00:00:01 John Daub: Wow, this is an absolutely stunning location, isn't it? How you doing, everybody? Welcome. I'm back. This is Kochi Prefecture. I came here yesterday, went to the restroom, and noticed a rock wall in the toilet. Like, what? It was actually very beautiful and unique. It made me think, what's the deal with this? I asked some people, and they had me walk in this direction to the location right now. I figured out what the deal was. It's a toilet really connected with nature. This is the Tatsukushi Coast. It's absolutely beautiful. That's the Ashizuri Aquarium, and I'm going to check that out a little later, as well as the Kochi Prefecture Ashizuri Aquarium right down there.

00:00:54 John Daub: Check this out. This is the toilet I went to the restroom in a couple hours ago. I was there again this morning and yesterday. Here's the men's restroom. It's so clean, like all Japanese toilets. But look at the wall in there. Who designed this and why? I figured some kids might want to climb it. Toilet rock climbing or something. But it's this area! Look at this!

00:01:36 John Daub: We're joined here by Paul, who is part of the Nin-Nin robot on my shoulder, a really great translation service. Our guide is Japanese. His name is Hamaguchi-san. Here he is. Hey, Hamaguchi-san! Konnichiwa (Hello). Konnichiwa. I'm Hamaguchi. We have a smaller team of engineers in the background who will be following us. Very kind people. So, Hamaguchi-san, can you speak English? I can't speak English. You can't? I'd be in deep trouble if not for Nin-Nin with me, which is Paul. Paul, are you there? Hello, Nin-Nin. How you doing, Nin-Nin? Awesome. Thanks for joining and helping with the translation. I'm really curious about this area, so Hamaguchi-san is going to explain. Where are we and what's the deal with the toilet and these rocks?

00:02:59 Hamaguchi-san: Good morning, Peter. Yes, thank you. Did you understand? Yes, I understood.

00:03:28 John Daub: This is awesome. You speak some English! You said, "I got it!" Alright, sorry. This is Tatsukushi, in the south of Shikoku, middle of Japan. There's an aquarium and the sea is a bay. There's different rock on the beach going around it. That's why it's so unique. That's why there's a toilet here.

00:04:23 John Daub: These rocks have a very special pattern, don't they? How did this happen?

00:04:39 Hamaguchi-san: Yes. This is when Japan was able to move from China to the other side of the world. At that time, the land was shaking a lot. A lot of mud and sand accumulated. From the mountains, sand and mud came down like Mt. Fuji right now. After that, it tilted 70 degrees. Then rain and wind removed it.

00:06:13 John Daub: Wow, strange and interesting patterns in the rock. This makes a lot of sense. Oh, so it's like a time capsule, right? This is cool. They made this bay and shallow water, so there are lots of creatures like coral. That's why it's such a beautiful sea.

00:08:13 Hamaguchi-san: This is a dragon. There's a dragon in this mountain. This is the head.

00:09:37 John Daub: The landscape is very much like the toilet. This is exactly the toilet right here. The toilet looks like the landscape. I think the landscape came first though. This is so cool. How long has the toilet been here? It does look like a honeycomb. I guess the tide comes up and down, so the view changes. So the view will change at low tide then. It will change. We will walk to the ship we saw earlier. Wow. Godzilla. But we can't because the tide is in. Or you're a long jumper, which I'm not. That's the Ashizuri Aquarium, right? I thought this was the bad guy's lair from The Spy Who Loved Me, James Bond movie. You can see marine life under the water just like in James Bond. Although they exploded it. Perhaps this is the remnants.

00:12:36 Hamaguchi-san: May I speak? James Bond's retirement. Ashizuri Aquarium. There are only seven of those buildings in Japan. You can walk to the sea. Do you know what a kibidango is? It's a fish. Very yummy. You can eat it. It's a very small fish, a minnow. With tempura and sashimi. You can see the remains there in the winter, sometimes.

00:13:31 John Daub: The best nature tours are the ones where you go see it and then eat it. You see the nature and then you eat the nature. That sounds kind of not nice, but we're all hungry. That's lunch today? Kyou no lunch (Today's lunch). Tomorrow's lunch, then. Very cool. How long does this coastline go on for? There's a hiking trail we're going to do, but are we going to see the entire thing? It's a long way. On a tour like this, you might have to stop to use the restroom. I know I do.

00:14:32 John Daub: Do you like shrimp? That looks like a space movie from Alien. Whoa. That's ise ebi (spiny lobster)? You can see the sea shrimp. Can you eat it? You can't eat sea turtles. Since the ocean is rich, sea turtles are common here, and there are a lot of squids. Many people come to catch squids here. Squids are delicious. Walk for about 20 minutes. You can walk around. Shall we go back? Let's go. Let's take a look around.

00:16:13 John Daub: I get to be conversational Japanese too, but it's really useful to have Paul here because I don't have to think. Thank you. While we're walking, Paul, why don't you explain a little bit about the Nin-Nin technology? We had a lot of questions in the last live stream. Is this something people can use right now if they're visiting Kochi?

