Tokyo Snow Aftermath in Shibuya
Tokyo Snow Aftermath in Shibuya
Overview
In this winter walk through Shibuya, John Daub explores the aftermath of a rare Tokyo snowstorm he dubbed "Snowkio." Filmed on January 7, 2022, the video captures the fleeting nature of snow in the capital, as John hunts for remaining patches amidst the bustling streets. Starting at the iconic Hachiko Statue, he navigates through Center-gai, observing the rapid melt and the return of normalcy despite the weather.
John visits local landmarks including the busiest Starbucks in the world, Tokyu Hands, and the Mega Don Quixote, noting changes in the urban landscape such as construction projects and business closures. He shares cultural insights on fukubukuro (lucky bags), the changing legal age of adulthood in Japan, and nostalgic reflections on drinks like Zima. The walk provides a grounded look at Shibuya during the Shogatsu (New Year) period, blending travel observation with personal commentary on life in Japan.
Highlights
- 00:00:03 John introduces the "Snowkio" aftermath at Hachiko Scramble.
- 00:01:35 Overview of the new Shibuya Hachiko Box presented by Docomo.
- 00:04:40 Visit to the world's busiest Starbucks; discussion on menu changes.
- 00:06:53 Discovery of an IKEA pickup point on Center-gai.
- 00:08:17 Explanation of fukubukuro (lucky bags) and exchange culture at Ichimaru Q.
- 00:13:08 Mailing postcards with Demon Slayer stamps for the postcard club.
- 00:19:12 News about Tokyu Hands bankruptcy and Zima stopping production.
- 00:25:41 John orders and tastes a Hojicha caramel latte.
- 00:30:26 Humor about "crow snow" falling into his drink.
- 00:39:41 Explanation of the legal age of adulthood changing from 20 to 18.
- 00:42:35 Tease of upcoming travel updates and channel plans.
Timeline / Chapters
- 00:00:00 Intro at Hachiko Scramble; Snowkio context.
- 00:01:30 Hachiko Statue and Docomo Box.
- 00:03:30 Crossing the Scramble; searching for snow.
- 00:04:30 Starbucks observation and signal check.
- 00:06:00 Center-gai walk; IKEA and hologram ads.
- 00:08:00 Ichimaru Q and Fukubukuro culture.
- 00:11:00 Space Boat closure news; McDonald's history.
- 00:13:00 Postcard Club mailing moment.
- 00:15:00 Street food observations; Omicron impact.
- 00:17:00 Tokyu Hands and Taiwanese chicken shop.
- 00:19:00 Zima drink history and production halt.
- 00:24:00 Don Quixote location change; Starbucks entry.
- 00:25:40 Hojicha caramel latte tasting.
- 00:30:00 Peter von Gomm's secret Turkish restaurant.
- 00:33:00 Dogenzaka alley and Love Hotel Hill mention.
- 00:36:00 Crow observations; HelloHi821 mention.
- 00:39:00 Legal age of adulthood change explanation.
- 00:42:00 Travel update tease and outro.
Japan Travel Tips
- Snow in Tokyo: Snow rarely sticks in central Tokyo. Expect it to melt by the next day unless temperatures remain below freezing.
- Fukubukuro: Lucky bags are sold around New Year's (Shogatsu). Contents are often exchangeable at designated public spots like Center-gai.
- Starbucks Sizes: Most Japanese Starbucks do not offer "Short" sizes, but the Shibuya Tsutaya location sometimes does.
- Adult Age Laws: As of 2022, the legal age of adulthood changed from 20 to 18 for voting and contracts, but drinking and smoking remain 20+.
- Navigation: Shibuya Station has many exits. The Hachiko exit is the most common meeting point.
- Connectivity: 5G upload speeds may vary in crowded areas; live streaming can be challenging despite strong signal bars.
Japanese Language & Culture Notes
- Shogatsu (New Year): The period around January 1st. Decorations and flags remain out for the first week.
- Fukubukuro (Lucky Bags): Blind bags sold by retailers containing assorted goods at a discount. Popular during New Year sales.
- Reiwa: The current era name in Japan. John references shops opening in the "new Reiwa year."
- Kogyaru: A subculture of fashion often associated with Shibuya 109, characterized by tanned skin and specific styling.
