Tokyo's Best Kept Secret Spot Nezu Jinja Ueno
Tokyo's Best Kept Secret Spot Nezu Jinja Ueno
Overview
In this live stream episode, John Daub escapes the heat and hustle of central Tokyo to visit Nezu Shrine (Nezu Jinja) in Bunkyo City. Riding his bicycle through the shitamachi (old downtown) areas of Akihabara and Ueno, John arrives at one of Tokyo's oldest and most tranquil shrines. The video highlights the stunning vermilion torii gate tunnels, reminiscent of Kyoto's Fushimi Inari but far less crowded.
John explores the shrine grounds, sharing historical context about the site's origins in the first century and its relocation in 1705. He encounters a local researcher named Matisse, and together they discuss the shrine's features, including the Bungonōishi power spot rock and the peaceful koi pond. The episode captures the serene atmosphere of the shrine during a hot summer day, complete with the sounds of semi (cicadas) and interactions with local wildlife.
Beyond the tour, John engages with his online community, discussing potential crowdfunding efforts to support the shrine by sponsoring a torii gate. He also takes time to explain cultural nuances, such as the meaning of the manji (Buddhist swastika) symbol found on site. The video serves as both a travel guide and a meditation on finding peace within a bustling metropolis.
Highlights
- 00:00:07 John introduces Nezu Shrine as a tranquil escape from Tokyo.
- 00:01:54 Walking through the vermilion torii gate tunnel.
- 00:07:05 Explanation of shu-iro (vermilion) color and Inari god significance.
- 00:08:06 John buys a "Rainbow Mountain Blend" drink from a vending machine.
- 00:13:11 Meeting Matisse, a researcher from Tokyo University.
- 00:16:18 Visiting the Bungonōishi power spot rock for inspiration.
- 00:17:27 John offers a prayer for viewers at the main hall.
- 00:18:54 Looking at ema (wish plaques) and discussing exam wishes.
- 00:23:24 Relaxing by the koi pond and observing turtles.
- 00:33:01 Explanation of the manji Buddhist symbol.
- 00:44:11 Discussing crowdfunding to sponsor a torii gate for the community.
- 00:51:36 Closing wisdom referencing Bruce Lee and The Karate Kid.
Timeline / Chapters
- 00:00:00 Intro & Bike Ride Context
- 00:01:54 Torii Gate Tunnel Walk
- 00:05:59 Shrine History & Location
- 00:08:06 Vending Machine Break
- 00:13:11 Meeting Matisse
- 00:16:18 Bungonōishi Power Spot
- 00:17:27 Main Shrine Prayer
- 00:23:24 Koi Pond & Turtles
- 00:30:36 Return Through Torii Gates
- 00:33:01 Buddhist Symbols & Culture
- 00:44:11 Community Crowdfunding Idea
- 00:51:36 Closing & Outro
Japan Travel Tips
- Access: Nezu Shrine is accessible via Nezu Station (Chiyoda Line) or Todaimae Station (Namboku Line). It is also within bicycle range from Akihabara (approx. 45 mins) and Ueno (approx. 30 mins walk).
- Best Time to Visit: Early morning or late afternoon to avoid heat. Spring offers beautiful ume (plum) blossoms and azaleas.
- Etiquette: Keep voices down, wear masks, and be humble. Do not walk directly through the center of the entrance gate; walk off-center.
- Hydration: Vending machines are available nearby; bring cash or a Suica/Pasmo card.
- Photography: Great for photos, especially the torii gates. Avoid using drones without permission.
- Cost: Free entry to the shrine grounds. Donations (50-100 yen) are optional for prayers.
Japanese Language & Culture Notes
- Torii: Traditional gates marking the entrance to a sacred space. Nezu Shrine has hundreds, similar to Fushimi Inari in Kyoto.
- Shu-iro: Vermilion color, associated with the sun and Inari, the god of business, success, and rice.
- Manji: A Buddhist symbol resembling a swastika but representing peace and ten thousand blessings. It is common in Japan and not related to Nazi symbolism.
- Ema: Wooden plaques where visitors write wishes. Often used by students praying for exam success.
- Shitamachi: Refers to the old downtown areas of Tokyo, characterized by a nostalgic, slower pace compared to modern districts.
