00:06 John Daub: Welcome to Tokyo. This is Ueno, an area that's very famous for Ameyoko Market, which is over there, and Ueno Station. Lots of shopping, and Ueno Park. And this is where we're panning to right now. You can see a lot of people are underneath this beautiful ume tree, or is it cherry blossom? It's always hard to tell. It's really big.

00:26 John Daub: Ueno Park has a long history of being a place to enjoy the cherry blossoms. You can see that sign says Ueno Park right there. That egg over there. So you got two beautiful trees on the edges here. They won't be blooming during the cherry blossom seasons. They're early bloomers.

00:45 John Daub: And in this tree, which is our main top news story of the day, birds destroying nature. Because if you look at the tree really carefully, you'll see a variety of birds just tearing off these blossoms. No, there's virtually no wind. And do you see all these on the ground here? Done by birds.

01:08 John Daub: Let's see if we can find some of these culprits. There's two right up there! The destroyers of nature. Total vandals. Honestly, if the crows knew that they were up there, there would be a reckoning, a war, a battle.

01:31 John Daub: Alright, I'm gonna show you exactly what they've been doing. And I've been observing them for the last five minutes, which makes me an expert. Do you see them? They're totally guilty. There's one right there. They're just picking the flowers and they throw them on the ground for no reason whatsoever. Do you understand what you're doing? You're destroying nature.

02:09 John Daub: Sir, excuse me. Oh, don't you even think about taking a dump on me. You're a disruptor and a destroyer of nature. I've seen you just take those blossoms and just throw them onto the ground like they're nothing. Looks like he's actually eating something maybe. You have nothing to save for yourself?

03:09 John Daub: Right now, I'm putting myself in a very dangerous, dangerous position. At any moment, he could discharge. And actually, it would fall on you, not me. There are loads of them in here and, yeah, a lot of them, if they get angry, they just rip off the flowers. Which is such a disappointment.

03:48 John Daub: If I were to do it, there's a police station over there, I'm sure I would get arrested. Disturbing the peace. But these birdies get a pass. Hey Jenna, do not encourage them, please. I see that. Do not discharge.

04:22 John Daub: Alright, so that was the top news story of today. I have some pictures I can... Whoa! The crow totally... The crow just did a drive-by. Finally. The law has arrived. Look at him, he's stalking them. Get him! Get him! No, Toby (crow)! No! Went the wrong way.

04:47 John Daub: There's a lot of drama here in Ueno. Even the police are coming out. They probably got wind of this story. They're over here. Bring the fire hoses. Get them off this tree. Look at that, they're really working it.

05:11 John Daub: Alright, so anyways, in this livestream, it wasn't exactly about just stalking birds of prey. Look at, they're upside down. How does he do that? It's like a monkey. These troublemakers, we gotta get out of here. I know that they're probably sizing me up for a discharge.

05:51 John Daub: Ueno Park is a beautiful place. And in just a few weeks, if not less than that, maybe just two weeks, we have a... There's a feeling that the cherry blossoms are gonna be blooming a lot earlier this spring. Hey! Look, you guys have no idea. There are some very menacing birds in that white tree over there. Could you please take care of them? You're bigger. Hey! I look out for your kind. I once saved one of you pigeons from crossing the street when a car was coming. Listen, hey! Just totally ignoring me. Well, hope they discharge on you. Yeah, you better walk away.

06:42 John Daub: Alright, let's keep going. Can't take this anymore. Alright, straight ahead is the walkway that'll take you towards Ueno Zoo. I always come here to... Like, before the cherry blossoms, to size up what this year's gonna look like. Compared to last year and the year before.

06:58 John Daub: Last year, they prevented anyone from putting blue tarps down. Which is how the lowest level salary workers at big corporations will come here and spend a day sleeping here to protect the spot for the boss. That is the best use of company resources.

07:14 John Daub: Oh, look at this! This is new! So... Left side... Right side. So we have to go on the right side. Oh, they're lawbreakers. They're coming the wrong side. There's a couple of people walking the wrong way. They'll be exposed. They're supposed to walk this direction. They're not from around these parts.

