00:00 John Daub: Let me show you on the map. We're going to go inside the station here, but let's take a minute to check out on the Google map where exactly we are in Hokkaido. You can see Japan up in the north. Tokyo is down there in the center of Japan. And then up here is the island of Hokkaido in the north. You can see where I am on the map. It's kind of north center in the Daisetsuzan area, not far from Daisetsuzan National Park, which is a beautiful place. It's going to have the autumn colors turn a little bit later this year than normal. Here's where we started on that big plaza.

00:31 John Daub: This is all brand new on that side of the station. It was a much different place seven years ago, so they finished it all. But look at the other side of the station. It is so natural and so green. Look at that. It's stunning. And we're going to go and I'm going to show you that other side before we go through the city. And we have about 25 minutes to complete this live stream because I got another place to go. I'm going to be going to the Blue Pond of Biei, driving over there right after this, as well as the Asahiyama Zoo. Maybe I'll take you live.

01:01 John Daub: We're going to walk down that double street down the center of the screen there. And then you can see I wanted to show you the backside of the station here. I actually camped there seven years ago. I don't know if you're allowed to do that, but I didn't see any signs not to and they let me out. The ride let me out there when I was hitchhiking. So that's where I ended up staying in a tent. Yeah, pretty cool. Hokkaido is a pretty cool place for hitchhiking. I don't recommend it to anybody because there are risks. But if you do decide, you can do it here.

01:33 John Daub: All right, let's go into the station real quickly. I want to show you the other side of it before we start. Give you just an idea of what's inside the station here. So looks like just copyrighted music playing inside the station. So I'm going to keep talking just because of that. That's really easy for me to do. I'm kind of used to doing it. You can see there's the entrance of the station. This feels more like a shopping mall. It's got that real modern feel to it. The station. I like it. The renovations have brought it to life.

02:06 John Daub: It's brought it into the 21st century, which a lot of the stations around Japan sorely needed. Hokkaido stations have seen in particular Wakkanai in the very north of Japan. That's Japan's northernmost point has seen a really good renovation of the station there. You can see here very long walkway. There's a 7-Eleven on the other side. And this is a place where there's a lot of camping, a lot of nature activities.

02:37 John Daub: There's some mountain bikers out here. But I brought you to the side because I wanted to show you how Asahikawa is pretty much in the middle of nature. And now that summer has finished, the flowers are starting to go away. The summer flowers and autumn is coming. You can really feel it in the chill in the air right now. But if I take you to the end of the station, it's just weird because the contrast between the sides is amazing. You could actually ride a bicycle, rent a bicycle, and you can ride along this path for quite a ways. And it doesn't feel like a city at all. There's no traffic lights on this side. There's a bridge here that connects to the other side. As again, like I'll show you really quickly on the map here, you can see what the backside looks like. And we're at that on the very left right of your screen. That's where I am. You can see that that green part goes on for quite a while following the Chubetsu River.

03:44 John Daub: That's where we are right now. It's really nice. The weather's starting to get better. It was raining on me as I walked from the station to the hotel. And we're going to be now walking to my hotel, which was shockingly amazing. I didn't expect that Asahikawa would have like what feels like a five-star hotel. And it was priced pretty good. So this is my breakfast about an hour ago. That's not too bad. I don't know why they put salmon on the waffles. I'm an American. We put maple syrup on there. I will take it. The coffee was hot. Let's go inside, go to the other side. We're going to walk down. What's really famous here is the ramen.

04:26 John Daub: I also notice that's like a gold nugget. I also notice that there's a lot of art along the streets, community art, which I really dig. I think that's really good to see. Now, coming here by, I flew here yesterday morning into Asahikawa Airport. It's kind of far to take by train, and the Shinkansen only goes as far as Hakodate right now, so you have to take local train lines. You can see up there the train platform. That train's going to Sapporo and Iwamizawa, which is where I hitchhiked a couple of years ago.

05:21 John Daub: Just to give you an idea of the train. There's not a lot. You can see from Sapporo is 4,690 yen on the local train, so that's kind of a ways. A lot of people hanging out inside as it's drizzling outside. There's a couple of stores open in the morning, but for the most part, things don't open until later here, I noticed, and things close early, I noticed. A lot of places will close at 7, and then the izakayas, of course, are open pretty late. So now we're going to make our way down this street. It's a long brick walkway. The airport bus will drop you off. I don't want to move you too fast or on a zoom lens. Will drop you off over there. So in order to get to this big red brick walkway, you have to kind of walk around. But, in fact, that's the airport bus over there. Dropped me off that blue and white one.

