00:01 John Daub: Hello everybody, welcome to Hakone. You can see the mountains all around us. This is one of the most beautiful areas of the Kanto region here in Kanagawa Prefecture. How you doing everybody? It is a beautiful day and in this live stream I'm going to be taking you in to see some of the local handicrafts and then go to the old Tokaido Highway, which is not that far away, just a very short walk. You're going to be joining me on this adventure. There's a guide who's going to be talking and telling us about the history of the old Tokaido, which I'm pretty excited about.

00:34 John Daub: First though, I want to show you this. This is really interesting and a very important part of Hakone's history. This is a Hakone yosegi zaiku (Hakone marquetry), or it's called marquetry in English. It's a wooden handicraft. And they used to have these as souvenirs on the old Tokaido Highway hundreds of years ago. This is what people would buy as souvenirs. So this would be really fun to check out in the beginning. Look at the details on this.

01:06 John Daub: Now all this different wood here, this is the kind of woods that they used to use back in the Edo period. Each one of these woods has a different texture and has a different color to it. So these colors and textures when put together would make some pretty extraordinary stuff called yosegi zaiku. And they have a lot of things on sale here. Because I was looking at this before we started, I thought this would be interesting. Check out the intricacies of the designs on these here. You can see it more in the sunlight. And they're a little bit pricey. This is about $40, but it takes a lot of work to make one. And in the olden days, and I'm talking like Edo period, all these were made by hand, so it took quite a long time to make these. But it's something that you should be aware of when you come to Hakone.

02:03 John Daub: Let's see if we can find some better videos. Wow, they actually have pictures made out of it. That's pretty cool. Alright, let's get upstairs and see if we can get some better signal. Thank you very much. The weather is nice today. Alright, we have about a three minute walk to get to where the old Tokaido Highway starts. And then from there, we're going to meet up with a guy named Koto-san. She knows a lot about the history of this. And I'm pretty excited about that. Because I love the old Tokaido. That was the road that people would walk down to get from Tokyo, which was called Edo at the period, all the way to Kyoto. They would walk it. Crazy, right? Oh boy, that was quite a hike.

03:04 John Daub: Yeah, so you're with me in Hakone today. The weather's a little bit chilly. I have to put my hands in my pockets to say, oh, there's some more yosegi zaiku. Now you'll never forget what it's called if I say it ten times. That's a tongue twister. Yosegi zaiku. Yosegi zaiku. Yosegi zaiku. Mr. Das, I'm not hitchhiking again, but, you know, actually hiking up here is something that you could probably do. Every year, when they have the Ekiden (relay race), which is a marathon, from Tokyo all the way to Hakone. They do this, the university students. It's a crazy run. They've been doing this annually on New Year's. I'm already winded from all the steep steps. They run down this road, the Ekiden, which is pretty cool to watch. It's something to do during the New Year holiday. But this is a very rural area. Check it out. We're going to cross the street right here. You see there's a school sign, so that means there are kids around. But on a weekday like this, it is pretty quiet. Not a lot of tourists here either, so we might have this whole place to ourselves.

04:38 John Daub: But if you've ever been to Hakone, you'll know that it's a really quiet area. I've been to Hakone before. Yesterday in the livestream, I showed you the hotel we stayed in. A beautiful hotel called Yama no Hotel in Japanese and Hotel de Yama in English. That place is between Mt. Fuji and the old Hakone town. I took some drone shots, which are absolutely stunning. I hope the signal is good for you guys. How's the audio and the signal? If you have any problems, let me know. We're going to be making a right here. You can see this road curves around. Gosh, I love the Japanese countryside. Old roads. Things just kind of... It's a little bit older. Things rusting over. You have so much character in the streets. The population of Hakone is 13,492. Thank you, UFO Bob. And right now, we're about to meet our guide, Koto-san.

05:48 Koto-san: Welcome to Hakone.

05:49 John Daub: Thank you, Koto-san. I have a microphone for you. Right here. How do I put that on?

05:57 Koto-san: I will clip it on you.

05:59 John Daub: Make sure that you speak as clearly as possible.

