00:00:05 John Daub: Hello everybody, welcome to Kokusai-dori here in Naha, Okinawa. We're going to take you down this street and check out what's here. This is my first time in a very long time. There's the monorail station and we're going to start from this direction going down. Here's a map of the area just to give you an overview. So we're up at the top here. There's the Makishi monorail. I believe the monorail will take you to the airport. I have a rent-a-car so I'm not really sure.

00:00:45 John Daub: The street is a pretty much straight shot. In the center of it is a Don Quijote Kokusai-dori shop. There's the Hotel JAL City and by the time we get to the end of it, you will know. How you doing everybody? It's a beautiful afternoon here in Naha and today we're going to be flying back to Tokyo. But first I thought we would stop here and check it out and maybe get an ice cream or two or three and maybe even an Okinawa soba or there's a lot of really delicious foods that we can try.

00:01:17 John Daub: Joining us in this live stream, Leo and Kanae. Leo is dressed for the part. Hey Leo. I actually prepared a 3D rendering map of the street but I couldn't download it in time. Sorry about that. Poor Leo had to wait for a while. I do know a little bit about this street. If you want to know more information, check out Tabi Eats. Shinichi and Satoshi have been here like a thousand times. They might be more knowledgeable. But I did do a little bit of research.

00:01:56 John Daub: I know that this is called the Miracle Mile. A lot of streets have this like a shopping street that pretty much is the hub of their economy, their tourism, their shopping. This is it for Okinawa. I just want to show you really quickly. That's Okinawa soba. Look at that pork on top of it. That's what our lunch is going to be. That's what Kanae wants to eat. So perhaps we're going to get a bowl of that. We're going to be stopping for some Blue Seal ice cream.

00:02:33 John Daub: Leo found a turtle. Oh look at this! You remember these? Yeah, chiinago. Yeah, we saw this at the aquarium. Very cool. Alright. I'm going to go down to the Blue Seal. Brondania's in the house. Now there's a lot of shopping malls here. I didn't expect it. I didn't know what to expect. Because I sort of drove through here like a very long time ago. I don't think it's changed that much. But it's the first time walking it.

00:03:20 John Daub: That's pretty much the vibe here. Now it's called the Miracle Mile because it recovered really quickly after World War II. A lot of money came into this particular street. Which is a miracle. And I guess in Chicago they have like a Magnificent Mile, right? Everywhere that you go, every city's got a place like this. Orion Beer is the top draft beer of Okinawa as well as spam. Can't avoid it. It's even fashionable here to have spam bags, I think.

00:04:13 John Daub: That's a cool shop. Check it out here. So there we saw our first one of many shisas. You'll see them on the top of the buildings all around. It's the kami-sama, the god here, that protects. Usually with mouth open. Sometimes you'll see two, one with the mouth closed. Alright, I told Leo and Kanae they're gonna go at their own pace. And we're gonna meet at the end of the street for lunch.

00:04:50 John Daub: We were also kinda looking at these shirts. Check it out. How cool is that? The thing is Leo already has one. I guess the girls are sleeveless and that's a cute dress. But it seems like everybody needs to have one of these shirts in Okinawa. Right, the Magnificent Mile. I think that's what it's called in Chicago. I haven't been in Chicago since I was at Ohio State, which was 20-some years ago. Jordan's Restaurant was kinda new back then.

00:05:25 John Daub: There's some more gift shops. Lots and lots of gift shops on this street. Rainy Loves Tokyo, Rainy Loves Japan is here! Thank you! Much love to you and your mom. The weather is really nice. It's not like humid warm, but it's really pleasant. Oh, check it out. Shisa made of Lego. How cool is that? I'm a fan of shisa. Very cool. Alright, and we found the ice cream place here.

00:05:59 John Daub: But, oh my gosh, Leo and Kanae. Leo! I got the entire street to look at me. They're gone. I better go get them. How can I get ice cream and they're not here? Kanae! What flavors do you want? Ice cream! I carried Leo for the first 30 minutes, so Kanae is gonna carry for the second one. You have to be very focused on the toddler.