- Bungonōishi: A specific rock believed to be a power spot where literati sat for inspiration.
- Oyogu: The verb "to swim." John uses this while watching the koi.
Food & Drink Guide
- Rainbow Mountain Blend: A colorful canned coffee drink John purchases from a vending machine. He notes the vibrant can design. 00:08:06
- Amazake: Sweet fermented rice drink mentioned as available during the plum blossom festival in spring. 00:30:36
- Koi Cuisine: Mentioned by John as something he ate in Miyazaki, though not consumed in this video. 00:23:24
People
- John Daub: Host and creator of Only in Japan Go. He guides the tour, shares history, and interacts with viewers and guests.
- Matisse: A researcher from Tokyo University (Todai) specializing in AI. He joins John briefly to discuss the shrine and his work.
- Kanae Daub: John's wife, mentioned regarding lunch and regards from viewers.
- Leo: John's son, mentioned in the context of reading Frog and Toad books.
Key Takeaways
- Nezu Shrine offers a peaceful retreat within Tokyo, featuring historic architecture and nature.
- The shrine combines Shinto and Buddhist elements, evident in the symbols and layout.
- Community support (such as crowdfunding for gate maintenance) can help preserve cultural sites.
- Finding quiet moments in nature, even in a city, contributes to mental well-being.
- Cultural symbols like the manji should be understood in their proper historical context.
Notable Quotes
- 00:00:07 "This is Nezu Shrine, a very tranquil, relaxing place. It doesn't feel like Tokyo at all."
- 00:05:10 "You need to have clear eyes as you're riding your bike through here. There are loads of stray cats."
- 00:16:18 "I want to sit on that rock because I need inspiration for getting back into the swing of things."
- 00:33:01 "You should not be offended when you see this it's a Buddhist symbol that's been around for millennia."
- 00:49:00 "If you have total awareness that means you see all you can be all like Bruce Lee says be like water."
- 00:51:36 "Man who catch fly with chopstick accomplish anything."
Related Topics
- Fushimi Inari Shrine (Kyoto)
- Shinto vs Buddhism in Japan
- Tokyo Hidden Gems
- Urban Cycling in Tokyo
- Shrine Etiquette
Search Tags
#only-in-japan-go #tokyo #nezu-shrine #travel #japan-culture #shrine #torii-gates #shitamachi #live-stream #bunkyo #ueno #akihabara #summer-in-japan #power-spot #koi #vending-machine
Full Transcript
00:00:07 John Daub: Hello everybody, welcome to the city of Tokyo. This is Nezu Shrine, a very tranquil, relaxing place. It doesn't feel like Tokyo at all. It's a reason why I came here. It's such a wonderful place that I thought just before the rains come for the rest of the week, I wanted to take you through here live, and through one of its many attractions, which is these torii gates—very much like Kyoto in a way. I guess you all know Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto with the thousands of gates. This one seems to be one of the most here in the city of Tokyo. It looks really beautiful from this location, and we're going to go through it together.
00:00:51 John Daub: How you doing everybody? I can come over in a corner, there's nobody around here. Yeah, I just rode my bike for about 45-50 minutes to get here. More traffic lights than I thought, but it was a nice bike ride, nice to get some exercise and get out of the house for a little bit. It is about 32-33 degrees Celsius, which is close to 90. You can see I'm sweating pretty profusely, but I will make it through this. It is a place of worship. It's a place of great respect. So you want to try to keep your voice down, be very humble, and do what you do at a religious place. Masks on, and let's go for a walk here. Let me know if you have any problems with the video. And I'm going to do a time lapse for Instagram, so you're going to go through this tunnel at warp speed. Check out Instagram.com/onlyinjapantv, and you'll be able to see this in like 15 seconds.
00:01:54 John Daub: I love going through these. Yeah, make sure you duck. Oh, spider web! Oh man, make sure you duck, especially if you're over 180 centimeters. I haven't been to this shrine in about 10 years.
00:02:37 John Daub: Check it out. That one just bit the dust. It's one of the cicadas, the semi (cicadas) that are making that noise you hear in the background.