06:02 Koto-san: I will.

06:03 Koto-san: Konnichiwa, viewers.

06:05 John Daub: Hi. All right. Let's put this on right here. Okay. I'll clip that. Here? Maybe right here is okay. Right here. Always clipping the microphone on here. I'll clip it right on your bag. Okay. There you go. Right here. Okay. Boom. Boom, boom. Can you hear me?

06:26 Koto-san: Konnichiwa.

06:28 John Daub: All right. I think we can hear you. Okay. Go. Koto, would you like a hot drink?

06:32 Koto-san: Not really for right now.

06:34 John Daub: Okay. I'll buy you one afterwards. Actually, I might get one really quickly, because it's nice and hot. It's an old trick to buy a hot drink and put it in your pocket, and that keeps you warm for a long time. Maybe I'll get this one really quick.

06:52 Koto-san: You should hurry up, please.

06:52 John Daub: You don't want a coffee or something?

06:52 Koto-san: No thank you.

06:52 John Daub: All right I'll get this emerald blend it's a classic oh it's nice and warm are you sure okay i'm okay thank you all right good okay so now let's step into uh tokaido road the stone pave road let's do it.

07:13 Koto-san: So this isn't here the stairway is not it right no no this is just a Daikokuten temple the one of the good fortune god the seven deities of good fortune.

07:21 John Daub: All right i could use a good fortune i'll stop there later okay.

07:30 John Daub: All right so that says here the hakone old tokaido.

07:40 Koto-san: That means milestone so less than five minutes we're gonna meet milestone called...

07:53 John Daub: Yahoo now i know you speak impeccable japanese so i really like you to remember okay.

08:01 Koto-san: Okay.

08:17 John Daub: All right okay let's do it.

08:23 John Daub: All right, let's do some Ichirizuka.

08:25 Koto-san: Yes. Ichiri's ri is unit.

08:27 John Daub: A unit. So this is one unit.

08:30 Koto-san: One unit of length in old Japanese system.

08:37 John Daub: Oh, I see. So Ichiri, which is one ri, that's four kilometers. So that was the old measure that they would use in the Edo period for distance.

08:53 Koto-san: Correct.

08:54 John Daub: Wow. So... I had no idea. I've been here for 23 years. I didn't know that. I'm learning stuff you're teaching me already.

09:03 Koto-san: Well, we don't use ri anymore. That's why you don't hear that a lot.

09:10 John Daub: So how many ri are we walking today?

09:14 Koto-san: One and two ri, I suppose.

09:18 John Daub: And we are here. Milestone of a... Hatajuku.

09:24 Koto-san: And these are 23rd milestone from Edo, which is present Tokyo. So 23rd times four kilometers would be... 92 kilometers away from Nihonbashi, Tokyo.

10:06 John Daub: Oh, that's how you figure it out. Okay. Look at that. Gosh, I'm glad I have a guide here. I'm going to get lost, too. I'm not good at math, though. So these cobbles, we're looking at the cobblestone here. This is crazy. This is the original road from the Edo period?

10:22 Koto-san: Yes.

10:22 John Daub: They haven't changed it?

10:23 Koto-san: Nope.

10:24 John Daub: You didn't put this in for the tourists. This is real. Oh, my gosh. I'm going to touch one for the people here. It is a real rock. People would walk on this. Whoa. Can you believe it?

10:36 Koto-san: I cannot believe it.

10:37 John Daub: So this is the old Tokaido that we see the pictures, the woodblock prints from the 53 stations of the Tokaido. This is what they walked on in those woodblock prints back in the old Edo period during the samurai era. So there was samurai walking down this road.

10:52 Koto-san: Right.

10:54 Koto-san: And don't you feel like the samurai coming toward us?

10:58 John Daub: I always feel like... You mean like ghosts? Whoa. I can see bandits hiding behind the trees and stuff. There must have been quite dangerous, this road.

11:10 Koto-san: It must be. For the bandits and stuff? The robbers? It's called sanzoku (mountain bandits).

11:16 John Daub: Sanzoku. Whoa. Might be coming out somewhere. And there's a folk song.

