John Daub: All right I'm going to make my way to the other side now, I want to show you Sushi Zanmai. Oh and this is a new bar that opened up, Wadaya. Look at how the streets look when it's just a little wet like this. There is one sushi shop that is always open, it's Sushi Zanmai Honten, honten (main shop) means main shop, it's 24 hours a day. And we're going to walk by there just to see what the vibe is inside, just have a look see. Kanai and I ate sushi there when we passed the one million subscriber for the old channel. Yeah all of you know already that I have a new channel, just youtube.com slash John Daub, very easy to find it. And there's a Wagyu episode coming maybe tonight.

00:32:06 John Daub: The coppers are here, they're on patrol, that means they're kind of keeping safe. It's good when the police are around. I like the fact that the Tokyo police a lot of them will go around with bicycles and I think you see a lot more on a bicycle than you do on a patrol car. When they're working you don't want to make a social call, you don't want to bother the officers with social stuff when they're working, trust me. Alleys are so pretty when there's just a little bit of water on them. You can do the nod, the head nod. As I said before fishermen don't like sushi so what you have here is Sukiya which is curry and gyudon and I do like Sukiya. It's very famous for their curry, they have really good curry. But look at this, they put it all together, this is omu-gyu-kare (omelet beef curry). Omelette like omurice and gyu is beef and kare (curry) is curry, $750 for this. Whoa that actually looks really good and I would try that.

00:34:24 John Daub: But you can see they're doing social distancing and they have these partitions on the wall so it keeps people from getting sick. And well I think it's doing a lot of work, it's doing a little bit but it's better than nothing. This is where I got Kanai's takoyaki, that next building across the street there that's the headquarters of the first office for Gintagyo which is the big takoyaki chain. If you go straight about 400 meters you get to Ginza. Wow the rain's really coming down. Clean up the lens a little bit. Well look at that sports car, sweet ride, well it's a Lambo isn't it? Lambo Ferrari, not the Ferrari, it's a Ferrari, it's a Lambo, I don't know my Lambos. Yeah there's a takoyaki, that takoyaki shop's supposed to be 24 hours, Kanai, that's closed. Oh Kiki you have to take a rain check on that.

00:36:24 John Daub: That's right so Mike and I had sushi at this particular Sushi Zanmai and I'm looking forward to seeing how they're doing. The Sushi Zanmai, all right let's go take a look. It's nice to see. Hello. Hope you're doing well. I did get a haircut, it's very becoming. My leg is okay, it's pretty nasty but I wrapped it up pretty nicely, you can see here. It's still swollen pretty bad but I can walk slowly and ride a bicycle. But I haven't gotten any exercise so this is kind of nice just to get outside and walk around, I've been inside the whole time. So Kiki I did get something, I bought Kanai some tiramisu from the supermarket and it was really good and I ate maybe 80% of it, she had 20% on her choice, that was her choice, she didn't want it. This is the one that Mike Chen and I came and ate sushi, it's like going back.

00:38:14 John Daub: So this one is always open, this is the Tokubetsu Sushi Zanmai, tokubetsu (special) Zanmai, the deluxe special. This one's really good because it gives you a lot of stuff but I love the Maguro Zanmai. But this isn't the one, where's the one? The fatty tuna that's been blowtorched, where is it? Oh here it is, aburitoro (blowtorched fatty tuna). Oh the aburitoro, that is the best, it is like blowtorched otoro. Oh man that like melts in your mouth, activate the fats, totally activate it. That's where we sat in that, we sat right there for those that remember. Come and take a selfie, take your selfie, move on.

00:39:47 John Daub: So there you have it, there's not a lot open, your choices are limited to Sushi Zanmai Honten. This one is always crowded too, yeah this one is usually very crowded especially when the tourists are here but they're not here today. So you pretty much get a chance to get all this for yourself. It's kind of nice. I like that they have a way to get this idea from Kentucky Fried Chicken with the Colonel out in the front and I guess he's saying he's comparing the maguro that on New Year's Day he pays a million dollars for the maguro typically. And you can see the alleys are just really nice to walk around at night, very picturesque. So bring your camera here if it rains and you'll get some real nice pictures. This is a really amazing like alley pictures of old Japan and Tsukiji is one of the places where still retains some of the charm of the Showa era which ended way back in like all the way at the bubble period, then Heisei started. Showa era was a very happy time for many Japanese.

00:41:10 John Daub: So there you have it, this is the alleys of Tsukiji at midnight. Any questions? Sushi Zanmai one of the main most popular. I'm very thankful that they did let me film in here, they could have said no but this is probably the best reasonably priced sushi. There's Sushi Dai which is over there, I never really was that impressed, I always thought for cost performance Sushi Zanmai is leaps and bounds ahead of anybody else here. One because they're a chain and two the sushi chefs are all trained at the headquarters in the Takoyaki building over there, they all train across the street. So the best chefs are in here making the sushi. Anybody can come here and I think you're getting pretty much the same kind, you're getting the same sushi because they're all coming from the same market but you pay a lot less here. So you get a really good meal and it's always fresh because it's always crowded, the turnover is so high at Sushi Zanmai. I'm a big fan of the chain and I don't like chain restaurants a lot but if you're just looking for mid-priced sushi you can't go wrong and you won't get sick because the turnover on all the fish is really high. You're getting all the fresh stuff especially at the honten right here, 24 hours baby. They train inside that building, that's their headquarters right there so you know the good stuff is going to be in here.