00:04:10 John Daub: Welcome, John Davis. You've been an insider for two months. I appreciate that. Today's been going pretty good. I did hit my head once just there, but it's all right. These are a little bit higher. You're going to see where they all go. Here's the entrance on the other side. We're going to go through there again, not to worry. It's more people get the notification to join us. Now, there aren't a lot of people here at Nezu Shrine this afternoon. It's lunchtime first of all, and it's also during the pandemic and this isn't too far out of my neighborhood. It's within bicycle range. I didn't have to take the subway or train.
00:05:10 John Daub: I love this neighborhood when you're riding your bike through here. You need to have clear eyes as you're riding your bike through here. There are loads of stray cats. Lots of cats. This area of the city. One of my favorites because it has that shitamachi (old downtown) characteristics. It feels like you're in another time when you compare it to Akihabara, which is not that far away. I went through Akihabara to get here. It just feels peaceful. And this is a very unique difference to a lot of places in the city of Tokyo. You don't expect it and I'm going to take you now to the main shrine area.
00:05:59 John Daub: This is one of the older places of worship. Now according to history, Nezu Shrine was built in the first century. All right, just wrap your head around that is pretty old, one of the oldest places, but it was moved here in 1705, I believe. So this isn't the original location. But the shrine itself is very old. Just a very green peaceful place in the city of Tokyo. And after you've been trapped in the center of the city for a long time, you can get on your bike and travel for about 40 minutes—30 if I made every traffic light—and enjoy a little bit of Nezu Shrine. If you're staying in Akihabara or Ueno, it is very close. It's probably walking distance. Take you about 30 minutes to walk maybe from Ueno, 45 from Akihabara.
00:07:05 John Daub: And you know what, before I go in and show you the shrine and there are the torii gates that we came through over there. The color is called shu-iro (vermilion), which is the color of the sun which Inari likes—the god of business and success and rice. Through all the years I've been covering Japanese shrines, Inari is one of the more popular ones. Thanks John for taking us even though it's rough. It's such a hot and humid day, regards to Kanae. Thank you Cheryl. I'm right now looking for a vending machine 'cause I'm melting. Vending machine. Now, are we going to find something here? I'm going to take you back in there and show you the shrine itself now. It's fashioned after— if you've ever been to Nikkō up in Tochigi prefecture, you know that it looks quite similar to that one.
00:08:06 John Daub: There are some vending machines. Awesome. We're in business. So you're gonna cross the street and get a couple of drinks—maybe just one. It's very slow in this area of the city, I love it, quiet too. If you see a stray cat let me know because I'm very good with the cats. All right, I'm gonna get some water first off. Oh this one takes Suica. Nice, I'm melting—bit by a mosquito. Oh nice cool water. Uh what else they got here? Just something that screams to me and says buy me. Pineapple juice would sound nice. Tomato juice that's a little too hardcore. Mountain Dew pass. Boss coffee is always nice. I could go for a little burst. Rainbow Mountain Blend. Oh I like that, I'm into it. I'll try some Rainbow. All right who's in on this Rainbow? Done. It says Rainbow, okay I thought it said Rain Boy. It's all good because it looks like it's gonna rain. Look at the color of the can, this is so vibrant—it's like somebody spilled oil on the street and the light hit it at the right direction. Rainbow Mountain Blend. Where's the Rainbow Mountain? That guy doesn't look so tough when he's on a rainbow. There's a QR code for anyone who wants to screen grab this and try it out. It's made of rainwater? Andrew that's nasty. Really Andrew? It's just made out of rainwater? All right let's go back to the shrine area.
00:10:50 John Daub: Oh we can make this light. You should take your hat off for that. This is the entrance here, you don't want to do it right in the center, maybe off center. So let's drink this coffee in the mosquito area because that's the best way to do it. Here's the map. So we came in through a different entrance because I rode my bicycle and I don't know if I'm gonna be able to find that entrance again. Uh which is uh Tokyo University is not too far away so you can take the subway at Todaimae station or there's a Nezu station which you can also get off and walk for about 10 minutes. And there is the beautiful main shrine right there. We walked around the back, we went through these torii gates to the back and then to the vending machine and now we're coming into the front again. So you can get a chance to do this one more time because I love you. And up here that's we already went up there too, you could see there was some spider webs and whatnot and it's not my happy place. But all right let's go, let's guzzle this real quick because we have stuff to do. We can do this in the corner. It is not made from rainwater. Who wrote that? Rain Boy ah kawaii.