11:22 Koto-san: Oh, yeah. It's a song that I used to sing when I was a little. You're gonna sing it? Do you want me to?

11:29 John Daub: Do it, Koto!

11:39 Koto-san: [singing in Japanese] Yahari no yama wa tenka no seki (As expected, the Hakone mountains are the toughest pass under heaven). Korea kan mo mono narazu [?]. Now younger generation don't sing that song anymore. Because the words and the expression in lyric is difficult to understand. I didn't even understand what I was saying. I didn't even understand what I was singing about when I was a little. The tune is quite catchy, yeah.

12:00 John Daub: But I hope there's no bandits today because I... I don't think so.

12:02 Koto-san: I hope not.

12:02 John Daub: I brought my wallet and I actually got more cash than normal. But did you catch the word tenka no seki?

12:09 Koto-san: Yeah. Tenka no seki. That's under the sky, Hakone is the toughest and the hardest to pass through because it's steepness. As you're walking right now, did you feel the steepness here?

12:22 John Daub: Yeah. I am suffering. Okay. I can feel... Look, we're already elevated. Look at... We've already been like 20 meters. And there's an active volcano where the smoke came out from everywhere here and there. So it conjured an imagine of hell.

12:39 Koto-san: Oh my gosh.

12:45 John Daub: Now these are really hard to walk on. Is that right?

12:50 Koto-san: Well, I think if for a... I don't know. For an incline or steep, steep road, they might be beneficial because you can use them for grip. But it is quite uneven. So I can see this being in the winter. How did they walk this in the winter with snow and ice?

13:09 John Daub: I know. I think they didn't walk in wintertime because they only have straw sandals on. Straw sandals. You have nice comfy shoes right now.

13:19 Koto-san: Oh yeah. These are Keens. Very good. I like your shoes.

13:23 John Daub: So, oh look at that. Whoa. So yeah, this is... Wow. So the road was like this the whole way? Or just...

13:32 Koto-san: Yeah, just a stone pave or some road they don't have a stone. Just a dirt. Muddy. So once it rains, it gets pretty bad condition.

13:47 John Daub: So basically back in the Edo period, this... There must have been a lot of people walking it. Today, it's just the two of us. But my image is you couldn't even see the road because there were so many people, right?

13:57 Koto-san: Mm-hmm.

14:04 Koto-san: And also, there's a lord procession walking by. Oh yeah, like the daimyo.

14:06 John Daub: Right. Oh my gosh. When the daimyo came down here, I bet you there were a ton of people. Dudes with swords and stuff. I don't know how they did it. I don't know either. I can hardly do it. Out of shape. I'm not going out much. I can hear a highway. A bunch of cars. There's a bunch of cars next to us too. So we're very close to the road. Now, this road was in... Whoa! So... It goes all the way up to Hakonemachi and Motohakone. And there's a checkpoint where we are heading later on today. Whoa.

14:44 Koto-san: That's harsh place. Harsh for... Harsh place. You have to have a passport called a tegata (travel permit) to go through.

14:54 John Daub: Interesting. So this bridge goes over the highway now. But was it... Was it like a river before? What was it?

14:59 Koto-san: I don't know. I have no idea. I'm sorry.

15:03 John Daub: That's okay. I just thought it was interesting because here's the roadway that's made from the original road and there's a bridge built around it. And then here you can see the highway with cars going underneath there. It's very interesting. So history, Hakone has a history and a modern thing. You can see a fusion of it. Do people have to pay to walk this road?

15:24 Koto-san: No. It's a free road. You mean in Edo period? Yeah. No, they don't have to pay. But they just have to have a passport called the tegata like I told you. Oh, right. The tegata. And they would get like a checkpoint. To see if they didn't have their tegata, they would... How did you know that? Are you serious?

15:46 John Daub: I was just joking. They were that strict? Wow. So if somebody has no paperwork, they're executed?

15:56 Koto-san: Yes. I mean, if you break through, you just can't not go through if you didn't have a tegata passport. But if you break it, then they're gonna execute you.

