00:00:00 John Daub: Hello everybody, welcome to Ginza on a beautiful spring April afternoon. Lots of sunshine, weather's in the upper 70s Fahrenheit, and I thought this would be a great time to discuss what's on a lot of people's minds here. They're going to be closing down this Chuo-dori (central avenue) in about 10 minutes, which is kind of neat, so I'll be able to walk into the center of the street. But yeah, this early on a weekend, still kind of early, probably in about an hour or so, there's going to be a lot more people, but you can see there's loads in the shadows on the left side. The right side's too sunny, but being me, I like this side. How you doing everybody? I'm also going to stay away from the people. Now, most of the Japanese keep their masks on. I'm going to keep mine off away from people, but as soon as we start walking, and my wife's going to be coming out of the store soon with Leo, I'll have to put my mask back on just to let you know. But you can see just about everybody's wearing a mask, and the people not wearing the masks are not Japanese. It's really interesting.

00:01:08 John Daub: When it comes down to the travel ban, which has been going on for years, there was an article in the news saying that Japan lifted the travel ban for 106 countries. Do a lot of you remember it? I actually just put a link in the description of this video. Check it out from Kyoto News. It's in English, explaining the prime minister had to walk back the comments, I think. It was asked in a press conference if foreign tourism was restarting, or if they had to stop. But I was excited because you actually need to give the industry about a minimum of two months advance notice or else they're not really set up right now for you to come here. A lot of businesses have gone out of business. A lot of hotels, they're just not ready for tourism. So, if they were to just open up the border right now, it would be real chaos and there wouldn't be enough accommodations for people to be honest with you and a lot of them are going to COVID patients that have to be separated from their families or put into hotels.

00:02:07 John Daub: This is something that caught a lot of people off guard because even Kono Taro, who is probably going to be the next prime minister, he tweeted Japan opens to 106 countries so it confused a lot of people but actually the entry ban—it's still an entry ban I think it's just a play on words. Anyways the link is in the description the prime minister said that they're not thinking about tourism anytime soon or they haven't made any decisions on this but asterisk mark here everything goes in Japan in steps it's just the way they operate here so they went from 3,500 students and business people who could come into Japan to 5,000 now to 7,500 now to 10,000 people can enter Japan. The next step is no quotas at all which I think is really close because it's kind of stupid to just count people right just let people in and then after that comes probably opening up to a limited amount of tourists then to everybody.

00:03:23 Kanae Daub: Okay.

00:03:23 John Daub: They're opening up the street in 10 minutes yeah 24 degrees Celsius I'm gonna get a suntan I don't want a mask tan that's why I'm kind of hesitant to wear a mask I don't want a mask tan I'm going to be filming and it looks pretty freaky Peter von Gomm and I were talking about that just the other day so the travel ban is still in effect for tourists but I don't even know what a travel ban means anymore.

00:04:01 John Daub: Travel ban means that nobody can come so I look at it like this and they're chattering and they chat the first victim of the day he fell down so he has a little scab on his nose he's a victim of walking a new walker the nose is he followed his nose and the nose is the first to fall Leo's in slumberland Sandman got him all right we'll keep him out of the sun so anyway I look at it like this all right there's a bouncer at the door right before there was just a wall nobody could come in it was closed to the entire world and a lot of residents and even citizens were stranded outside of Japan because the pandemic had caused nobody to enter until Japan could get its bearings and figure out what was going on.

00:05:13 John Daub: I don't think they have figured it out yet but now they've opened the walls so the entry ban is over they say but then they put these really big bouncer guys in front of the door all right and those bouncer guys are saying are you here for business are you here for school do you have the proper visa and are you do you have family living in Japan because I think my parents could come now which might be a pretty good idea if they can get the visa from the embassy they're going to have to give a visa to the visiting family so if you have a purpose and get a visa the bouncer will let you into Japan.

00:05:52 John Daub: But most of you and Chantelle writes a good point that's a nice car can you bribe the bouncer I don't know if the government can be bribed but I've seen DJs come here during the worst time of the pandemic on three-day visas for entertainment so I think anything is possible you've got money all right but just seems to me saying to everybody unless you fall into these categories you are still in an entry ban but what the heck does an entry ban mean so there's still an entry ban so it is confusing even to the people living here we're kind of looking in the mirror and going should we even be here or are we banned too it's really unclear.