00:07:01 John Daub: Like a bunch of tourists from somewhere speaking Chinese are in there now, I think. Leo, you want ice cream? Alright. I am screaming for ice cream. The problem is, though, like, we got here too late. Oh, thank you. You're visiting Okinawa or live here? Yeah. Oh, okay. Yeah, I've been traveling around the world for four and a half years. Whoa! Wow, now Okinawa.

00:07:46 John Daub: In fact, I was just watching your video last night. I'm trying to figure out between Miyazaki, Kobe, or Yokohama. I was just watching your video, the north of the prefecture. Oh, right, yeah. I was just trying to choose between sort of eating steak there. And then the new one that's on my Saga. Oh, Saga, yeah, yeah. What do you think between the four? Because I thought the north could be cold right now. No, it's not that cold, no. It's chillier. A little bit chiller.

00:08:15 John Daub: I would say, gosh, well, Miyazaki, the beef is just so darn good there. But is it in the country? Is it too country versus Kobe being more the city. I've been to Osaka already, so I thought maybe try a new. My experience with Kobe beef and Kobe is that it's really touristy, and I got a more authentic feel of the city. It's a lot more than I've ever been to. I mean, it's not like there are only steak shops in Miyazaki city, but it's a lot easier in Kobe. Can you really tell the difference between Kobe and Miyazaki? Nah, it's debatable.

00:08:43 John Daub: When I was looking at Google Maps to find those steak houses, I was just not finding places. I thought Miyazaki might be a country place that lacks a restaurant or something like. Oh, no, no. Miyazaki, it's a city. It is a city, OK. There's a shuttle bus from the airport, you'll be able to get into the town, it's a lot more navigable. And there are steak houses. Yeah, there are steak houses everywhere. Tachibana Dori is a street in central Miyazaki. You'll find a bunch of yakiniku places. Should not be hard.

00:09:19 John Daub: The Saga. Last thought on that. Saga. I've only been to Saga's countryside, so there's not really a big city there, but if you're going to eat meat. To eat steak. That's a harder for me. Of the three. So Kobe's out, so Miyazaki back number one. Would you put Kobe out? I'm not sure. No, I'm saying I've already been to Osaka. Oh, right. Okay. That's a tough call. I don't know. Yeah. I don't think you can go wrong with either place. I'm so glad about the idea because my big thing about Miyazaki was, is it too country? Does it not have the steak houses?

00:09:59 John Daub: Love your videos, bro. Thank you so much for saying hi. Oh, you already ordered? He said he wants orange. Orange? Wow. Okay. You're going to get orange? Mango. Check this out. They have Okinawa pineapple coconut. Whoa. And brown sugar. Brown sugar? What are you going to get, Kanae? Double? Yeah. Okay. You get a double and I'll get a single. But you can share with Leo, I think, because he's going to snag it.

00:10:55 John Daub: Salted cheese and mango. Do you want to order a double? It's okay if it's a cone. I'll eat it with a fork. Oh, really? Because. Can you eat it with a cone? Yeah. I don't think I can eat it, but I'll do my best. You have to eat quickly. I'll get a double. Here you go. I can pay. Oh, okay. You do it? Yeah. We can order two. I was going to get maybe. I better get a double.

00:11:50 John Daub: How do you say. Kurosato? Kurosato? Kokuto? Kokuto. Then Kokuto. Yes. And a double for a beni imo. Yes. I'll get a double. Then a cone. Yes. Thank you. I'll get a single. Thank you. 640 yen for a beni imo. Thank you. No, thank you. Did you eat an orange? Orange is orange. But that's mango. Look at Leo's eyes. He's like, give me more. Leo.

