00:00:00 John Daub: Alright, welcome everybody. This is where I'm going to be staying tonight. How you doing? Welcome to Fuji City in Shizuoka Prefecture. This ryokan that I'm staying at tonight is extremely affordable. And I say extremely because in Japan you don't see prices like this in too many places except for like capsule hotels. But the room upstairs is, I guess you would call it a micro room. You'll see in a second. I'm going to take you up there right now.

00:00:30 John Daub: Now, the price for one night here, according to the sign, is 3,450 yen or about $30. And with breakfast it's about $40. So the breakfast is pretty good and there's a bath here. That is a really good price for a traditional inn that has a history going back over 300 years. Alright, this is not your typical hotel. And it's on a shopping street called Yoshiwara Shotengai (covered shopping arcade), which I just did a live stream this morning on. I thought it would take you inside. Let's go in.

00:01:02 John Daub: Check out this micro apartment, micro room. I actually have access here. I checked in really early because they knew I was coming. But they write some of the history here. Again, the daimyo stayed here back in the 17th century, making this a very, very important stop. Yoshiwara-juku. There's some of the old pictures of what it used to look like back in the day. It still looks really cool. A little bit retro.

00:01:31 John Daub: And there's not a lot of guests staying here because of the pandemic. But there are some things inside of here where you can feel the history. You can feel the history. There's some signs. And if you walk around, I think that's one of the original signs out there from the Edo period. So let's go upstairs to the room. And I'll take you up to the roof and you can get a view of Mount Fuji from up there, which is really cool.

00:02:03 John Daub: Alright, I'm in room number one. The first room. This is pretty much it. This is going to be a short live stream, probably. I would say cozy. I guess you can call this cozy. If you look from up here, you can see, get an idea of the actual space. It's about four tatami mats, which is not a lot of space.

00:02:40 John Daub: And there are actually some people in Tokyo that have apartments, full apartments that are this size. And of course, you can't have a bathroom or a toilet in here. In fact, I've seen some apartments at this size in Tokyo that also had kitchenettes where you could do some cooking and a little refrigerator, probably the bar refrigerators that some of you might have had when you were a college student. The bathroom is right over there. I'll take you to a look in as well as the sink to brush your teeth and everything is right here. And then there is a roof. We can walk around and it says there's a garden.

00:03:18 John Daub: I have yet to find that. But I kind of believe that there is the view. Yeah, you know, I think you kind of get what you pay for. Maybe Mount Fuji is behind this building. But, you know, the pigeons are nice. They come here every now and then to say hi. And if you want to shut them out, you can just go like this and they're gone. It's pretty easy.

00:03:44 John Daub: I'm going to be editing here for most of the evening and staying inside that apartment, this room. For the most part, you don't really want to stay in here. You kind of want to go outside to the streets and maybe find a restaurant or izakaya to eat at. The pandemic is going to make that really tough. But I might still explore this evening when my friend Dean Newcomb comes and we're going to be talking about tomorrow's shoot. I came here to make a video on tea.

00:04:15 John Daub: It's a nice Japanese light that we have here. It flickers because of the frequency. Nice artwork on the walls. You know, this is pretty good for $30 a night. I think I can call this home for the next two nights. Inside here, there's nothing. This is where you would put the futon. Maybe a little closet. But I guess I'm using the futon.

00:04:42 John Daub: So it doesn't... I guess this is where the monsters will perch themselves here inside of here. So just keep this closed. I don't have a key either. I want to lock this. What I'll do is I'll just push the table against the door and then at least I have a couple of seconds to run out of here. Luckily, the door is right there. So this is the room I'm staying in.

00:05:08 John Daub: Leave a comment below and let me know if this would be adequate space for you. Could you stay in Taya Ryokan? This is called Taya Ryokan. Again, the history going back three centuries. Could you stay here? You have one little futon which you would extend. That would take up a good portion of the room by pulling this out. Actually, I could take a nap right now. It's been... I was up pretty early.

00:05:50 John Daub: So now you tell me. What do you think? It's cozy, right? I'm up against the wall here. I think this is good for one. You don't want a family inside of here. But could you stay here? Leave me a comment below because I want to hear what you think.

00:06:14 John Daub: Hey, Tony P's in the house. Did you bring the crows with you? All right, let's go to the roof here. Suzette, nice to see you too. That is a really small room, but nice. Suzette always puts a nice positive spin on it. I see Jennifer French is in the house. All right, so let's leave from the room. There's nobody here. I don't really have to close the door. But we're gonna do it anyway.