07:47 John Daub: Alright, so the good thing is that if there's anything good... I've seen several bad things already in this livestream. Bird vandalism. Pigeons ignoring me. The cherry blossoms here are not blooming. And that's a good thing because I can come back with Kanae perhaps in a few weeks. And there really aren't a lot of people.

08:19 John Daub: But I see they're doing their best here to try to maintain... Instead of having disorder where everyone's going left and right and mingling with one another, trying to keep people going this direction on the right side and the other direction on the left side. Makes sense. Very simple. Good job, Taito-ku (Taito Ward).

08:45 John Daub: Live to love to lose. Hope you can get a cold one on me. Cheers. I'm one year older today. Happy birthday! 42! That makes you younger than me. Jealousy ensues.

09:12 John Daub: So, here's a map of the park just to give you an idea of just the size of Ueno Park. Right now we're in this main walkway that's just around. And this area right here, these are all the national museums of Japan. Well, most of them are here. And it's really convenient to have them all in one space.

09:37 John Daub: And the backside is Ueno Zoo. Which I think has been around for almost over a hundred years now? It's been a while. And the zoo is connected with this little monorail thing. I haven't been in there for a long time. This is where Okapi resides. Yes, I bought him here. Now he rests in my office. Protecting the computer and other various assets needed to make shows.

10:19 John Daub: Let's go up and see the walking the dog samurai. Not the samurai, but another one. We're gonna go up these steps here. I think a lot of you understand the story, know the story of Saigo Takamori. He was the last samurai in the movie The Last Samurai. Played by Ken Watanabe, his character. He's here, represented in a statue. Up these steps.

11:08 John Daub: There's been news also that the state of emergency might be extended for Tokyo. Despite the numbers under a hundred. The mayor, or the governor, the governator, she knows what's best for us. Probably gonna extend it another two weeks. Although the state of emergency really doesn't have much meaning to a lot of people. People still out and about. But the numbers have been going down and that's good.

11:35 John Daub: Oh, there it is right over there! Okay. It's nice to be back here. I haven't been to this spot in a very long time. Straight ahead. And I can see also the situation for cherry blossoms. Barren. This is all gonna be white in three weeks. Wow! This is the quiet, the calm before the storm.

12:36 John Daub: I actually like wearing the mask because the pollen is so bad. It offers me protection from the Japanese cedar which is hideous right now. I woke up with red eyes and a raspy throat. Hey there! This is later on in life. It's a little bit older but great, great warrior. Much respect from Satsuma clan, I believe down there in Kagoshima. Very famous symbol of Tokyo as the samurai walking the dog. Saigo Takamori. There's another beautiful Saigo Takamori statue down in Kagoshima too. Very, very famous statue.

13:34 John Daub: Arigato. Stay warm. So the situation in Ueno Park is quiet. Not a lot going on here. Let's see. Can I go this way? There's a photo. Another reason why I came here is because there's a beautiful spot to get a shot going down Ameyoko Market that's near here.

14:14 John Daub: And I'm guessing... This is new. This is like a shopping... This is new. I can't go this direction. Wow! Okay. So this is a shopping center. This wasn't here the last time or at least it wasn't open yet. Interesting. No, Mr. Bond. I expect you to die! All the bars here bringing out my Goldfinger.

14:40 John Daub: Oh, here it is! Okay! Yeah, I've been seeing more and more. This is the shot right here. Okay, this wasn't open before. This is above the platform, the Yamanote Line with the city in the background and you have Yodobashi Camera and Ameyoko. It's a really nice shot and it's so beautiful at sunset.

15:19 John Daub: Right? Before you could take shots but it was from... You had to take shots really with a long lens from here. But you weren't high enough to get the trains. Now, from this point I'm higher than the trains. So you can watch them coming into Ueno Station. It's really nice.

15:44 John Daub: So now you know. There's a new photo spot which is going to be great when they turn on the lights of Ameyoko. And this just makes Ameyoko even more impressive because you don't get to see this angle very much from above the tracks. The Ameyoko market which was the old black market after World War II in Tokyo. Hey! Another one! You scram! Trying to do some work here.