00:13:11 John Daub: I don't know if I have a card but I do have a postcard. We're kind of off season. Where are you from? Well I'm from Tokyo I guess. Okay I actually saw the announcement and got on my bike 40 minutes and I didn't even time. Wow generally I guess I'm from Latvia. Okay from Latvia cool. Any idea where that is? Yeah Estonia, Latvia, the Baltic states. Baltic states. Think Baltic I think I was thinking of um a Monopoly—we have the Baltic Avenue. You don't have a Baltic Avenue? No cool. So you've been here before? Um I'm actually basically I'm a researcher in Todai, Tokyo University which is almost next door. Oh wow neighbor. So I sometimes come here to get picture labs. Cool so you know all about Nezu Shrine? A little bit. There's uh two geocaches in the area.
00:14:21 Matisse: Yeah hey we don't have too many days of summer left but it sure feels like it. Come on until November. Yeah really? Okay so next up we're gonna take you into the shrine area. Let's go check this out. All right you want to join for a little bit? Are you on the way to school? No today is Tuesday I know that because tomorrow is garbage day. I'll actively do lots of things so I can kind of take time off a little bit sometimes. Oh wow are you what are you researching? Is it top secret? AI oh artificial intelligence I know what that means. Wow but I was actually going to do a photoshoot. Yeah I brought my camera here I need to get a shot for the postcard club so I need to. This is such a nice place I don't know why because we're off season I told people don't find me actually because of the pandemic but it's okay I'd be anyway if they had found me like at least if I had such a nice place you found me.
00:15:39 John Daub: I carried it in my other bag today. I have my camera bag. I apologize. I had one yesterday. Where was I yesterday? Oh okay I was at Tokyo Station. That was a special one. Yeah that was just like a... It was probably hard to find you inside... I'm having it pretty easy inside Tokyo Station there. Do you know about the rock that they have inside of the shrine?
00:16:11 Matisse: I haven't read any information.
00:16:12 John Daub: I'm going to take you to a power spot then. All right I'll take you here. Don't mind me joining you.
00:16:17 Matisse: Oh no not at all.
00:16:18 John Daub: So the power spot I believe it's called Bungonōishi. And it's a rock that a lot of literati have sat on for power. And I definitely need that. On the right side you can see the torii gates that we walked through. Many spiders in there spider webs. I want to sit on that rock because I need inspiration for getting back into the swing of things, editing content.
00:16:57 Matisse: Today I believe there's an opening ceremony. I don't know if they're doing shrines. Sorry the drones. Because I miss the drones.
00:17:03 John Daub: Yeah. I wonder if they're going to do the drones again. If they do maybe I'll go to livestream them. For a closing ceremony I stood on rooftop and basically in front of the arena thing for two hours. And okay saw some fireworks but nothing too special.
00:17:24 Matisse: So you didn't see the... They didn't have drones at the closing ceremony did they?
00:17:27 John Daub: No it was kind of fun. Yeah at least from outside. All right this is the main shrine. And I want to see if I can get some... Give all of you a prayer here so then you can... I know around the world we need that. I'm going to give... I'll give 100 yen here. I got 50 yen. That's more symbolic. Here's a 50 yen coin for all of us here for a little prayer. Silver for super power. Actually I'm going to put this down. Oh wait hold on. You got to throw the money. So I put a prayer in for all of you. So wherever you are that you'll have a safe time and peaceful and everything with your family is going well and you have good health. That's what I prayed for. Am I allowed to tell people? Can I tell you that? That's what I prayed for?
00:18:54 John Daub: Karstow thank you for the refreshment funds. I might take you up on that real soon. There's some ema (wish plaques). Let's just take a quick look. See what they have on the design here. You can buy these from the shrine and then put your wish on the back and you tie it here and it comes true. But also people can come and read it and give a little inspiration. I'm not sure if you're supposed to do that. But we filmed them for NHK a few times so I guess you can. There's a lot of them. But I'm sure when there's no pandemic it's just filled with them.
00:19:32 John Daub: Have you ever done an ema before?
00:19:35 Matisse: No.
