00:00:09 John Daub: Hello everybody! Welcome to Ueno Station! Greetings! So this is one of Tokyo's big hub stations. This is where a lot of the long-distance trains depart going north up to Tohoku. It's a very useful station to know. There's lots of things to see and do here including Ameyoko (あめや横丁), which if you just cross the street from here, you can go into one of the best places for street food.

00:00:39 John Daub: It's got that old world feel like it's from the Showa era, about 50, 60 years ago. Trains roll in on the second floor here, but the Shinkansen is underground and we're about to get lost in Ueno Station. So join me for the next 30 minutes or so as we roam around in here. Welcome!

00:01:03 John Daub: This is one of the first stations that I got completely lost in when I was living in Fukushima. I would take the Joban Line from Iwaki to Ueno Station. This would be my portal into Tokyo and I was consistently lost in this maze because it's an old station. I want to show you the entrances here.

00:01:24 John Daub: Now this is Ueno Station. It's connected to a shopping mall now and there's now a bridge that connects across it there, which I guess makes it a little bit easier if you can find that. We came in through the Hirokoji exit right there. And then next to it is the main exit, which are kind of really close to each other. Most people don't know that. Most people are coming in through this direction because Okachimachi and Ameyoko are right here.

00:01:52 John Daub: There's the Shinobazu exit and the Yamashita exit, which is on the side. This goes very conveniently to the entrance of Ueno Park. And then you have the park exit, which is more convenient to the museums, not the entrance of Ueno Park. This is the statue of Saigo Takamori, who was in The Last Samurai with Tom Cruise, if you remember that movie. Ken Watanabe played that character and you can see his statue there walking a dog, which is pretty cool.

00:02:19 John Daub: And then there's the Iriya exit, which is really good for this side of Tokyo. There's not that much to see and do for tourists, but it's an interesting area nonetheless to check out. And this is the Asakusa exit. So if you leave from here and go straight down Asakusa Dori, you get to Asakusa. True story. The zoo is over here. So there are lots of things to see and do here. The main museums, the park, cherry blossoms, the pond here. You can ride boats and stuff. It's pretty cool. Some playgrounds for kids.

00:02:49 John Daub: And then there's the station. So in order to get to those places, you have to get through here. And that's not going to be easy for some people because it wasn't easy for me. What makes it easier is over the years, they've added signs inside of the station. So it doesn't make it easier than it was before. You just have to find the signs. And it will point you in the right direction. And they actually put in icons or photos, which make it pretty easy.

00:03:17 John Daub: This direction to the zoo, obviously, because there's a panda. I like the fact that everything in the Japanese stations is in English. And actually Korean and Chinese because that's where the majority of the tourists are coming from. Sometimes in this plaza here, they have fairs. This one is from Akita Prefecture up in Tohoku. You can see those demons from Oga Hanto (男鹿半島), the peninsula up there. Pretty nasty characters. There are some restaurants in here that you can go and visit. And the Hard Rock Cafe is right here near the Hirokoji exit. That's also a place where a lot of people will meet up.

00:04:06 John Daub: Now, you don't need an actual ticket to ride to enter the station. I'll show you right here. You can change the language to English. So it is fully displayed in English. And then get a platform ticket for 150 yen. I already have one. So let's go inside.

00:04:36 John Daub: Hey lovely, Takelo's here. Happy Hanabi. Pretty cool. Alright, so you'll see it's pretty easy to navigate inside of here if you know what to look for. These signs, they all rotate between Japanese and English. So every 10 seconds or so, it will switch back to English. And this is for the Shinkansen. You can see these are going towards Sendai up north.

00:05:16 John Daub: So if you want to catch the Shinkansen, you're going to want to do it from Tokyo Station, which is the best place. Because that's the Shinkansens that are going south or west towards Kyoto. These are all going north only. So you can't catch the Shinkansen going to Kyoto from Ueno. Not a lot of people around the stations at this time. It's not as busy as Tokyo Station. That might be a good thing. Ueno doesn't have as many people. But there are some unique things about this station.

00:05:56 John Daub: I'm going to show you one of them in a second. Right there you can see these are the trains that are going north. That's pretty cool. The E5, E6, E7, and E3. E3 being the Yamagata Shinkansen. And the colors look pretty cool. Man, I love that E5 and E6. Alright, here's the entrance into the Shinkansen.

