00:00:01 John Daub: Greetings and welcome to Shiga Prefecture. This restaurant behind me is called Negishi. Inside we're going to be having Omi beef—one of the top three brands in Japan and a meal you have to try when you come to Japan. In this episode, we're going to enjoy it with some ninja. That's right, this restaurant Negishi is famous for having ninja. So we're going to explain all of this while we eat some of the delicious food from here.

00:00:31 John Daub: In the Omi region of Shiga, and right there we have a big chunk of Omi beef and two ninja.

00:00:45 Takamaru (ninja): Konnichiwa.

00:00:46 Shirokage (ninja): Konnichiwa.

00:00:47 John Daub: Wow, very majime (serious) kao (faces) desu ne. Ninja is very serious business.

00:00:58 John Daub: I know these guys' names because they were at the ninja festival just a couple of days ago in a live stream that I did. They have actual real names and ninja names. Ninja no namae (ninja names) shoukai (introduction) dekimasu ka?

00:01:13 Takamaru (ninja): My name is Takamaru. I'm Shirokage.

00:01:20 John Daub: I'm just John.

00:01:25 Takamaru (ninja): Eh, sokka. Honmono ninja desu ne.

00:01:29 Shirokage (ninja): Hai. Kōka no ninja wo yatte orimasu.

00:01:32 John Daub: Kōka no ninja. Kōka no ninja wa nani ga chigau desu ka? What's different with Kōka ninja?

00:01:40 Shirokage (ninja): Desu ne, kekko ii ga tochi (good land). Kanari iroirona shishiki (various techniques) desu ne. Atama ga ii (smart) no ga Kōka no ninja no tokuchō ka na.

00:01:51 John Daub: Kōka ninjas are smarter. Honto desu ka?

00:02:04 Shirokage (ninja): Kōka ninja wa wagyu ga daishiki (love wagyu) desu.

00:02:10 John Daub: The ninjas from Kōka love wagyu beef. Well then, okay, I can live with that. Here comes the beef right now. Wow, it's already here! This is a slice of A5-ranked Omi beef. Check it out, look at the marbling on this.

00:02:34 John Daub: So what makes wagyu special? Of course it's that marbling. You look at it and think it's just completely fat, but that's not exactly true. The fat consistency is different than other fat—it tastes more like an oil, kind of olive oil consistency. But more than that, it makes the beef really tender. So when you put it in your mouth, it almost melts—dare I say. I think it's just tender. And when you're eating beef, that's one of the reasons you eat it rare or medium rare, because the red meat has a tenderness to it. If you overcook it well done, it gets really tough. Well, wagyu beef, if you cook it medium or medium well, it still is very tender because of that marbling in the middle. And that experience, that taste in your mouth, makes it good. Omi beef is from here in Shiga Prefecture.

00:03:34 John Daub: Let me show you a map here. Actually, Shiga Prefecture starts 10 minutes away from Kyoto. There's Kyoto Station and Otsu Station—it's a 10-minute train ride on JR to get to the side of Lake Biwa. And even at Otsu Station, you can enjoy really good Omi beef. But today we're in Kōka, and it has a history of ninja. Of course they have Omi beef here, and I'm really happy about that because I absolutely love Omi beef. Of course I did an episode about it, but for some reason it's not coming up right now. But let's eat because I'm absolutely starving. All right, let's try to barbecue here. So let's cook. How do you ninja cook?

00:04:34 Takamaru (ninja): Yes.

00:04:41 John Daub: Oh wow. How do you usually cook? Is it good to cook well done? Is it good to cook rare?

00:04:52 Takamaru (ninja): Rare is delicious.

00:04:55 John Daub: Rare is delicious, right? I can hear the sizzle. That's a ninja—ninja are supposed to be stealthy, you're not supposed to make any sounds at all. That just sounds so good, it's making me hungry. I'm going to put the camera here, and you guys can sit with us and join us as we eat some wagyu beef. I'll be checking in on this.

00:05:45 John Daub: What did the ninja eat 300 years ago? In the past, like normal people, we used to eat rice and vegetables, and vegetables and maybe fish, funazushi (fermented crucian carp).

00:06:46 John Daub: I came here because I was very interested to learn about the ninja—like what we know from manga and anime, but I really didn't know the actual history, how they lived, what they ate, what their life was like centuries ago. Not the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but the real historical ninjas. And I think eating some of the local beef and talking about ninja is a pretty good idea.