00:06:47 John Daub: Again, here's the sink where you probably would brush your teeth in the morning. There's a hair dryer. It's very basic, and I think that that's good. It's a simple inn. I really don't need a lot. Don't need anything that's fancy. I'm here to film.

00:07:20 John Daub: Question is, do they speak English? Sort of. Sort of, not really. Kind of, yes. I mean, what do you need to know? There's not really any sort of services, so pretty much you are at the mercies of, like, sleep, eat, restaurant, check out. It's kind of easy.

00:07:38 John Daub: I guess this is where you do the laundry. And I guess I could do my laundry here, too. But this is how Japanese would do their laundry, pretty much. My first apartment in Japan was very much like this. These are from a few decades ago. You wash it in here and then you spin dry it. You have to take it out and spin dry it in a separate machine. See right there? And there's a timer to spin dry. There is a dryer here, but most people hang up their laundry unless it's raining. It's just more efficient. It dries pretty quickly in Japan, especially in the winter. It is dry here with the sun. And there's a cover, so you can dry it in the rain. In the summer, too. Everything dries pretty good here. I've never had a problem hanging my stuff outside. Natural dry.

00:09:07 John Daub: Most of you seem like you could live here. Jason's late. No problem, Jason. Okay, there's a little sink here. Nobody has checked in yet. We're before the check-in. So it feels kind of eerie. Here's the restroom. Oh, it's really nice in here. Everything's really clean. Like, they did the little pointy mark, which is a sign that it's nice. And this one might be a Japanese style. Oh, no, it's a Western, too. Very nice.

00:10:02 John Daub: Nice Showa-era urinals. I can show you that. Ladies might be embarrassed. It's showing the bath. Is this the bath? No, it's just a closet with toilet paper. I wonder where the bath is. All right, let's go upstairs.

00:10:28 John Daub: Now, you see these golf balls and golf clubs? There's a purpose to that. I don't know if they're male and female. I guess so. All right, here's Fuji City from Yoshiwara. Not bad. A little old, but good. I just tend to open doors that I'm not sure I'm supposed to. It seems to be like some sort of golfing driving range up here. And, you know, a lot of Japanese homes where the father would play golf, they would set these up on the roof. A lot of them had in the 1980s.

00:11:24 John Daub: There's Mount Fuji, and unfortunately, everything is in clouds. But very quickly do fortunes change here because one moment Mount Fuji is in the clouds, and then another moment it's so crystal clear. It just moves really fast. I think you can kind of see it sometimes between the clouds there. Yeah, it's hidden right now. But you can see the slopes on the left and the right of her. I used to live closer up towards the base about 20 years ago, and the view... I'd open my window, and I have the view of Mount Fuji, and every morning it was quite amazing.

00:12:02 John Daub: Here's the street, the shopping street I was on earlier this morning. And I have a lot of memories of that. Not a lot of people out, but it's interesting to see from a different angle. Another reason to stay here. Pretty nice. Let's see it going this way. The one thing that impressed me so much about this Yoshiwara Shotengai, the shopping street, was that there's no convenience store. It's all local shops, all mom and pop shops. So it feels like people still make a pretty good living here. Owning a shop like this. That makes me kind of happy.

00:12:57 John Daub: So Aokigahara is actually on the other side, and I'm not interested in going there. It's basically just a big forest. I drove there. Aokigahara is known as the forest where you're not supposed to go into, I guess, because that's where people seem... It's not a good place. And I mean, you can drive... The road drives through there, but I never stop. Except to fly my drone once. Just today... It's not a good view. Tomorrow is supposed to be perfectly clear, which bodes well for my shoot riding the bicycles up there.

00:13:36 John Daub: Now, Fuji City itself, there is an actual place called Fuji City. Fuji City, it's kind of a new city. I guess the cities after in the 1950s kind of joined together, and after World War II, that's when Japan started to modernize more. And places like Fuji City sprang up. Before that, it was a really natural place. Even in the Meiji era, it was not a lot out here. After World War II, it really became something special. I say that because I'm looking... It just looks like a concrete jungle. A lot of these buildings just put up real quick in the 1950s after World War II, and they're not really the most glorious looking buildings, but they are part of Japanese history, so I kind of respect that.

00:14:33 John Daub: All right, I'm going up. Oh, they found me. Found. Crows. Now they know where I'm staying. I shouldn't have come up here. The door doesn't even close. I wonder if they can get in. Yeah. So this place was available, and we booked it online. Again, it's like $30 to $40, depending on if you want breakfast. And you might want breakfast. It seems like a good breakfast. Not sure.

