00:00:00 John Daub: Welcome to one of the most beautiful spots maybe in all of Japan, especially for those that love green tea. This is a pilgrimage you have to make up here to Obuchi Sasaba in Shizuoka Prefecture, Fuji City. This is the view that I'm about to show you in about 45 seconds as soon as we start walking. And this is Dean right here. We're going to maybe get a chance to see this spot. These are the tea fields of Obuchi Sasaba. It is an iconic image of Mount Fuji. But this is the viewpoint from where we are right now, and there is some history behind it.

00:00:37 John Daub: The tea of the southern foot of the Fuji area had its export ban lifted at the end of the Edo period. And in 1965, tea varieties such as Yabukita were introduced, producing one of the highest quality teas in Japan. I just read that.

00:00:53 Dean Newcomb: You sounded really knowledgeable.

00:00:55 John Daub: I was really knowledgeable. The Obuchi Sasaba fields, Mount Fuji in the backdrop of tea fields, is an impressive sight. This is one of the few spots in Shizuoka Prefecture where you can take photos of Mount Fuji and the tea fields together with no obstructions. And as a result, it's often covered by the media and attracts both professional and amateur photographers alike. It's also a very popular spot for overseas visitors.

00:01:15 John Daub: In order to pass on its beautiful scenery in the future, landowners and local residents actively engage in conservation activities. They want you to come here and learn about Mount Fuji and tea, so we've done that, right? Behind us is Yuya. We're gonna make fun of him. He's filming us. So let's just walk this. We're already right from the parking lot, and this is the parking lot right here. We're already seeing green tea behind us. There it is, right there. They pretty much just look like shrubbery.

00:01:52 Dean Newcomb: They do, huh?

00:01:53 John Daub: Yeah. I learned yesterday that in spring, the flowers come out, and they have quite a beautiful flower—a small white one. Yesterday we came with a tea master to film about learning the details behind making tea. He found a tea blossom, and we used that to make tea out of it. It was okay, it was good, it was interesting—different flavor, sweet.

00:02:23 Dean Newcomb: Oh look at the view. Oh man.

00:02:23 John Daub: Now Mount Fuji is obstructed by clouds right now, but over the course of the live stream there's a good chance that clears up. Yeah, just somebody Superman come here and make a big blow—it's the best way.

00:02:42 Dean Newcomb: Here, Eugene Hobart's here. We are keeping it up. Why am I winded? Is this—are you? I'm down in the slope, but that was like that slope was so steep and I'm winded.

00:02:58 John Daub: Obviously. I love that this tree is right in the middle of the tea fields. Yeah, I love the fact that when they were preparing these fields they didn't cut that down—they left that there. In Japan, you know, right? Leave the tree there, the little teeny things like it. Had the Hitachi Kaikōen park up in Hitachi with the blue-eyed flowers—beautiful spot—they kept a tree in the middle of it, which just kind of becomes a center point.

00:03:33 John Daub: Again, this is Obuchi Sasaba. Look at the clouds—this looks like the Windows 95 backdrop. Yeah, you're framed, Dean. Nice. What is that little maid cafe rabbit thing?

00:04:06 John Daub: A little bit earlier we filmed as they were watering the green tea bushes here, which is pretty neat to see from the drone. We were using the drone to get some background footage. We're going to walk up through the tea field, so sit back and relax and enjoy the beautiful tranquil views of Mount Fuji as it clears up. But we are about 338 meters up in the air and we're broadcasting live from Obuchi Sasaba in Shizuoka Prefecture.

00:04:39 John Daub: That in winter yeah, the winter is going to be really cool. Um, after it snows—apparently it does snow here but not as much as this. This is a unique situation. They said yesterday that Mount Fuji gets snow and it gets on the slopes of Fuji—we're actually on the slopes of Fuji now, right? And up until about 400 meters there's a lot of snow, and then after that is where they grow the tea. But they must be quite hardy because if they get that much snow on them, these shrubberies are amazing that they can survive that winter.

00:05:09 Dean Newcomb: Yeah, I—the first flush of the tea, which is harvested in April, is actually the most expensive one. And I think it's because of this—the slow growth that it actually has brings a more intense flavoring. Just like why they grow strawberries in Japan in the winter instead of the spring—because if it grows slower it means that the sugar content seriously increases and you get more flavor out of it.

00:05:38 John Daub: So perhaps this by the same reasoning, the first flush of the tea in April and May is really really prized. They do another flush in the summer and then another flush in the fall, meaning they chop down the green tea shrubbery and make new tea from that. This is just beautiful—look at the way they're kept. They've all got this slight dome shape, and that's because they're not going to be able to grow any more tea so they're going to store it in that.

00:06:10 Dean Newcomb: It's gonna be so much fun to think about it. Yeah, it's a lot of fun because in harvest they have machines that go over them and trim it.

00:06:20 John Daub: Hey Alex Tang, welcome new traveler—I have to have some green tea emoji now. It's really cool. Oh he's gonna water over there. I'd like to hear more about his story—the watering guy story. We could—doesn't that seem like a big job that he's got to water this whole plantation? Yeah, aloha to our friends in Hawaii—hope everyone's doing well and we'll see you guys next time on our fun fact drive. The sun's starting to come out. It is a little chilly today—I just checked, it's 10 degrees Celsius, 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

00:06:51 Dean Newcomb: You see you're not wearing the Talibe hoodie so you must be.

00:06:58 John Daub: Oh yeah. Nasha Broad has found a reference for the Knights Who Say Ni—shrubbery. It's a reference to Monty Python—you would know, I know you would know, Dean knows.

00:07:19 Dean Newcomb: You know what, I can kind of see part of the top of Fuji now. I know it comes in and out through the clouds, but the weather changes very very quickly.