00:13:08 John Daub: So thank you. So can you walk and eat it? Or you have to eat before you go? Can you eat while walking? Can you eat while walking? Can you eat while walking? This? Thank you very much. It's better to walk. This is beni imo, which is a purple potato that they have here in Okinawa. And this is a brown sugar, which is Okinawa's brown sugar, which is really good. Oh yeah, good. The beni imo's got a really sweet, slightly salty, bitter potato taste. It's good. It's very sticky, very good.

00:14:39 John Daub: No? No mango? Purple? Purple one? How am I gonna eat this? You have to eat quickly. How? Don't drop it off. Drop it off, hurry, hurry. How? What? Belgrade SS Booze writes in here. Are there people wearing masks? Not really. Not anymore. I know some of the staff were doing it, but it's up to you now. It's not something you need to think about. Do you want to eat mango? More!

00:15:30 John Daub: I guess I could eat. How about this? You can walk with it, but you can't eat. You have to stop and eat it, but you can walk with it. Can you do that? She said okay, I asked her. Is walking okay? She said okay. Is walking okay? In here. That's Okinawa? Different rules? Yeah. I don't know. It's not like so-so. Really? Can I say it's okay? I asked her. She just wants to get us out so there's more space in the shop. If we walk away, we're someone else's problem. Yeah.

00:16:15 John Daub: Alright, if that lady said so. I don't want to drop it off. You don't want to drop it off? No. Alright, I'm gonna take them down to where we went to the restroom, okay? Alright, Leo and I are gonna be more polite. While we break all the rules. Although I was told that I could do this. Whoa. So one of these gift shops. These are more shisas. Very colorful shisas. You can take one home. These are plushies. But I think if you buy stuff, you can win one. I think that's the way it goes. So inside there, you can win a shisa.

00:17:02 John Daub: Wow. There's another shisa. I think that's the fifth shisa. I'm doing a running count here. Oh, sixth one! Wow, look at this one! This one's got a guitar. This one's eating yakiniku. Oh no, it's eating spam. Does anyone know what this dish is called? Three, two, one. It's made of goya. So it's an egg. Goya chanpuru! Good job! EVS2K. Goya chanpuru. It's Kanae's favorite in Okinawa.

00:18:19 John Daub: I gotta move to the side here. This is a mess. Murat writes in here. Just got back from an amazing three weeks in Japan. Wishing to back again. Thanks John, been watching in the last three years. I'm so happy you had a good time. Goya is called bitter gourd. G-O-U-R-D in English. Or bitter melon. It's like a cucumber but it is a bitter food. But when you mix it up and cuisine you don't eat it as is. It is really really good. And it's green and it's loaded with vitamin C.

00:19:11 John Daub: Wow, this is a disaster. Don't watch me. Watch somebody else. Yeah, this is Okinawa students. And they were walking with drinks and drinking their drink. Hey. Rinnik is here. Just my luck. I came all the way to Tokyo today in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the great John of Only in Japan. And you've taken the entire family to Okinawa. Well, if you do go to Haneda airport at 9:30pm we might be around there. We're going back tonight. But we've been in Okinawa for the last three days.

00:20:14 John Daub: Oh my god. The brown sugar is really good. This has got more of a. It's not like a pure on sugar. It's got like a not sweet like straight sugar. But maybe the milk gives it more of a creamy enough. Not bad. Well, the great thing about it is right now, the weather is just holding out. We were surprised because today was supposed to rain. You see up there. The rainy season in Okinawa started the day before yesterday, the day that we arrived.

00:21:03 John Daub: I'm feeling it. But we were able to get to go swimming in the ocean all three days that we were here. So that's a win. A lot of tourists. I think they're from Taiwan? Or Hong Kong? Because they're speaking Chinese and I don't think they're from mainland China. But I wouldn't expect this to be such an attractive place for people from mainland China. It's pretty close to Hong Kong.