00:06:24 John Daub: Again, the trains into Ueno Station are on the second floor. But the Shinkansen transfer will take you through here and then down to the basement. Because the Shinkansen from Tokyo Station goes down to Ueno. And then eventually to Omiya, which is the next station. So if you're coming from above ground into Ueno Station, you'd want to go in through here. But if you're at Tokyo Station and you go through Ueno Station, you're going to be underground. And here's a map. Loads of places for information here to let you know where you are.

00:07:09 John Daub: The Iriya Gate is right there. And then from here you go into the Shinkansen transfer, which is underground. So what lines are there? Obviously you can see on the platform. The Keihin-Tohoku Line, the Yamanote Line. The Utsunomiya-Takasaki Line, the Joban Line. Which is the one I would take up to go to Fukushima up the coast. The Utsunomiya-Takasaki Line. And there's different rapids and express trains. So make sure you get on the right platform. Which is listed right there. Pretty convenient.

00:07:33 John Daub: You can also get ekiben (駅弁, station bento). But usually you want to get ekiben for the express trains and the Shinkansen. Now, I came here to make an episode before. These toilets are so new and so clean and so high tech. Do you see that? So despite the age of the station, this place has gotten little upgrades over the years, which make it pretty cool.

00:08:01 John Daub: Now this entrance right here. This is where you would catch one of the most expensive trains in the world. I think this is the Train Suite Shiki-Shima. This special platform is only open when that train is here. When they clean it. And it will take you on an overnight train that goes up to Tohoku. And it's ridiculously expensive. Like $15,000 to $16,000. Several years waiting list.

00:08:37 John Daub: Here's the lobby. So you can go in here and hang out with a drink before your train departs. This is the lounge for the train. And comes in through here. So it's kind of like a really unique platform. And if you're in Ueno Station, you might want to take a look. Come and touch the flower. There is a Shiki-Shima.

00:09:07 John Daub: Alright, let's take a look here. This is where I get lost all the time. It's when you come off of the train that you get completely lost. Here's another map just to give you an idea. So just looking at around the station, there's just so many things to see and do here. I do like the dinosaur. It appears pretty cool. I haven't been there in years. But we're limited to being trapped inside of here. So let's just roam around.

00:09:46 John Daub: And this is what happens when you get off of the station. By the way, do you think his head is also bigger than the rest of his body? It just seemed a little odd to me. That's the statue of Saigo Takamori. We'll just go up the steps here.

00:10:17 John Daub: Now, the signal might get a little weaker. We're underneath the tracks. So let me get up onto the platform. Show you around a little bit. This is kind of neat. We do have the digital vending machines inside here. If you stand close to them, it's supposed to tell you. Soba tea. That's interesting. So it's a recycle box, but it's closed right now. So if you have clothing and things like this, you could recycle here. Hats and glasses. That's interesting.

00:10:59 John Daub: Don't hit your head. I think it was made for people that were under 160 centimeters tall. Or like 5'6". But this area of the station is very interesting. Very old. And I got to bow my head to get underneath here. This part of the station is a lot older. And there's little markers like these mini tunnel thingies that I kind of remember. And it gives me an idea of where I am in the station.

00:11:36 John Daub: So when you do see these, you're in this part of the station. It hasn't changed in about 20 years since I've lived here. This is close to the park gate over there. Everything is marked really clearly. And there's a central gate over there. So if you just look up, you'll be able to find those signs. It'll guide you in the right place. It wasn't really like that 20 years ago. I got lost so bad.

00:12:03 John Daub: I had to meet somebody at one of the exits and I didn't know which exit. And that's when I got lost for about 30 minutes trying to find it. But now they've done a pretty good job. The exit signs are in yellow. So it's pretty clear to find where you want to go. And it's all in English now. I don't think it was so clearly marked many years ago. Let's go up onto the platform. But first, check out where this guy, he had to bow his head to get underneath it.

00:12:29 John Daub: This goes around to the other side. So you can go underneath the tracks. If you can find it correctly, go underneath the tracks. The yellow signs will point you in the right direction. So it is a lot harder to get lost. Although I find a way. Let's go say hi to the Yamanote Line. Because sometimes going onto the platform is a very good way to find yourself. To find where you're going.