00:17:50 Paul: Right now? Right.

00:17:59 John Daub: Oh, there's where the toilet is! Hold on, Paul. For those wondering, it's in that building right there. I put a link in the description where you can visit the rock wall toilet. It's a real attraction in the visitor center. Then go for the walk here. It's a good hike if you're in the Tosashimizu or Shimanto area. I'm really impressed with Kochi Prefecture's accessibility. Especially in Japan, things have changed a lot over the last 10 years, but super impressed, especially all the new buildings.

00:19:07 Hamaguchi-san: Yeah, I found something. It's a water puddle. It's called a salt puddle. In the summer, kids come here and they're little sea urchins. Do you know what a sea urchin is? Sea urchin. There are many different kinds of sea urchins, and they're exhibited in aquariums. You can find them in these places. They're like Pokemon. Can you eat them? No.

00:20:29 John Daub: All right. Kerry Larson writes, a mollusk? Similar. Thank you, Nin-Nin. Paul is in a remote location on the other side of Japan, so it's neat he's here with me. It's like having a buddy. If Grandma couldn't come or a family member was left behind, this would be cool to bring them with you. I had viewers in the hospital who couldn't travel, and this gives the feeling you're on my shoulder. You can do a lot with a cell phone, but it's intrusive. This is cuter and easier than carrying your phone, which is dodgy walking around. Privacy issues, but people come up to Nin-Nin and say hi, it's so cute. What's your little buddy's name? There's somebody in there on the other side.

00:22:20 John Daub: I really love the patterns. Mother Nature did this. Whoa, there's a baby squid. It's a squid baby, black in the center. There's another one. Hard to see with the wave, but right there. The squid will grow this big in a year. So in one year, it'll get that size. Can you eat it? Yes. Can you eat it now? No. You'd better not. They have a long life ahead. It's really good. Almost lunchtime, everybody. This is so cool. It's a little tough to walk here, so take it slow. Hamaguchi-san is part ninja. He jumped rock to rock like Frogger. The water is so clean. There's a beach, so in summer it's going to be great.

00:24:01 John Daub: Hamaguchi-san found something. There's a fish inside there. I'm sure there are lots. Oh, there's one here. That's massive! The water of the sea is like an aquarium. You can see that. I wish I could put my iPhone in there, but this fish would eat it. The water is like an aquarium here. You don't expect that in Japan. Maybe the Maldives, but... Can you eat it? I'm always asking. With a polarizer, you can see the color underneath. They have glass boat tours, and in the aquarium it goes under water, so you see marine life. Abundant marine life here. What kind of fish? Napoleon fish. You don't see them so close to shore, but this is unique.

00:26:03 John Daub: Kids could jump off this into the water and swim to the beach. Oh wow, he's out there. This fin looks like a little shark. He's out of the water to scratch his belly on the rock. Fish are weird. Around the world, pollution and population make it harder for turtles to lay eggs in peace. This is a nice sanctuary, the whole Tosashimizu area. I put a link in the description on the map. Off the beaten path in Japan, you're rewarded with amazing sights.

00:27:37 Hamaguchi-san: Hi. I saw that ball in the toilet. This is one of the time capsules. This is what is called a concretion, a lump. This is a hot topic right now. Not only geologists but naturalists come here. The people who can do this are the people who died at the bottom of the ocean in the past.

00:29:20 John Daub: Interesting, so you only see this where there's life, and they found something similar on Mars, meaning there could have been life. They put that in the toilet so we know about it. They should put a sign. I want to know more. Is that a crow? A tombi (kite). Okay.

00:30:22 John Daub: I forgot, I have Nin-Nin. We're all scrambling. The engineers don't know. Okay, thank you operator Paul. Nin-Nin has other operators, so not always Paul. You might have somebody like my friend Judith. While we're walking over, I'm gonna show you a little bit about this area. I stayed at one of the most beautiful ryokans (Japanese inns) I've stayed at in a long time, with a hot spring view of the ocean. You guys want to see that? Click the thumbs up button because this is a live stream.

00:31:32 John Daub: Boom, this is last night, the same area at sunset. Check it out. It's so different throughout the day. When the sun goes down, the colors come out. You can't see the water color as much, but those clouds are beautiful. You can see the water crashing. The sun going behind the trees. Such a wonderful experience at sunset. This is the hotel called the Mana. Super nice, renovated recently. Inside so spacious and stunning. Look at the deck. We had breakfast near here. That's the Pacific Ocean. A little warmer in summertime. This is the view from my room. That walkway leads to the restaurant and grand bath outside, which I went to this morning and last night. You could see stars. The walkway is pretty long, and you go naked to the bath. Fun. Bath water about 43 degrees Celsius, just above body temperature, very comfortable. I soaked 15-20 minutes. Skin so soft, super relaxed with ocean crashing. Really good stay. Breakfast was good, free complimentary beer which I enjoyed. Here's the room, Tommy room. I'd stay again, probably bring my wife.