00:42:42 John Daub: So that's all we got for you, any questions? I still got time, I got half a brew here although half of it spilled in my bag. I'm going to go get some more sushi, I got time for you, get another beer. Look I'm not thinking of the one after this one and I'm fine. I've been to many Rick villages Villegas. Good morning from San Diego, give it classy, thank you, night owl. I'm watching the US, it's 11:56 a.m., yeah it's like 13 hours difference depending on where you are if you're central or Eastern Standard Time. Where did you put the beer? I got this a little pocket in my bag here but I think some of it spilled in the pocket so it's going to smell like beer a little bit. Because Ado's here I'll take you down one more alley. Ado you just absolutely... yay we got the Dutch. I don't know how many people in the world are living in Holland and I'd love to go and see them again sometime soon.

00:44:11 John Daub: By the way what is the name of that museum? Only in Japan is in a semi-permanent exhibition in one of the museums in Amsterdam, Tropenmuseum (Tropical Museum). If you go to the Tropenmuseum there is an exhibit there and they asked me to use one of my videos for seven years and I said sure I didn't get paid for it but they said if I ever come I could get in for free, the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam. How cool is that? Joe hi John this is Joe from Virginia, stay safe and hope to see you one day in Japan, absolutely. And Joyful Cheese hey! Look at this it just popped up really bright, something to treat yourself with. Any idea how long it's been before Japan has brought foreign tourists back in? I just gave an update on this, that's a great question and I really don't have too many answers for it that's changed. But right now everybody is sort of not allowed to go and I can't leave the country because I won't be able to get back in and you know my work is here.

00:45:18 John Daub: They've opened it up to business travelers in Singapore. The problem though is that there are so many hurdles to jump through, there's tracing there's an app that you have to install that tells you where you've been, you have to keep a travel log, take your temperature daily, take a PCR test before you go upon arrival and then again before you leave. You don't have to do 14-day quarantine but you're not allowed to go beyond the limits of your business for 14 days and then after the 14 days then you can go around if you're not sick. That's only Singapore though and I put a link in the Discord server on the COVID discussion and bulletin board. And that was really interesting, I thought that if this is the procedures for business travel between Singapore and Japan this is kind of a blueprint of what they're looking for in the future. This started I think September 18th and business travelers from Singapore can come to Japan without having to do a traditional quarantine but they have to jump through a lot of hurdles in order to get that.

00:46:23 John Daub: For breakfast probably going to put some bread in the bread maker and make Kanai some morning bread. When she wakes up you'll be able to smell it in the house. We got a Panasonic bread maker called Home Bakery in Japanese, it's really good. And Panasonic is the originators of the Home Bakery and also the makers of the camera in my bag right here the Panasonic S5, it's a pretty nice camera. Upload new episode on the main channel, Alpha the new channel, yeah there's one I think I might be able to get it up tonight. It's all done, I'm adding in some of the history. I found out that Kobe beef actually is... the reason why Kobe beef is the most popular in the West is because of a misunderstanding by foreigners who couldn't speak English during the Meiji period that reported back that all Wagyu was called Kobe beef. And since the Meiji period which is 1868 to 1912 something around then just Kobe beef has been so popular although most of it in Tokyo was Omi beef. And this video is about Omi beef, it's done I just have to upload it and do the thumbnail. Thumbnail's really hard for me.

00:47:44 John Daub: Hope everybody's okay. Oh we're so close to a thousand likes that's crazy. ZamZam you should go to Toyosu and bid for tuna, that would be funny. Oh can I do that? If we did a Kickstarter we could buy our own hundred thousand dollar tuna and have a big party but I think we need to have people here in Japan do that. That's what we call crowdfunding to do something good not for the tuna which are on the verge of extinction but something interesting I guess. It shouldn't, I've actually cut down on the amount of tuna that I eat just because of making that episode and learning about it. I don't need to eat a lot of maguro, I still eat it but I eat a lot less. Oh we hit 1000 that's awesome, this is only like the third or fourth time we've ever done that, that's massive.

00:48:41 John Daub: Stephanie Murphy good morning from Wisconsin, hey welcome. And Freebooterzy how far are you from here? From home? I live in Chuo-ku which is this area so I'm not gonna tell you where exactly I live but not that far away from here. So it makes it easy to come here to Tsukiji. So if you are in the area let me know, come down and say hi. 2300 people watching that's nice, welcome. Jennifer French when is your 25th anniversary of moving to Japan? You know Jennifer very interesting story. In about two or three weeks I will pass the I've been in Japan for 50% of my life milestone. It's one that creeps up on you and you can eventually hit it, it'll be 23 years in Japan and I'm 46 years old so there's a point. And I've been thinking about this for the last 10 years, I'm like no I'm not gonna be here, I won't spend half my life in Japan. Yeah I did so I'm very close to that milestone so we might have to do some sort of a little party, well you can't be here but digitally.