00:13:17 John Daub: So whenever you get on the platform, because you're above ground and you can cut through all the stuff inside of the station and get to the right exits by going back up to the platforms. And it'll guide you. If you want to get the quickest way back to the park and Iriya exit, turn around. That's good information. This direction, the Shinobazu exit would be really convenient. If you want to go to the central exit, turn around. So, how you doing? It is a very busy station. You got loads of trains coming in here all the time.

00:14:00 John Daub: For those joining us, the Shinkansen is underground. Just so you know, these are the lines going. This one is going to Omiya. That looks like the Keihin-Tohoku Line, maybe? Alright, we're going to walk over to that Panda Bridge. Right? I saw a Panda Bridge. Let's go check that out.

00:14:54 John Daub: You can see over here, there's the Ueno Park. Above there, where all the greenery is. And on the other side, trust me. There's no greenery at all. It's like an urban jungle. Hey, Cobra Bebop! Congratulations! You've been here for 17 months. Have you ever seen the Emperor's personal train in person?

00:15:23 John Daub: I saw the Emperor get off of a train once. I used to live in a city called Mito, which is very famous for natto. And it was also famous for having one of the three big gardens. One that the Imperial family goes to very often. Especially in February, during the ume blossoms. And when I was there, the Emperor also came. And he had a red carpet. And there was a procession. And it was kind of fun. I got a chance from a distance to see the Emperor and Empress. That was pretty cool.

00:16:06 John Daub: I had not seen the special train for the Emperor himself. So I cannot confirm nor deny. But I have seen the Emperor's private bath at Dogo Onsen. Oh wow. Okay, so now we're on the bridge across. And they have a gachapon center here. How cool is that? This is sort of new. I think this was a convenience store before.

00:16:35 John Daub: So what do they got? Miniature furniture. That's kind of cool. Look at that. Power tools. Whoa. It's like a saw. Whoa. Miniature stereos. Miniature key pedals. It looks like this is a very specialized gachapon area. Wow. Interesting stuff here. These look like exhausted swimmers.

00:17:23 John Daub: It's always weird. It's a white guy. A brown guy. A blonde-haired guy with dark skin. That's really weird. Look, I don't know. I don't make these things. It is what it is. It's supposed to be weird. You'll find some of the most unusual things that keep you alive. They keep you smiling. They keep you going. And I think when the world gets too predictable, go to a gachapon capsule toy dispensary and you'll be completely blown away and your world will be rocked once again.

00:18:28 John Daub: So up here, there are loads of restaurants and there's even a couple of bars. This walkway here has a ton of restaurants. You just have to find it. Again, the easiest way is to go up onto the platform and then go towards the station, towards the central gate, and you'll get there. Hey, Michael Sassano's here. I always enjoy your live streams from train stations. I love the sounds. Yeah, the jingles and the things in the background around the station.

00:19:06 John Daub: This is the Iriya Gate. This one is the one that I think is the least used because it's hard to find it. It's on the backside, a side that not a lot of tourists will use, the Iriya Gate. But if you want to get in and out to a certain area of the city, this is the best way to do it. Because again, not a lot of people use it. It's not crowded. It's an easy way to get to the above ground because this is on the second floor. As you saw, we come up the steps from the platform. So you're also above ground up on the second floor.

00:19:34 John Daub: This could be advantageous if you're meeting somebody. The Iriya, if you're trying to meet somebody, the Iriya exit is probably the most convenient because it's hard to miss them because again, not a lot of people are going in this direction. So we're on the second floor of the station. Or is it the third floor? It's so confusing. I know that the Shinkansen is in the basement.

00:20:11 John Daub: I'm not allowed to eat anything because I just got my tooth cavity filled. Had to get a filling replaced. Alright, where are we? Park straight. Shinobazu turn around. Iriya turn around. We just saw that. And then the central gate to the right. Interesting. Alright, let's go straight towards the park gate. I think that's the place to be.