16:09 John Daub: Oh my gosh. They were not forgiving in the olden days. They did not forgive you for being a rebel. No, it's pretty harsh and cruel. Joshua writes in here, you're the best first Japan YouTuber. My girlfriend, Chisaki and I always watching, get nostalgic about Japan, watching the videos. Always great stuff. Thank you, Joshua. And thank you, Brandania earlier. We'll use that for some hot drinks. We're gonna have some amazake, right?

16:38 Koto-san: That drink? Amazake?

16:40 John Daub: Oh, amazake (sweet fermented rice drink). Yes. Ama means sweet, as you know. Amazaiku is a kind of candy. Sorry, sorry. Amazake, yeah. Amazake is so good in the winter and it is kind of chilly. My fingers are somewhat frozen to the gimbal, but...

16:57 Koto-san: Okay. Would you coffee?

17:00 John Daub: Oh yeah, that's right. That's what I got it for. So this is the old road. I love this part of it because you have the light going, coming through the trees here. So back then, all these trees were here too, just like this. It was very woody. Do you know what they are, the trees?

17:18 Koto-san: They look like, I don't know. These are cedar trees. Cedar trees, right. So you're actually walking on the cobblestone and cedar trees avenue at the same time. Okay. Yeah. But usually, Tokaido has pine trees on the side of the Tokugawa Shogunate Order tree. Matsu (pine). Matsu. Right. But they're for coastline. Oh wow, okay. But here in Hakone, pine tree didn't grow well. It's just not suitable for the ground of Hakone. So they put in cedar trees. Cedar tree instead. And in Japanese, we call these? Sugi (cedar). Sugi. Which brings all the pollen that makes us suffer through the spring.

18:02 John Daub: Thank you so much, Tokugawa-san. Tokugawa Shogun. Are you allergic to cedar tree pollen?

18:07 Koto-san: I am.

18:08 John Daub: You are? You know, I wasn't that allergic until I hit around 40 years old. And then I found that with age, it gets worse. Really? Yeah. I don't know why, but maybe the pollen is stronger. It busted through my immune system. I think so. I don't know. But I'm sure the... Look, you know, the conditions of this spring are very, very bad. The rain is very intense. When you go down this road, it might vary through the seasons. The rainy season, probably the worst, right? In June, we have something called tsuyu (rainy season). And it rains for like six or six weeks straight. I can't imagine this being really muddy and dangerous, right? What was that like? I mean, how did people... I mean, what were they transporting on the Tokaido highway? Were they transporting, like, money, goods, you know, kimono? What did they have? That was so important. important that they had to walk from Kyoto? Tegami? Letters? I have no idea. Yeah, wonder what they're carrying. They're just traveling to... Why are they traveling? Why would you walk. It's about 500 kilometers from Kyoto to Nihonbashi in Tokyo.

19:13 Koto-san: Correct. Right. I know because I rode my one-speed bicycle on this road. Not this one, but the one that we use now. This was They stopped using this around when the Meiji period? Yes, after Meiji period, there's a Route 1 for cars, vehicles. Yeah. So, it's been abandoned for what, 150 years about. Right. Now it's for hiking. A good, nice hiking course. Yeah.

19:54 John Daub: It is a really nice hiking course. I'm just surprised there's nobody here. Because again, in the 80s, in the Meiji period, this was full of people. People going to Kyoto, people coming from Kyoto, travelers crossing past one another. It was a highway. And today, it is a hiking trail. It's just quiet and peaceful and beautiful. I'm going to pan up to the top of the sugi or cedar trees here. They're quite tall now. These are the trees planted by the...in the Meiji period. How old are these trees? They must be quite... These trees are pretty new, I suppose. Oh, yeah. Like, Meiji period, that would be 150, 160, something like that. Oh, yeah. But, see, Koto-san, check this out, please. This is how they built the stone paved road. Oh, wow. They had the water drain. When it rains, it gets muddy, like I told you. Yeah. So, here's a water drain. The side of the road is here. Mm-hmm. And...Oh, I see now! So the water would go through the cracks of the big stones into the little stones, so it would...it wouldn't stay flooded. It would go underground, so it would...or go under, so it was safer to walk on. Mm-hmm. And then you can see the trees would...would put the roots around the rocks, which should keep them in position. Wow. So, um, I want to show you the milestones again, so would you like to go back a little bit? Oh, sure, yeah. Okay, let's do it. How's the signal, everyone? Let...let me know if you can't hear something or you can't see something. Let me know, and I'll make the adjustments for your enjoyment, because today, you're with me.

