00:03 John Daub: This event is so important because this means that Tokyo might be on the way back. Over there is my friend Joseph. Yeah, he's taking pictures as he always does here every year. Let me get up here. How do I get to the other side to see him? Joseph! You can't go here, right? Are you allowed to come over here? How you doing, buddy? We're not allowed to cheer for you, but it's good to see you. Okay, you can do it, man. You need it out there. It's all mental from here, buddy.

01:09 John Daub: It's kind of a shame this year you're not allowed to really cheer for the runners. They want to keep it quiet, but it's really hard to do that when you see a good friend of yours out here doing his best to run 42 kilometers. But this event here that you see, it's really cool. It's very important to the city of Tokyo. Last year it was canceled and this year they are holding it, which is a huge step in the right direction for Japan, especially Tokyo opening up to the rest of the world. Because if this event can be held with 35,000 runners, I believe, why can't they open this up to even more people? So I wanted to come out here today, not just cheer on my friend who's nine kilometers away from the goal, but also show you that it's true. It seems like Japan is taking steps to get right back where it was two, two and a half years ago.

02:04 John Daub: So let me show you Ginza today. Hey, Brandani is here. I'm going to take you around Ginza today, show you some of the runners, go up to the intersection Ginza Yonchome (Ginza 4-chome). But I've run in the Tokyo Marathon about five or six times. I forget. Originally, the first Tokyo Marathon in 2007, I participated in. And I ran three hours and 28 minutes, I think. My best time was three hours and 11 minutes or 12 minutes. It was like over 10 years ago now. The participants that are in this race, I believe they didn't register for it this year or last year. They couldn't run in 2021. So they're getting their chance finally to do that.

02:48 John Daub: Now, we're going to see in Ginza, there are signs all over the place saying, don't cheer for the runners. Don't stop. You can see there are officers to kind of enforce that, too. But I think that really takes away and dampers the running experience. However, still, holding this event is huge. You can take a look at one of the volunteers is holding a sign here. It says, please proceed without stopping. So no stopping. You have to cheer on your friends. But Joseph sort of stopped. How could you not? All right, let's go over here to the intersection just on the corner of Ginza Yonchome. And a beautiful Sunday afternoon.

03:40 John Daub: Joseph is running this live on Facebook. So you can go over to his channel. I forgot to put a link in the description. Maybe one of the moderators will do that. But go cheer him on. Give him some heart marks and let him know that you're supporting because he's live streaming this, too. He can get the feedback and the energy from those that are watching. And again, this is his 12th or 13th year doing it. It's pretty crazy. And he started like way like five hours ago. So he's not going to have the most impressive time in the world. But what is most important is that he's out here. And a lot of the people here, the Japanese runners know him because he's been doing it for so long. He's been on TV here inspiring people with this silliness, which is, I guess, the best way to do it.

04:25 John Daub: You can see the runners here going on. Look, there's one of the runners there. They have this really colorful towel that they can wear to keep them warm. But on a day like this, there's just a little bit of wind. These signs here. The volunteers are holding it up here. It says no crossing due to the Tokyo Marathon. This is the underpass. So I could go to the other side. But there were signs also telling me, please don't raise your voice and cheer for the runners because of the pandemic. Keep a very low voice.

05:01 John Daub: It's funny. It's like some funny stuff. I guess you could cross the street. They made a center barrier here. That's pretty interesting. You can see the pedestrians can walk down the center. And eventually, I guess they can cross to the other side. I'm not sure. But since all the runners have stopped coming in this direction, they're all going in the other direction. They can keep going. Thank you, Raymond Centeno. I'm glad that you're watching Joseph running live. Sweet High Towers here. Love the streams and kins that cheer for the marathons here in South Carolina. And Johnny Boyka writing here, are the LGBTQ bars reopened in Shinjuku Ni-chome (Shinjuku 2-chome)? I'm not really sure. I would think so as long as they adhere to the policies and rules of the city of Tokyo. I don't see why not.