00:06:30 John Daub: But I follow Kono Taro on Instagram and he posts in English he's gonna be one of the next prime ministers I think and he's a graduate of Georgetown University I believe he lived in the United States he's very forward-thinking I guess Reiwa thinking a politician who's younger and you can get indications from look at all these sports cars go go dudes yes please.

00:07:16 John Daub: Okay this is live that's one of the last cars too because they're closing and there's a police officer right there kind of scratching his head he's like now I give up I'm never gonna catch that Lambo. I gotta get my mask on I'm gonna take you for a little bit of a walk here yeah it's a big sound that was the Prime Minister on his way to the next meeting good luck trying to catch him it's very hard to catch all right mask on so that's where we are with the travel ban and I hope you all understand.

00:08:09 John Daub: The good thing is that students can come finally they've a lot of people have been waiting for years people with visas can come people spouses of family members that were working here from abroad can come to 106 countries because it wasn't like that and I'm hoping I got my fingers crossed here that this impacts the mail in a positive way because right now mail is suspended to most of the world from Japan and it's been a logistical nightmare to try to get packages to Canada Australia to England and Germany because of the war planes that are going over Russia have to reroute so there's fewer of them now therefore they're not taking packages at this moment.

00:09:04 John Daub: I can tell you this the next mailbox I find Susan thank you for joining the postcard club yesterday this is coming to you I'm sending it right from Ginza this is Ameyoko which is just about two kilometers up the street from here so that's going to you and I got a really nice stamp here of the theme park in Asakusa so hope you like it it's coming to California and you get that on Patreon too we had I just had another sign up this morning as well I appreciate it guys.

00:09:36 John Daub: So when will tourism come to answer that question is Kanae who knows very well about politics do you know about the Seiji-ka (politics department) I mean that's a good thing about the talk.

00:09:43 Kanae Daub: When do you think tourists can come to Japan be honest.

00:10:01 John Daub: I'm not sure I think this year.

00:10:01 Kanae Daub: Do you want them to come.

00:10:01 John Daub: Yeah yeah why it's fun that's true there's a lot more smiles yeah yeah I also want to go to Apple yeah well we can that's the beauty of living in Japan we can go and visit your favorite item to about the more fun you will have to participate whenever we come here and to see the places we really like uh yeah we're all the geezers because you got this event itself we're going to be shopping here for two weeks yeah your countries you just can't come to ours that's the beauty yeah we could do a meetup then I can give you that you found me cards council this year what they canceled the Sumida fireworks festival this year well maybe that just in Tokyo but out in the countryside I'm sure it's still open.

00:10:52 John Daub: This Chanel's got something going on here there's a line a line for Chanel why I guess they're just selling all the bags from Russia since they pulled out of Russia they're selling all the bags here on it for a discount maybe that they they pulled from Moscow maybe I don't know yeah that's weird you don't see lineups for these stores usually in fact I hardly see anybody inside of there oh they're gonna they're closing the street mama not good that means really soon go to where yeah we could go into the middle of the road I'm gonna jump out in the middle in a second.

00:11:32 John Daub: I can't even hear what they're saying it sounds like blah blah blah blah like the teacher in the Peanuts the Snoopy this is what why they closed the streets down at noon every single weekend except over goes the Lambo darling the Lambo went that way Oh! Here comes the Lambo! he's just going around showing off I like that yeah it's a Lambo he's showing off yeah Brondania we want to come and visit you guys in Hawaii we're gonna come to see all of our Hawaiian family over there 12 noon we can cross the street now cars get off it's ours the street is ours.

00:12:51 John Daub: Can I have people starting to cross the street now just right in the middle the cops are doing it you see at the end of the street the cops are putting the blockades it's over can I get out of here? can I it's over the cars lose we could jump onto the road really am I breaking the law is it okay the roads are ours piss off cars let there be life I guess it's good I'm in the middle of the road now yes this is awesome I guess cuz now that I have a kid I have to start to spell stuff so he doesn't know what I'm talking about problem is I'm not really good at spelling.