21:30 Koto-san: Okay, so in a meanwhile, I've got the first Tokaido quiz for you. Oh, a quiz? Uh-oh. Are you ready? Yeah. Okay. Go ahead. Be your worst. Okay. Um, how many milestones do you think Tokugawa shogunate had established on the entire Tokaido road from Edo, which is present in Tokyo, all the way to Kyoto?

22:03 John Daub: Milestones. The ri. How many ri? How many milestones? Oh, wow, milestones. So I know that there are 53 stations, right? Gojūsan-tsugi, Tokaido. Right. So there's the 53, because I know the 53 woodblock prints of the Tokaido and all the stops. Fujisawa and Hikone and all those. But that's not it, right? No. I'm gonna guess 200. Okay. That was 23rd milestone, like I told you. Alright. And there's the 24 in Hakonemachi by Ashi, Lake Ashi. Right. So, how many do you think? 124? No! Well, because you told me earlier. I did. I'm not supposed to tell that. I'm sorry, viewers. We are cheaters. I'm the cheater, but I know it's 124. But originally I guessed around 200. So 124 milestones established on the entire Tokaido road. That's a lot.

23:06 Koto-san: So I need you to be math teacher again. Uh-oh. 124 times 4 kilometers. Then you can figure out the entire kilometer.

23:17 John Daub: Well, 100 times 4 is 400. And then 4 times 24 would be 96. So 496. I can't do that. I just did that. Well, like you said, possible. About 600 kilometers. 616 maybe. Oh my gosh. I'm not good at it. So maybe close to 500 kilometers. Okay, about 500K. Yeah. Something like that. Which is 310 miles because I know that because I run 5K races in cross country in high school. And 5K races is 3.1 miles. Oh, wow. So it's 310 miles. So can you convert to miles? Yeah. 500 kilometers is 310 miles. 10 miles? 310. 310 miles. Oh, okay. Got it.

24:07 John Daub: Watch out for that cow pie. What is it? I don't want to know. Let's keep walking. Looks like some sort of bear. It's a horsey. I don't know. I don't know. That was pretty big. I hope we don't have any bear here. I hope not either. Okay. I guess there are bears in the area, no?

24:24 Koto-san: I used to in Sengokuhara. Do you know where? Sengokuhara, yeah. Some people witnessed the bear walking. Wow. Asiatic bears have a big temper. They like to attack hikers recently. Have you met bear before?

24:41 John Daub: In Gunma, yeah. In Gunma? Saw some bears in Gunma. Oh, okay. How did you run out? I mean, how did you do it when you met? They were kind of far. They were far enough away where I couldn't quite make out what they were until later. But they didn't see me. Oh, that's good. Yeah. Be careful. It's a little slippery. Yeah, you can see my feet here. It is quite... When you go down the rocks, I think it would be easier to have what they had in the Edo period, right? To have the tatami sandals or something, right? Straw. Straw sandals. Right. Called ashinaka (straw sandals with iron grips). Asinaka. I think that would be a lot easier to have and walk on this. You get, I don't know, better grip maybe because my shoes... I'll show some ashinaka called ashinaka. What are these? Straw sandals at the Amazake Jaya. Oh, okay. All right, go ahead of us. I'll show. This is Koto our guide who is... Ah, dozo dozo. Koto is now walking... Oh, careful there. Oops. I don't want to get on a live stream you falling down and then calling an ambulance. I guess the kyūkyūsha (ambulance) gotta come up here too. I don't know how... Oh, kyūkyūsha can't come in. Yeah, they can't come in, so I gotta carry you.