- Hojicha: Roasted green tea. Often available as a latte in cafes during winter.
- Adult Age Change: In April 2022, Japan lowered the age of adulthood to 18. This affects voting and loans, but not alcohol/tobacco consumption.
Food & Drink Guide
- Hojicha Caramel Latte (00:25:41): Ordered at Starbucks Shibuya. 460 yen. John finds the caramel too sweet but enjoys the roasted tea flavor.
- Zima (00:19:12): A clear malt beverage popular in the 90s. John notes production has stopped in Japan.
- Taiwanese Karaage Chicken (00:17:25): A shop near Tokyu Hands. John recommends the seasoned fried chicken slab.
- Mille-feuilles (00:22:57): French layered pastry available at Viron bakery. Priced premium due to rarity.
- Fukubukuro (00:08:17): Not food, but "lucky bags" containing goods. Often exchanged if contents are unwanted.
People
- John Daub: Host and narrator. Walks through Shibuya, providing commentary on snow, culture, and changes in the city.
- Kanae Daub: John's wife. Mentioned as receiving the tea latte and joining plans for the Space Boat.
- Leo: John's son. Mentioned regarding plans to visit the Space Boat.
- Peter von Gomm: John's friend. Mentioned regarding a secret Turkish restaurant in Shibuya.
- Victor (Frame of Travel): Photographer friend. Mentioned for taking snow photos in Tokyo.
- HelloHi821: Community member. Jokingly referred to as a "crow master" in Discord chats.
Key Takeaways
- Tokyo snow melts rapidly due to urban heat and infrastructure; rarely lasts more than a day.
- Shibuya is undergoing significant redevelopment, with older buildings replaced by modern complexes.
- The legal age of adulthood in Japan has shifted to 18, though cultural milestones like drinking age remain at 20.
- Fukubukuro culture remains strong post-New Year, with public exchange spots available.
- Nostalgic products like Zima are disappearing from the Japanese market.
Notable Quotes
- 00:00:32 "This is why people in Tokyo go so crazy when it snows here."
- 00:01:35 "This new Shibuya Hachiko box is presented by Docomo, which is the carrier for this phone. So if the signal's bad, you can blame them."
- 00:11:54 "I will support the Space Boat until they're not here. Which would be never."
- 00:19:12 "Zima has gone... Has stopped production. And they're not going to be having any more Zima in Japan."
- 00:30:26 "Crow snow. Whatever. You can find two words that rhyme together. Perfectly good balance of humor."
- 00:39:41 "They changed what it means to be an adult in Japan this year. So people can vote at a younger age."
- 00:40:58 "You know who is really interesting? The people who are 19 years old. They got screwed by a year."
Related Topics
- Shibuya Walking Tours
- Snow in Japan
- Fukubukuro Lucky Bags
- Tokyo Starbucks Locations
- Japanese Legal Age Changes
- Tokyu Hands Closure News
Search Tags
#only-in-japan-go #tokyo #shibuya #snow #hachiko #fukubukuro #hojicha #starbucks #tokyu-hands #don-quixote #walking-tour #japan-travel #winter-in-japan #shibuya-crossing
Full Transcript
00:00:03 John Daub: Welcome to Hachiko Scramble here in Shibuya. You can see it's as lively as it ever is. You're probably seeing me on the live cameras. And yesterday we had a massive snowstorm. Come on over here. There's not a lot of people in this corner here. There was a big snowstorm here yesterday. I called it Snowkio. And you can see the video of it yesterday live stream. I'll put a link right here. It came down pretty hard and was sticking. And all through the night, I think until about 11 p.m., it was snowing pretty hard.
00:00:32 John Daub: This is why people in Tokyo go so crazy when it snows here. Check it out here. There was a little bit left from yesterday's snowstorm and some pretty neat patterns left by aliens, apparently like the crop lines in Peru. There's not a lot left. And I'm going to walk around this area for the next 15 minutes, or probably like 30 minutes in John time, and show you not a lot here. If I go around this statue here, that's it. The only snow that I was able to find remaining is in this corner, which is kind of cool because there's some snow here left at all. And when you come to visit in the summer, you're going to say, "What? There was snow here?" Yeah, it was. There's Hachiko, the doggie. You all know him from the statue here. I will touch his nose for your pleasure. And I've got alcohol in my hand. Gosh.