00:13:51 John Daub: I'm not jaywalking you're allowed just go in the middle of the street from noon I might be the only one but I'm a trendsetter which means if you can come I'm here on a tourist visa let me know you'll be the first you'll be the trendsetter to but right now currently it just seems like there's a confusing message about the 106 countries so they've opened it up there I mean there were people from I guess India that could not come to stay with their spouse so this is an example of how the border has opened with the announcement last week.

00:14:28 John Daub: There was an article about a woman. She's Indian. Her husband is Indian. He's a doctor here. And he wanted his spouse to come to Japan, but she didn't have a work visa and he did. And the government wouldn't allow his spouse and kids to come. But he could come. Didn't really make sense, right? But these kinds of broken rules, Japan is a country of rules. It doesn't matter if they make sense at all. They just, you know, people follow the rules. And his wife couldn't come for the longest time. I guess with this opening, now she can get the visa and finally come and be with her husband. But India was one of the countries that wasn't allowed to do that. So it's open to 106 countries, which is more than half the world.

00:15:13 Kanae Daub: How many countries are in the world?

00:15:13 John Daub: How many countries? What?

00:15:21 Kanae Daub: Over 180? 182? Over 200?

00:15:25 John Daub: I don't think it's over 200. 182.

00:15:28 Kanae Daub: 195, around 200.

00:15:33 John Daub: Travis writes in 385. Are you just writing numbers now? Under 200. Right, Ronald? I think Ronald's right. It's under 200. I think it's like 182, but there is some new countries that came in over the last 20 years. So I'm guessing it might be higher. 196 countries. Yeah, you guys got 192. Somewhere between 192. 192. Ski, ski, right? 560. That's like maybe provinces or something. I don't know. And I find that there's more than seven seas. You know? So Aquaman is supposed to be king of the seven seas, but I found that there were more than seven seas. He's not... Aquaman is not invited to the Sea of Japan, just so you know. Google says 195. Okay, great.

00:16:17 John Daub: So 106 out of the 195 countries can come to Japan if they have business, if they're a student, if they have a visa, or they have family here, they can come, but the rest of you have to wait. And just to reiterate, I'm guessing that by summertime, there's going to be a decision. I believe packaged tourists like coming on JTB or HIS will be able to make their way to Japan on packaged tours because then they can keep the people accountable and control the numbers better. And then if that goes well, then they go to the next step, which is opening it up to everybody. So, I'm guessing that by summer, maybe. That's my optimistic thing.

00:17:02 Kanae Daub: We still have a quarantine.

00:17:02 John Daub: A quarantine? I don't think... I think it's been lifted for... It depends on the state in the United States. It doesn't make sense, right? So if you're... So let's say I live in Pennsylvania, and the situation's better than in New York. If I fly out of JFK, Japan lumps me into New York, which has a worse situation, and then I have to quarantine for three extra days. It doesn't make a lot of sense.

00:17:30 Kanae Daub: Yeah. But Japan also could... Might be worried about another wave and wanting to get it... To control it.

00:17:36 John Daub: Also, you see that even though this... Everyone's been vaccinated and boosted. If you look on the street, everyone's wearing a mask except for me. Everybody. There's not one person who's not wearing a mask except for me. But I'm social distancing, so scientifically, I'm okay. But I'm wearing my mask now. COVID is done with writes and Bruce. See, that's not how Japan thinks, though. That's why it's not opening. If the West thinks it's done, then they're just not going to open it up. It's still closed. Okay? And I know that the West doesn't like to wear masks, and Japan is scared of that, too. It makes people feel uncomfortable, so they don't want to do it. And since this is an election year, I don't think they're going to open it up to a bunch of crazy people who are going to protest at Walmart going in there without a mask.

00:18:32 Kanae Daub: No. Say you.

00:18:32 John Daub: Say you is together with Walmart. But yeah, you can't do that here. Now let's keep walking because I don't like this store. This might be the worst store in Japan. They still haven't delivered my iPhone 13 Pro. Did we call the police? Yeah, we have to call Akato-san at the police department and get an update.