06:42 John Daub: [inaudible]. Sorry, I got that one. I did. I told you about a year ago I would be moving to Japan with my family. I've officially started the process, and I am starting a business in Japan. Congratulations. Enjoy a coffee, tea, or milk on me. You got it. I am slightly caffeinated more than usual thanks to the breakfast, but I will use that when I get into the car and drive to the blue pond. And if they have a signal there, I will bring you for a couple of minutes to the blue pond. It'll be a quick live stream, but I think it's kind of special when you do things live, for better or for worse.

07:22 John Daub: I'm going to go back to the camera, because this stream started off a little funky with the camera's not working so good. This red brick area is kind of neat. It's really massive, so I'm wondering what it's like in summer. They probably have food trucks and stuff. At least that's the way I would think they would do it. Good, we got a green light. This Aeon Mall is also very new. There is a Starbucks in there, the only one in the city, I believe. Aeon Malls. They add a lot of value to communities. Although they take jobs away from mom-and-pop shops. You all know that. It's kind of like the Walmarts. They're really cool and great and good for consumers. But at the same time, it's harder for the mom-and-pops and the family-run businesses to compete. So I think it's good that they put it in front of the station. There's still a lot of mom-and-pop shops in Asahikawa, and I'm really glad for it.

08:22 John Daub: One of them that I'm going to try to walk by. The rain's not too bad. I am wet. It's not too bad. Let me put it to you like this. I was born wet. We all kind of were. I don't mind getting a little wet. It's just weather. I'm the kind of person that's been out there in the snow, the rain. You know, I've been in about five or six naked man festivals where I have just a thong, and I'm running out in the cold snow, so I don't mind too much. There's like a really good feeling of going out. This feels like autumn. There's a breeze. There's a chill. I'm starting to see leaves blowing in the wind. This is so autumn. I'm going back to Tokyo where they have much, much warmer weather.

09:15 John Daub: There's a supermarket. Hey, Michael Sassano's in the house. Aloha, my brother. You are bright and early. Rainy weather means time to pick up a warm snack. I'm going to need that too. Thank you. I'll get some lunch. I'll send you a picture of it. I might get something at the airport. But the breakfast was pretty massive here. You can hear that chirping sound. There's that Shake Burger. That's Lotteria has their own Shake Burger flapping in the wind. Now, a lot of these places don't open up. I notice there's like a capsule hotel or something. It says Premier Hotel Cabin. I guess that's maybe just a hotel that's named Cabin, which is a weird name for a hotel. But it's just that they've done so many renovations here. I hardly recognize it. I don't recognize what it looked like from a few years ago.

10:19 John Daub: So I'm going to be walking in this direction. So here's a map of Asahikawa. We're right now on that double street, slightly center left, right there. Champagne Sumo's here. Purchase at mom and pop stores. You got it. I'm stopping off Champagne Sumo. I'm glad. I'm so happy to hear from you. I'm going to be stopping off at a michi no eki (roadside station), which is like a local roadhouse. And this is where a lot of the mom and pops and the locals sell their vegetables. And the one thing that Kanae Daub told me to do was to get some vegetables and bring it back with me. So that's exactly what I'm going to be using with that money. So let's support some of the local farmers. And maybe I'll stop off at a local ramen stand.

11:04 John Daub: But speaking of which, I want to show you. One second. As you're walking, I like the fact they call these roads like jodori (numbered streets). So this is Ichijodori and Nijodori. And we're in between them. And I think the place I want to just walk by real quickly, which is maybe the most famous one. My friends at Aoba. There's the first generation, the second generation above me. And the third generation, which is to the right. And it's a family-run business. And I've been going there for the last 20 years. I had a bowl of ramen when I first came to Japan at Aoba. I don't remember much. But I remember eating there. And then I came here when I was hitchhiking seven years ago. And got a chance to see them then. And they remembered me when I walked in there. So I'm going to walk over to Aoba and try to show you the front of that restaurant.