00:19:39 John Daub: Students usually go to the shrine. Oh right yeah. I've come along with them many times. And I'm like really? You're all doing the same thing? Oh yeah good luck with the exams and stuff like that. I'm not even this one. It's a different one. Yeah they're famous for the ume (plum) blossoms. Yeah we were there this spring too. You can see it's very much in the Nikkō style of shrines. Has a very... Green roof. Kind of dark red. Gold trim. Very beautiful. Yeah. Click that like button if you want to see some more. If we can get back up to 500 likes I'll take you through that. But I'm going to go back to the torii gate teleporter.
00:20:40 John Daub: Is there a lion dog statue here?
00:20:46 Matisse: You mean like a Merlion? No I'm not sure. I don't remember that one.
00:20:50 John Daub: I think something broke them off right there. The pigeons are... Hey pigeons. Back away from the Rock of Inspiration. This is Bungonōishi. Not a lot of people know about this. And for centuries smart people—smarter people than me—have been hanging out on this rock to try to get power. So I'm going to try to harness this power here. Just going to harness the power. I'm probably sitting in bird doo as well but that's the price you pay for power. I meditated for 10 seconds. It's not enough but maybe I'll be back. It's cooling. I do feel a little bit more power but that one pigeon has a power. Hey dude really? What's up with that? Bizarre. He's mating. Too much power. This is what happens when all that power goes to your head. It swells up like this. You don't even write dude. You're not even a literary bird. You're a power pigeon. All right this rock here Bungonōishi. I'll be back to sit here before I leave. But it has some sort of power spot that people don't all know about. But if you do come here try to find this rock. It's been at this exact... It has been moved in centuries. So like most rocks but though it has power. There's some carp over here. Let's go take you to the carp. Also known as koi. Follow that bird or don't. Probably better if we go this direction.
00:23:24 John Daub: This is most of the shrines in shitamachi I believe have ponds like this. And you can find beautiful carp in here. Koi very relaxing. They're chillaxing in front of the stream which is a nice place for fresh water. Look at that. It's like they're fanned out and sort of like a pattern. Just kind of chilling. Pause here for a moment. Just vibing man. Chillax action.
00:24:07 Matisse: It's nice to meet you too. Yeah I catch you in the fall. I'll be when things get a little bit better. I'll be more open and this summer for sure going to be.
00:24:16 John Daub: How long you here in Tokyo for?
00:24:18 Matisse: Currently third year. No idea. Another year. Well technically until next year. Yeah but then maybe I don't really want to go anywhere else in this. Yeah I can imagine.
00:24:35 John Daub: You know yeah this is local. It's not very crowded area. It's all good. Japan in general. Oh Japan's a safer place compared to... Yeah basically anywhere. Basically anywhere except New Zealand. I know because people New Zealand had one case. They locked down the country last week. That's how very hard core. Well nice to meet you. You could do fist bump here. Yeah I'll see what your name again sorry.
00:24:58 Matisse: Oh yeah I didn't say. Matisse.
00:25:00 John Daub: Nice to meet you Matisse. Got it. I'll remember you. Cool. All right let's go around this bridge here in this area. I really want to soak this in as well just for me because... Oh awesome. Don't look at this. Oh that's so cool. Tortoises are the turtles. I can never get them right. Is there a what do you call the people who study tortoises? Are there any Tortonians here? The turtles? Shane says Champagne Sumo writes in here. Ninja turtles. I'm not... I can't confirm that. I just if they are ninja. Oh he's waving. He's waving. Did you see that? Dude do it again. It's slightly Minecraft but do it. I waved. See if you'll reciprocate. No they're kind of chillaxing. I think the carp wanted to stay away from the turtles. I think there's some sort of prison system here. They have their own cell block. This is cell block C. That one right there is T-Bag. Let's get out of here. I've watched that Prison Break drama. I don't want to hang out with T-Bag. Can I like see the sea? Suckeray the best Carlos. That is a legitimate character's name just so you know he is the legitimate character. So I think it's spelled differently than Lipton. Okay. Well that is a more... Is that a more powerful rock? We try to touch him. If you're so powerful you shouldn't move. If you're so powerful you wouldn't move. If you're powerful you wouldn't move because his legs are busted. He needs more power. All right bro. I'll let you have it. Have it look he's come he knows he's more powerful than me he's facing me off we turned his back on me hey you know you can have the rock you're in you're more in need than me. Mammoth koi now when I was down in Miyazaki I ate some of the koi they had koi cuisine and that kind of ticked off um a couple of people it's you know it wasn't me this is the chef he said he studied it in France. I see them hiding but the turtles here they look like rocks do you see him in the center there's a live stream on koi cuisine you can see that the turtles um kind of swimming like alligators like they were some like crocodiles I wonder who's the boss here oh I don't think either of them I think they're friendly in this cell block this is cell block D as he submerges here um you can bring your own chairs I used to have a little portable chair that I would carry around I haven't done that in a long time and you'd be able to go to the tranquil places in the city very relaxing and you could put your chair down there and have a drink boy there's a little bit of us like a oil slick on there kind of reminds me of Rain Boy call these this is the Rain Boy cell block well that that turtle is trucking look at the trucking how fast they are he's making a wake awesome I think he's trying to dock here let's take it to the other side see what else we can find.