16:15 John Daub: And listen, by the way, I told you and your people, your birds that there are some troublemakers in that white... Ameyoko, a ume blossom tree destroying nature. Alright? Do your job. You know, these crows never do what they're supposed to do. It's like they've got a mind of their own.

16:37 John Daub: So Ameyoko, as many people say stands for A-Me-Re-Ka, but also could stand for ame meaning candy because there's a lot of candy shops along here. But when you look at Ameyoko from above, it's pretty nice because you can see the tracks that are cruising pretty much over the market the whole time. And you can go underneath the tracks. It's a pretty nice, it's a nice view. I'm just waiting for one more train to go by to give you some contrast. And that there's a Yodobashi Camera, which hasn't always been here. This came in, I guess, in the last 10 years or so.

17:25 John Daub: I told you twice. Twice, crow flew after me. That was close. The crow demands treats. I understand that. But if you remember the livestream in Hokkaido three years ago, Toby (crow) was dubbed Toby because he was the thief. No good con artist.

18:12 John Daub: Look, I do believe the crow whisperer. There's a crow whisperer. Dude, he's like, we found him. Is that the real Toby (crow)? We gotta go. We gotta go investigate. The crows worship him. He has food. Why can't he? He's a crow whisperer. See it here first.

19:04 John Daub: Oh, he sees me. Turn to the right. Better keep my distance. He sees me. He put his hood back on. Oh, he's coming this way. Run, run. He's coming. Hide behind museum. He's gone.

19:47 John Daub: This is a museum of art where Vermeer had his paintings on display. A couple years ago, I made an episode on it. Got to meet one of the foremost experts on Vermeer, who had found some scientific data inside his paintings that I released in an episode a couple of years ago, which was fascinating. They wouldn't let me film inside there, so I couldn't get permission, but the Vermeer enthusiasts are all over Japan. The fan club is real here.

20:29 John Daub: That was pretty intense. See the crow whisperer. He has a hood on. A hoodie. Not a lot of people in Japan have hoodies. I mean, they do have them, but they don't wear them. Maybe he's going to circle around. Or maybe he'll use the crows to track me like drones.

21:15 John Daub: Yeah, making that episode. And the great thing about Only in Japan is when I do make an episode, I do a lot of research, and that gives me great appreciation in the topics that I didn't know existed. So this job is amazing because it opens up new worlds as I cover more of them. More about Japan, more in different directions. It does open up so many, so many different angles to appreciate Japan from. In the view of Dutch paintings, there's a way to appreciate the Vermeer otaku, which is actually a real thing.

22:06 John Daub: Oh, there's our friend, our Discord. We've taken this cherry blossom flying girl lady person thing and put him in our Discord server. Nice to be back here in the Vermeer otaku. I'm wrapping around, and then I've got to ride back home because Kanae expects me for dinner. I have to bring back some dessert, I think. I was very, very shocked to see that. That guy whispering to crows and telling them stuff. I've never seen that before.

22:56 John Daub: Welcome to Ueno Park, for those joining us. Just right up ahead is the end of the line where I'm going to be taking a left turn and circling around the zoo just to get a quick look and see the cherry blossom situation. How are they handling it this year? It looks like they've already made some improvements on the main walkway. People walking on the right side have to stay to the right. People walking on the left side. Huge breakthrough in crowd control.

23:30 John Daub: Wow. Meiji 23. Baseball player. What's this all about? I guess Ueno Park has a baseball history, too. Baseball. I want to research a story on a pitcher, a Japanese pitcher, that went up against Babe Ruth and struck him out. Japanese pitcher. And it was a big story here in Japan. But Babe Ruth... I think he took it well. And the humility that he showed and love for the baseball players in Japan in 1934 when he came to Japan. I think that was his first time. Really left an incredible impression on the Japanese. Even to this day, Babe Ruth is a huge name in Japan.

24:35 John Daub: Alright, I'm bringing into the center here. Alright, there are some changes. It does look... Straight ahead is the old entrance to what was Ueno Park. So if you haven't been to Tokyo in a while, Ueno Park has changed. The entrance is now moved over to the other side. This direction.