00:01:35 John Daub: This new Shibuya Hachiko box is presented by Docomo, which is the carrier for this phone. So if the signal's bad, you can blame them. This is where you can get some information on Shibuya. It's kind of neat. There's the Hachiko mascot and the police mascot together. Love, love. Alright, let's get moving. Look for snow. I would leave a duck, but then I would be littering. Do you see any snow right here? Check it out. I'm just going to pan around here. Hopefully it's not too pixelated. I checked the signal. It was 7 megabits per second, which is enough for 720p. Nothing. Look at the ground. And it could be... I mean, they didn't put salt or anything on here. They could have shoveled it. I don't know. Yeah, 5G, my foot. You know what 5G is good for? Download, not for upload. It actually doesn't help with live streaming much at all.
00:02:44 John Daub: And the Japanese flags are still out for the Shogatsu (New Year). Only right here behind these nice people waiting for friends tapping on their smartphones. Do you see the remaining snow? So is this all we're going to see over the next 20 minutes? You're going to see a little bit of Shibuya. And since you can't make it to Japan, that's kind of a big deal. Sort of. Alright, the crossing itself, no snow. I mean, it's just I always come out of that entrance here. I never come out of the Shibuya entrance. I take the Hanzomon line. Not a lot of people right now, thankfully. There's the Yamanote line passing by right there. But you can see there's no snow whatsoever. Oh, wait, no, that's wrong. I found some in the cracks. That's snow.
00:03:31 John Daub: Amy, I'm going to have some trouble. Sorry about the wind. A breeze just hit. I'm going to have some trouble doing a snow angel on that. Are we going to sneak into Center-gai (also called Basketball Street)? Which is weird. Well, Porsche alert. Porsche, Porsche, Porsche, Porsche. Gone. There's Ichimaru Q. And I've got a story about that to tell you in about two minutes from now as we cross the street. Now, the Shibuya Hachiko is 45 seconds crossing, 90 seconds waiting. And we got here right in the middle. So let's go. How do I know that? I spent 24 hours here sitting, timing the darn thing back in 2013, I think. No snow. Very little. You find it in the cracks, maybe. But there's a lot of solar energy here melting it. That was snow. No.
00:04:40 John Daub: I'm looking at the live cameras. Maybe you see me. There's a couple of live cameras there, I think. This one right there. They say this is the busiest and most profitable Starbucks in the world. And it's one of the only Starbucks that also has a short size, I heard. Usually, if you walk around, they have only tall sizes. This one has a short size. Hold on. I don't see. I think they changed the menu. They changed the style of the Starbucks. The hojicha (roasted green tea) latte is here. It's a whole new world. Maybe I look healthier. I just saw that comment. I look healthier than ever because I'm focusing more on edited videos and doing less live streams. That could be it. I was up pretty late editing a couple of new videos for the main channel.
00:05:50 John Daub: I like the colors of those vending machines. So they're really doing some renovations here. This is going to be a new building come the time you all can make it here. I guess it's going to be a ramen shop. Check it out. Whoa. And they're going to have some sort of one-eyed monster on top of it. That's pretty cool. And this used to be where there was a gas panic or some sort of dirty club where people would hook up and stuff. And that's gone. So there you go. No snow. What is wrong? There's no snow. Snowkio is over. This is Basketball Street or... Nobody calls it that. That's Center-gai. Okay. Right there. It says it up there. Center-gai. That sign hasn't changed since I came here. All right. I hope it never does.
00:06:53 John Daub: Wait, what the heck is this? Kanai, look at this. It's an IKEA. What? They put an Ikea here. So I guess you can order it and have it sent here and pick it up or something. It's weird. There's no way they can fit a whole warehouse on Center-gai. Weird. All right. I'm going to take a left. We'll come back to this area searching for any snow. If you see some, circle it, point it out to me. For some reason, the gas trucks are all pink and I'm digging it. Whoa. Did you see that? Look at this hologram. That's really cool because it means you're supposed to keep your eyes open and look around when you're driving. Drive safely. But how can you drive safely when you're mesmerized by that awesome looking hologram? Holo photo. No snow here. No alley snow.