00:30:36 John Daub: All right thanks for joining me we're about 150 likes away from going into the red torii shrine gate area I highly recommend that you click that like button because it is pretty awesome and we're going to go in reverse. Um these shrines here uh in shitamachi are so nice the other one not too far away has the most beautiful uh ume blossoms plum blossoms that start coming out end of February it's still kind of chilly but you can get hot amazake (sweet fermented rice drink) and there's a festival feeling inside of there out of season but I'm sure I'll be back there I already know that they have awful reception for live streaming. McV's in the house hey Mick love this love that shrine gives a Fushimi Inari vibe but much less crowded nice place to take shots too and Cobra Bebop's in the house nice to see you brother oh check it out inside of here and there are the um I don't know it seemed like there are several hundred if not a thousand gates uh and if you walk this way you can see the sponsors so you can wouldn't be pretty cool if Only in Japan bought a torii gate to put here as a um donation to Nezu Shrine I'll see how much that is maybe we can crowdfund this and we can all have a piece of it so they guard the entrance at temples they're just kind of paparazzi having fun eating it's kind of a lovely little gate but not too bad here and that real yeah and Kinnick knucklehead I can only assume is Canadian so makes a good point in the spring this is azalea season here you could see it so beautiful make sure you stand to the left or the right not down the center it's so beautiful here uh you don't want to miss in the spring for the azaleas here because it's just stunning.
00:33:01 John Daub: On the side of the area where you would wash your hand to enter you can see this is Buddhist I didn't I thought that they call it a shrine it's confusing so I guess the shrines up here and there's a Nezu Temple and there's a Nezu Shrine I'm starting to figure this out that's a manji (Buddhist swastika). You should not be offended when you see this it's a Buddhist symbol that's been around for millennia okay it's a symbol of peace and uh when you come here to Japan you're gonna see it everywhere but I think if anyone is offended by it um you're probably a little bit uneducated it's not in this part of the world it is not meant uh to be insulting and I don't know I always felt like if you're insulted by the manji that I think you're insulting the people who you're insulted by of yeah does that make any sense right Glenn exactly so it's just sort of I think for westerners who haven't been to Asia it's a little bit of a shocking thing to see something like this but it means ten thousand blessings. My daughter's name is Azalea and my other is Viola right so I'm not sure what that means but i'm not sure what that means and Misty that's a beautiful name that's a beautiful name if we ever have a daughter I gotta really put some thought into what we would name her because we did go through the baby names you can see there's a manji right up there as well again the shrine dates back to the first century okay but this is not the original spot so they moved it earlier wow you can find them everywhere if you look the Brazilian guy is encouraging me to get to another vending machine all right let's go let's um go through the gate here and we're going to um go through the torii gates we're about 100 likes uh 75 likes away from our goal lately this gimbal hasn't been as smooth oh my gimp it's a big bird whoa he swooped over me that was a big bird oh look at the reflection of the gates up there you didn't see that big bird it had like a mohawk and like he didn't have a full feathered head it was like he'd been in fights or something and he looked very imposing because when he ruffled his feathers up it looked like him like evil pure evil like that guy in Time Bandits you ever see that movie Time Bandits one of my favorite movies um Sean Connery was in that and the evil guy had a cape the evil British guy had a cape on and some sort of head thing that bird looking head decoration and that reminded me of the guy from evil from Time Bandits 1981 Terry Gilliam exactly all right we're gonna go through the opposite way we're still 60 likes away I know we can do it in one minute if you put your if you put your mind to it you can accomplish anything they said well this time if you put your finger to it you can hit the like button all right we're gonna go through here as this mosquito follows me it's all right take a bite in we go all right once again for anyone watching I'm gonna put a time lapse going through this hyperlapse on Instagram afterwards so you're not gonna want to miss that one but click the like button if by the time we get to the other side we better have 500 likes and the only reason I say this because it's fun to have a community goal and I know we're gonna get there all right I'm not gonna talk at all I'm just gonna take you through these gates and we're gonna have a peaceful experience okay so enjoy this um one and a half to two minutes of just pure quiet and tranquility for you because I came here for this that's such that is such such a awesome experience.