00:22:04 John Daub: We're getting really close to Heiwa Dori, which is a shotengai (covered shopping arcade). And that is a covered street with a lot of local businesses, typically. Let's just pan around here. Leo and Kanae are going at a much slower speed, that's okay. We have to be at the airport at 7. A little bit of advice, don't get an ice cream cone when you're live streaming. It takes forever to eat. At least for me.

00:22:52 John Daub: Oh, there's another one! So Blue Seal is an Okinawan ice cream company. I kind of find it in Tokyo sometimes. But I'll tell you this. You didn't want to see me when I was eating it. It's a horror show. Do I use my shirt? Whoa! Hey Ross, Fukumitsu's here! So these are like Okinawa drinks. Champincha is an Okinawa tea. This is one made from UCC. I guess we can try to get one of these. Let's try.

00:24:07 John Daub: Hello. Hey, you finished the ice cream! Yes. Are you going to give it to Dada? Thank you. Thank you Leo. Leo, do you want a champincha? Kanae, what's champincha? It's a traditional tea. Ah, what does it taste like? Jasmine. It tastes like jasmine? Yeah. Really? Did you make that up? You really know? Yeah, I know. I can't get rid of it. I'm going to try it. My tongue won't reach that far.

00:25:02 John Daub: Alright, here's Heiwa Dori. Do you want to try to go here, Kanae? Alright, let's do it. Oh! Green light! It smells like Thailand in a way. And maybe it's incense or something. What is it? Ichiban? That sign has seen some action. Alright, let's go. Jared, share the aloha. Aloha to you and fam. What's the difference between shotengai and yokochō? That's a great question.

00:26:00 John Daub: A yokochō is essentially an alley. And yoko meaning like a side town. Shoten gai is a covered shopping street. They're almost always covered like this, but those are the two differences. The alleys versus the covered shopping streets. But there could be alleys off of the shotengai. So it's a little confusing. That might be a good episode to explain it in more detail. There's some Okinawa soba. Whoa. Oh, this one? That's the one we should eat at? Yeah. Okay.

00:26:46 John Daub: We've got a few hours to kill. So we're gonna walk down this street. It's just a different vibe than. This is a Japanese shotengai, but it's not. Ah, I got it. Yes. Okay, so she said no filming in here. Okay. So I'm gonna go out this way. They're pretty strict. I'm not gonna argue. I shall move out to the street. A lot of the areas have local associations, so we just respect the rules. All right, let's move on over here. Back to the main street.

00:27:37 John Daub: I do think you need to get one of these shirts if you come to Okinawa. Right? Like, I thought spam is an American company. But do they make it in Okinawa? I'm trying to figure out what's the advantage to promoting it so much? Right? I'll be honest with you. Like, I would think that Okinawa would make up their own type of spam. So they wouldn't have to give royalties to the other company. Or is there, like, a patent on that spam? I don't know. Spam is big in Hawaii, too. But, like, Okinawa. Look at that Pokemon bus. I just saw a Pokemon bus. That's pretty cool.

00:28:48 John Daub: It's just weird. You'll find spam. Oh, this is the beni imo shop. So, we had. I had a beni imo ice cream. And this is a beni imo tart. Which is the gift that a lot of people bring back from Okinawa. And Kanae has jumped in there with Leo to get some tarts. She's deep inside there. You gonna stay in there? I don't think I can film in there. So we're gonna keep on going. Look at this. This is a shopping mall right here. It's quite large.

00:29:46 John Daub: And they have bonsai trees here, which is very. Miyagi dojo. As I said at the Intercontinental livestream at Monza Beach, the Karate Kid wasn't even filmed in Okinawa. It was filmed in Hawaii. I think a rain is gonna come. It feels like the temperature just dropped a few degrees. And the wind has picked up. So this is goya for those that are asking. It's like a cucumber, but it's bitter. And it's Kanae's favorite Okinawan food. Well, your favorite Okinawa food is goya champuru? Yeah, see? I knew it. She said yes. Confirmed.