00:33:24 John Daub: Boom, that was my experience yesterday. We're almost to the beach. Hamaguchi-san is walking really fast like a ninja, very nimble. Marathon course for kids. Wow, that's awesome. Judith, are you here? We got a new operator, a Kiwi operator. Awesome. Kids can run a marathon. I can't. Adults can't, but funny kids have one around the path. Almost like an obstacle course, kind of fun.

00:34:40 John Daub: Judith, speak close to the mic for volume. This is beautiful. Want to ask Hamaguchi-san if it's okay to swim here in summer and when swimming season ends at this beach. Hamaguchi-san, yes please go ahead. We're gonna walk across this beach. Right there is where the amazing toilet is, and we're going to the rock wall toilet of Ashizuri. This is called Sakurahama Beach. That white building straight ahead is the Kochi Prefecture Ashizuri Aquarium. Stunning inside.

00:36:11 John Daub: Check this out, boom. Sato Umi, Kochi Prefecture Ashizuri Aquarium. Entry right here. Blown away with the entrance. Waterfall when you go in, and you can see iu fish (thread-sail filefish). Never seen iu fish like this, one of my favorite snacks—you roast on a stick with soy sauce. Hard not to think of food looking at fish in Japan. The aquarium is really well done, nice lighting. Great for a date. Fish represent Ashizuri and Tatsukushi Coast, but also Shimanto River nearby, famous for being the cleanest, last undammed river—no dam here, unlike other Japanese rivers. Very natural. Marine life all from Kochi region, great understanding of the environment. Look at that big smile. No fishing rod allowed. Big crab. They have otters; Shimanto had otters until 1974, last seen in 1970s, declared extinct in 2012. Shame, but these from another area, good representation for kids. They put food on the wall so you see what you eat in natural habitat. Love this fish. Had a good time. Not taking you inside—go yourself if you come.

00:39:06 Hamaguchi-san: In Monahama you can do kayaking, not just swimming. Recently I've been able to bring a cap. When will you swim in the summer? In September? In the late eighth month, there are a lot of jellyfish. Around middle and end of August, lots of jellyfish come, so that's why Japanese swimming season ends.

00:39:37 John Daub: Jellyfish invade Japan, hard to swim. But scuba diving too, that would be awesome. Thank you, Hamaguchi-san. A lot of people ask what the value of a guide is—this is why, they unlock stories and history. How's it going, Judith? Can you hear me? Nin-Nin is tired, leaning. Have you been to this area? What was striking about Tosashimizu region and Tatsukushi Coast?

00:40:26 Judith: Right. In fact I have a map right here.

00:40:56 John Daub: Kochi looks like a mini Australia—sorry, Shikoku does. Kochi on bottom of Shikoku, Tosashimizu off beaten path, down in nooks and crannies. Topography rugged. Kobe and Osaka far away, between Kyushu and Osaka. Little map for perspective. Beautiful day, unseasonably warm. Gonna do it for us, go look at the toilet now 'cause that's where we started and I gotta go. Kochi is large, major highways not through it, lots of local roads, always discovering new things. Renting a car beneficial, or hire drivers for local knowledge, good if not used to left-side driving.

00:42:56 John Daub: Kochi has a lot of michi no eki (road stations), roadhouses with local food, culture. Great chance for towns to introduce themselves. You can camp. Oh, Indiana Jones jump? No, Hamaguchi-san, not trying that. Would be fun YouTube moment though. Are there land animals? Inoshishi (wild boar), shika (deer), kuma (bears)? No bears, good. But wild boars, deer, raccoons, and people. Sometimes you have to use the restroom, and that's where we're going.

00:44:39 John Daub: How's the visuals, Judith? Can you see good? Nin-Nin leaning, sorry. Before restrooms, cool beach showers to wash off—not all places have that. Beaches should. This is the visitor center. Today day off but special access to toilets, so don't film in there—let me. Talking about Mars, they found something similar. No radio, no WiFi. Can't see on beach, but two hours ago, that's what it looked like. See that ball we saw before, concretion they saw on Mars showing life. Pretty unique. Love restrooms when different—it changes experience. More than just restroom. Japan has best bathrooms. Content using public restroom only in Japan. There's that ball we talked about, Mars similar. Pretty amazing. Love the rock wall toilet.

00:47:00 John Daub: That's all we got. Hope enjoyable afternoon. Thanks for spending it. Click like button. Links in description for Kochi Prefecture, visit Kochi Japan, attractions. Going to Shimanto region tonight, maybe live stream tomorrow. Food so good there, never eat better. Diet starts tomorrow—you come to Kochi, eat and drink. Sake really good, isn't it Judith? Hard to leave Kochi. Have son and wife waiting. Alright, going over there, maybe film inside James Bond bad guy aquarium—it has glass around to see under sea. No signal down there, but if I film, upload. Little far from Kochi City, 2-2.5 hours drive from airport. Train or bus longer. Rewarded with this, few tourists, peace. If working holiday, scuba, good food—last night saba (mackerel) sashimi, so fresh. Playback coming if missed start. Have good day/night, headed to aquarium underwater. See you tomorrow.