00:07:27 John Daub: Nice. Whoa, this view is sponsored by Jennifer French. We just lost Fuji—no we just had it and it went in that big cloud. Just did it right. All right, it'll come out. Jennifer, we're gonna get another chance if we get enough good vibes from everybody. Click that like button—right? Willpower from the people—click the like button and Fuji-san will respond with a beautiful view.

00:08:03 John Daub: Today you know, when it comes to seeing Mount Fuji there's no curse. It's obvious—if you are coming in the summer your chances of seeing Mount Fuji are very very slim from Tokyo and other places. The best season is from November to February.

00:08:58 Dean Newcomb: Yes, and the best season is from February to October.

00:08:58 John Daub: So you can see the sky when the skies are clear—it doesn't rain, you can see endless views and the snow-capped top of Mount Fuji. You can see it I'd say 80 percent of the time. Very good if you're coming in the winter. Yeah, in the spring it's getting much much harder—more precipitation, especially end of May. You get maybe one or two days during the cherry blossoms that are just stunning—it's basically luck.

00:09:31 Dean Newcomb: But yes, I didn't see it the first time in May.

00:09:36 John Daub: Yeah, it's again like if you really want to see Mount Fuji, come in the winter. So when I come here back in May, there's a really good chance that I don't see Mount Fuji while they're doing the harvest—it's just kind of luck.

00:09:49 John Daub: All right, here comes some tourists. Oh really? He told you? Oh you—yeah he kicked you out? Oh really? Yeah okay okay—he did. I duck down here. I duck down here—yes, the camera guy's filming. That's like shoplifting. Stole it—you have to crush it up. Okay he's done. Oh go up to the tree. Oh this is the tree was in the shot. Yeah, for those of you who can't get to Japan and join us, we are bringing it to you in a friendly way—not documentary style but just as a couple of blokes.

00:10:51 Dean Newcomb: Oh Dean, this is your little platform thingy. Yeah we could come here and bring some tea—check this out, it smells new doesn't it?

00:11:21 John Daub: I think and it looks like a little construction has been going on so they must have just put this in—yeah new cement down there. Beautiful—this might be—this is gonna become one of my favorite spots. I'm surprised I didn't know that there was a lot of people who were here and they were surprised that it took us two days to get up here. I wish we'd come up here yesterday. I know—imagine. No sorry—I mean you know what, just please don't put a Starbucks here—bring a local like a local coffee chain or tea shop—not coffee here. Did I just say that? I'm craving a coffee—a tea shop. How dare you.

00:12:03 John Daub: I interviewed a lady who was one of the tea plantation farmers and I asked her do you ever drink coffee? She's no—and the way she said it was like how dare I even ask. Yesterday's obaachan—had she even tried coffee? Like when you mentioned no—she had but she drinks—she's 91 and she looked like she was 70, which is actually a big deal. She's still working and she drinks green tea three times a day—there's got to be something to it, right? But I asked her she drinks coffee and she said no.

00:12:35 Dean Newcomb: Where we in your shot? You got it?

00:12:40 John Daub: This is where I'm doing the episode opening. I got to stand on this deck or something. This is where you do the episode opening, right?

00:12:48 Dean Newcomb: Right here.

00:12:49 John Daub: Yoga?

00:12:50 Dean Newcomb: Yeah, can you do like a tree pose or something?

00:12:52 John Daub: Kanae is a yoga instructor. My wife's a yoga instructor and a Pilates instructor. Pilates, we say in America—pilates in Japanese. She's an instructor for that. She'd love to do this. I'll just film her. But I should probably do it too.

00:13:10 Dean Newcomb: What are you doing? Keep planking. Dean's planking.

00:13:14 John Daub: Oh my God. If you're really good at yoga, I think you're blessed. For me it feels like... Do it again. Whoa. See if I did it I'd probably break wind or something live after eating that breakfast we had. Let's see if I can ruin the tranquility with obscene stuff. Look, speak the truth—we're all human. Oh man. No Raymond, do not challenge us—this will end very badly. I challenged Dean once—only in eating contests can I even have a chance, and even then.

00:14:12 John Daub: Kazi K, you're very welcome—I'm glad you could join us today. And Tony P's here from much colder areas of the world. Faisal, thank you so much—welcome to becoming a new traveler. And Tor Toropoko, it's always great to see you—a reward for surviving the bungee adventure. Those who are travelers saw the video of me plunging to my almost—well you got to hear the banshee scream. I do not scream well. It was really kind of scary yesterday as I bungee jumped for the first time in 20 years.

00:14:49 Dean Newcomb: Yeah.

00:14:49 John Daub: It did not go well. This is absolutely a lovely view. We're going to keep walking around and try to show you another angle of this. You know what? I just saw the top of the mountain jump.

00:15:02 Dean Newcomb: You did not.

00:15:03 John Daub: I did. I did. And there's kind of a gap in the clouds coming. So it's changing all the time.

00:15:11 Dean Newcomb: If you squint, I can see less.

00:15:14 John Daub: All right, let's move over here. I want to show you—our goal now is to show you Mount Fuji. But you know what's most impressive is when you get the angle and then you see the lines from it. But I love the fact that the lines don't line up—there's sort of a symmetrical way that they did it, right? Maybe based on the land—it waves a little bit, doesn't it?

00:15:50 Dean Newcomb: Yeah.

00:15:52 John Daub: So when we took the drone shots, it's so impressive. The lines are about—I'm going to get more background on this. Why are the lines this length? They all seem to be uniform—except like 25 meters or something, the maximum length. Up in the corner there they seem a little bit shorter. But there must be a reason behind all this stuff, and I'm going to dig that out for you.

00:16:16 John Daub: Dean, there could be spiders there—just you need a stick to break the webs.