00:30:38 John Daub: There's 12. I've seen 12 of them. 13. Alright, we're just gonna go for another 100 meters or so. The thing is, off of the alley off of the main street into some of the smaller streets, there are some interesting restaurants here. But I get the feeling, though, that this street caters mostly to tourists. So I probably wouldn't eat dinner on this street. Leo! Disappeared. Leo! They're gone. They were there and now they're gone. Did she get on a bus? I was pretty worried.

00:32:02 John Daub: It's right there. Ok. Kanae! I have to finish this up, so I'll just go to the end of the street and I'll meet you in 10 minutes, ok? I'm gonna go and then I'll meet you in 10 minutes, ok? Alright. If not, this is gonna take forever. Leo likes to explore, and so he should. Why would you eat steak when you can have steak? Because it's spam. Right? They were just there and then they're gone. Some interesting t-shirts.

00:32:51 John Daub: So, why is Okinawa part of Japan? That was a question that I think I saw in the chats. And the answer is that way back in the samurai era, hundreds of years ago, I'd say the 17th century, the Satsuma clan came down from Kyushu and conquered Okinawa. I believe that's the short story. And then when the Meiji Restoration happened, in 1867 or 1868, I think it might have been right before the Meiji Restoration, I'm not exactly sure. Okinawa became a prefecture, and then after World War II, it became an even stronger part of Japan.

00:33:37 John Daub: So we got here. This is the Don Quijote, so this is sort of the center of it. And we have some really interesting shops. More ice cream. Really touristy in this part. So, you can see we started here at Makishi Station, which is the monorail station. And I believe this will take you to the airport by monorail. And we walked halfway here. And I want to take you all the way to the end of here. But we're never going to get there unless we kind of hike this part here.

00:34:06 John Daub: But the Don Quijote is an institution itself. And I don't know what's different with the one here in Okinawa. But I got to figure they've got some Okinawa stuff. That aquarium is nothing like the one we saw yesterday. Which is. Should I say a million times better than that? It sure seemed like it. Alright, Tommy Snow is here. Going down the shotengai is more old school. That's good. I think we got a little bit down there. So you can get an idea of what it's like down in the shotengai.

00:34:45 John Daub: But just getting a feel walking down this street, this is really. You get like the vibe. Something like from Bangkok or Thailand. I don't know. I'm trying to put my finger on it. It's different though. It's not like that. But it does feel like it. The weather. The bright lights. The different kinds of shops. I don't know. Maybe it's something like Hawaii which I've never been to. I don't know. The T-shirt shop. That's really colorful. What do you think? What is this street remind you of? Is there another place in the world that is like Kokusai Dori? Or is this a one of a kind? I'm getting the feeling like maybe this is a one of a kind.

00:35:40 John Daub: Yeah, very much so. Yeah, Okinawa was returned to Japan in the 1970s I believe. There are a lot of other places in the 1960s. The actual occupation of the mainland, I believe, MacArthur left in 1956. I know that because he left a Liberty Bell when he departed. And he wished Japan the best of democracy. Giving them the same thing that was a symbol of American democracy, the Liberty Bell. And there's a replica of it in Hibiya Park in Tokyo. And it says 1956. I think that's when MacArthur gave it when he left in 1956.

00:36:22 John Daub: What is with the spam sandals? Like, I don't know. Do you want to. Would you take this home and be proud of your spam sandals? You've got to have really big feet. You've got to fill those. I think those are size 13. Japanese don't do shoe sizes like they do in the US. They do it by centimeters. So I'm a 10 and a half US and about a 28 and a half centimeters Japan. Well, all three of them have Orion beer t-shirts on. Theaters. So long. So you have an Orion t-shirt or a Blue Seal t-shirt or a spam t-shirt. Which one would you pick?