00:19:00 John Daub: I'm going to take you to the end of the street and show you that they closed down the street. We can walk in the middle. I'm taking my son into the middle of the street. Will he be okay? Yes, he will. It is like summer. It feels very much like summer today. The Kit Kat store is down there. Ronald, you keep your beep beep to yourself. But for those that are wondering, I put the link in the description. Prime Minister Kishida walked back. I don't know if he walked it back, but he explained in more detail that the 106 countries does not mean that the country is open to tourism. There is no announcement yet, but I believe that something will be coming soon this summer.

00:19:56 John Daub: But as I said in the beginning, they're going to need two months minimum to get the tourist infrastructure up again because right now it's just not there. If tourism had resumed today, it would be chaos because there's no places to stay. The hotels are kind of not ready for international tourism yet. And even though the hotels are not ready for international tourism yet, the hotels are still open. The Shinkansen, I think, is still down. The Tohoku Shinkansen is still not running fully because of a train derailment from an earthquake a couple of weeks ago.

00:20:35 John Daub: This is where the first McDonald's was in 1972, was it? 1971. Right there in the wall where this, yeah, right there where that airplane was, was where the entrance to the McDonald's was in 1970. Opened up here. They built that McDonald's in 72 hours. It's pretty crazy. They shut down on Friday and then when they opened up on Monday, there was a McDonald's there, I think. That's how quick that they had to move. There's Ginza Kimuraya (famous bakery). So Brandania, we'll probably get some bread from there. Maybe a katsu. Well, we just ate. We went to Eggs 'n Things Brandania, which is a Hawaiian breakfast place. That's why we're here.

00:21:23 John Daub: Bob Jo, the story of the McDonald's in Tokyo is really interesting. How they opened up the first shop. Placement was everything. They had to put it right here on this intersection. And Ginza also closed down the street on back then too. 50 years ago. Yeah. The Mitsukoshi lion has a mask on. Hey, he's rocking the polo gear. Look at this. What's up with that? They made this special polo shirt just for him. I can't believe they did that. I can't believe they made a polo shirt for him. The lion. I don't like that. Polo is too big. I like it when the logo was really small. I don't want to show off that I have a brand shirt. I think the logo is too big. I like the small one. I used to have that when I was a kid. You get them at the outlet shops.

00:22:35 John Daub: I guess we should take a taxi back. He's sleeping. Okay. I got to edit. Tomorrow I fly to Hokkaido, which is going to be really fun. So I'm taking you to the farthest east side of Hokkaido. To Nemuro. All right. But first, I have an appointment with an old friend. Who ate my head once. I don't know if he's going to be there. But I called ahead. And they're going to let me film inside there. So I'm going to live stream from Melon Kuma's house in Yubari. As I drive my way to Nemuro. Which is so far east. It's where the contested Kuril Islands are. And you can see Russia from the easternmost point there. And I'll be staying there for about three nights. Filming an episode that I'm making. And coming back here.

00:23:39 John Daub: Thank you, UFO Bob. All right. See you, everybody. He's so far out. What's he thinking of? What's he dreaming of? Probably strawberries and blueberries. He likes that. All right. See you from Hokkaido, everybody. If you have a question. And you want me to clarify this 106 countries comment. And when it'll open. Just leave a comment in the video. And I'm happy to answer it. And Susan, your postcard is on the way. Bye-bye.

00:24:18 John Daub: Yeah, probably milk. He's probably thinking about milk. Certainly not Melon Kuma. Because that is a... I could take... If I take Leo to Hokkaido in May. He can meet Melon Kuma. He's gonna cry. Melon Kuma is terrifying.

00:25:02 John Daub: And people think I stopped the live stream. But I didn't. Psych. Suckers. 60 people left. Why would I end the live stream? This is getting exciting. These guys believe me. Just like when I say I'm gonna start at 11 o'clock. And I start at 10:55. Right, Peso? Why would I stop? I'm walking down a street. It's closed. In the middle of it. It's cool.