00:20:38 John Daub: Pretty stylish in here. Yeah, tooth drilled and filled. And he shot me up with some kind of Novocaine. So I can't feel half of my mouth. It said wait 30 minutes before eating. It was pretty painless. I have to be honest, dentists in Japan, not known for being very good with the drill. It was pretty good. Once you find a dentist or a place like a doctor or a service, a haircut place, you kind of don't change very often. There's a little mini Uniqlo in here. That was interesting.

00:21:20 John Daub: Alright, so we've just kind of walked around again. Like the easiest way to get here would be to just come up through the platform. So when in doubt, my advice, go back to your platform and find the right exit from the platform. If you start from the platform and you hit the right exit from there, chances of getting lost are very, very low. Decrease rapidly.

00:21:43 John Daub: Let's take a look at the information. The park exit is just a little bit to the left there. Sometimes you can find some neat stuff with the brochures. Here's the Ueno station information. They got a lot of these all over the place. Okay, so we just crossed the Panda Bridge, which is kind of cool. This might be outside the gate. Oh, I see. So you have to exit the gate to get to the Panda Bridge, which will take you over the tracks into the park where you can go to the zoo.

00:22:21 John Daub: Inside the station, there is the shopping mall above ground that will take you around. So if you go the wrong way, just keep wrapping around like the Yamanote Line inside. There's restaurants and shops all through here. And this will help you get to your exit. Iriya Park. And then you have to kind of wiggle around to get to the Higashi Ueno and the central exits. So officially, we're on the third floor. I get it. It's so easy to get lost up here. I've been in that bar before. High balls. Sometimes they have some pretty interesting drinks.

00:23:10 John Daub: All right, off we go. Let's check this out. What is this? AI communication? What is that? Touchless. Konnichiwa. Oh, there's a microphone. Konnichiwa. Ocha onegai shimasu. Ocha. What should I do? I'm gonna try English. Voice input. So it says it's touchless, but you have to touch. Hello. Can I have some tea, please? Hello. It's not made for me. It's childproof.

00:24:18 John Daub: Hello, lady. Can you give me some tea, please, ma'am? Sakura-chan. Sakura. Tea, please. I want some tea. Can I have some tea, please? I can't even hear her. I give up. Sorry, Sakura. Now I have to alcohol my hands. I had to touch you. All right, let's go to the park exit. It's a work in progress. Artificial intelligence sometimes isn't that smart.

00:25:21 John Daub: If you want a drink, why even try to talk to the machine? Put the coins in and then get it, you know? So NewDays, I believe, is run by JR. And they have some pretty interesting stuff in there. So it's different than other convenience stores. It used to be just a place to get a newspaper and an onigiri. But now they've really diversified and added in some pretty cool things inside of there. So it might be worth taking a look inside. They have some really weird onigiri sandwiches, which I thought were really unique. They rotated the flavors, too. So you would never get the same thing. After a couple of months, they would have something new.

00:25:57 John Daub: Oh, they're showing some of the accessibility stuff. JR's been killing it with accessibility lately. Yeah, the accessibility of the trains in Japan have really gotten so much better for those that need a little bit extra to get around. This is the park entrance and exit. You can see the park is right ahead, straight ahead of us. And looks like a nice day for a stroll. Kind of chilly today. But society walks in through here after being relaxed. There's an interesting Starbucks if you're into that there outside. Lots of lockers here.

00:27:05 John Daub: We're supposed to be lost. It's hard to get lost now because we know from all the signage. So here are the lockers. Let's take a quick look and see how this works. Again, it's a digital locker. Everything is in English. So you just push it. Karate. Oh, you have to select the action. Yeah, when you do select English, they have a very annoying and slightly loud voice. Because they think that people who speak English are hard of hearing because we speak a lot louder.

00:27:52 John Daub: Alright, so you push the lock button down. Put your bag in. Push it down to lock. Oh, it's stuck there to lock. Okay. It tells you the locker number. That's embarrassingly loud. Alright. Shh. Quiet. I don't want anybody to think I'm a tourist. Just get away. My God, she's so loud. They should put like a mask over that speaker. Muffle a little bit.

00:28:34 John Daub: I wonder if Chinese is even louder. They do that on purpose. You know that? Select the option. Choose the item you want to use. Oh, lovely. Please select the action you wish to perform. You're way too loud. Alright, Japanese, nothing. Watch. Oh, that's interesting. So the Japanese is quite loud too. So it's not a sorry speaker. Let's keep moving.