00:08:17 John Daub: This is Ichimaru Q. You see that up there? I'm trying to work here. Bradshaw Studio, thank you. Gosh, it's so noisy. So when I was in the 1980s and everyone was wearing Adidas, the symbol looked different. One of my friends told me it stood for all day I dream about sports. Is that true? So Ichimaru Q right in front of us. I'm asking you. So you guys can tell me. Ichimaru Q right here on New Year's Day and a couple of days after New Year's. I don't know if they do this anymore. There'll be girls lined up here that get the lucky bags, the fukubukuro (lucky bags). Every year, stores have a clearance where they just sell a bunch of good stuff in bags really cheap. And they get a lot of stuff that they don't want. So they bring it here and then they go, "Would you like to exchange? Would you like to exchange the lucky bags, the items inside?" Sometimes people will get what they want by exchanging them. They don't really have any cost value to you if you're not going to use it. But we're still in the Shogatsu New Year's period where lucky bags are available to buy. And I don't see anybody here. It's kind of weird. So that's a story. People are pretty smart. They know if they can go out to a public space that's famous for exchanging stuff that they can exchange stuff.
00:09:53 John Daub: Are we going to walk up to the next intersection? Then make a right, go back up and look for snow? Because that's what we do here. We look for snow. Look at this. This is like the Ghostbusters station wagon. Look at this. That's pretty sweet, isn't it? I wouldn't mind riding around in that thing. You see some of the oddest cars walking around Tokyo. I don't even know how they get them. Like on a cargo ship or something? The G-Wagon, right? It's in Festivus. The Ecto-1. Yeah, that's the name of the Ghostbusters vehicle, which was actually a hearse, which is where you put the coffins in. That's just a station wagon. It looked pretty old. The hearse is the car where you put the coffins in. They're pretty unique here in Japan. But they don't actually have coffins per se because it's a little bit different in Japan. That might be an episode. But a friend of mine, a police officer friend of mine here, had told me that... I don't see any snow... Okay, here's... Here it is. We found some snow. I can't really fit to make a snow angel. I just kind of scattered around.
00:11:54 John Daub: Alexander knows that Space Boat might be making its final departure soon. So Leo and I and Kanai are thinking about boarding the Space Boat. But the schedule no longer matches up with what's online. When we went there, the schedules were all kind of out of sync with what they say publicly. Which is weird because they sell the tickets online. So we're going to have to go in advance and get up on it. But they also jacked up the price about 30-40%. Doesn't matter. I will support the Space Boat until they're not here. Which would be never. So that stream will probably be coming up in the next few days. And a lot of businesses are leaving. By the way, this is one of the more famous McDonald's. Stuff has gone on here. That's where the Jackie Chan Ramen was in 2001. Or was it before that? Jackie Chan had a ramen shop. It wasn't very good. People would eat it once and then not go back. I guess just putting Jackie Chan on stuff doesn't make it better. It just makes it Jackie Chan. Great for fighting, not great for eating.
00:13:08 John Daub: Oh, wait a second. I have to send these postcards. If you see a mailbox, I gotta send these postcards to three people who just signed up for the postcard club yesterday. Arigato. Oh, there's one over there. Okay. We're still on the lookout for snow. I see some wet patches. That could be anything. That's kind of best to be avoided if it's around a tree. I haven't seen too many wild animals except for cats in the area. Nothing really. Not a lot of snow. Alright, we'll give a shout out to those that signed up for the postcard club. Naomi from Tennessee. Peter from Melbourne. And Cecilio from Utah. Thank you. And I actually put in here... You guys, let me see if I can do it without showing it. I have a bunch of these. This year's stamps are from the Demon Slayer. So you get the Demon Slayer stamps. Joy, I sent you one too. Hopefully it makes it. Alright, guys. There you go. That's this month's postcard with the fireworks performance from Nagano. We even have the smiley face fireworks in there. And the heart mark, which is impressive. Masters of fireworks. This is international. That's normal mail. So it'll get to you in hopefully two weeks or less.