05:58 John Daub: All right, let's cross. Let's keep crossing to the fourth intersection here. Ginza Yonchome. It's quite crowded today. So to get to the other side, you have to go through the underpass. There are a lot of people that are confused about what to do. But I believe that the marathon will close down in about an hour or so. And there are markers where they close down here at the side. You cannot go running anymore. You have to end the race right there if you don't hit the time marks.

06:48 John Daub: So we could cheer on some of the runners here digitally. Go, go, go. You can send your cheers in the comments and I'll transmit them through positive energy through the live stream. Gosh, I've run this, as I said, like five or six times. Let me see. 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011. And then 2012, I think I was injured. I think it was five times. My best time was 3:11, 12, I think. And I know how hard it is. If I were to run it now, I would not be able to do it. You have to train in order to get to finish it without stopping. It is so hard. You can hear the bells of Ginza's Wako up there.

08:16 John Daub: As you just heard, it's 2 p.m. here. There's one runner. He's trying to stay limber. The muscles start to tighten. The best thing is not to stop ever. No matter how much pain that you're in, never stop. Once you do, the muscles tighten up super quick. Joseph was going faster than I thought he was. I didn't time it right. So everybody, we're in Ginza. This is the big crossing section for the Tokyo Marathon runners here.

08:56 John Daub: There's another sign that says to go over the running pass. Oh, look at this. The Mitsukoshi clock tower. The clock tower lion is dressed up in mascot gear. How cool is that? That's funny. I'm sure a lot of you know exactly where I am. You can cross the street here. That's the Nissan building in the distance. And over there, you can just see the runners going towards the final turnaround. They're going to take a right and then go, I believe, towards the Imperial Palace. And that's where the goal is. If I go a little bit further, you can't see behind the sign, but you can see we're at 4 hours and 50-some minutes into the race.

10:11 John Daub: So it's really hard. I'm just going to stand here so you can get a look. This isn't going to be a very long livestream, but I just wanted to bring you this experience here. There's a reason why. Because just them holding this event, an event that was canceled last year, is a huge deal. And I think that we're getting a little bit closer to reopening Japan. Positive events like this. Like, I want to cheer for that guy. Because that's exactly what I did in my 2011 marathon. Because you can see these photographers here. They're taking pictures and online you can download them. And he's waving that flag right there to let all the runners know that it's a photo point. So if you do something fun, you're probably going to get a fun photo in response.

10:50 John Daub: And you know what? I might post some of the fun photos that I took online onto Instagram a little later from the Tokyo Marathon. I did download them. I don't think I paid for them. I think you could take screenshots and do it that way. There you go. There's the timer. 4 hours and 53 minutes and 3 seconds. The marathon has been going on now for that long. Shane, exactly. It's another step closer to normalcy. And the fact that this was canceled last year. We didn't have the vaccine. We didn't have medicines. It was quite out of control. And now that we do, we have vaccines. Everybody has been vaccinated at least twice that wants it. And I think we're about 30% for the third shot here.

11:36 John Daub: And that means I like that they have the supporters with AEDs, if anything ever happens, on bicycles to get to one place to the other really quickly to support the runners. The support for the people running the streets of Tokyo today is incredible. And again, having run this myself, I know this is such an important day for runners because the streets of Tokyo are yours. It's so cool to run down them. There's no traffic lights. There's nothing to slow you down. You can just cruise down the streets and there's no better feeling in the world than completing a marathon. Doesn't matter what your time is. When you hit that 42.195 kilometer marker, there's no better feeling in the world. Jun-chan! Jun-chan! It's a great feeling.

12:30 John Daub: Here's the crowds coming over from Ginza Yonchome making the cross through. This is also a day with a lot of really difficulty for pedestrians and cars and driving. It's kind of a nightmare. But the marathon is over by midday through Sunday. So it's usually okay. I'm going to walk back over. Please refrain from waving banners there. Interesting. So this year it's so much more subdued, but they're holding it no matter. And that's a really positive sign as I said. Thanks everybody for joining me. I'm going to take the next few minutes just to walk back in this direction. To give you an idea of what Ginza looks like during the Tokyo Marathon. And share with you a little bit of the race.