00:16:24 Dean Newcomb: Well because they know you're coming. No Dean! Don't do that! Don't! Get that away from me! Dude you're... Man's best friend—until he bites you and burrows into your skin and lays its eggs.

00:16:43 John Daub: All right, we're done. Here—wildlife in Japan. Just make sure—put him back here, that was his home. You wrecked his home. Not a busy day, isn't it? He's going to find his way back. Can spiders smell? I wonder—if they did they probably wouldn't be cocooning insects and eating them—that can't smell very good.

00:17:04 John Daub: So for those joining us, click the like button—and if you do, Mount Fuji will show itself. That's where we... It's a bunch of... Oh! You see it? I see the tip—just the tip.

00:17:22 Dean Newcomb: Yeah. Look look look—it's coming. It's coming.

00:17:26 John Daub: It's because you guys aren't clicking the like button. Somebody pressed it, huh? Somebody pressed it—look. And yeah we got—it's on you now. There's the top. We need 3,776 likes—that's how many meters high it is. Actually I can start to see the line around the side now—the clouds are sort of breaking. You see that high point? So the top is a crater, right?

00:17:48 Dean Newcomb: Right.

00:17:48 John Daub: And the high point on the left side is called the Ken-ga-mine Peak. And that's the very—so you climb Mount Fuji, you haven't actually made it to the top—you're now on the volcano top. But if you want to be the top top top person in Japan, you have to circumnavigate the top of the crater. I get to Ken-ga-mine Peak—I've been up there I think two three times, but I've never gone around the top because...

00:18:10 Dean Newcomb: No you haven't.

00:18:11 John Daub: Well I got to the post office and the tourist spots up there, but my head hurts—I just want to get down. So you haven't been the highest mountain in Japan yet.

00:18:20 Dean Newcomb: Well I've been up to the top top, but I haven't been to the top top top—like the monument.

00:18:26 John Daub: It is—people are going to enjoy that now. It's going again. Yeah there it is—that's the tip of the peak of Fuji-san, and in a second it's just going to be gone. This is the way it rolls. So the weather here is different than the rest of Japan, and you have to understand this—it could be cloudy and then 10 minutes later it's completely clear. It could be sunny, not a cloud in the sky. I used to live in Fujinomiya on the base of Mount Fuji here—it would be sunny, and because of the reflection from the humidity you couldn't see the mountain at all—it just looked like it was blue sky, hazy. It wasn't hazy—it was all blue all over the place, but because of the humidity it reflected in a way that you couldn't see it. It was like the mountain had disappeared—it was very weird.

00:19:13 John Daub: Hold on a second, dude—so this here has not been trimmed at all. So maybe they're going to do another flush like the machine will trim it down before the winter. These look—or they could be a different variety of tea because they don't just grow green tea. These are tea bushes, right? It's less uniform—they're kind of sticking up here. You have just the some of the sprouts that have grown out—there's some new ones coming. If you look inside of here you can see the new ones which are going to be coming out in the spring.

00:19:52 Dean Newcomb: Not tea.

00:19:56 John Daub: Right. Yuya, what's this in here? Is it legal? I'm going to say—is that why there's a black top on there?

00:20:14 Dean Newcomb: AHQ writes in—are you late? Not at all. Tea? Tea. Are you sure? It's a different kind of tea, right? It's the type that they don't... So that's what happens?

00:20:27 John Daub: Yeah. So what's it called? Like the albino tea? Like the... Yeah what was it called? Now the thing that you have to understand is in the West we have green tea, right? But actually there's more than just green tea—within the green tea there's loads of different—like just coffee, right? But unless you know a lot about green tea you don't know the varieties of green tea. So that's why I'm making an episode on this—it's going to be pretty interesting.

00:20:49 Dean Newcomb: Doing something for his show. It's good stuff, mate.

00:21:22 John Daub: Well don't take any of it—respect the farmer's wishes and his daughter. Let's keep going. Up ahead we have some more shrubbery. You know it's hard—I mean I think you could be walking amongst green tea. Unless you know that it's green tea you could be walking amongst it and not know that you're walking in a green tea field. I mean it looks like normal shrubbery, right? But this is green tea—very picturesque.

00:21:51 John Daub: Again this is for those joining us—Obuchi Sasaba, one of the most beautiful areas I think in Japan. And I love the fact that the local residents and the prefecture of Shizuoka and the city of Fuji City has made this place available as kind of tourism—where you can hike around the tea plantations and just enjoy the view of green tea. And I think green tea is really competing against coffee now, especially here in Japan. More and more younger people are drinking coffee instead of green tea, whereas the older generation drinks loads and loads of green tea. I wonder if the younger generation is going to have the same lifespan—better medicines but I don't know. The older generation just ate and drank better.

00:22:39 John Daub: Here I'm looking back—this is going down towards the sea, and you can see the sea over there—do you see? So we're about 300 meters up at elevation and you can see the sea down there, the water. And a beautiful sunset last night, right Dean? I actually put a picture on Instagram of the sunset—Instagram stories last night. It's a nice view both ways now, huh? The higher you get up here the more you can see down there.

00:23:10 John Daub: Tony P writes in—John can you describe the smell? How strong is the smell of tea? I can't actually smell Tony I can't actually smell any tea, can you?

00:23:22 Dean Newcomb: Yeah the interesting thing is there is no smell of tea until you heat it up—you can't really smell it, right?

00:23:28 John Daub: Yeah. The interesting thing is that she told me one of the—was it Honda-san or the other one? The other interview that I had, the tea in the West is actually pan-fried with oil.

00:23:40 Dean Newcomb: It was yesterday yeah.