00:15:16 John Daub: I'll take you one more time back into the room. Again, I'm calling this a micro room because it's not a typical size for a Japanese hotel room. It's atypical. I don't know where I'm taking a bath. So I'm guessing that there is a Japanese bath somewhere, but it might be above. Here's another room. I guess they're working on this right now. This one is also quite small. It's basic, right? It's pretty basic. But I like the other one because it has a better view. It has a view, let's just say. This one doesn't have a view. And my view is not exactly, you know...

00:16:20 John Daub: So this is where I'm staying tonight, and I'll be editing here. There's coat hangers. Look at all the amenities. There's an air conditioner. There's a TV that looks like it's from the 1990s. Nice. Works. That's all that's important. I don't even need to watch the TV. I have the computer. There's free Wi-Fi, which means Netflix, but you should be going outside.

00:16:59 John Daub: Hey, guys. Marty. Australians. So these are the Australian postcards. This is going out to, like, Sky. Who's here? Timothy. Ken. John in Brisbane. Daniel in Brussels. Adrian in North Mackay. Heath. All these people from Australia that are waiting for their cards. Jack. Marty, here's yours. Right here. Marty got a wedgie stamp. I hope you don't mind, Marty. You have a wedgie stamp. Sorry. That's yours right up there. He's trying to give him a wedgie. Sorry about that. Just kind of luck of the draw, huh? Joanne and Cook. Act. Robin. Carrie Larson's here. Tarjay. There you go. Jack. You got first names only. It's a good one.

00:18:05 John Daub: So I'm actually going to be putting these into the mailbox at Fuji Post Office. So maybe it'll have a Fuji cancel stamp on it. I've had to send out the Australian postcards over the last couple of weeks just so they don't all come at the same time. All right. Let me take you outside to the street a little bit so I can show you. The shotengai. Think, guys, and I'm going to try to get some lunch. I already filmed an interview with a tea master was really good. Super interesting interview. I will be back to buy some tea from him. And hope that if you come to Fuji City, you do buy from him. Such a nice guy. Great family. His daughter is married to an American living in California. But the interview was all in Japanese because this is Japan. I mean, if I was getting interviewed, I would probably want to speak in my native language, too. Right.

00:19:01 John Daub: All right. Let's go out to the street. I want to show you a little bit more of the shotengai live because some of you might not have joined previously. It's not really even more bustling than this morning when the shops are closed. Now they're open. It feels like not really much of it. My head much has changed. So this morning we saw that he was making soba and udon right here. He's finished for the day. But you can watch him in the window. This is part of the ryokan. I think that the owners also own this shop here, which is really cool. And I might get lunch in there. Just a bowl of soba is 680 yen, like $6. So that's a pretty good deal. And it looks like it's all handmade, right? Got to do it.

00:20:13 John Daub: Eugene Hobart's here. I John, my son wanted me to click this yen button. Well, thanks so much for all your contributions I John in the Discord server as well. Catherine Donaldson. Welcome new traveler Brenda McSee. It's my birthday. Happy birthday, Brenda. That's great. Fuji City birthday party. Stay safe, everybody. Jeff Ang very compact tight. Andrew Fort Wayne was here and Peter Nguyen. I could totally stay there. Question is, do they speak English?

00:21:01 John Daub: Yeah, you know what? I think he speaks a little bit because they do have non-Japanese staying here. It's just part of... There's a cafe. It's just a part of the way that Japan has now become a tourist destination. I think 5-10 years ago, it'd be very hard to find anybody speaking English. And now people can speak a little bit English. Just keep it to the basic stuff and you should be able to get okay. But I highly recommend learning some words, trying to speak the language. It goes a long way. Learning each and... And I think that's a good thing. I'm learning how to count the 10 learning. Chaka meaning 100 things like this. Sen meaning 1000 and you should be able to count with money. Things like that will help you greatly.

00:21:53 John Daub: Still, I'm waiting for this to open. It's pretty crazy. This hasn't changed since this morning. The buses do come here from Fuji City. Fuji Station. And I noticed that there are some businesses here. So, oh, they got the new taxis here. They just look really different in Tokyo. They're black. This one is a yellow like school bus, yellow and white. The Tombo Corporation. Nice. Best taxis in Fuji City.

00:22:34 John Daub: I guess that could be Aladdin's dad because that is Aladdin up there. It's got to be. What do you think? You think you'd have more of a tan being up there in the sun all the day all the time. I know. I mean, if it was me, I'd be really a little bit darker. You know what I mean? Chakimura Food Fund. Let's see what we can find. Again, there's like no vending machines or there's no convenience stores or anything like that. No street food.