25:52 John Daub: So, I wanted to say Mount Fuji is quite large compared to Tokyo here. I saw that Mount Fuji might erupt again. So, it's like the news has always been talking about it the last few years. The last time Mount Fuji erupted was 1707.

26:08 Koto-san: Correct. And at that time, this road was in use. So, I was wondering, Koto, did that eruption in 1707 disrupt the Tokaido? Part of it, but Hakone was okay, but the Odawara village was devastated. It was completely damaged. People died. And ash from volcano flew out to Edo, Tokyo. Whoa! Holy smokes. Literally. And I think that if it erupts again, it could even be worse. It's been building up for 300 years. I can imagine. Scary. Yeah, let's not think about that. It'll be warmer though.

27:00 John Daub: Okay, we're back in Milestone here. See the trees planted on the top of Milestone?

27:06 Koto-san: Yeah. Oh, so this here, this rock is what the Tokaido Shogunate put here. This is the original? Yes. That's Ichirizuka. I'm gonna touch it. Well, they built the Milestone again. And they carved this too? Some samurai with a sword? Right. It says Ichirizuka-hi. And Ichirizuka looked like a milestone. That's pretty awesome. You can see there's some moss growing on it. It's been here for 400 years, right? Yes. That's awesome. And they started in 1603? 1603. And completed 1612. 1612? Yeah. So that's only 9 years. 9 years. Built 124 Milestones on the entire Tokaido Road. Oh, the street! They took 9 years to build the Tokaido? Are you kidding me? That's like 500 kilometers. 9 years? They are better builders then than they are today. I can't imagine. It took them ages to build one building. Here they built an entire highway in 9 years back in 1603. That's crazy!

28:23 Koto-san: This is a fir tree. Where's the fir? Fir tree on the top. Oh, okay. The name of it is a fir tree. Oh, that's a... Momi no ki (fir tree)? Oh, that's a like a pine tree sort of. That's the one we would use for a Christmas tree, right? Right, right. So it's kind of nice to light up on Christmas. Do they do that? No, they don't. Oh. Sorry. Okay. Momi no ki has a deep root growth. Oh! So it's solidified. It's hard to make a milestone robust for a long time.

29:02 John Daub: I can see that now. So what they've done here is they put the fir tree on the top and you can see how its roots have completely evened down to the base, solidified and brought those rocks together so it doesn't fall apart. I'm going to touch it because I like to touch stuff. It's like a big spider. So... I can't budge it. I'm not that strong. But you can see these are the ancient rocks that are set around here, but the tree has rooted it even stronger. That was smart. The engineers back then knew the connection between nature and the stuff they build. Why don't they put roots on the top of all the houses? That would have been really cool. Then the houses would be indestructible unless a lightning struck it.

29:43 Koto-san: Can I show you something? It's a map. Sort of walking map. I don't know what they call it in English. But these are um, Edo drawings. Oh, hey, okay. The people from... the local people draw the milestone here. Oh, right, on the fir tree. Fir tree. And this is the map from the Edo period. Wow. That's fascinating.

30:28 John Daub: Oh, and this is it. Okay. So... Oh, that's it. Now I'm... I didn't even notice this until we walked by this before about 20 minutes ago. But you can see here on the left side, and if I pan over to the right side, there's two fir trees, the markers up there.

30:43 Koto-san: Right. Well, this is actually not fir tree. This is zelkova tree (keyaki). Zelkova tree. Mm-hmm. And it also has a strong root to solidify the milestone. So they would walk between these two milestones, these two gates here, that were... and the gates are strengthened by the tree on top of it. That's super interesting. There's one on the left side and then one on the right side. And you can see that's the one that I touched over there, the right one. Mm-hmm. And it could be a... It gives travelers to... Oh, right. Oh, yeah. So you can just hold it, and when you talk, just hold it up to your... Okay. So, yeah, it gives travelers green shade in the hot summer days. Okay. Isn't it nice? And protect wind and the snow. Oh, right. Okay. In wintertime. Excellent. And because they're on the mounds, they're a little bit higher than the other trees, so you could probably make it out a little easier. Mm-hmm. And this is... I guess back in the olden days, this is going into Hatajuku, the village. Juku meaning a place to stay, right? Yes. So there were hotels and tea shops in this area. Right. And special station for daimyo, the lord, called honjin (lord's inn). Honjin. Mm-hmm. There's a... um... the trace of Honjin in the middle of the village.