00:49:58 John Daub: Actually it'll be very close to the fireworks festival in Omagari in Akita on the 10th of October. By the way you're all invited, our Kickstarter project raised close to $60,000. I bought a fireworks program up in Omagari which is the only place that is launching fireworks this year. So we've purchased it, I went there I watched them manufacture the fireworks and you're all invited on Only in Japan Go for free to watch us launch it. And those who backed will get the 4K documentary later on. But that's sort of the fireworks industry lost I think something like $5 billion because of the cancellations. Of course I think they might have insurance or something but that doesn't cover all the expenses that they lost. And so we did a pretty nice thing I think to the community by funding a mini fireworks show. But that's passed our goal so much that we decided to do a second fireworks festival which will be two weeks later on the 22nd of October in Katakai which is where we shot the Yonshakudama which used to be the world's largest fireworks.

00:51:09 John Daub: That same maker is going to launch up some fireworks that we're gonna buy from him. It's gonna be pretty awesome to use the rest of the money and just watch it up. I made virtually zero on this project by the way just out of transparency. I mean $60,000 but it wasn't for me it was for the fireworks. So I get a nice hotel and maybe a dinner and I get to make this documentary which is something I've always wanted to do, access to the firework manufacturing process. So it's a win-win-win-win for everybody and you get to watch it for free on Only in Japan Go. Another reason to subscribe and be a member and your memberships here that supports me so I'm good.

00:51:43 John Daub: The Asian nerds here John will you make an episode about wa oh the kuri (chestnut) right? And what is it matcha sando (matcha sandwich) maybe. My phone's all blurry from the rain, can you see okay? Everything's getting wet. Interested in the fireworks. The person who bought the MindStar which is about $3,500 came from Germany so we had a huge huge interest in the fireworks from Germany and a big shout out danke schön to our supporters in Germany. That was really great, we did get probably in all of Europe outside of the United States I think Germany was the second biggest supporter of the fireworks festival which is incredible, more than Japan, it's a little weird. Hi from Paraguay awesome.

00:52:50 John Daub: Dr. Emmett Brown your wife got angry you playing around till midnight? No she knows that I'm out here, I told her I was going out and she just said be safe and come back. I don't live too far away, in fact my bicycle was right here so you can see it's kind of wet. I'm gonna be up late editing anyways, I just put in the finishing touches on the Wagyu episode. Maybe I'll try to upload it. Thanks guys we got a good crowd watching, just thanks everybody for the support here I really do appreciate it. September's coming to a close. Because of the typhoon that came through here a few days ago I had to cancel my trip to Tokorozawa which is they have an anime hotel that I was going to stay at and film and film the restaurant which they have anime food in there which is kind of neat. So that's been delayed for a few weeks and I'll film that in October sometime. I'm gonna go and spend the night there and film that for you, it's a pretty neat story.

00:53:59 John Daub: Just it was a shame that it happened when the typhoon was coming and then the typhoon was much ado about nothing kind of, just broke apart and a little bit of very little wind, wasn't too bad. John is stealing our rain, give it back John. I'm really sorry I'm not stealing it it's Tokyo, blame Tokyo, Tokyo did it. All right this is the part where you guys say where you're watching from. If you're shy to write in and leave a comment it's fine, it's pretty easy to write your location, not your exact address just write in here your city and country. Hi John any plans of making a Shinkansen episode? Yes from the Philippines, I'm making one next month. I got three episodes on the Shinkansen, I'm working with Japan Rail and I got three episodes coming traveling to Tohoku and it's gonna be really really cool.

00:54:49 John Daub: I can't say too much more than that but we got Shinkansen episodes, I got three episodes coming it's gonna be pretty cool and I'm so happy for that opportunity. I haven't released an episode on the new channel in a while, that's coming this weekend. It's a masterpiece, it's with Kevin Reilly and I wanna release it when it's done when it's good. So I think it'll be maybe tonight before I go to bed and if not and I don't feel comfortable with it it'll be tomorrow. It's done it's just I have to do some polishing, it's not done until it's done all right? But yeah I got a lot of episodes coming on the new channel but I really want it to be the best work that I can possibly do and keep that going. And then after I get into a rhythm you're gonna see more, my goal is once a week now but it's been a while and I do apologize for that.

00:55:38 John Daub: All right guys straight ahead is Ginza, I'm going home, stay dry. Wait I live at 123 Fake Street, Paul! It's kind of funny, I'm watching you Paul. Clean Eastwood eyes. All right folks have a good day, thanks so much for watching. I'll see you in the next live stream probably tomorrow because I got a lot of stuff to do. Kind of fun walking around the alleys, I'll show the alley for Ado, he came a little late. The alleys, so if you go down here you make a left or right there's like an alley inside of an alley and then there's another alley inside of there, it's kind of a maze, it's kind of creepy. I'd go there but I should probably go home. That's my bike. I'm awful at saying goodbye so goodbye.

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