00:15:00 John Daub: Street food has been reigned in. There's not a lot. And it's the place has just opened up. We're getting into the lunchtime rush. And you can see on the streets of Shibuya, there just aren't a lot of people here. Typically, there would be so much more. I bet you tomorrow, because it's the first weekend after the holiday, a lot of people are going to be out and about. But over the last few days, Omicron has made its impact here, and the numbers have skyrocketed from like a couple dozen to 600. And we're all really tired of it, so I don't have to mention it anymore. But we just... Something that I have to keep one part of my brain on. Because I travel a lot. Not a lot of snow. Oh, there's some snow over there! Do you see the snow? Oh, no, that's a ramp to get on there. But I do see a maid. She's got to be cold. Oh, there's some snow right there. Let's cross the street, see if we can make a snow angel. Which is nasty, because it's all city snow now.
00:16:18 John Daub: So there is some snow left here. See, the problem is that snow is all where a doggie would go wee-wee, right? I don't... Like, somebody gave me a superchat, "Do a snow angel!" I don't think that's going to happen. No snow angels here. I wish they made... They should have taken a pile of snow. I'm surprised there weren't enough people that made snowmen really early this morning before the snow started to melt. It's now about 8 degrees Celsius, which is pretty warm. It's almost 45, 46, 50 degrees getting up to. So it's not exactly the best weather to keep the snow. But that's the problem with Tokyo! Tokyo snow melts the next day. It never sticks around. Only in very rare situations. It's cold one day, and then the next day it gets back up to like 10 degrees Celsius, which is 50 degrees Fahrenheit. It's crazy.
00:17:25 John Daub: There's another building that's gone down and going to be built up into something else. Oh, that's where the Taiwanese chicken was! Right? Or maybe it's a little further up? I'm walking towards Tokyu Hands, for those that know where I'm going and don't know where I'm going. It's right there. I believe that's also going under. There's a lot of businesses that are going down. And Tokyu Hands... I think... Was it the Shibuya store that's going under? Just the rent is so high. Oh, here's the Taiwanese chicken. They're not open yet. It's really good. That karaage chicken slab. It's got some sort of spices in it that are savory. Yeah, I was really sad to hear that Tokyu Hands had gone bankrupt. And I don't know what the situation is. Maybe they're already closed. I don't know. Oh, there's another thing! There's another thing that I have to tell you about. Before... Okay, it seems like they're still open. But they've been in the news where they were not going to be open. Tokyu Hands is one of the most interesting stores that you can go into. From bottom to top, there's just odd knickknacks. It's like a... It's better than a Spencer's if you're ever into the shopping malls in the 1980s. This is how I used to walk to NHK, too. The studio shoots for Tokyo Eye. But they moved the Tokyo Eye studio away from Shibuya. So I don't come here that much at all.
00:19:12 John Daub: Yeah, if you want to look for snow, I should go to the top of a mountain. Let's find a drink here. Something. I wouldn't mind trying one of those hojicha hot teas. The hojicha is roasted green tea, which has a really nice flavor. Look at that steakhouse. I don't remember seeing that. It's brand new opened. It opened January 3rd. So there's a lot of new shops that started in the new Reiwa year. This Daiso is still here. Alright, and then Outback is still here. And I don't know for how long. Oh, wait. Oh, what I wanted to tell you is... Oh, it's closed. There's a coffee truck here. I was going to get a cup here. So... Alright, there's nobody around here. I hope the signal's okay. Zima has gone... Has stopped production. And they're not going to be having any more Zima in Japan.
00:20:21 John Daub: Now, Zima was like the drink when I was in college. My sophomore year in college, this weird drink called Zima came out. And everybody was drinking it. It was like the hot thing at the time. And it kind of went down. It was one of those things that the kids in the 90s were drinking. And by kids, I mean like over 21. Or 20 in Japan. But Zima came to Japan the time I came to Japan. The thing followed me around. Around 1997, 1998, Zima came here. It was around 2000. And I really started to notice it. Like, what? So I drank one or two of them. And I haven't drank a Zima since maybe 2000. And then before that, since college. So I found some snow. It's like I know I'm going to have to sanitize my hand. This snow looks like it's got a booger on it. Alright, I'm not going to even touch it. Alright, that's a snow angel. You don't get much for that super chat. I'm sorry. A little icy patch here. This intersection doesn't get a lot of sun. So there's not a lot of heat to melt it there.