32:20 John Daub: And we're back. Where are we going next?

32:22 Koto-san: We're going to have some hot, nice drink. Oh, that I like. My coffee's gone cold, by the way. Oh, okay. Actually, I have a schedule here. So next we're going to the bus, right? Right. So this is the Ichirizuka bus. Ichirizuka, you said. Ichirizuka. And remember the other keyword, Hachiri (eight ri). Hachiri. Yes. Hakone Hachiri. Now, one ri, Ichiri, is four kilometers, right? Right. What is Hachiri? Eight ri. Or 32 kilometers. Thirty-two kilometers. So it's a stretch from Odawara over Hakone and all the way to Mishima. Ah, Mishima. It's Hakone Hachiri. That has been designated as Japan heritage. Wow. We're going there? We're walking on it right now. Oh, okay. So these eight ri are very precious. They've been protected by Japan. Yes. Awesome. Very precious and very historical. I like that. Okay. So, eight... Hachi means eight, but Hachi also means bumblebee. So, it's confusing to some people. Oh, Hachi. Yes, it's tricky in Japanese. They come around and zzz, chiku chiku chiku. And they sting people. That's right. Do you say something like that in English? I'm just wondering. Yeah, it's a word that has two meanings. Hachi and Hachi. Hashi, Hashi. I'm teaching all sorts of things that have nothing to do with this, but there could have been hachi on this road. Think about it. Beehives. Stinging dudes. With straw sandals.

34:11 John Daub: Alright, cool. So the bus station's right here. So we're gonna wait for the bus. So, let's introduce the bus. How often do the buses come here and what's the best way to get here?

34:20 Koto-san: Once in 30 minutes. So we'll just wait here. So maybe after half an hour?

34:27 John Daub: Oh, in half an hour the bus is coming? We'll see viewers at Amazake Jaya. Oh, really? So, we're gonna say goodbye for a while. Yeah. Wait for the bus. And we'll see viewers at Amazake Jaya. And have some hot, nice drink called amazake? Oh yeah, I love amazake. How's that sound?

34:45 Koto-san: That sounds really good. I drink that in Ningyocho in Tokyo. They have an Amazake Yokochou. Oh. Which amazake did you have? I know where Amazake Yokochou is. I've never been there. You mean there's different kinds of amazake? Yes. I thought there was just one kind. I wonder what kind did you have? Is that alcoholic? I had the hot kind. Oh no, no alcohol. It's koji amazake. Yeah, with chunks in it. Lots of delicious chunks. Did you like it? Oh yeah, I like everything. Oh, okay. I'm glad. So you're gonna love our amazake at Amazake Jaya too. I hope. I hope too. Okay, so we're gonna cut the live stream and then do it again when we get there. The bus isn't coming for more, another 30 minutes. What time do you have here?

35:23 Koto-san: I have, hold on.

35:26 John Daub: Yeah, and I'll go ahead. And guess what? This amazake place, I was reading online, it actually has a, the guy likes to talk about the story of the, of the ronin. The excommunicated samurai that once stopped there. The 47 ronin. Right. One of them stopped there. Yes. And he was on the run. Do you know about the story of 47 ronin?

35:48 Koto-san: Oh yeah, that's with Keanu Reeves. Did you tell the viewers about that? It's a big revenge story actually. So Keanu Reeves came from America to Japan. And that's not how the story goes. Well, that's based on the true story. It's based on the true story. Yeah. The 47 ronin, their master, I believe at the Imperial Palace was executed. Is that the right one? Their master. Their master was executed and they became ronin and they sought revenge. Yes. On the dude who killed him. Right. It's a pretty interesting story. I think I covered it on this channel. I showed where that massacre happened near the Imperial Palace. It's pretty interesting. So wait a second, there's 47 ronin after they killed the dude and they got the revenge, right? Successfully. They successfully avenged their lord and then they just spread out because there was an execution warrant on them. So they separated. Well, they're actually ordered to be seppuku. Yeah. The harakiri. Oh, to commit suicide. Right, with honor. So it's not really execution. It's a harakiri with honor for samurai. Did they all do story to tell the descendant? Right. So, um... Interesting. So how did they catch one of the ronin here? I'm very curious about the story.