00:41:01 John Daub: Hold on a second my mask is totally drenched here. Craig Porter's in the house Craig thanks for that brother I'm gonna put that towards Kanae and I's lunch I gotta pick up something on the way home and ride that back by bicycle so I appreciate Craig that means a lot thank you well earned this is quite a bike ride wow um I'm gonna have fun doing the hyperlapse through here you know there's nothing more peaceful I think you walk through here for just a couple of minutes don't say anything just relax and by the time you get to the other side you feel so much more relaxed there's something peaceful about this location you can see the roof of the I believe it's is it a temple or shrine I'm not sure I'm pretty sure it's a temple or shrine it's a temple I'm not sure I'm pretty sure I thought it was Nezu Shrine but there's a temple here as well so it's Nezu Shrine and Temple. It's a really holy place. And I like the fact that there's a duality of life here. You know you're born Shinto and you have a Buddhist funeral. I know it doesn't make a lot of sense to some people but life is a balance of things right? It's not too much of one or too much of another. You just sort of balance it out and you find peace that way. A little bit of anger a little bit of happiness. Maybe a lot of happiness. Some of these gates I'm going back through here just to show you some of them are a little bit worn. Require a little bit of maintenance. And I don't know if it's up to the sponsor of the gate to maintain them or what. But I know that there's a lot of companies that are going through some really tough financial times. So I can understand it might be a little while before the repairs can be made. This one looks a little bit older. You can see the wood. Maybe it's eaten by spiders. It could have been decades of spider nibbling. This one has moss on it. Can use some repair but just look on the top of it. Perhaps we can do some kind of crowdfunding to repair these maybe. I don't know. But whenever the community comes together to do something we can do something really great and really big which we've done which showed that last year we could change and inspire an industry. We could inspire Japan by helping out with the fireworks. So we're doing that again everybody. The Kickstarter campaign is slated to start next week. So I'm hoping that we can do that.
00:44:11 John Daub: OK we're halfway and I want to stop here and hang out a little bit. Share some respect for Inari. And from this point you got a nice view down onto the pond here. You can see there's some koi. It's kind of chilling just like those two tortoises turtles. Oyoide oyoide. Oyoimashou. Oyogu is the verb for to swim. See if I was a turtle I would think that those carp are like sharks but they live in peace. This is a peaceful place. Chi Channel writes in here so chill. I want to be a turtle there. OK I just bought my son Leo the Frog and Toad the first Frog and Toad children's book. I'll start reading to him when he's six months old. And I like Frog and Toad. Look at this I wonder if the earthquake had anything to do with this. Whether it was the 1923 Kantō earthquake that sort of tipped this over and they just haven't repaired it. I don't think it was the great Tōhoku earthquake 10 years ago that did this. I think it was something a little bit stronger. But these torii gates you can sponsor these by donating to the shrine. So I'm going to get in touch with them and see if we can get an Only in Japan one. I think that'd be pretty cool to do. And I think it'd be a place where our community can come and hang out. And you can if you help to donate maybe to help the shrine because I think trying to have not had a lot of people come to worship here. So I'm sure that they need money to keep it up in the head priests and monks at the temple probably need to make a living as well. So I think it'd be pretty good. Pretty something pretty nice to do. And it'd be cool. I'd like to put it right there in the middle maybe. And then when you come here you could be able to come say hi to our torii gate. I'll see what we need to do to make this start to make this happen. I like that because we have such a great community. We can do these kind of campaigns to help out. Matt Hayashi writes in here. Count me in. Awesome. I wonder if it's something like ten thousand dollars or something. Maybe we have to also pay for the upkeep. But if it's something we can do to help them out I'm all for it. I think that that's a good thing to do.