00:07:36 John Daub: You don't kill anybody these days, right? That would be against the law. Don't forget about the meat here—this is so good. Soy sauce or garlic sauce? What does ninja like, shoyu or garlic sauce?

00:08:41 Takamaru (ninja): I like soy sauce.

00:08:43 John Daub: Soy sauce, okay, that's interesting. I have no idea what ninja like to eat here—I guess they like cup noodles maybe? But here at Kōka there's actually a ninja house where I'm going next after this to interview and see some of the historical secrets of the ninja. I'm not too interested in the role-playing side but actually the historical side. Oh wow, okay, let's try it. Itadakimasu. Very soft. The thing with wagyu beef is that it's so tender, and when you take a bite into it the juices just explode. It's like a load in your mouth bringing this umami taste.

00:09:44 John Daub: One of the differences I've noticed between Kobe beef, Matsusaka beef—there's about 300 brands of beef now, it's been increasing over the last five years. A lot of them even Japanese haven't heard about. But Omi beef here in Shiga is probably one of the most famous top five in Japan. Maybe you've heard of Kobe beef, there's Yonezawa beef in Yamagata, Matsusaka beef, Omi beef, Hida beef, and Miyazaki also wins the Wagyu Olympics every year. One thing different about Omi beef is you can taste in the fat, in the juiciness—it's not as heavy, there's a little bit of sweetness, the juice is lighter. Matsusaka might have a bolder taste, Omi a little lighter. But everybody who eats wagyu has a different experience.

00:11:06 John Daub: Next, soy sauce with wasabi. No sauce, I want to just get the meat without it. That one's well done—a little crunchy. But even if you overcook wagyu beef, there's still juiciness to it, but you definitely want to be careful because when you cook it sumiyaki (charcoal grill), it cooks really fast. Just a little bit of salt—shio dake suki (just salt is enough). Sometimes that's all you really need. The sauces are pretty good too, but I like just a little bit of salt, or yuzu kosho is also quite nice. But for Omi beef, we want Omi food here. Wow, we got other wagyu beef coming as well. This is what we call sumiyaki, char-grilled yakiniku. Sometimes you have gas yakiniku—this one is char-grilled, and I like this better because you have some of the taste of the charcoal.

00:12:25 John Daub: Of the sauces we have soy sauce and garlic sauce. This one is more like a negi (green onion) sauce, which is the name of the restaurant, Negishi. And a little bit of ponzu—you can taste the negi, it's got a little bite to it.

00:12:52 John Daub: So how was the festival? There was a battle the other day. Fukushima-san, we had our ninja friends here. Let me show you the video from before—this is the battle. If you haven't seen this video on the channel, go check it out. We're reenacting a historical event about 500 years ago where ninja had a night attack on Minakuchi-Okayama castle, and the ninja won. They beat the samurai, and the lord committed seppuku. Every year 50 ninja and 50 samurai battle in what looks like a battle royale. There are lights on their shoulders—if you hit with the sword the light turns on, then you are yurei (ghost), basically dead, and you go back to be resurrected. Some battles were pretty intense. This one is daytime—we do it at night, so it's harder to see because it's a ninja night attack called shinobi yōchi (ninja night raid). Reenacting it makes the ruins come to life—you feel the history.

00:14:27 John Daub: That's the vegan ninja—he's not invited to yakiniku. Of course this is role-playing, and it does make it quite fun. But the battles were intense—nobody wants to lose. Some are really training, and if you hit with a sword it can hurt. I got nailed, it will hurt if you get hit a couple times in the head. Check this video out on the channel—I was in the battle and got hurt a little, not injured, but there are hills so you have to be careful at night, you could trip. There were ninja climbing the sides of the hill, hiding in the weeds. When we announced with the conch shells, the battle started and ninja sprang from the weeds. There's no difference between a Nerf sword and a real sword—they were deep into it. Even the vegan ninja was bashing people. He was a team leader. Alright, we got more niku (meat) coming out—nikku means meat. This is gyūtan (beef tongue).