12:06 John Daub: So we'll walk off of the main street here. But it was really nice. I was so happy to see them again. And I was happy that they remembered me. Oh, look. Matsuya has also some kind of a schemey autumn moon type of deal. Yesterday, the moon was just stunning. I took some pictures of it last night. We have a really big moon right now. The full moon, I think it was yesterday. Whoa. It's nomihodai (all-you-can-drink) for 800 yen. That's like $5 for all you can drink beer. That's crazy. That's just, that's not good. I can't even drink one full beer now.

13:15 John Daub: Another donation writes in champagne, sumo mom and pop shops are the heart and soul of the town. Of the country, I would say. I have so many friends that I made because of mom and pop shops. Because the store owners are very talkative. They know the town. This is some of the art I was telling you about. Look at that cat right there. It's really cool. Yeah, the mom and pop shops are the heart and soul of the town. The heart and soul of any country, I think. Because then you really can feel local areas through their omotenashi (hospitality). You don't get that when you get chain shops because people are just working there. I just work here. But at mom and pop shops, it's more, you know, I live here. This is my home. I serve everyone who lives around here. I know everything about the town. And that's another reason I love to get out of Tokyo. Because there are mom and pop. There are locally run places in Tokyo. But it just doesn't feel the same.

14:15 John Daub: So I will be buying a lot of stuff now. Thank you. I'm not going to go home empty handed. Alright, I like the fact that here you can see they also have, it's raining and it's quite early. But they have picnic tables with umbrellas mostly for the sun. But you can get a chance to eat and drink outside. There's a Lawson's. Lawson's is more popular than 7-11 here. I noticed that. And I noticed that the food, 7-11's food is pretty good and it's better in Tokyo. And Lawson's food is better in Asahikawa. Because I guess it's more local. And 7-11 might be coming closer from Sapporo. They got to truck the stuff up. I don't think they have a local supplier. Just, this is my hypothesis. But there's only a couple of 7-11's in the Asahikawa station area. And there's like 15 Lawson's. And it's really weird like that. There's also Seico Mart, which is the Hokkaido only convenience store. Seico Mart has some pretty interesting foods. Including like this kind of a kitchen bento takeaway. But there's only one around Asahikawa station. I was a little surprised by that.

15:38 John Daub: Alright, I'm taking you in this direction for one reason. To go past Aoba Ramen, which is my favorite and maybe the longest running ramen shop in the area. Aoba Ramen is a really good place to eat. And I noticed on the map there's like 3 Tanking restaurants. So they've really expanded. But Aoba has stayed at one shop. I'm trying to think, is it down here or over there? Let's see where I am on the map. Did I go too far? It's hard to say. I thought it was here. I might have gone too far. Oh, it's alright. You're going to see the entrance of it in an edited video really soon. Yeah, we went one street too far.

16:47 John Daub: Hey you! I remember you. You Hokkaido crows. Do you know Toby? Yeah, you better go. Over there. Do you know Toby? He was here. I saw him about 7 years ago. Are you a descendant? Direct? Indirect? It's big. Go on. Very few of you know Toby. I think it's just the nature. Alright, Tanking is over there. That's the main shop. Really good ramen place. Actually, the walk is almost done. There's not a lot more I can show you. Tanking, I think Tanking has more of like a mainstream ramen taste. And Aoba, the noodles, the soup, eh, my god, it's so good. It's, Asahikawa's ramen has much more oil on it. The reason why is because this one is the best. This place gets to like minus 40 degrees Celsius in the winter. It's freaking cold. So, in order to keep the soup warm, they put a layer of fat on the top of the broth. And you can see it sopping right there. It's just, it's actually beautiful. And that fat keeps the, insulates it and keeps the soup warmer longer.

18:27 John Daub: Alright, let's make a run for it. So the ramen here is really famous and really good. Again, here's a little tip. Here's a shot of my friends at Aoba last night. 77 years they've been doing it there. So, I got to talk with them for about 15 minutes at the end of it as they were cleaning up. They remembered me. I just don't call in advance out in the countryside sometimes because, like you just, show your face. Just walk in there and everybody knows your name type of place. Although it was seven years ago. It's really cold here. Sourdough is here. Hey, John, get treats for Kanae and Leo on me. Thank you. I'm gonna, I'm not coming back empty handed. I'm bringing back boxes of vegetables and some gifts from the michi no eki and maybe something from the supermarket.