00:23:17 John Daub: Yoshiwara Chuo Bus. This is the Yoshiwara Central Bus Terminal. Yeah, I'm looking for something like street food or something I can eat outside with you. I'm not seeing too many things. Just looking back at the Yoshiwara here. This is the Shotengai shopping street. And I don't see anything. In fact, if I just keep walking straight, I get to a shopping center. But I left my door open. So that's probably not a good idea. No 7-Eleven. Nothing. I walked up and down and all around and haven't seen one 7-Eleven, one Family Mart, one Lawson's, one Daily Yamazaki. Nothing.

00:24:09 John Daub: You know what? I'm going to walk down to that traffic light and then I'm calling it because you know what? There's nothing. There's no street food. You have to eat on the Shotengai. That bus looks old. I did Google Maps it. I found the 100 yen shop. It's straight ahead. There's a lot of stuff to see and do here. Most of it is Philippine food. That's the third Philippine store that I've seen. What? It's interesting.

00:25:07 John Daub: I guess I'm going to bring Philippine food. Brazilian population. So you'll find a lot of Brazilians because after World War II, many Brazilians came here to work. They're not the same ones that work in the factories. Especially in Aichi Prefecture. During the 2002 World Cup in Japan when I was living in Toyohashi at the time, it was pretty cool. Because everybody in the bars was a son of somebody who was Brazilian or knew someone who was Brazilian. It was a pretty fun World Cup, especially for Brazil. I think they won it all.

00:25:48 John Daub: I'm going to this traffic light and... Ouch! No, there's no Starbucks here. Not that I know of. All right, I'm going to go to this intersection. I left the door unlocked. Gosh, I'm kind of... I think it's going to be all right. Got stuff rendering on the computer. Welcome to Fuji City. I've already left my micro room. You can watch that in the playback. And everybody in the traffic... Look at that mini car. That would fit in my room. That car would fit in my room. Awesome. It's like a little matchbox car for... You can drive.

00:26:52 John Daub: Oh, it's like a big mega shopping center place. Look at this. It's a mother lode. Cross Garden Co-op. Edion. Edion is a big electronics shop. ABC Mart is for shoes. Welcia for pharmaceuticals. Suvin for outdoor life supplies. And an ATM to pay for it all. Whoa. Mega Mall.

00:27:26 John Daub: Again, a little bit too much enthusiasm for shopping mall. Tone it down. Just kind of excited. What's the song? I just can't hide it. I don't want to lose control. But I think I did it. Oh, there's a sushi place over there. I'm so excited. And I just can't hide it. I already lost control. Now it's time to end it. Yeah. The mall is pretty busy. I guess it's Christmas shopping. I don't know. I think I'm just going to eat at the soba place in my hotel. But it's nice to know that there is a 7-Eleven, which is a 10-minute walk from the hotel.

00:28:43 John Daub: It's only an infringement if I sing it at the right pace. Okay? They're just words. All right? I know I'm worried about copyright infringement and all this. It's very important that people don't, you know, steal my stuff. But look, if I'm off tune and... It's just words, right? Yeah, there's the old bus again. So I'm going to go back to the hotel. I didn't even know... What am I still doing live streaming out here?

00:29:23 John Daub: I got a lot of live streams coming over the next few days. So it's going to be interesting. Tomorrow, I'll probably take you with me up into the hills up of Mount Fuji. Maybe in the morning. So if we get a really nice view, I'll share a little bit of that with you live. Because, I mean, a lot of you weren't able to make it to Japan this year. So being able to share a little bit of what you could have seen, kind of torture. But at the same time, you know, it's my love for my viewers. I'll bring you with me as long as I can. We're limited by only battery and signal.

00:30:08 John Daub: But thanks to John Kimura, I'll stay fully hydrated and full. Jennifer French as well. Make sure you're providing me with sustenance. That's my battery power. It's a cool bike. If you don't have a bike, every bike is pretty cool. Just saying. All right. Everybody, have a good day. Have a good night. Wherever you are, I will be back. Maybe tonight. Who knows? It's a stream-a-thon to end November. Happy Thanksgiving. It's, you know, Sunday here. But I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend.

00:30:50 John Daub: And I'll see you again in another live stream sooner than later. My friend Dean Newcomb is coming tonight. He's bringing Yuya. He's going to be our cameraman. We're going to have a pretty cool time tomorrow. I'm really excited about it. And I go back to see Kanae Daub on the 1st of December in the evening. I got a lot of stuff coming. I'm going to be up in December, too. This is going to be a super exciting way to end 2020. Just got to stay healthy. Everybody, you too, stay healthy out there. I'll see you in the next live stream. Ciao. Peace out. Later, Gator.