00:23:42 John Daub: Right. The tea that you would drink in the United States is pan-fried in oil, and they don't do that here in Japan—they like the natural taste of the green tea. Whereas in the West they want something a little bit different so they make the tea in a way that is better to your tastes, which I think is inauthentic. Yes in Japan steamed. Oh right—and in Japan it's steamed, right? Steamed yeah not fried. Of course they do—Japan steams the tea, the West fries the tea of course. If you yesterday they broke the stem and that gave quite a strong smell didn't it?

00:24:19 Dean Newcomb: Right yeah.

00:24:19 John Daub: The leaves don't smell so much but the stems really have a strong smell to them. There's a like a really delicate naturalness to green tea that I think is the thing that I appreciate the most. It really is an acquired taste—the bitterness. And this is why we don't put honey or sugar in it—it's just because for me—and I'm making a video on this too—that bitterness, that green-tasting bitterness is why I drink the tea, right? For that taste.

00:24:51 Dean Newcomb: Yeah.

00:24:51 John Daub: It's a very interesting taste that's different from other foods that I would eat. So putting sugar in it to me is kind of killing that natural taste to it which is what you want to taste. It's a taste of Japan I always feel—although green tea probably from China and other regions might be somewhat similar. But yesterday we got a chance to taste I think six different varieties of green tea grown here, and there is a very subtle difference. Some of them are more pleasing than other ones. In fact we tried a green tea that was almost $100 per 100 grams or something, and you could really taste that it just had a more even balance to it—although I don't think cost performance was any different if you're drinking it for the caffeine especially.

00:25:36 John Daub: What was nice yesterday as well was how he explained how hot the water affects the tea. So the first thing he did for us is because especially because we're foreigners I'm going to make you a yasashii tea (easy-to-drink tea). So he waited ages and he poured the water several times into different pots—let it cool down, it gets to probably about 70 degrees or 60 degrees, and then he makes the tea. And then because it's not so hot the tea leaves give out a sweeter taste.

00:26:06 Dean Newcomb: Right. Yasashii means kind of like easy to drink.

00:26:09 John Daub: Yeah. And then as we progressed into the next ones he would give us the hotter water—90 degrees straight into the tea—and then you get that really shibui (astringent/deep).

00:26:18 Dean Newcomb: Can you translate that? Shibui like a deepness.

00:26:22 John Daub: Yeah. So Carlos writes in here—use all your influence and have Japan open up for American tourists. Japan's always been open to American tourists—until now.

00:26:32 Dean Newcomb: Yeah until now—now it's closed.

00:26:32 John Daub: Jesse Santiago is here—very cool. Hikaru Katayama the rainbow of love—I like it. Air to the RON—we are flying through the Fuji area—very nice. We did have a pretty good breakfast although I think lunch is going to be good. Hey Ramsey Silence here—we are now the knights who say Ni Ni Ni Tang Zu Boing. I was never here. Oh we love Ramsey Silence—it's pretty funny. It's hard not to see shrubbery and think of Monty Python isn't it?

00:27:14 John Daub: It's very hard to ignore the fact. I guess these here would be green tea too like a little—that is a shrubbery. This little tiny cluster. Yeah that's a shrubbery. I'm just going to go off road a little bit. But I mean if you were walking in near the your town hall or something and you saw a shrub it would be hard to know what. Yeah I think so—this is a shrubbery, this is actually green tea. This is green tea—it's weird right? I guess you have to know—botanists are probably laughing at me.

00:27:46 Dean Newcomb: Yeah right—how do you not know when you look at the leaves? Yeah—how do you not know what this color and the distinction, the geographical shape of the makeup?

00:27:58 John Daub: A little bit like a saw on the edge of the leaves which is distinctive. Yeah you see that? It's a little bit sharp—just a little bit.

00:28:14 John Daub: Okay I think that's about it for this area. We're going to walk back down to the car. If you have any questions feel free to ask us. I'm really really hoping by the time we get back down we're going to Mount Fuji is going to open back up a little bit. Jesse Santiago is definitely in for that, right Jesse? Yeah. Did you have a look at Suruga Bay in the distance? I did—Suruga Bay is beautiful. That's the waterway—one of the best places for sunset. Seriously I think I need three four days more in this area to do it justice.

00:28:50 John Daub: I think that that point you can see that is Uozaki. And there's a lighthouse over on that point that you can see on the other side of Suruga Bay. And then following the bay inland a little bit just on the edge of these mountains you can start to see—you can see Fuji City and Mount Fuji. And then behind that there's another city behind the mountains—that's Shizuoka City. Oh right behind the mountains. Yeah you can see Mount Fuji from Shizuoka but it's a lot smaller. Again we are at Fuji City which is sort of on the base—Fujinomiya is a little bit closer. But these here that you're seeing here are Japanese green tea bushes.

00:29:27 John Daub: And how much of the bush would it take to make a pet bottle of green tea which is 500 milliliters? Half a liter? Well he had only you know a half a liter—so it's a tiny amount of leaf right to make a cup of tea. So I would say that you're... Yes we're live—and if you're watching this in playback we're not live—we were live. I don't know—we're live here—we were live. Thanks Jesse. Yeah I don't think it takes a lot—but again they steam it right? And so it loses—so they're going to shrivel down—it's going to shrivel it down and then that intensifies the flavors. So when you pour the hot water through it that flavor comes through.

00:30:09 John Daub: Again like the tea is going to be a little bit more but the first flush in April May has a more intensity in it because they've grown more slowly—at least that's what my thinking is with this because that's how it works with strawberries and why they grow them in the winter. So the price of the first flush is always going to be more expensive. And it sounds funny saying flush because people hear the toilet in their mind—you have not studied much of botany if you're laughing at the word flush.

00:30:38 Dean Newcomb: What are you looking at? Is that a dingleberry? What are they? I don't know—you tell me. Is that a blueberry? They're tiny Japanese flowers. What's a green? Greenberry—they were on the plant by the green tea. I felt like it could be related but...

