00:00:01 John Daub: Hello everybody, welcome! This is time for the Yamanashi big one. These are shakudama (fireballs). This is Yamauchi-san. He's going to be lighting them up for us. He's got a radio. He's going to call up and light off Jugo—about 10 shakudama that we have, plus star mines and some special ones. All crowdfunded by 532 backers on our Kickstarter project. I want to say thank you to everybody.

00:00:28 John Daub: Without further ado, let's get started. Leo and Kanae are in the car because it's really, really cold. It's like almost December near Mount Fuji, so you can imagine the temperature is pretty cool. First, we have Nicholas Lazak Aloha from Hawaii via satellite. Let's go. Let's go. This is so exciting. Thank you, Nicholas.

00:01:14 John Daub: Holy smokes. That was fast. I thought there might be like a warning or something here. That was pretty amazing. All right, I've got another camera going here. All right, next one here. Thank you, Nicholas, for that. That was pretty awesome. Again, I'm filming this in 8K, so you'll be able to get a copy of this in the documentary that I'm making.

00:01:42 John Daub: Number two. This is from Arthur. This shakudama is dedicated to my father, Judson Scott Morgan, who passed away at the age of 92 from COVID on August 19, 2021 in Grants Pass, Oregon. He was married to my mother, Sayoko Nakajima Morgan, who passed away in 2012. Arthur, thank you so much for this shakudama, for all of us to enjoy and to remember your father. By the way, Arthur, we also put the pictures that you sent us on the shakudama, so when you see it go up into the sky, they are there too. Let's get going.

00:02:33 John Daub: That was so massive. You can feel the boom. All right, number three. WRX Turbo in the house. In memory of Melvin for the rest of the world. Keep it up. WRX Turbo. Thank you buddy. Alright, let's do it! It was beautiful! He said thank you because he made them. You made them, right? That's so beautiful.

00:03:53 John Daub: Alright, let me see if I can get a little bit better light on the 8K. It is so cold. You have no idea how cold it is here. Next one, number 4. This is from my friend Richard Brown. Ray. Ray Oyama. Good luck Japan. We rode this on the side of the shakudama. Which you're going to see us doing on the documentary. WSR Turbo, thank you so much for the super chat there. Alright, let's go!

00:04:54 John Daub: Wow. Shakudama is pretty amazing. So each shakudama is about 7kg. And how long does it take? One month. About one month to make each shakudama. Because each one of the powder, the explosive inside of it, it's a process. You're going to see in the documentary I'm going to release, but it starts from a very little ball, about the size of a sesame seed. And they keep making it bigger and bigger until it's about the size of three times the size of a marble. Jawbreaker. These shakudama are quite pricey, but they're a work of art.

00:05:44 John Daub: Alright, number five here. Ah! La Ronda! La Ronda in California. La Ronda's message is: My dear Steve, this shakudama is my way of reaching out to touch your face and your hands one more time. Wow, that's so touching. And we have this message here. I want to show you the heart message here. So we put that on your shakudama just like you wanted it. So I hope that this really does touch... It is going to touch the sky. Oh man. Thank you, La Ronda. Let's go!

00:06:58 John Daub: La Ronda. Like after it explodes, I'm just in shock. It's going to sound different maybe in the video, but it's so deep. The boom. It hits you deep in your soul. And this is echoing. I don't know if you can see behind me, but this is Yamanashi city down here. Do you see that lighting up? That's Yamanashi city. Fuefuki Kofu, which is the town. So you can see it lit up. We're kind of up in the mountains. It's pretty chilly up here.

00:07:31 John Daub: I'll get Leo for his. I bought one for my son. This is so much fun. Number six is UFO Bob. UFO Bob is one of our moderators. He's a beloved member of the family. We love you so much, man. And his message is Ichigo ichie (once in a lifetime meeting). Once in a lifetime meeting. We wrote that UFO Bob and we also put UFO Bob, your icon, your trademark, on the... We glued it onto the side of the shakudama. Here we go.

00:09:04 John Daub: Next one here. Thank you, UFO Bob. That was pretty awesome. Again, UFO Bob, I'm filming this in 8K and I actually have a drone up there. I can see it twinkling in the sky. So we got some pretty cool shots. Next up here. Number seven is from Brandy. Aloha, Brandy. Brandy is also part of the family. Don't forget to slow down and take some time each and every day... and to smile. Laugh and enjoy the little things in life. Even if it's only for a second. It matters. Live, breathe, and share. Cover and run!

00:10:29 John Daub: So Michael Sassano, thank you. Brandania is here. Thank you, Brandania. Nicholas Lazak, appreciate it. Snodgrasssnod. Arigato, John. Kanae Ryo. All the best. Thanks, guys. This is from Todd Ashman. Todd, thank you so much. This one goes out to Robert Todd Kyle Ashman. Continued health and prosperity in 2021 and 2022. Here's a show to remember our journey during the pandemic. And it's been such a tough time for the last two years. When you order a shakudama, it's a blessing. Yeah, people have like a wish attached to it. So this is Todd Ashman's wish. Todd, thank you so much for sharing this with everybody here in the community.