00:25:57 John Daub: It's open. But it's not open to tourists. As I said. There's a big burly bouncer standing at the gate of Japan. There used to be no bouncer at all. Just a wall. But now there's a bouncer. And he says hey, if you're not here for business. School. Visiting families. Or a resident returning. Take a hike. You're not on the list. That's all. Asla Coffee. Oh no. That's been here for a while. Yeah. At least for two years.

00:26:33 John Daub: So these guys have signs saying to wear a mask. And don't ride bicycles. I believe. And there's gonna be some entertainment. Oh look at that doggy. So we're doing Ginbura (Ginza strolling) right now. Is this Ginbura? Yeah. Ginza buda buda. That means just strolling down Ginza. This is an actual word for what we're doing. It's called Ginbura. G-I-N-B-U-R-A. So Ginbura is just walking around Ginza. There's an actual term for this.

00:27:20 John Daub: You guys. If that works for you. Just say you're coming to visit Leo. You can go to the embassy. Say I need a visa to visit Leo. He's my nephew. See what happens. So we're gonna Ginbura for a little bit longer. In this extended live stream. Because why not. We can say this live stream is brought to you by Tokyo Paul Live. Thank you Tokyo Paul. I missed that earlier. Yeah no bicycles. I busted him. Tackle him. Oh he's gonna get him. They're pretty aggressive with bicycles. No cars and no bicycles. But dogs are okay. Can you ride a horse through here? Can I? Because back in the olden days. Yeah. In the olden days they used to be able to ride a horse. You can try. Yeah I wanna ride a horse. In New York the police officers have horses. Central Park. Yeah. There's the world's biggest Uniqlo.

00:28:49 John Daub: As we do some Ginbura here. They're selling Uniqlo coffee? What? That's true. That's interesting. I've never seen that before. Like he's writing down every incident. They write it down. Only in Japan. Hello hi 821. Here's his family in the background. I saw one just flying right there. This is Ginza 6 that I'm right in front of. And up on the balcony there's a beautiful location viewpoint where you can see down onto the street. Highly recommend going up to the top there. And they have a big bookshop. Yeah they got a big bookshop and a Starbucks in there that's really nice. They have like this weird nitro coffee. I don't know but it's kind of neat that they have in there. It's like Ginza dog. They still have some of the cherry blossom donuts left too which are nice.

00:30:13 John Daub: They're going to get him. He's riding behind their back. That's awesome. Oh get that guy riding the bicycle. I want to see them tackle. Haha wants some Uniqlo coffee. Does that count? Does a wheelchair count as a bicycle? It's two wheels. I think sometimes they can be a little bit too strong. They're strict with the rules. Hey Rainer Loves Japan's here. How you doing? Rainer and mom. Nice to see you guys. I'm still looking for a mailbox for Susan's card. Did you see a yubin-bako (mailbox)? Oh there's a post office. Okay let's go take a look.

00:31:18 John Daub: This is the Abercrombie & Fitch skyscraper here. And this Abercrombie. You know when I was. I used to buy Abercrombie stuff in like the 1990s in college. And then they got weird. And yeah they pumped in when they first came here. They were pumping out a perfume onto the street. And it really upset a lot of the store owners. And they got slapped hard by Ginza's association. So they had to stop pumping out the thing. But worse than that. They had these dudes with no shirt outside. Do you remember? You took photos with them? It's weird. Yeah they had these no-shirt dudes walking around. And that's not classy here.

00:32:15 Kanae Daub: Everybody's dancing. Everyone's dancing. What is it like a strip club? Like club.

00:32:22 John Daub: That's not what. You know. That's not this area. This is the classy place. Hey Bob Joe. Okay you know what. If we can see a vending machine. Maybe we're gonna get something. Cause I could use a drink. You see a jido-hanbaiki (vending machine)? I know that there's one this way. The back alleys of Ginza are very noteworthy. I've already done some livestreams going through there. Nagano Shop is like two blocks that way though. Are you sure there was a. There's a post box over here. Can I? It's alright. I'll just put Susan's card in the post box here.