00:30:55 John Daub: Somebody out there know their plants? Just don't eat it or eat it and we'll find out—someone will come in with a cure. Somebody had to eat every one of these things right to find out what it does to you you know? Thank goodness that happened in the 15th century—the 21st century they were all like oh it's a plant—they get sued. The king goes out—we have our plant eaters—please tell us which mushrooms are poisonous before you leave us—write down its impact and your feelings—describe it to your buddy. That would be an awful job—I hope it was well paid. Somebody had to do that right? Poison tasters. Oh my God—Henry ate the gift and he's got a cake and then somebody has to eat that before him. I want to read that book Chronicles of a Poison Taster—it's probably like three pages long. I started it—I was just promoted to food taster for the king—I get to eat the royal food mom—then let her stop. Why are we laughing?

00:31:56 John Daub: Okay—this section seems to be the most scenic. But again if you're on a drone and you can fly drones here it is absolutely stunning—you have to go down this path where there's a handful of people living here right? There's five or six houses down here. And if you do fly drones just make sure the rules—the 30 30 30—150, 30 meters from houses, 30 meters from people, 30 meters from cars I guess—I forget there was something else. Just 30 meters from everything—roads. I think you can—if there's a road there's probably cars right? So you want to be 30 meters from everything in a clearing and then you can't go higher than 150 meters. And each drone has a log inside there so if they do check they will discover that you might have gone 151 meters. I pretty much know that you can't really get a great shot over 150 meters anyways unless you're you might as well just use Google Earth which is free.

00:33:07 John Daub: I don't know if the clouds are going to leave us. There's a drone. Oh that's the Mavic 2 Pro right? It's getting some drone shots for the episode. It is a little bit. This is nice—they just built this little platform in the morning. There's nobody here so you can bring a thermos of green tea—don't bring coffee. Who's thinking coffee? All right—it's early morning—it's free right? Yeah it's not—it's free—it's public space to come here to this viewpoint—public. Yeah and the parking is free—the entry is free—everything is free except for the tea—you got to pay. Right—there's no one here—don't pick the tea and try to take it home—you have to steam it and there's a process and it's not your tea but you can walk among it and appreciate it.

00:34:12 John Daub: And you know I actually in the year 2000 I did an overland trip through Vietnam and China all the way up to Beijing—then I came down through Lhasa and Tibet into Nepal and I looped around from Nepal to Darjeeling. I had to go in through Calcutta because I wanted to drink Darjeeling tea in Darjeeling—and I found out that Darjeeling tea is actually better back in the United States. I was at Kilimanjaro and I climbed Kilimanjaro in 2001 a year later—and the Kilimanjaro coffee was Nescafe—they kept serving Nescafe everywhere because they exported all the Kilimanjaro coffee. Same with Guatemala in 2003—the only place I could find Guatemalan coffee, McDonald's. But they put avocado in the McDonald's burgers which is pretty cool.

00:34:58 Dean Newcomb: That is cool—that was cool. That's like a teriyaki burger in Japan—Guatemala. In Antigua the only place where you could get like a good burger was McDonald's and they put avocado in it—I don't know why—I guess the tourists like it and they had a lot of it—made sense. That's how you knew it was fresh I guess.

00:35:12 John Daub: But no matter where you go with the coffee drinking places and the tea sometimes the teas the coffees are not as good at the origin because they exported all to make more money. That's true except here in Japan—right? Because they can get a better price within here—but we pay more because we appreciate it more. It's just shrubbery—it's just shrubbery but it's not right. And the man over there he's now watering it—it goes into it right? Oh absolutely. He's got a lot of shrubbery to water today—he's going to be here all the time.

00:36:01 John Daub: Yeah they're green year round but they only do three flushes meaning they cut them down three times or harvest them three times or pick them three times—April May and then again in the summer I guess in July August and then one more time in October November—we just missed it. But I'll be back in May to finish up part two of my tea episode because tea is like Japanese—the drink of Japan.

00:36:29 Dean Newcomb: Dean you know what Japan's drink is called right? Nihonshu (Japanese sake) is sake right? Japanese sake. Yeah—it's not ocha (green tea).

00:36:40 John Daub: I think that the drink of Japan would be ocha—green tea. Maybe the old ladies would argue with that. You could tell it's a men-dominated world here because sake is the drink of Japan. The one thing that was interesting when I interviewed the people about green tea was that I said who really drinks the most green tea? Women do by far—and it might be just because of the color—men prefer the darker colors and women like the lighter colors of the drink. And just based on that more women drink green tea than men. So I'm going to start to drink more green tea—the health properties right? The health properties alone makes it kind of worth it I think. But yeah after you get to a certain age I think switching from coffee to tea might be a pretty good idea because there's a lot of good stuff with the green tea—a lot of good properties.

00:37:36 John Daub: I'm going to show you see if we can see Mount Fuji again. If you do want to click that thumbs up—the more you like the green tea the better—the more you like the more Fuji-san has been showing itself. It's true—we have only 411 likes—it's not quite good enough for Fuji knows. I think that is like about two thirds of the base right? I mean it's a long way when you walk it right? Yeah. Hello High 821 is doing virtual likes now which is probably powerful—a hundred of those equals one—but don't do that because our moderators don't like repeated emoji—it looks bad. Yeah. There's four trails to climb up Fuji right? Four—I thought there were five. No—Fujinomiya—hold on a second—the fifth stations right? I give it Gotemba Fujinomiya—there's the other side Yoshida—Yoshida's three—and there's another one. And there's another one a secret one that very few people do.