00:37:12 John Daub: If you had to get a t-shirt. An Okinawa symbol. You can get spam, Blue Seal ice cream. Oh, it's behind this bus. Blue Seal ice cream, Orion beer or shisa. Which t-shirt would you get? And Dimmy DM writes in all of them. Like all in one? They should have one t-shirt all in one. I'd get a t-shirt and just have like ice cream stains all over it. I guess you could call it tie-dye. Oh, wow. So this is the booze. The booze with the snake in it. I don't think you can take this on an airplane. Can you take this back? Kawaii. Habushu.

00:38:27 John Daub: Oh my gosh. It's pretty, pretty deep. I'm not sure I'm. I'm still driving. I'm not going to get a habushu. Alright, here in also the center. This is the JAL City Hotel. Which is in the center of all the maps. So this is the map that I have here as kind of a guide. So there's the JAL. You can see where we are exactly on the map. Don Quijote and the JAL City. We started up at the top where the blue mark is at Makishi Station. And we're making our way down. We're just about there.

00:39:32 John Daub: The wind has really picked up. I think the rain is going to be coming down real soon. It's a barbecue place. Yeah, that was a great question that we had from a viewer when we were ordering the ice cream. Where's a good place if you want to just eat Wagyu? You know, Tokyo, a lot of the. Tokyo is the biggest city in Japan. It's not even actually a city. It's a metropolis of a lot of little cities inside of this big place.

00:40:05 John Daub: And a lot of the prefectures, a lot of the places that have branded beef like Kobe, for example. Or Daisen beef in Tottori. Or even Akita beef. Like a lot of these beef brands. They have the ranches themselves have satellite shops in Tokyo. The problem is that it's so popular with local Tokyoites. You have to make reservations far in advance. I remember trying. I remember I did a live episode at a farm in Tottori. I made friends with the rancher. The guy who raised the beef at the farm.

00:40:48 John Daub: He says, you should eat at my restaurant in Tokyo. So I wanted to go say, okay, I want to go. How about tonight? And he goes, sorry, you're going to have to. We're starting to take reservations for a month from now. I'm like, what? It was just such a popular place to eat steak. This is the Hotel Collective. I just found the biggest shisa across the street. Look at that. What? Now that shop is protected.

00:41:33 John Daub: I think it's good if you come in here to Japan to try Wagyu beef. You do not need to go to Kobe. All right? It is so touristy. You'll find Steak Land and a bunch of others. It's a good beef there. But you don't have to go to Kobe to try Kobe beef. You can get Kobe beef just about anywhere in Japan. And it's going to be cheaper than probably eating it in Kobe. And I think, you know, I don't know. It's like I've had Kobe beef in Kobe and it wasn't worth it. It wasn't worth it. This is just my experience. I've had the experience of eating Wagyu for 25 years.

00:42:16 John Daub: Oh, look at this. Speaking of the steak, we have a restaurant up there. The 88 Lawson's. Look at that. There's a. Is that a spam onigiri shop? Is it? Over there? Chou Chou. That looks pretty good. I can get it on the go across the street. It's been a pretty good trip. I'm glad I got a chance to relax with the family this time. Didn't film too much, but the first day I did make a couple of stops to film scenes for main channel episodes.

00:43:13 John Daub: One of them is going to be. It's going to take me to the United States to film other scenes to complete it, which is going to be really fun. And the other episode is an adventure thing where Leo's going to be making an appearance in that one, which is pretty awesome. Let's cross the street here. We're crossing Kokusai Dori. I'm not sure the gimbal's a little shaky. Let's go back a little bit, see if we can see Kanae and Leo. That ice cream took me down. What do you guys think? Should I get some. Get a spam onigiri, Okinawa style?

00:44:06 John Daub: Let's see what the street stand has to offer. What's this? Oh, whoa. That was not what I thought it was. Sensor, sensor. The tourists cross the street on a red light. That's not good. Let's see what we can find over here. Yeah, sometimes, you know, in these tourist stands, you cross the areas, you never know what you're going to find, but that was not what I expected here. We're pretty much at the end of the street. I don't know if I'm going to make it to the end of the street. I think I'm going to have to come back here.