37:16 Koto-san: Oh, okay. One of them stopped by actually before the revenge. So they're moving undercover operation. It's really... The Japanese people like that story.

37:31 John Daub: Oh, I love that story too. Hold this for a second. Okay. Oh yeah, anything with ronin, samurai, revenge, death, and for my friend Peter von Gomm who has a, you know, who does his murder podcast, murder. Anything with this is an exciting dramatic story. So the amazake master is going to tell us this story. And he's a descendant of the original master who heard the story. Yes. We're talking like these people who've been here for generations, like 10, 15 generations, right? 13th generation. 13th generation. The owner right now. The son of the son of the son of the son of the son of the son of the son of the son of the son of the son of the son is still here. And he's telling the same story. That's awesome. That's what I like to hear. That's what makes Japan so wonderful because in America, we don't have that kind of a legacy because our country is kind of new, but Japan is ancient. It's awesome. So we're going to hear a story of the 47 ronin, one of them stopped here for hot amazake. Did they catch him there? What did he do? I want to know. It's like a gossip, but we know the ending. They ended up not living through it.

38:39 John Daub: So everybody, thanks so much. We're going to wait for the bus and warm up a little bit here. This is the old Tokaido highway. This is the Ichiri which is Hachiri. One ri is four kilometers. That's a measurement that they use here. And that's the marker right there. Boom. While you go in there. This is the way that you'd walk to walk the old Tokaido from Hatajuku. And next up, we're going to take the bus and take you to the amazake place. Thanks everybody for watching. I'm going to have another live stream. I'm going to have another live stream in about 30 minutes or so. Yes. I'll put the link up as soon as I can and then you'll be able to check this out. I'm pretty excited about it because I need that hot drink. If you're excited about it too, click that like button. Thank you so much.

39:30 John Daub: Thank you, Koto-san. You're joining us for the next live stream too, right?

39:32 Koto-san: Yes, I will. Thank you for your words. I'll see you later.

39:37 John Daub: All right. Mr. Das writes in here, is the bus code for drinking amazake? You cannot drink amazake on the bus. Can you drink amazake on the bus? No. No. I don't think so. No drinking. Sorry, Mr. Das. No drinking on the bus. And that includes Asahi. All right, everybody. I'll take some of your questions in the next live stream as well as I have some amazake and warm up. Chan, was this village founded just to the service travelers or did it exist prior to just happen? That's a good question by Chan. So one last question. Sorry. Did Hatajuku exist before Tokaido?

40:10 Koto-san: Well, yeah, it does because Tokaido didn't start at a period. It was before still here. So Hatajuku was there before. Interesting question, Chan.

40:22 John Daub: Right. So yeah, Hatajuku did exist before Tokaido Road. Excellent. It's not even called Tokaido, I suppose. Wow. And here they had tea shops and stuff too. Yes. And geisha. Well, I don't know. I'm not sure about that. Ladies of the night of pleasure. Well, that's well, they maybe not in this juku, but they certainly did in the Yoshiwara. All right, everybody. Take care. There's our posse down there. Take care. And if you have any questions, you can leave them in the comments below. I'm going to be the next live stream. Walking along the Tokaido to Amazake, a place where they served hot drinks. This is like sake without the alcohol, but it's sweetened and it's really good and healthy. And then we're going to hear from a amazake master, 13th generation, about a story of the 47 ronin who stopped there. And they were outlaws. Love that. Outlaws. Before they did some murder. Got their revenge. See you, everybody. Have a good day. See you in a couple of in about an hour. 45 minutes. Gonna. Bye-bye.