00:16:28 John Daub: This is so good. Gyūtan is beef tongue, and it might be a little weird if you've never had it, but beef tongue actually—is this wagyu? Yeah, this is from Omi gyū beef tongue. You can tell because of the marbling, but typically in Japan you get beef tongue from America. So it's kind of special to get it from Omi here. The consistency of tongue is different—at first you might think I'm not sure, it's tongue. But I've been in Japan 25 years, I've had it quite a bit, it's really good. It's got a tougher consistency, chewier, but very flavorful. This one has some salt in it—kono mama taberareru desu yo ne (you can eat it as is). You can hear it sizzling.

00:17:53 John Daub: Takoyaki mon writes nothing wrong with tongue, it's a muscle. That's right, it's meat. It's pretty cool eating with two ninja here. Even the thing with this restaurant is very ninja—you have ninja images on the wall of Negishi. I thought it's cool to combine yakiniku with ninja. Even if you go to the bathroom, you'll see ninja on the walls. Maybe we'll take a little walkabout in a bit. Negi yo (green onions). Ah, negi mo (more green onions). Lemon sauce? Daijōbu (fine). I sometimes forgo the lemon because I want to taste the meat. So this is the beef tongue—you can wrap the negi inside and it'll give more flavor. Look at the fire behind us as the ninja burns. Let's try it. Oh yeah, it's perfect. It's been salted a little bit. Beef tongue has a little spring to the bite, almost mochi-mochi consistency, but it bounces. That's so good. You can find gyūtan bento at train stations too, over rice with sauce. Some have self-heating mechanisms. Beef tongue might be unusual for some, but once you've had it, it's really good.

00:21:51 John Daub: Ninja had a double life. Iga and Kōka are the same—Iga ninja and Kōka ninja are married a lot. How did you become a ninja in the past? If you were not born into a ninja family you couldn't become a ninja—if your father is a ninja your child will become a ninja. So I asked them how you become a ninja back in the Sengoku and Edo periods—is it like scouting? No, you had to be born into it. They kept it secret—if your family didn't know, your son wouldn't know, then when your child grows up they would say you are a ninja and teach you. So the father would spring on his son, by the way I'm a ninja and you're pretty good at running around so you're going to be a ninja too. I wonder if the son wanted to be a ninja—no, probably not, but it was fate. If your father wanted you to become a ninja, that's what you became—you couldn't choose, you wanted to be a farmer you really couldn't.

00:23:38 John Daub: Back in the day what was the image of a ninja—was it cool? I think it was cool but the image was a little different—if samurai fought in the daytime, ninja fought at night, they would sneak in and steal, attack. People were quite afraid of ninja, so it had a pretty cool image. But if they found out you were a ninja and your cover was blown, the entire community would be afraid because you had skills to assassinate. This is real history, learning from people—very interesting.

00:25:00 John Daub: This is a special kind of beef—tokujō (premium) kind of beef, the very premium cut. A5, A4—I like A4 actually because you get better akami (red meat). But the marbling is amazing. Tokujō is the highest level—if someone says this is Kobe beef, ask is it tokujō? Then gokujō (god level). The first thing we ate was gokujō. We opened with A5 but it went fast, now A4. I prefer A4 to A5 because it's less oily, more akami, and akami has more flavor. So when you have more red meat with intense marbling, there's more flavor. I like the red meat taste. Even A5 oil is good, but I can't eat a lot—maybe 100-120 grams because it's so oily. That's why you have it with salad, rice, vegetables. With A3/A4 you can eat more, 200 grams. With Angus steak from Australia, 400 grams—it's just less oily.

00:28:59 John Daub: So this is a cut of A4, kept somewhat rare—you can see how flexible it is from the marbling. We're going to try it with soy sauce and wasabi. One reason I like A4 better is it's chewier, so you enjoy it more. The A5 breaks apart quick, but A4 sits on your palate longer, meatiness has its own taste, takes the sauce well. These little things enhance the meal you're paying $100 or more for. Just don't let ninja cook your meat because it's going to get burned. He said there's three people and four pieces of meat, so one gets burnt—we did not plan this well. Oh my gosh, I'm eating wagyu with two ninja—this is crazy.