00:45:04 John Daub: Alright, it's red light. Let's see what we got at this street stand here. Should I get here? I can try mentai mayo, maybe. Oh, that looks good, too. Mentai mayo, please. Thank you for your hard work. Jared, that's a good idea. I'm also looking for Kanae. But maybe it's good that you could just take it easy and also do some shopping. I'm looking for a burger. Thank you very much. You're welcome. Thank you. Wow!

00:47:26 John Daub: Let's get off of the street for a second. She just smiled at me. It's hot! Alright, I'm going to have to open this up. I'm going to put this down for a second. We can eat it right here quickly. I'm going to try to look for Kanae after this. I don't think we're going to get to the end of the street. I don't think we're going to make it to the end of the street. I had no idea that Kokusai Dori was this big. Crazy.

00:48:01 John Daub: Alright, so the name of the shop is Chocho. And wow, it's still hot. So the rice that they used was right out of the rice cooker. Awesomeness. Hey, if you see Kanae walk by that street, just let me know, okay? There's a really, it seems like a strong connection between Okinawa and Hawaii, doesn't it? It really feels like this. Oh my gosh. Yes. And the winner is anyone who sinks their teeth into this. Oh my gosh. Look at them. That's the spicy fish eggs. I can't even zoom in on it. Spicy fish egg mayonnaise with egg and spam and rice and seaweed. And my gosh. Lovely. Itadakimasu. Mmm. Musubi. Wow.

00:49:33 John Daub: I'm not that hungry. I have to be honest with you. Four meals of all you can eat buffet at that price. That hotel was in complete insanity. Spam's good. Wow. I'm going to save half for Leo and Kanae. That was really good. Aloha. All right. Let's do a quick, let's do a quickie to the end of the street here. Diet is not always starting tomorrow, peso. I was on a, I did a very good job for two straight weeks of being on a diet and actually lost a somewhat significant amount of weight. Which is anything that I lost was significant. So there's that.

00:51:11 John Daub: I'm going to keep it on the, on the main lens here. And we can go down for another minute or so. This is Matsuo intersection. And I'm just surprised at how far down, how, how long this street is. It really is a mile. I did notice that the taxis are pretty colorful as well. And I do notice that a lot more people have motorcycles here or motorbikes, but not nearly the same amount of weight. And of course our friend Greg from Life Where I'm From. Greg Lam is down in Taiwan right now. Taipei filming an episode on it, on a topic that you won't know unless you go to his Instagram. So top secret. Unless you go to Instagram. I could tell you, but then he would kill me. So you have to figure it out.

00:52:06 John Daub: But he knows what I'm filming too. So he won't tell you either. I do have a collaboration video with Scotty from Strange Beings. Parts coming probably in the first couple weeks in June so that's gonna be really cool. He's finished the edit and I have to go back to this place to film a couple of b-roll shots for both of our episodes so that's kind of cool. Oh check it out this is a like a beni imo purple colored Baumkuchen and they're making it right there. That's so cool. It smells amazing. Oh wow you have no idea because you're not here but it's a sweetness in the air.

00:53:09 John Daub: Alright see what did I tell you? Spam, Orion and Blue Seal. Those are the three t-shirts. Too bad I can't do a poll while I'm live streaming. I asked that the moderators have this ability to ask a poll question but YouTube has not given it. I can ask polls if I'm doing like a premiere or a live stream on my computer. So what do you guys think of Kokusai Dori? Do you like the vibe of it? I still can't put my finger on it. I feel like I've been down a street similar to this one somewhere in the world but I can't remember. I've been to I think 83 different countries over the last 25 years and it feels like I've been maybe in Malaysia, maybe Goa. No I just can't put my finger on it. It feels something familiar to someplace that I've already been before. I just can't remember. I can't figure out where.