00:21:33 John Daub: So if I can find a couple of Zimas, I might see if Peter and I... Wow, he's got some snow tires. The chain's on there. That's hardcore on the streets of Tokyo. John, do a small snowman. Alright. I'm not going to do one of those obscene ones that the kids do. And by kids, I mean like people my age. I don't think this snow is doable. I can't do it with this snow. Sorry. It's like all nasty ice. The good thing is that probably killed anything that was on my fingers from touching Hachiko's nose. Gave me something else. I don't know how long this Outback Steakhouse is going to be here. It was mostly tourists that went into there. You can get a lot better steak than Outback Steak in Japan. I guess maybe they're out of business. I don't know. Alright. We're wrapping around the Honten. There is some snow in the alleys here. It is a lot colder. But not a lot of remnants left over from the snow gyo. And that might be the last time that it snows in a while.
00:22:57 John Daub: Oh, check this out. So this is a chuka ramen vending machine. Chinese ramen. And for 800 yen. Well, you can get gyoza for 1000 yen. But it's all frozen, okay? So you need to have a microwave or something. You have to have a heater. Basically, it's take-home ramen that tastes almost as good as being in the shop. Ronald, I know they've got gyoza. But it's frozen gyoza. It's not like it's steaming hot like the Hot Meal 24 vending machines that were around that went out of business. Those are gone. Viron is one of our favorite bakeries because they have these mille-feuilles (layered pastry). Mille-feuilles is like these layered pastry French things. Oh my gosh. Just look in there. Wow, that's some good stuff. And they price it that way too because it's not exactly easy to find French pastries in Japan. They know how to price them. Mille-feuilles. I didn't say milfy. All right? Well actually I just did. See, I see what you're doing there.
00:24:25 John Daub: For those that don't know already, the Don Quixote moved from this location to the Mega Don Quixote, which you see in the center of your screen right there. Yellow sign. All right, let's see what this Starbucks has here. I'm going to make it here. Maybe there's an opening. Follow these dudes. Whoa, I almost slipped. I think they need to really get new pants. I'm not really into fashion, but we call those floods, and it's more like a snowstorm. What? Never ask me about fashion. All right, the hojicha. I think I'd like to try this. Hojicha meets caramel frappuccino. This is definitely not healthy. Should I go in and try it? Okay, let's just go and do it. I'll try to get a hot one because I am chilly.
00:25:41 John Daub: Hojicha caramel latte. Tall size. Takeout, please. 460 yen. Thank you. Oh, you can put it on the wall. Oh, really? Cool. That's great. There's a campaign going on. So I'm looking at the receipt here. So there's some sort of campaign where you get until the 18th. I guess you can try some tea. I'll give it to Kanai. She's into that. Here you go. Is it hot? It's warm. It's okay. Thank you.
00:27:32 John Daub: I say that because I usually see people hang out here and sleeping after clubbing. Just got to be careful. It is real slippery here. I'm guessing the water washed away some of the remnants of whatever was here before. It's not pleasant looking. All right. This is some sort of event that they're doing. And until the 18th where you can get a cup of tea for 270 yen to take out. It's a try or something. Some sort of event. I don't know. There's a bunch of teas listed here. You see that? Apple tea, matcha tea, chamomile tea. So they're doing different kinds of tea latte. Maybe it's a test thing. Oh, this is the way to the Kengo Kuma toilet. You guys remember that live stream? It's classic. Starbucks is now doing these cardboard straws. It's better for the environment. And it tastes so good in my hot hojicha latte. Thanks guys for buying this for me. I appreciate it.
00:28:52 John Daub: Holy smokes. Is that caramel in there? Oh my gosh. I can't even with one hand. Holy moly. Whoa. Caramel and hojicha. This has got to be something gone wrong. Okay. I got to take the top off and see this. We got to see this. Whoa. So hojicha again is roasted green tea. And this is the tea. And caramel is caramel. And this can't be good. But I always seem to try it anyways. The thing is in Japan there's so many different kinds of drinks. And they change it so often. They change the drinks so often that you're curious. And you just go into it. All right. Let's go into it. But it works. Everybody's had green tea, right? So there's the taste of green tea. But there's the burnt bitterness of the hojicha, which I find really pleasing. I love the smell of it. There's an acidic burn to the hojicha. And the caramel is just too sweet for me. But for a beverage, I guess it would be okay. Not every day. Maybe once in a lifetime.