00:29:12 John Daub: It's interesting. I guess if you do select the language, they change it. But most Japanese don't want a loud speaker telling them what to do and attract attention. They kind of want to keep to themselves. Alright, we just walked all the way around. So, boom. That's where we saw the gachapon. So, in order to manage and make our way around, the best thing to do is to go back to the platform, which is where we're going right now. Enjoy some jingles.

00:30:02 John Daub: From the platform, we can easily find our way around because the signs are here. And they've done it on purpose that from the platform, you can get to any exit. You just have to know which exit you want to go to. So, if we're going to the central gate, we're going to flip around. Let's go this way. Not too shabby. Alright. So, I think we pretty much have ended this livestream. We know exactly where we're going. We know how to get around. You know what the exits are. And you know where to get onto the Shinkansen. Any questions? Frigg, I miss Japan. I hear you.

00:31:01 John Daub: Oh, wow. So, if you are disabled or you need help or you need a little bit extra space. This is great. They've made it really easy for you to find where to go. And to allow the people around you to know that this is a special place. To make it easier for people with wheelchairs to get on and off. That's great. And again, Japan invented this. The tactile pavements to help people with visual impairments to get around. It really does work. It's everywhere in the city. So, you can get around pretty good. Even when they're doing construction. They have temporary ones that they make out of plastic. So that, of course, if someone is using them, they don't get lost.

00:31:50 John Daub: Alright, we're back in the land of low ceilings. I'm taking you back to the main entrance where I came in before. You can get some bentos. Again, if you look underneath here, you bow your head. There's a restaurant across the way. There are some places to pick up bentos too. On this side. Because the Shinkansen is right here. I love train station tours as well. I haven't done one of Ueno, I don't think. So this is kind of neat. I'm sure I'll do another one really soon. And I do have an episode about Ueno station and how they clean it coming up. In the beginning of next year. I started filming it last year, but the pandemic hit and I had to delay it. Everyone was wearing winter jackets. So I had to kind of put it off until winter now. But that's a really interesting episode.

00:32:45 John Daub: Alright, here's the ekiben right here. So you can get something for the Shinkansen right there. That's a good choice here. Yeah. So there you have it. There's the central entrance here. If you have any questions about Ueno station, leave them in the comments below. I'm really interested to hear from you about this. Nathan Vela, thanks for the Ueno station stream. You're very welcome.

00:33:14 John Daub: I'm going to actually film a little bit. I'm doing a hyperlapse here for an episode. And then I'm going back home to edit. And tonight I will be uploading the video with Eriksurf6. This is a hard one to edit. There's a lot of comedy scenes inside of it. I think you're going to like it. Also, I'm going to be livestreaming. I'm going to be streaming really soon about the Kickstarter and release the design that Dakota has done for this year's Kickstarter fireworks project. We need to get some more shakudama. If you're interested in supporting with one of those big number 10 firework shells. I think we got a pretty good discount. But the shakudamas are 100,000 yen. And yeah. I think we had two people or three people buy one. So we could use a few more. The shakudama festival is on November 28th in Yamanashi.

00:34:00 John Daub: There's the Shiki-Shima. I always get it wrong. It's one of the most beautiful trains you'll ever experience in the world. Look at that wagyu. Fine dining. Look, Kanae and I could be sitting here on tatami. Whoa. $15,000 for a ticket or something. Yeah. I'll do a livestream about the Kickstarter project and update you on this channel. It's going to be pretty awesome. The Shiki-Shima livestream would be pretty cool. First, I got to get a ticket. $15,000. We're accessed. So we'll see if I can do that. Maybe next year. Fingers crossed. That would be the dream come true.

00:34:47 John Daub: I did do the Seven Stars with Discovery Channel a couple of years ago. But they wouldn't let me film for my own channel. I had to film for Discovery Channel. It was a bummer. All right, everybody. Have a good day. Have a good night wherever you are in the world. I'll see you in another livestream really soon about the Kickstarter project. And I'll upload a video on the main channel late tonight. It's going to be pretty awesome. Ericster6 is making an appearance. And it's about 25 minutes long. So get ready for some really interesting information on Asakusa. You're going to love it. See you, everybody.