13:19 John Daub: If you didn't, take a look at the playback of my friend Joseph running here. I just started the livestream as he was coming. I timed it. He was faster than I thought he was going to be. Which is a good thing I guess. But you can watch him live. He's still got about maybe 5 kilometers to go. And cheer him on. Give him some chats. Send him some hearts. Joseph Tame. J-O-S-E-P-H T-A-M-E. I believe Tame Goes Wild might be his Facebook. And he's livestreaming it on Facebook. Give him all the love and support. This year it's a little bit strange and different and quiet. So there's not a lot of people cheering. And I think he needs that extra support. And he's such a good friend. He's been in all the toilet episodes that I ever produced. Anything with sewage or electronics. You know, he's always been a good friend supporting Only in Japan.

14:12 John Daub: And it means a lot to see him running this race. Because when I see his smiling face running down here about 15 minutes ago. That'll probably get me through the entire month of March. Knowing that he still participated and was able to finish strong in under 5 hours and 30 minutes. With all that gear. He's got batteries and cameras. Hey, Ms. Antiflo. Thank you so much for being a member for 16 months. Just a shout out to the people supporting the livestreaming channel. I haven't been as active over the last month trying to get edited content out. 3 episodes in 14 days is pretty cool. The latest one on Ginzan Onsen. The most scenic onsen in Japan. Is Little Leo's debut. And my wife Kanae Daub and I. It took 2 years to make that episode. And you can see us before Leo and after Leo.

15:53 John Daub: Somebody commented that in 2000 you went in without a baby. And then 2 years later you came out with a baby. But it would have been funny if it was 9 months. And then 2 months apart. That would mean that Leo is a Ginzan Onsen baby. Which might not be half bad from the truth there. It's a beautiful onsen. And the traditional Japanese inns there are absolutely stunning. We went into 2 of the most famous ones. So if you haven't seen that episode. Go to the Only in Japan John Daub channel and check that out.

16:11 John Daub: Here's some people crossing the street here. And we're going to do that too if we can. There are the runners on the other side. I guess these people are looking for a break to run. Let's go take a look over here. This is interesting. I guess the marathon people will direct the traffic of the runners to the other side. So that these people can cross the street. Because I think if you're taking 5 hours at this point. You're probably pretty exhausted. And most people are going quite slow or running. Or walking or going more controlled. So they can do that. I know when I was running the Tokyo Marathon. I was going as fast as I could possibly go.

17:03 John Daub: Gosh what was it. The first marathon I think I hit the wall. Which is a word that we use when we run in marathons. We hit the wall meaning your legs are dead. You can't go any further. Around 23 kilometer mark. Just after the halfway point. The first marathon I ran. Then I hit the wall at 33 kilometers the next year. And then I hit it at 37 kilometers. And then my final. Not my final one. But the one where I ran the best I believe. Maybe that was my final. I didn't hit the wall at all. I ran 42 kilometers. And I felt great at the end. I was dancing at the finish line.

17:55 John Daub: So we're not supposed to stop here. There's another. The people in costumes are funny. Now when I ran. I guess it was 2011. There was a guy. And he was really fast. He was dressed as Jesus. And he was carrying a cross. And he was with me for a long way. And then I just passed him. And I flew by him after a while. But he was running pretty darn fast. There's some people in some weird costumes. I don't think you're allowed to have that as much. I think it depends. But most people aren't wearing the same costumes as they did in the past. There's one guy with an outfit. I don't know how you can run a marathon in that. Right? Look at the big gloves he has on. He ran the marathon with gloves? I know he's walking the marathon. But still.

19:03 John Daub: Alright. There you have it. There's one long look at the race through Ginza right here. These runners. 35,000 of them are doing their best to finish. They're the flag turners. They tell the crowd. The runners to go on the right side. And then after every couple of minutes they say go to the left side. So that they can get the people over there to cross the street. Which is a very interesting way to do it. They're not going to get the same credit this year. Because there aren't a lot of people watching the marathon. But applause to the volunteers who make this happen every year. This will be the one that's probably the most forgotten. Another reason why I should live stream it a little bit.