00:12:08 John Daub: Alright, the next one up is for Kanae and Leo. Leo is kind of crying in the car. It's so cold out here, guys. Leo! He's crying. You don't like it, do you? He has head stuff on too. Alright, Leo, this is your shakudama. Leo is eight months old. He was born in March. Leo is spelled Ryo in Japanese and it means the center of wisdom. Right now, he's quite wise. He should be scared. These are really big. We put a hand print of Leo's hand on the shakudama. And I put my hand print on it. And Kanae wrote his name in Japanese. So this shakudama weighs about the same as little Leo. His loving parents hope that he will have a wonderful life full of positive and happy energy. And with that, we launch with his first words, which were, Nay, Nay, Nay. Leo's language is Nay, Nay, Nay. Okay! Nay, Nay, Nay! Sugoi!

00:14:38 John Daub: Thank you. So, Yamauchi-san's company, they've been doing it for 153 years. They've been making fireworks here. And the shakudama are some of the best in the country. There's a very strong reputation. One other thing with Japanese shakudama in general, it has a very perfect round shape. And Yamauchi-san's shakudama is quite famous for that. And that was really spectacular. Inside was, I don't know, more fireworks in the middle of it. That was just absolutely stunning to see. Thank you so much, Yamauchi-san.

00:15:28 John Daub: Next up is number 10. This is the shakudama super bang, super 5 bang. Two people bought this really special extra fireworks. This is a shakudama plus nanago (7-inch) and gogo (5-inch). So it's gonna be a medium, a medium-large, and then the large shakudama. And this goes out to Regina Quick. Regina is in Singapore. From my parents, John and Alice, on their golden anniversary, God bless you both always, from RK. Gosh, I'm always so moved when I read these comments aloud. Thank you so much. This is gonna be pretty big, Regina. I hope you're ready. Alright, let's go!

00:17:19 John Daub: Beautiful. Thank you, Regina. In fact, all of Yamanashi city got the message. Everyone can hear it, right? The city is like, are you okay, everyone? Today is fireworks festival! Next up, we have Diana. Diana's message here in Singapore. Remember that there's always a rainbow after the rain. The sun shall shine again. Thank you, Diana. Launcher! Take cover! It's a nanago.

00:18:49 John Daub: Thank you so much, Diana. That was awesome. Next up, Star Mine. Now we're getting to the big stuff here. This is from Michael in Western Australia. And Michael's message is, in loving memory from my parents and my brother, gone but not forgotten. Vojomir Mirkovic, 1917 to 1991. Gisela Mirkovic, 1927 to 2016. And Peter Mirkovic, 1951 to 2019. In loving memory, your son and brother, Michael. Thank you, Michael. Okay. Star Mine.

00:21:03 John Daub: That was so awesome. This is a great way to remember or attribute. Again, Japanese will launch up and sponsor and dedicate fireworks for somebody who retires from a job, a marriage, a birth of a son, or to remember somebody. It makes it really special. This one is from all of you. This is my tribute to you, to our Only in Japan community and our audience and all the backers of the Only in Japan fireworks. Again, without the stretch goal, we wouldn't be here, so thank you for making it happen. I started Only in Japan about nine years ago with the mission to introduce the far corners of Japan to as many people as I could on YouTube, correct the misconceptions, and highlight the incredible and bridge this country that has been so good to me with the rest of the world. Our community has grown so much with the kindness of one another and love for your own families and your community, which includes this one, our Only in Japan community. This set of fireworks represents us all. The final shakudama representing one community and the great things we can all do together as a community. 2021 has been a challenging year. Let this campaign be the blast of good energy you need to make 2022 an incredible year. Let's go!

00:25:16 John Daub: That was so incredible! Those smileys are so much fun. Thank you, Yamauchi-san. That was really special. Oh, we have one more? Number 14. This is the special number 14. Ide-san, number 14 is special, right? This is the final one. This is the end of the end. This one is so... This is the biggest of... This is bigger than anything we've already seen. And just a special thank you to everybody. So, let's just do this. Alright, Steven, Freeman, can you wish my amazing wife, Dawn Freeman, a happy birthday today? Happy birthday. Lovely Takelo. Thank you. Nicholas Lazak again. Thank you so much, everybody. It's good to have a family. Okay, let's do it! This is Japanese traditional color. Oh, charcoal!

00:28:40 John Daub: Alright, I'm bringing the drone back in now. It's just right above us, everybody. Thank you so much, Yamauchi-san! That was really incredible. Will you be participating in the fireworks festival next year? Yes. They'll be doing fireworks festivals from next year. This whole year, there hasn't been... There wasn't much this year. So, we wanted to do something really special. Nagano. If you haven't seen that, you can see that video. The livestream we did about a month ago. And then this was just really special. Thank you, Yamauchi-san! And for everybody, thank you, everyone! Yay! You can't see it, but we got some little applause. Bye-bye, everybody! Thanks so much for supporting.

00:29:25 Yamauchi-san: John. Present for you.