00:30:26 John Daub: It's snowing. Like remnant snow. I think some got in my drink. Do you think it's still okay? Some remnant snow got in there. It's the snow probably from the crows that transported blocks up there to keep warm in the summer. Little do they know that that stuff's going to melt on me. Or maybe they planned it like that. I don't know. HelloHi821 knows. Ask him. All right. Let's keep walking. Because in Japan, you're supposed to walk with a drink. It's the way of the locals. Crow snow. Whatever. You can find two words that rhyme together. Perfectly good balance of humor. Oh, I think this is Peter von Gomm's secret restaurant. Don't tell him I told you. But he comes in here and eats. And the food is out of sight. There's like kebab stands and stuff like this. This is a full-on restaurant. And these people have been making Turkish food here for a very long time. And it is so good. He took me in there once. And I had low expectations. I'm blown away by it. Don't tell anybody. And that shop's still here. Thank goodness.
00:31:57 John Daub: That's a Mega Don Quixote I was telling you about. It's pretty massive. There is some snow here. I bet you in about an hour, it's all gone. Wow. Check this out. The Dogenzaka Nichome has a building. It's going to look like this. That looks pretty incredible. So this is under construction right now that you see. I'm standing in front of a construction site. This looks really cool. So Shibuya has been looking pretty ancient over the years. Over the last 10 years. Because the infrastructure is just kind of dirty. But they've done such an amazing job of cleaning it up. Check out this sky deck that they have up here. So this is what it's going to look like when it's complete. So in a way, I'm very sad to be losing all of these businesses. Especially the ones that we just love. But in its place, sometimes comes something better. So this is the Dogenzaka alley. I'm going to take you through to the other end and come back around towards Shibuya Station. Looking for snow. Not that Taco Bell, which is the biggest ripoff. Even the expats that miss Taco Bell go in here and like, I'm not coming back here.
00:33:25 John Daub: I was backpacking in Europe in 1997. I was in Warsaw in Poland. And Poland wasn't really the tourist attraction it is today. And I found in Warsaw, it was the only city in Europe with a Taco Bell in 1997. And I remember I got a bean burrito and it was cheaper than a dollar by the way. I think it was. I can't remember. It might have been more. But the beans are green. I guess they put some kind of preservative in it. It wasn't the Demolition Man Taco Bell quality. It was more like, I don't know what it was, but it was a green bean burrito. And the beans are green. I still ate it because I paid for it. And it wasn't bad and I didn't get sick. But the next time I went back to Warsaw, a few years later, it wasn't there anymore. I can maybe imagine why. I've been to, I think about 80 countries backpacking and traveling. Spent a pretty good time. I traveled when it was really good to travel too. From 96 to 2003. After 9-11, it was really hard. But still, everything was pretty affordable. And not a lot of people were traveling. So it wasn't too bad. Now it's really hard to travel.
00:35:02 John Daub: Alright, this alleyway, if you go up just a little bit more and take a right, you get to Love Hotel Hill. Which I'm not going to take you because that would just be weird. John and a camera enter a hotel. People would be talking about that. Hey, look at these snow flowers. Is it Minecraft quality? How does everything look? I depend on you all to tell me. Poor guy lost his cargo because of the slope. You know who took some really good pictures last night? I don't know if any of you know Victor from Frame of Travel. But he takes some amazing photographs. And he said something on Twitter. He said, if he hadn't have taken the pictures, would anyone have ever known that it snowed in Tokyo? And the answer is not really. To answer Victor. Hey, Don Kennedy. Not really. Hello, hi, 821. You hear crows all around you, man. Actually, I heard that. Hello, hi, 821 is a crow. He hangs out with them. He's like the crow master.