00:38:47 Dean Newcomb: I'll tell you what—Gotemba was hard man—it's gravel. Gotemba was really hard. Fujinomiya is the easiest fifth station—it's pretty established—lots of shops—there's even vending machines on that route. Gotemba was mostly gravel and it's a little bit longer—it's harder to climb up. And again there's very little vegetation on Mount Fuji—Mount Fuji is mostly it looks like the moon when you hike it at night. If you try to go through the middle of the night to get to the top it's like the surface of the moon—there's nothing there—just dark dark gravel. And if there's moonlight the eerie images of other people and shadows.

00:39:29 John Daub: What was the last one? Subashiri? Subashiri yeah right? Yeah that's a hard one—I recommend that one if you come because no one will be on it. Hold it steady there yeah. Yeah Subashiri is the one right there—I can tell you Yoshida is the most popular and the quickest way up—Gotemba is the longest and most difficult way up. I've done both of them—but next time I'll take on red or blue. I've only done Fujinomiya and Gotemba—I don't remember—I might have done... You've done Gotemba?

00:39:56 Dean Newcomb: Yeah—Gotemba is horrible right? Gotemba is awful—it's like walking up a dune. Yeah—it's volcanic sand black volcanic sand. You know it's better to go down because every step that I took I would slide five meters—so it's like... It's fun—you don't need running? You get it in your shoes so you need to have those—what do you call those? Gaiters. Gaiters right—you need to have that to make sure that this stuff doesn't get into your boots. You really have done it.

00:40:23 John Daub: Yeah I have done it—same experience. So last time I went up Fujinomiya and I came down Gotemba. Cool. Yeah—or did I go up the other... I might have went up the easy way and down Gotemba. Yeah I think that's the best way right? Going up Gotemba was hard—and long. So you can pick the route that you go—all four of them are open but Fuji was closed this summer because of the pandemic right? So... And Dean and I are okay—we've been taking our temperatures and hanging out for a couple of days so wearing masks right now wouldn't make a difference—just scientifically we've been hanging out in the same area—we'd need like gas masks. Yeah.

00:41:05 John Daub: We've got one other walker here now. Yeah—another walker—is that Yuya? A bit older than Yuya—he's got a stick. Yuya aged doing this walk—he's like Benjamin Button backwards—or forwards—I don't... It's hard to remember. Yuya came here a young man—now he's leaving grandfather—he has kids—he goes home to discover he has kids and a wife like in his house—where were you Yuya? What happened? Time slipped—ah time slipped in the fields of green tea. The sign probably says don't go this way but... No cars yeah—no cars but it's tempting to walk here—the edge of the forest isn't it? Yeah. Well I think if you're coming as tourists it's good to just respect the signs and not go too far into the woods to discover that—that's for Hansel and Gretel. Yeah—did it not return from there? It's a German story but it was written by someone who was Japanese—just made that up.

00:42:16 John Daub: I always buy green tea at Walmart in the USA—Steven it's probably good—it's probably good stuff—just look at the label to see where it's made. You know if it's coming from Japan... Ah he waved at us—if it's coming from Japan it's going to be really highly regulated. And I know that they do—they want to keep it natural and organic but the lines are so beautiful here right? I guess there's a reason behind the length of it—maybe that's how much that the machines can take or something. The chump is amazed by this—3,000 hectares—hektares. Broken Cement welcome a new traveler—you get to see the video of me bungee jumping and screaming a banshee cry which just naturally came out—it was quite cringy—even for me even while I was falling I was just thinking about yesterday's live stream where I was two hours late because there was no signal and I couldn't tell people that there was no signal because there's no signal. That happens sometimes—they look like green roll cakes—I just want to pick one up and eat it and get that matcha taste. Densetsu's here—thank you all—I almost never make it to a live show—beer money—thank you Densetsu—we'll see if we can get one before we go. I know Dean drove here and I took the Shinkansen—I'll be drinking his brew. Awesome—Adam from 2099—welcome to the past. Good job—we can't quite don't quite have the view yet. I'll stay on for a couple more minutes and see if we can see something nice.

00:44:41 John Daub: For those watching—we're at 338 meters high—it's not a huge elevation but it's high enough where it's cooler than down below—338 meters. Too bad—we'll never know in 2-3 hours—yesterday we could see from a distance but it's not that deep. No it wasn't—there's no snow up there—there wasn't snow—it's a bit strange isn't it? It's strange right? No—it seems like it snowed a little in October when it was cold—but then it disappeared. Yeah. It's a good view—it's a good view—it's a good view—it's slightly unusual that there's no snow whatsoever up there—but on the other side there's a lot more snow.

00:46:28 John Daub: So he lives around here and just goes for a walk up and down around here—it's a nice place for a walk. It's just nice to meet some people who live here. Hey Grace welcome traveler—and YoshDawg—love your live streams—a little cash to buy a snack—thanks so much for that. I'm actually gonna buy the guys some lunch okay? With all the super chats today—so maybe we'll get some yakiniku or something. But it's nice to have Dean and Yuya here together—not have to do this by myself—I appreciate that guys. Rezal Repin—thank you. No you're amazing—no you're amazing—we can have that battle. I love the little trucks in Japan right? Look at how cute it is—little teeny wheels—small engine—just enough to get what they need to get from one place to another—small and humble.