19:53 John Daub: I want to shout, Ganbare! But I can't because you're not allowed to express yourself. There's Goofy. Goofy is going to be having a big beer and a large pizza when he gets home. Here's Itoya. Everybody who participates in the marathon. It takes a lot of guts to do that. The first marathon I ran in. I'd never done it before. In fact, in my training had never even come close to 42 kilometers. I was scared to death to run in the first marathon. I woke up that morning and I had one foot in bed and said I don't want to go. I made a big mistake. I shouldn't have done this. But I went anyways. And I said let's just give it a try. And I'm so glad that I did. I was so proud of myself then. That I had done it. None of my friends had run a marathon. None of my friends in Tokyo knew about the marathon. I was the only one out there. I felt quite alone. There weren't many foreigners at all. It was just me in a sea of all these other people. It just felt really good. This is before I knew Kanae. This is before I had family here.

21:36 John Daub: You can see right now how hard it is to run the marathon. Once you stop, the muscles tighten up. I know how he feels. It's happened to me. But I didn't stop. Because you know what happens when it stops. The muscles just go. He's wearing one of those towels again. They give the people who completed the marathon these towels here. So for those going in the other direction. I think it's 33 kilometers from this mark here. Yeah. Somebody's sneezing. This is hay fever season. So it's hard to know for sure. People that are sneezing. There's a higher chance that it's from hay fever. Than it is from anything else. So don't worry too much. Could be both.

22:40 John Daub: Irvin's here. Man, I so wish I could be running this year. But I didn't have a choice. Hey, I found Waldo. I found a police officer. Isn't he the guy from the manga? He looks like he escaped prison in that outfit. He's chasing the cop. Usually it's the cop that's chasing him. Gravy writes, I finally found Waldo. That's nice. The volunteers, they're out there. Waving. They've been here for hours too. Before it started. Beautiful warm day. There's a wind. A slight breeze here. Which makes it a little bit chillier. But no complaints whatsoever.

24:04 John Daub: I would be happy. I've never ran at the Tokyo Marathon. They all had winds. Going down from, going towards Shinagawa. I was always fighting the wind. It was so bad. But then when you turn around. And go the other way towards Asakusa. Which is the old course. It would be so easy to do that. And there's one of the runners here. He's finished. Congratulations. They gave the medals out before I heard. So that people could just after the race. They could just go home. And there would be no crowds.

24:58 John Daub: So there you go. I'm walking the streets of Ginza. I thought it was important for me to come out here. And to give you an idea. This again. Just to end this. Because you're watching it live now. It's really important that this event took place. And I'm glad that it did. It was cancelled last year. Redone this year. For those runners to get their chance to run. And hopefully 2023 they'll have it back again. But this is I guess a good sign. Because if they can hold an event like this. Without any problems. And without fear. Then I think we're getting step by step. Incrementally back to normal travel. And I haven't seen the city of Tokyo like this in a long time either. An event this big on the streets. Look at the streets of Ginza shut down. This is such a good feeling. I'm just going to stand here for a second. There's not a lot of people there. It's such a good thing to see. Even though there aren't a lot of spectators. People are encouraged to stay home. And watch on TV and online. This is my neighborhood. So it's not like I traveled very far to come here.

26:20 John Daub: Hello Hi A21 here. Here's the Toby (crow). Crow Toby in the background. There's always going to be a gang of crows. What do you call a group of crows? There you go everybody. Have a good day. Have a good night. Thanks for watching this live stream. Check out one of the main channel episodes. What did I release recently? Ginzan Onsen. Living out in the countryside. Where a guy from the city moved out to the country. And started his own brewery. Some really inspirational stories there. And then I released one on cleaning Weino Station. Which has been a really popular video. Yeah leave me a comment there if you want. And I've been watching and reading those. I'm working on the next video. Which is a Wagyu episode. Which should be a lot of fun too. So take care everybody. Stay safe. And have fun this weekend. Enjoy your Sunday. See you tomorrow.