25:08 John Daub: My name is nobody. Good. Right. Sawamura is the name. Eiji Sawamura. Pitcher. Struck out Babe Ruth in Japan. Big news. Front page. Everybody knew about it. The whole country was celebrating. I think it was in Shizuoka as well. I remember reading the history books on this and it was just... My jaw dropped. Somebody struck out Babe Ruth. Whoa.

25:39 John Daub: And it was because of Babe Ruth that... I believe baseball is so popular in Japan. I would call it the national sport of Japan over sumo. Just because more people are so passionate. Especially at the high school level. Wow. So this area is so open. Often they have festivals going on or tents. Something on display today. Nothing. But the Starbucks here is one of the most popular ones in the city of Tokyo. Because it's in the park.

26:18 John Daub: It's a really quiet area. We have the cherry blossom sakura latte. And the cherry blossom donuts. Yes, they kind of are disappointing. It sounds better than it really tastes. And then this direction is Ueno station. The new entrance by the way. Which looks really nice. Do you see the brown? Brown grills up there. They've done a great job of renovating parts of Ueno station. One of the oldest in Japan. Or one of the oldest in Tokyo. The panda mailbox is still there.

27:12 John Daub: I do have a wind protecting mic. But it's too late to add it in now. In just two weeks these trees here are going to be so beautiful. But right now... Let's see if there are any buds. Yeah, you can just see some green... I see some green sprouts. It's hard to see the buds. I'm sure as we're walking back towards the entrance we're going to get a chance to see some buds.

27:48 John Daub: But for me, scouting out, scoping, spying on the cherry blossoms is a pastime for me. I also go probably in ten days from now. I'll check out Yasukuni Shrine. There's the sakura index tree there. And that's usually the first tree that signifies the start of the cherry blossom season. It'll be one of the first to bloom. And the Japan Meteorological Agency uses that tree as its index for this area, for Tokyo. It's kind of cool. History goes back quite a ways.

28:40 John Daub: These are the first livestreams of March too, I believe. Oh no no no! I did the midnight... Midnight street view. It was actually March 1st, but February 28th for everybody else. So it's the second and third livestream of March. This is going to be a pretty busy month. A lot of traveling at the end of it.

29:05 John Daub: And for those that don't know, on April 3rd, Japan Rail is announcing their new rail passes on April 1st. And they're giving me a shinkansen. A ceremonial shinkansen to ride with 100 people up from Tokyo Station and Ueno Station up to Shin-Aomori. And we're going to spend a day in Shin-Aomori, in Aomori Station, and then come back the next day. Why? Because it's awesome! And I get to ride in the Gran Class. Which is the first class. I'm so excited.

29:40 John Daub: The new Japan Rail JR East rail pass for Tohoku allows people living in Japan with foreign passports now to be able to ride the shinkansen. You don't have to have a tourist visa anymore. This is awesome. This is big, big news. There's two passes. One of them is for Tohoku. The other one is for the Niigata-Nagano area. Both those passes don't require you to have a tourist visa. Again, so, so long I've been waiting for stuff like this.

30:17 John Daub: Joining me on April 3rd is Peter von Gomm. Peter von Gomm, PVG, will be joining me on the shinkansen. He's gracefully accepted my invitation to join me on the Tohoku shinkansen. Mainly when I said, yes, he can ride Gran Class for free. Pretty much sold it. Because the ticket on Gran Class is like $800 or something. But more than that, it's our Gran Class. Meaning, just mine and his. So, that's amazing. I feel like a boss or something.

31:06 John Daub: Actually, PVG introduced me. I haven't met her yet. The lady who does the announcements for... The shinkansen. PVG has met her. And knows her. That'd be pretty cool. We should invite her. She's Australian, I believe.

31:35 John Daub: And Pratik R. writes in here. Hey John, have you done or plan on doing livestreams covering Sengoku period history? Go Bucks. I don't specifically the period. I don't think I have. But I'm going to try to cover a few. I'm going to do a Jomon period episode sometime this year. And I believe I'll try to get to Sengoku. There's a bunch of other eras that I really am interested in.