00:47:41 John Daub: Again you can watch wait here for hours and Mount Fuji will show itself and then it'll disappear. When I was doing that trip I was like you know what? I'm gonna go through Tibet to India—I also stopped at Mount Everest's base camp—and that's as far as you can go without paying for a permit. And the interesting thing was when we arrived there you couldn't see anything—I couldn't see the tip of Mount Everest—and then for three minutes just all the clouds parted. You know what? I'll try to put this image on Instagram later—instagram.com slash onlyinjapantv—one word—you'll find the Instagram account. So I got a picture of me with the tip of Mount Everest at near the base camp on the Chinese side of it—and it's so weird like that—the tip of Everest for like three minutes was clear and then the mountains covered it again for the rest of the day—we didn't see it. So for those three minutes I think I took about three pictures at very near the base camp—beautiful—I got very very lucky. We were at 5,000 meters up at the base camp which was awful—really bad headache. But today we're not as lucky as we were yesterday—so if you want to see Mount Fuji go to the Instagram—I put some stories up there and maybe before I leave today I'll be able to do another live stream and show you another area. Actually I'm thinking to bring you to lunch down at the seaside—we're going to go to the fish market in Fuji City and maybe have lunch—get some local fish. Oh there it is—Dean I got the tip—there's the uh yeah there's the summit right between there—there it is—you see I told you it just sort of it's sort of like that. This is one of the most oh okay—that's Yuya's glove—he left his glove there. Yeah—you see that now we're seeing Mount Fuji—the clouds are starting to part. That's what it's like at these really tall mountains and spots.

00:50:10 John Daub: So there's another tourist that was here—maybe it followed from him. If Fuji City is famous for having a lot of factories as well that billow out some smoke and we see some steam coming—do you see from right there? I wonder is that a cloud maker? Like one of these wicked things—it looks like a cloud maker. Yashi—yes this is live—you have made it—that is actually Mount Fuji that you see right in front of us—we're just waiting for it to possibly clear a little bit. We saw the summit for about a second—and now you can see just the left side of it. Again you have the slope over here on this side and then there you can just make out through the clouds the other side of Fuji but you're live just looking at it—and yeah just the tip. Actually I think if we wait two or three more minutes we're going to get the whole thing—so those clouds might push through—so I'm still hopeful. Uh 51 minutes into this information.

00:51:20 John Daub: Oh bonsai shop is here—ah shop. Yeah—and there is a tea lady coming—oh there's a tea lady—there's a tea lady coming—she's due in like 15 minutes or something. Oh wow—so he sells bonsai trees here. Hey Dean there's your berries—yeah maybe—oh that's nice. Momiji (Japanese maple) is beautiful as a bonsai—it's like Mr. Bonsai—yeah—it's like Mr. Miyagi—very nice guy—he said we could film. His license plate says Fujiyama Mount Fuji—his license plate says that's awesome. It's great. John Kimura—nice to see you—thanks John. I'm definitely going to get the guys some lunch—I'm so thankful you guys are chipping in for that—appreciate it. See Kyson's here—long time fan—I hope you have a wonderful day—see you on the next live streams—thank you—see Kyson. That's nice of you. Oh Dean asked how much are these? I said like $10 $20—he can he'll sell these for—that's really crazy right? And Dean says in Tokyo they're way way more—and he said oh he sold these here. Put that towards um psychiatrist fees—this is a bungee jump. So do you have you have no idea or maybe you do—if you saw the video it was really really really traumatic—it was really traumatic. Chicago Africans here—how you doing? John you should do an edited video about the best way to climb Mount Fuji—I was going to do it this year but I'm on it—I got a couple of really great Mount Fuji episodes—thanks—thanks so much for the support—that's what's keeping me keeping me going here. And Irvin Irvan—I heard lunch. Okay—you know what? Irvin I'm going to do my best to live stream that for you okay? That's so kind of you—we're going to do that okay—I'm going to try to unless they tell me I can't I'm going to live stream lunch for this okay—we're going to make it happen. Yosh dog—buy a bonsai to support the local merchants—I got a lot of bags but let's see if we can get a small one.

00:54:24 Dean Newcomb: Okay okay—I got it—I'm a little curious about this. Yeah—base or something like this—this is a base—this is a base—what's moss in Japanese? What is this? This is moss that grows naturally—this is a tree—this is cool—the moss is really pretty—it's really pretty. Yeah—how much is this? 2000—200,000? 200,000—don't Dean—don't—don't—don't—don't—don't—don't—you said yamete (stop) too.

00:55:02 John Daub: Gray said bonsai too—I like this one—which one do you like? Koma yumi—I like the shape of this one—it's talking to me—you have to really care for it though. Look how small this one is here too—I think Kanae would like that one on her desk—alright let's get that for Kanae—small one. Okay Yoshidog—we're on—support the local—alright I'm going to get that Yoshidog—I'll let Dean film his episode and I'm going to come back and get it—I'm going to give it to Kanae—it'll be nice on her desk I think—to remember this trip. Because you made it—to make a video talking about how to move to Japan is something I'm trying to do—I think I might have talked about this a lot of times—but maybe making a dedicated episode is interesting. You need a work visa—I'll tell you right now—you need a work visa in order to do that—you have to have a company that sponsors you and gives you a certificate of eligibility which is a COE certificate—you take that to the embassy—you get the work visa and you can come here and work and live. You need to be sponsored by a company and you need to be able to prove your income—you need to come and have some sort of this—you can get in through an investor's visa—but an investor visa requires you to have a lot of money—and you also need proof that you hired two workers and you have contracts for them—you need two workers to get an investment visa—and that's a significant amount of money—so you can kind of buy your way in I guess you could say—but you can't just come here and live—like all countries have immigration laws—you need to come in legally—and in order to do that the best way is maybe as an English teacher—most foreigners if you can speak English you have a chance to have a job here—there's always a demand for it—good English teachers that really care—it's a job—it's not a vacation—and it's really hard.