00:47:09 John Daub: All right we're going to go back through here and then I'll take some of your questions on the other side. I got to get back to get her lunch. Pick something up on the way back. It's a long bike ride. The Kyoto one started four hundred thousand yen or four thousand dollars. So I think we could definitely raise ten thousand dollars for this. But I think you have to pay to maintain it because you see look at the color here on this one is the sun has really done some work on it and change the color of it. If I if I had what I wanted to be well maintained. So we'll have to promise. Well check this out. I guess we can't do it. This one sponsored by an insurance company in English. Here's one. I think I saw one in Korean too. So I like that. He doesn't have to be in Japanese. There's a lot of markers here. Tokugawa who is the last shogun? Ieyasu Nobu Natsuka. This is Tokugawa's house was on this location I believe. Maybe it's a lot of history. This is after Tokugawa Ieyasu I believe. Ah Ieyasu Nobu was his brother or his. I guess I can't remember. There's so many Tokugawas. So there's a symbolic meaning to this. So many parts. There's so much history in the shrine. I'm going to need to come back here and give you more thorough tour. But you can see if you don't maintain them your torii gate could not look as nice. All right I'm going to give them a call and ask them. It's better to do it by phone call. Because you know it is a pandemic and I don't want to put anybody at unease even though I'm fully vaccinated. Well our gate should say Only in Japan and katakana. That's pretty cool. I probably do it in English too because not everybody would be able to recognize it. It'd be hard to find but we'd want it to be very respectful. Oh this one has leaned over and kind of fallen over. Yeah there's also a lot of typhoons. There's a lot of earthquakes that happen in Japan. There's a lot of things that could knock these down. There's also you know people could do something bad I guess. I don't know. But there's a lot of elements involved here. It is supposed to rain today so I'm going to make it back home. But I think that this place Nezu Shrine there's anybody around here. This place Nezu Shrine is really beautiful. And this tree probably has a lot of history too. Look how big it is. Like when you come to the shrine you have to stop and notice everything. The trees the ground the things above you and the things underneath you not just the things right in front of you. And if you do that I think you have total awareness. If you have total awareness that means you see all you can be all like Bruce Lee says be like water can fit in a cup. You can freeze hurt people. You can. People can play in you. If your water water's all pretty cool. You can drink it comes out again. Flush it. It's water. It's the essence of life. Words of wisdom.
00:51:36 John Daub: And by the way exclamation point Karate Kid does work. Just saying. No I don't think anyone's used it in a while. Yeah you will have to call. They don't have the price link to the website. Yeah we'll have to figure it out here. This is a Night Bot. Man who catch fly with chopstick accomplish anything. Well done Night Bot. I think it's that man who can. I think there's really revolving pieces of advice. Now Monty B. Monty Beaver here's 10 bucks because I haven't watched July stream in Monty. That's thank you. I'm glad that you're here to share this. I don't think it activates every time it might be. It might be on a time limit. It might be on a time limit. I oh Night Bot has some words of wisdom. Wax on wax off. Yeah. So if you need words of wisdom or something to help you out with your life during a live stream you can ask Night Bot. We'll answer you. We'll try to have some other nice Easter eggs but you only know about this if you watch and subscribe. It's part of being pretty good. Cobra Bebop thank you for being 15 months a member of the insider group. Thank you for that. Strike hard. Strike fast. No mercy. I believe one of them might be get him a body bag. Yeah you have. You need the last part on that here. All right thanks everybody for watching. I'm going to do a hyperlapse. I'm going to do a little hyperlapse and put that on Instagram. And if you have any questions leave it in the comments below. Please do subscribe and share the joy of here. And I do have an edited video. I'm going to go sit on that rock and get some inspiration. Try to get that out tonight because it needs to go out. It has. It's an Olympic episode. I mean take care everybody. Be safe. Sweep the leg. It's one of them. I don't know if I'm going to do a Discord talk but I did Twitch a couple of days ago and that was pretty cool. I'm going to Twitch again every Sunday. So maybe make a note of it. See everybody. Yeah Paralympics opening ceremony tonight. Awesome.