00:32:01 John Daub: This is kokashi (short ribs?). I stayed yesterday in Otsu, Shiga Prefecture. I found a wagyu vending machine—a beef vending machine, Omi beef for like 2000 yen. Kind of neat. The machiya (traditional townhouse) I stayed in was beautiful, renovated Edo period style. Kōka doesn't have many hotels—this was my room, bathtub, self-opening toilet. Inase, I think, on Booking.com—$85 a night, check-in 4pm check-out 10am. A lot of people come to Kyoto, but maybe Kyoto shouldn't be the main part—stay a day or two, but next door Shiga, Otsu, is 10 minutes by train, two stops. That machiya would cost three times less than in Kyoto, 12-minute walk from Otsu Station. Otsu is laid back, quieter, few tourists, more authentic Japan feel. After crowds you can relax, then come to Kōka 30 minutes away by train to the ninja house.

00:35:51 John Daub: Amara? Jobara (skirt steak)! Oh that's a thicker cut. Mmm, oh yeah it's tender, very soft beef. I love A4. No tourist tax in Otsu—Kyoto only, about 1000 yen per person. So you've got your lunch paid for by staying in Otsu. It's good to learn other places in Japan—Kyoto has tons of tourists, but Shiga is an unknown treasure. If you come to Kōka, these guys will be here for you—if you can find them, ninja chefs.

00:37:53 Shirokage (ninja): Dō ninja ni narimashita ka?

00:38:02 Takamaru (ninja): Because my father is ninja.

00:38:07 Shirokage (ninja): Kōka no koto ga suki. Kōka no ninja ya rekishi wo minasan ni shiratte hoshii kara, jibun ga ninja toshite pāfomansu.

00:38:32 John Daub: Became a ninja because interested in Kōka and wanted to show ninja history to more people. Kōka is one of the centers to learn ninja. Fukushima-san is gokujō ninja sensei (god-level ninja teacher)—he's got a master's degree in ninjutsu from Mie University, studied history, ninjutsu, literature, art. Like how to make swords? Handled shuriken (ninja stars). Only in Japan can you get a degree in ninja.

00:40:51 John Daub: A lot of people know ninja through Naruto anime/manga, but that's not real ninja. They're modeled after real ones, but lifestyle is different—no magic. Through anime/manga ninja became popular, but it wasn't until James Bond's You Only Live Twice in 1966 with Sean Connery at Himeji Castle that foreigners saw ninja in Western culture. So we got non-alcohol beers—shaken not stirred. Ninja idea of stealth assassins started propagating—from Shogun miniseries, Japanese war movies. Nowadays modern ninja like CIA—Japan has Nakano spy school, undercover in police. Japanese police train in karate, judo, kendo—they're strong, don't fight them. Back in the day no police, samurai were police, but there were crimes after battles, ninja involved as thieves.

00:47:17 John Daub: So there's lettuce—Korean style, miso on lettuce, beef with miso, wrap like a burrito. In old days Japanese didn't eat wagyu—Buddhism, cows for work/transport, waste to eat. Now machines, so they eat it. Cultivated Tajima wagyu from Hyogo to other regions—Omi one of first. Places with long cattle history became famous brands like Yonezawa, Kobe (foreigners there). Meat from Omi/Matsusaka/Kobe went to Yokohama for foreigners. Now all beef has a 10-digit number—search it for birth, lineage, slaughter info. Wagyu database—even imported should have it. Be skeptical without the number, can't tell if honmono (real). Now hormon (offal)—intestines, stomach, chewy but oily, good.

00:54:13 John Daub: The whole restaurant smells so good—people on shinkansen will smell yakiniku on me. Do you have questions for our ninja guests? Ninja are good at fire. Never chopstick to chopstick—put down first. Yabai (dangerous), because of fire it's got burned charcoal taste, very chewy, fatty, pleasing, salty. I like it. Hormon with beer—bubbles break up fat, like drink beef. That's why tansan sui (carbonated water) or beer with yakiniku.

00:58:07 John Daub: To Japanese, quintessential ninja movie—not anime? Shinobi no Kuni (Land of Ninja), Kage no Guntai (Shadow Army), Shinobi no Mono. Recently fewer because manga/anime. Ninja culture not as strong in Japan now, but internationally strong. Let me know in comments if coming to Kyoto, interested in Shiga/Kōka. Cheonmage (topknot)—real one. Ninja were samurai—daytime fighters samurai, nighttime ninja. Had to be born into it, passed father to son, ninja schools. Real ninja, not manga version—come to Kōka. Thank you ninja friends. Restaurant is Negishi in Kōka—if in area or Kyoto, come enjoy ninja yakiniku Omi beef. See you next episode.