00:36:33 John Daub: We get hello, hi, 821 on some Discord video chats. And he's sitting in a dark hallway. Slightly creepy. But, you know, he always has this wicked smile. So it's hard to... I love the art here. Wait, check it out. There's like something on the top there. Do you see that? Am I allowed to stand on this art? It's a portrait. Hold on a second. What is that? Some sort of somebody had put something up there. Wow, Jim. All right. They want their snow back. The Krispy Kreme is still there. Yeah. Click the like button if you want to see a crow swoop down and steal my hat. Michael Sassano. Glad I caught a live stream. Happy New Year, my friend. Happy New Year, Michael. Feels like a new year. Thank God. This walking man has seen better days. Oh, my God. Look at his. He's graffiti. He's stickered. He's been picked at. Oh, my God. He's seen some better days. He's half disappeared. Only in Shibuya. Seriously, the values here are different than in other places, I think.
00:38:15 John Daub: Yeah, this is where the kids are. Then they go after the lucky bags and they get all the things that they don't want. They come out here in force. The Yamanba girls, all the teens, the college kids, most of the girls going kogyaru (gal fashion). Most of the stuff is purchased from here at Shibuya 109. And you don't have to be a girl to swap with them, too. If you have something that you want to trade, you can get that something that they have that you want. But I guess because of COVID, they don't do that. This whole street would be lined with girls trying to exchange the lucky bag contents that they didn't want. I am in the shadow of 109. I'm looking up mostly because sometimes I'm looking up. There are birds that like to leave things behind. Hello. Hi, eight to one knows what a gang of crows is called. That the fact that you know that is creepy. I'm going to be lying, leaving us. All right. I'm going to take you back to the Hachiko scramble right now. Look at those kimonos. That's beautiful. Look at that. That is really nice. Kind of the New Year feeling. People wearing the kimonos.
00:39:41 John Daub: They changed what it means to be an adult in Japan this year. So people can vote at a younger age. Now they can get loans at a younger age. Now instead of 20, it's 18. The only thing that didn't change was and they could be tried as an adult at 18 instead of 20. So there's a bunch of rules. I don't know them exactly. I just want to give you this information. So what it means to become an adult. Usually it was 20 years old. Now it's kind of 18. So I'm not sure how they're going to do the coming of age event. If you still have to be 20 or if you can do the coming of age when you're 18. But when it comes to alcohol and tobacco. You still have to be 20 for that. Everything else changed. And that's pretty good. Getting people more interested in voting. Because I think you had to be 20 to vote. I don't know. I can't vote here. But getting people to vote and be active younger is a good thing. Because not enough young people vote. Which is why we get these leaders with old thinking that still use fax machines. And don't want to let you enter the country.
00:40:58 John Daub: Yet they get an almost coming of age ceremony. You know who is really interesting? The people who are 19 years old. They got screwed by a year. Because they could have been an adult if the law had changed last year. But it didn't. So for one year they were still a kid. Even though now they're adults on the same day as kids that are a year younger than them. It's pretty crazy. And 20 year olds too. I'm keeping a social distance here which is impossible in Shibuya. I remember the floppy disks. The 5 and a quarter size where you could take a hole puncher and use the back side of it if you hole punched them. So you have two sides that had like one megabyte of memory. I remember those. My friends and I, we bought hole punchers so we could double our capacity. I bet you Katayama remembers that too. They haven't changed the drinking and smoking age as I said. They kept that the same. Alright the snow is still here in the cracks. What YouTuber is going to show you this? The cracks. The drinking age is still the same, 20. But I don't think that Japan is still a very conservative country.
00:42:35 John Daub: I'm going to do a travel update really soon in the next couple of days for a lot of people that are waiting on that. I kind of wait until I can accumulate some information or we can see some changing. But there's some change on the horizon now. I got a feeling because I've been hearing murmurs from people in the travel industry. That's sort of what I do. Because I myself am traveling with the people who make the decisions for traveling. So high traffic, low pixels. I think it was better when we started. More people have come about here. I just want to say thank you everybody. Thank you everybody for watching. We've started a new year. Wow there's another Star Wars movie coming? Boba Fett. Hope everybody is doing well. I'll have another livestream in the next couple of days. I think doing an update on travel situation is something that I want to do. But I'm working on two main channel episodes right now. So there's a lot of editing going on right now. So I don't have as much time for live streaming. But I'm not going to stop doing that either. I'll find a way to balance it. That's just a weird hat. It probably looks better but it's pixelated. It looks like a Hare Krishna. Alright everybody bye for now. We did find some snow. Right here. Thank you Chan. Stay safe in the truck buddy.