00:33:02 John Daub: There are loads of little restaurants. Bars. Cafes. Like places off of the main street. Are really nice. And this place Barneys in New York. A lot of my friends get their suits there. It's a really old shop. I think Barneys went out of business in New York. But they still are working here in Tokyo. Alright Susan. Susan of California. Here you go. I always bang them. Off you go. Hey Monica's here. Is Japan ready for the influx of travelers? No. No they're not. Not yet. Maybe. Maybe they have to give us a two months heads up. Everybody that I talk to in the tourism industry. Give us a two months heads up. They haven't given that yet. So you can guess that we're two months behind.

00:34:02 John Daub: Check this out Kanae. It's minus five degree Mitsuya Cider. No but. Do you want to drink something? It's from Bob Joe. And Michael Susano too. Thank you Michael. Michael's here. And Rainer's here. This one here with the Hyakko Hyaku Pasanto. Yeah Japanese kocha (black tea). Japanese tea. Oh this one? That's interesting. You can try the melon cream soda. No thanks. Oh this is new. Straight. No sugar. Kocha from Kagoshima. Oh really? Kagoshima. They got three different kinds of Monsters here. Do they have any sparkling water? Without sugar? Do they have any of the. Oh yeah they do. Wilkinsons. Strong. I like me some Wilkinsons. Thanks guys.

00:35:48 Kanae Daub: Alright who's pushing the button? You gonna push it? Alright Rainer. Rainer's pushing the button.

00:36:02 John Daub: Oh. Oh. Tansan. Tansan means sparkling water. San. I'm not sure. Tansan sui. Means carbonated water. So when you see Tansan. I was like Mr. Tan. Like you have a suntan. That's not it. Tansan. Sparkling. Right Glen? Tansan. It's so hot here in Tokyo. It's like 25 degrees Celsius. Which is like almost 78. Oh we're safe. It's nice and clean. It's right. Oh. I'll stick with my sparkling water.

00:37:05 John Daub: Coffee. You can at Eggs 'n Things. You can have unlimited cups of coffee. Until 11 a.m. But we got our. We got seated at 11:01. And I said yes I'll have a coffee. And a refill. So we brought the coffee. And I guzzled it. It was super hot. And then they brought the refill. They said that's it. We're done. I said okay. You don't have to tip either in Japan. So. It's alright. These ones at minus 5 degrees come out frozen. Did you know that? They freeze when you open it up. Some weird. Yeah. It's for summer.

00:37:42 Kanae Daub: Where do you want to go? You want to go to Hooters? Hooters? Hooters is the last. I don't know if it's still in business. I think they went out of business. I took Peter. Yeah. I took Peter von Gomm there for. For a thank you. Peter's always doing something nice. I always have to thank him. I'm in permanent thank you mode.

00:38:10 Kanae Daub: You need Okinawa store? No. Or Nagano store? Which one? Yeah. We like the prefectural stores. So let's go. Let's go up to here. And then take a right. A left. Because it's maybe better. Saya right's in here. It's somewhat open. To us. It's always open. But yeah.

00:38:37 John Daub: Basically you couldn't come from a lot of countries. There were a few countries. Like maybe 20 or something. That you could travel to and come back. Which stranded a lot of people. Especially students. And now it's open to students. Business people. To 106 countries. And that's a step. One step forward. But it's not a leap forward. It just seemed like it. Because politicians were tweeting. Well we're open to 106 countries. They said yeah but not tourism. And even for me it was confusing. Because I had heard also. That they'd released. They'd ended the quotas too. In this information barrage that I was getting. And they're talking about they will end the quotas. But right now it's capped at 10,000. And I'm like what is this?

00:39:34 John Daub: I like these old markers. These old historical markers. Mark something that used to be there. There's nothing there. There's always some kind of. Come to the side here. You guys are lucky Leo's asleep. Because he would totally attack both of you. Leo's. He likes to attack the pigeons. Just like a puppy.