00:54:19 John Daub: Someone writes in here it feels rather generic. Does it? It doesn't. It doesn't. Look at the trees. It doesn't feel like anything in Japan. That's what makes it Okinawa. That's what makes this so Okinawa. I think it's the trees and the color and the fact that it isn't. It's got a local feeling to it. Maybe that's it. It's definitely not the generic Japanese. Japanese type of shopping street. It's definitely not like that at all. There's just something... something to it.

00:55:02 John Daub: Alright everybody. I don't think we're gonna make it to the end of the street in this episode which is good news because that means that I'll have to come back here and do it. Hopefully maybe we'll have somebody join us and take us around and share a little bit more deeply into this but this is our first at least my first in ages. I was in a car but my first walk down here ever so that's significant and yeah I think I'm gonna have to be back down here so it was it was good that we got a chance to take a look at it just the colors of it right look at the colors of the street it's just vibrant and that's awesome and that's why tourists love this street I guess.

00:55:48 John Daub: And apparently if you go off or you go a little bit further down here this is where the local types of places start. Not being a local it's okay. This is fine for me. I look... it's hard not to love Okinawa. What are you gonna say? It's like the Florida, the Spain of Europe and America. It's a place where we could just jet off very simply from Tokyo and come down here be immersed in a culture that is very unique, different cuisine, different weather, different feeling and that makes Japan really special I think because you just don't realize how diverse this country is. It's much more diverse than you would think it is.

00:56:30 John Daub: You think you know sushi, ramen, all this other... you come down here it's like completely different varieties of everything which is awesome. You could still get that other stuff but you could find so much original culture and vibes and smells and feelings. A connection to the sea because it's everywhere because this is an island. We did go past a protest of Okinawans that don't want the US base here and it's still something that's quite interesting. We had a debate with the locals here. The government and the governors, I think they're suing the national government over this issue. They're very passionate about it and there is strong evidence that that property where the US bases are, if turned into tourism places, the island would make more money because the percentage of money that they get from the US to rent or lease those spaces is going down every year because Okinawa is making more revenue off of tourism and other things. So there's a lot of debate on that and I think it's going to continue. We'll see.

00:57:38 John Daub: As an American I am... I don't want any part of this. I'm just going to say let's keep this... let's keep this between Japan and the governments of Okinawa and the US and they'll figure it out. I'm not getting in the middle of that one. I kind of just did. Alright, Kanae is just right up here. I'm going to go get her and we're going to... I'm going to buy her a big bowl of Okinawa soba and share this spam musubi with her. But I thought we had a pretty good adventure. We got some ice cream, sticky hands, saw a bunch of stuff, got kicked off of a shopping street, decided that we prefer to have the Blue Seal t-shirt and have it tie-dyed because then if you spill ice cream on it you won't know. That's my choice.

00:58:34 John Daub: Oh and these are so good. These Okinawa donuts. Definitely. I was snacking... I was just looking on those like nom nom all the time at the hotel because it was all you can eat. Donuts. It's dangerous. And then I found that they had other food. It's too late. It was full on donuts. All right, let's go get Kanae. She's across the street at that collective hotel. Thanks so much for watching everybody. I might go to, oh, Jared. Maybe do a future video, do a comparison between Hawaii, Okinawa, Guam.

00:59:11 John Daub: My friend Joe just made an amazing video on Guam and its connection with the US military and what happens if war happens and all this other stuff. I think he does it only in Arabic but has English subtitles. Joe Hatab is his name. Wonderful and I probably will make an episode on Guam as well in the very near future. Very very near. But considering I'm going to, I'm planning to go to Hawaii next month, Guam later on this year. That's a definite possibility. That's a definite possibility, Jared. So thanks for that. And I'll see you guys tomorrow from a live stream from Tokyo, the big city. And maybe I'll take some video at the airport. But other than that, we're going to enjoy the next couple of hours and fly back. See everybody from Kokusai Dori.