01:05:13 John Daub: That's Mount Fuji and on the left side you can see him watering the trees over there in the distance on the right side—the base of Fuji—but I'm hoping that the clouds part in the next five minutes. Apparently if we click the like button it does clear up a little bit more—I will be back here to take a look at this—a woman is coming here to the viewpoint—she's going to sell tea—so coming later in the afternoon actually is a good thing—because we came so early in the morning to get the shots that there's nobody here—we had it all to ourselves and we were flying the drones—because we don't want to ruin people's experience by flying drones around—so we came early in the morning. This is the Mavic Pro 2—and I have a DJI Mini 2 as well—is that copyrighted music? Is that royalty free? Because that ringtone—you're going to get one too—I'm going to try to—but how am I going to bring it back on the train? I'm going to get a small one maybe—but I want to treat the tree right—that's a lovely one—that's momiji right? I got my wallet out—it's a challenge isn't it? I don't know—I get a lot of bags—I'll be able to find a way to manage. Yoshi dog—which one are you buying? Again this guy—because the way that the moss is formed in the pot—oh that is lovely—it's just like a really miniature tree. Yeah—will my moss grow in like your moss? Your moss will keep coming yeah—okay—and it's like a slow motion thing right? Actually I could just give you the 2000 and then—right? I can't give—I got to pay him at least 2000—if he gives 1000 I'm going to say 2000—because I'm moved by it right? Right—I really thought these things cost like yeah like tens of thousands of dollars—that's not the case right? We're supporting a local bonsai man—but it would be nice to have a bonsai I think that we bought at Mt. Fuji right? Thank you very much—this is 3000 yen—I'll take good care of it—please take good care of it.

00:59:44 Dean Newcomb: Dean what's this one here? That's the—it's a bird's eye—it grows these red berries like this—the birds have got to this one—so the birds have eaten the red berries—the birds have eaten the red berries—it's got one berry on it—it looks kind of sad—this one looks really nice—I like the momiji—will it be okay? Can I get this? I like the fact that this one is sort of totally off of the side here—he's going his own way right? Is this a momiji? Yes—when it gets colder these leaves will turn yellow—really? Yes—I'll take this one—yes—you can get like 2000 yen—2000 yen—2000 yen—thank you very much—I want to take your money—I want to take your money—the bag is a little big—it's okay—I'll take it—do you have a name? Not just momiji but shiro? Yes—you have to give your tree a name—Pete—yours is Pete? I'll let my kids name it—probably only one of the kids—one can't speak—name—oh name? Thank you—he's going to write the name—that's awesome. I don't want to pay more than 1000 yen for that—it took four years to get to here—it took four years and he took only 2000 yen for that—that's not right—it just feels like I should give him more money—I think that's rude too—it's one of these situations that are really hard—it's socially hard—it's a socially hard thing—what goods have you got? You have to give him something—I can give him some masks—some alcohol—something American—something American? The drone? Give him your drone? That's true.

01:02:07 John Daub: Joseph I'll see if I can talk about this in one—maybe in December—it's freezing—it is getting cold—the pot's been out at night—hey Harmon—Iwanto's here—new traveler—thanks Harmon—so we did get a bonsai tree for Kanae—that's nice. Come on—the reason why I'm still doing this live stream is because I'm hoping that the clouds will part in a minute and then Mount Fuji will show itself. Thank you—how old is this bonsai? This is six years old—six years old? Yes—that one is 13 years old—wow—so my bonsai is four years old and his is 13 years old—you have a 13 year old bonsai tree—that's right—that's pretty crazy right? Yeah and I love it because if you mess this up and it doesn't live through the next winter or summer or whatever—you are now a father—you're responsible for the bonsai tree—it's actually a big responsibility we just took on—for the rest of our lives this tree is going to outlive us probably—I think it's not about the money for him right? Yes—it's an artistry I think—it's hard—you know what? It's hard to give people more money than they want because then they think that then they feel insulted by that actually—because why you don't think I have enough money kind of a thing? The price is the price—thank you—you don't want to insult people because if you give them more than they ask for then maybe in America it's cool—but here it actually feels like an insult—it has the opposite effect—so you just have to be really careful—you can try maybe offer twice and then just reject it—but don't be insistent—that's the whole thing—just be respectful. And I'll put a little bit of a video on my channel—and if you give a lot of love into this tree give it to Kanae and she'll help—although Kanae's not really good with it—she doesn't really have a green thumb. Alright—what a great experience—thank you.

01:04:33 John Daub: That's our Obuchi Sasaba experience—that's pretty cool right? We got a bonsai tree out of it—that kind of made my day—that made this trip right? That made this trip really special—everywhere I go every episode I've done on Journeys in Japan I've managed to find a little treasure—and then even if I don't have it I can still find it—even the shoots that we do—every trip I go on I try to find something—and if it's spontaneous like that it's the best right? Rather than me looking in a gift shop or something—he wasn't even here—he just kind of rolled up and he started getting stuff out of his car—I thought what's he doing? And it turns out he has this tiny little shop—that's a good omen for him too—he made a sale before he opened up the shop. So thanks everybody—we did something good I think—we made somebody really happy—we got something out of it that we're getting treasure for a long time—so it's win-win-win-win-win—everybody won—except maybe the tree—because I've got to really take care of it—I've got to study now how to take care of this. Yeah we've got to study the tree—make sure we do it responsibly—if we think about the price and the fact that he's obviously not making much profit living off that—he must be doing it for the happiness that he sees in me and you for taking these right? I would hope so—that's the last view of Mount Fuji—thanks Ervan for helping us with the lunch—we're going to go and get that—and everybody else—we're going to go down to the fish market for lunch and see what we can do—we'll find something on the way—as Yuya brings the drone back. Thanks everybody from Obuchi Sasaba—definitely one of the most beautiful areas that we've been to in Japan—just kind of can hang out here—and as you can see there really aren't a lot of people here—which is... What? Trees! Ah the early bird catches the worm—or as we say John and Dean. You're very welcome Lachi and Alexander—and lovely Tao—and Effie and Jason—Jesse Glenn and Florencia—thanks everybody—Alika Nikki Nikki—Pub G—we'll see you again soon everybody—hopefully with a better view of Mount Fuji—and the people who say Ni.