00:40:15 John Daub: This is really close to. That sushi place. That's a story. I used to come out with one of the directors. Of Shueisha. Which is a big publishing company. And he'd had the company money. To go out to eat sushi. And one night he invited. Two hostesses out with us. I didn't know that they were coming. We had sushi at. One of the most famous sushi places. Here on the corner. That was over 10 years ago. I learned so many things from clients. I used to work at Shueisha. And I was an English editorial advisor. Or supervisor. Sounds better. Yeah and we'd have to go to the hostess clubs. Like once a week. I felt really uncomfortable. But I got to learn about the culture of Japan. Through the hostess clubs. And because they get paid a lot of money. These hostess girls had to admit. Everything that they do and why. They had a lot of questions.

00:41:54 John Daub: Megan's having a typing problem. Hahaha. Leo looks like the godfather from this angle. Maybe we should go home. Ok we'll just let him sleep. Maybe we should take him home now. This is where Sean Connery was driving. The car with Aki. And You Only Live Twice. Down this street. This is a scene that they took from the 1967 James Bond movie. Leo will work himself back to sleep. He's up. I ran into a cone. An orange cone. Leo's sitting high in his way. He takes a nap at 12.

00:43:14 John Daub: This is the Ergo Baby. Leo show everybody your nose. He fell on his nose here. Show everybody your three teeth. Glenn says hello. Joyce says Leo. Skin's a boy. I can take this. I'll show you the Nagano store. And we'll wrap around and end it. We have such amazing blue skies here in Tokyo today. It's hard to stay home and edit. But I've been thrown off. Actually, over the last week, I've been studying up on the Russo-Japanese War from 1904-1905. About that conflict and how that happened. And I think if you're watching the situation now with Russia and Ukraine, the war. You could trace a lot of this animosity all the way back to the start of the 20th century. And maybe even a little bit before that. So history repeats itself. And you can see some of the stuff that's happening has happened before. It's really odd. And Russia lost that war on paper.

00:45:01 Kanae Daub: You gonna go into the Nagano store? Is it closed?

00:45:04 John Daub: Yeah, it's kind of dark in there. They busted me last time for filming. So I'm not allowed to film in there without permission. No, I'll come in in a minute. I'm just gonna take people around the block and end it. Yeah. We like the Nagano store because you can get some good stuff. This is a tempura restaurant too. And they have an English menu. It's pretty good. If you're in the Ginza in this area. What is that? Hage-ten? It's a pretty good tempura restaurant.

00:45:49 John Daub: Boy, too bad for those 60 people who quit when I said I was ending the livestream about 20 minutes ago. They got to miss all this. Let's go see what's happening at the Akebono Mochi. Mochi confection shop. Lambo! Yeah, I guess it's gotten a lot more crowded in this area especially. So the quality of the livestream might have gone down just based on a lot of people in one area. I apologize for that. We're ending the livestream anyways for real this time.

00:46:41 John Daub: This is Akebono. This is a mochi shop. And in Minecraft quality, I can show you really quickly. They have this delicious looking sakura mochi which I'm gonna get for Kanae with the super chat. So you guys, thank you so much. That's sakura mochi. It's a beautiful presentation here. Wow. Mochi. Oh, it's coming back! That's the same one! He's on patrol. Yeah, Jim, sorry. I know you can hear it but maybe you can't see it because the quality is bad. Just take you on the corner here.

00:47:45 John Daub: So thanks everybody for watching for real. I'm gonna leave this time. Ginza is open but Japan is not. Not fully anyways. But it's... The thing is it's a step in the right direction. Alright? So always take the high road. Always stay positive. Always see the potential. The good stuff that happens as a result of this last step or one step closer to tourism opening up. But we're not quite there yet. So just remember, think positive and Japan will open up. But they're gonna give us at least a two months heads up so you can book your flights. But if you've already booked your flight, keep it and cross your fingers. And as soon as it opens up, I'm gonna let you know. I'm not gonna do a lot of these travel updates because there's not a lot of... Not the report. Only when there's like a blotch in the information. So the internet goes a little bit crazy with that. Even I did. I wasn't really sure. But yeah. Just stay positive everybody. And I'll see you in the next livestream from Hokkaido tomorrow morning. Or maybe from the airport. I have to fly out of Narita. So it might be a ghost town. It's gonna be interesting to see how Narita is doing. See you everybody.