32:03 John Daub: A lot of it, I'm like an amateur historian. So, for me, it's a way to dive back in, dive into the history, learning about the periods and all the things that happened. That'd be really cool. I will probably get around to it. I know that the Jomon period, which was like 10,000 years ago, is very high on my radar. And I got an episode. It's not in the works, but it's planned. Like I've written down a strategy to produce that episode. Mostly taking place up in Tohoku.

32:50 John Daub: Right, the Jomon period is so far in the past, but that's what makes it so fascinating too. Because there is some history. There is some archaeological information. There is some information on what they ate, how they lived. The essence, the backbone of Japan society. I don't know. It's something I'm going to dig into a lot this year.

33:16 John Daub: And we're back at the entrance. Where we can see those birds destroying nature. It's brown birds. Seriously. They just rip off blossoms and throw them to the ground. And the police do nothing? Yeah, this is the path here that leads to Ueno Zoo. Just go straight. You're there.

33:57 John Daub: So this is an interesting livestream. Mostly filled with birds. I respect the birds. Mostly. Especially if they come in a bucket. Just joking. 1% of the people out there are upset by that comment. I apologize.

34:21 John Daub: Alright, do you see these people? You know what they're taking pictures of? The destruction of birds. And they're having a smoke as they watch. Because they just happen to put the only smoking zone underneath the most beautiful tree. Great job. Whoa! See that crow? Totally, the crow should start taking out these little birds. And I'm in support of that. Because they've been vandalizing. They know what they do.

34:52 John Daub: If you look really closely and you squint, should be able to see in 720p some of these birds. There's one in the center of your screen. Vandal. Sorry. Sorry, sir. I just freaked out a guy next to me. No discharging. Getting in everybody's pictures now. It's a beautiful tree. It's a beautiful time of the day. As the sun sets here in Tokyo. Here in Ueno.

36:06 John Daub: Now you kind of know what the situation is. It's a little bit too early. Again, it's only the 3rd of March. Happy Hinamatsuri to everybody. All those little girls get creeped out by that song. Hinamatsuri. It's a really creepy song. All these dolls. But because of the pandemic, most of the celebrations have been shut down. There goes the Keihin-Tohoku Line in the distance. That's Ameyoko.

37:00 John Daub: Oh, in the pond. Actually, that's quite a ways away. I'm 37 minutes in. Like, I'm quite a ways away. The lotuses are on the other side there. I didn't see them up yet. I'll be back here for the cherry blossoms, I'm sure, in a couple of weeks. To check that out, that situation. But I want to check out that side of the park as well. It's just I'm getting kind of cold because the sun is going down now.

37:43 John Daub: Those birds are loud. Apparently, I guess there are some tourists that are finding ways in here. I don't know what the rules are. But they do have to undergo PCR testing and quarantining inside. But if you can do that, I guess you can still get here. J&TO has a COVID site which you can go and check out that has all of the new entries and passports, what nationalities can enter into Japan. So it might be a good place to check out. But from what I understand, the border is pretty closed. Although in Japan, we very much are looking forward to having tourism return. Just because a lot of businesses are not doing too well.

38:38 John Daub: Live view from Ueno. Thanks so much for watching, everybody. I appreciate the support. I'll be back. I'll be back tomorrow for another livestream. I'm working on several edited videos. The animators are actually working to revamp the opening. They're going to send it to me in 4K because it's only in HD. They said with this week, I guess. So as soon as I get that, I'm going to be uploading. I got a lot of videos in the tank now for the edited channel.

39:35 John Daub: If you have any questions, leave them in the comments below. Don't forget to subscribe. Hit me up on Twitter if you have some questions about the Japan Rail, JR East rail passes. We're going to be doing a livestream on this on Friday. And tomorrow, I'm planning to meet up with PVG to do a motorbike livestream. It's been ages since I got on the back of his bike and we rode around town. I'm going to get my helmet on. And we're going to see if we can do that because I got wind buffers and mics that allow me to ride around without much wind impact. And we get a chance to test this out. But we're going to get a chance to see Tokyo tomorrow by motorbike. I think it's still on. I'll confirm with him.

40:19 John Daub: So until then, have a good day. Have a good night wherever you are in the world. I will see you back livestreaming very soon. 24 hours or less. Bye from Tokyo.