19:27 John Daub: Interesting. Look at this. This shop. You guys might remember this from a video I made a couple, a few months ago. Kanko is the uniform school, the school uniform maker for Japan. It's the biggest one. There's many of them, but this is the biggest one. And you can see they have their, the Asahikawa school uniforms here. This one's got like a light blue. I like that. Interesting. I see they have salesmen all over the country because they still do it in the old way of salesmen going in and discussing how they can make a uniform. What are the things that the students like? How do they make the uniforms different than their parents' uniforms? So, it's cooler because nobody wants to dress like their parents, right?

20:24 John Daub: But there's where I'm staying, the hotel I'm at. And we pretty much reached it. It was a 12-minute walk. I can't believe we just went 1.3 kilometers or about up the main street pretty much to here. Look at that three-wheeler. That's pretty sweet. A lot of motorcycles. So, people are riding. And Peter von Gomm and I rode around the southern part of Hokkaido. Not too long ago. 2022. It feels like yesterday. There is this cool outdoor area as well. Do you see that over there? I wanted to go get a drink there, but there was nobody outside last night. So, I'm like, yeah, I don't want to drink alone. And you know what? I don't need any alcohol. I'm just going to keep going.

21:30 John Daub: That brick building right there is where I'm staying. I'm going to show you the lobby real quickly. It's a Hoshino Resort. It's their top graded. They have a 3, 5, and 7, I believe. So, this is a level 7, an OM07. And yeah, I booked this place to stay for tonight. And I want to say thank you to these two Hoshino Resorts. You know, the one thing I try to do wherever I go is I call in advance, except like family-run businesses. But this is a chain. So, I called in advance, and I got in touch with their PR people. And they were really nice. And they gave me the room for a complimentary room, which was great. And they said, please show our, in the next video that I'm editing, please show our hotel. And I said, I will absolutely do that. So, I have this stunning breakfast scene. And the breakfast here is one of the best that I've had. Hokkaido is very famous for breakfasts. Some of the best breakfast places are in Hokkaido. Hakodate has the best breakfast in Hokkaido. And in Japan. At least, it's always been in the top two or three every year. That's the La Vista Hakodate Bay Hotel. It is incredible. The rooms are small-ish. But the food is incredible. And I don't think you can get the breakfast unless you actually stay there.

23:08 John Daub: Carrie, it is chilly up here. It says it's 15 degrees Celsius. It was 14 degrees not too long ago. It feels like 10 degrees Celsius with the rain, I think. Here, I have a video of the, you can see, not too long ago, it was that. I was like, what? That's a pretty good temperature. Alright, here I'm at the hotel. Before I go inside, just wanted to show you a couple of things. Check this out. Do you see this? That is on the left side, Honshu Island. And on the right side, Hokkaido. That black spot on the right side, do you see it? It won't let me zoom in. That black spot on the right side is Hakodate. And Hakodate Bay. So, I thought it was so cool to get video of it. And you can see the foot of Hokkaido, which is totally awesome, on the flight. And I also saw this here. This is so cool flying right over Skytree yesterday. I'm going to use this in a video for you. For sure. Oh man, looking down on the Skytree was so cool. And you can see Asakusa and the building down there. The Golden Poo. You can just make it out. I'm definitely going to be using that in a video.

24:52 John Daub: Alright, let me show you quickly just the lobby of the hotel. I don't want to get too much into it. But because it's raining, there's not a lot I can film. I was going to get the drone out and get some shots. But because of the weather. We could take it a little bit slower with the live stream today. Alright, out of the rain and into the hotel lobby. Just for a little bit. People are very early risers here because it's a natural. You want to be a morning person in Hokkaido. I should have gotten an umbrella. They had a whole bunch of them. Look at this. This is the breakfast place. It's so nice. This is where I ate breakfast this morning. And there's a scene in the edited video that I'm making here from there. The food was outstanding. It was a really good breakfast. And I love that they put here a bar. So you can also just go in here and take a coffee. They take it out after checkout I think. But you can get a cafe au lait and stuff. It's basically the same one at the convenience stores. American, which is me. So I can get that as well. There we go. These are nice cups.

26:54 John Daub: American. I can get one for... What's the difference between an American and a coffee? I guess it's just American is weak coffee. I'm offended by that. I'm kind of offended that they think American coffee is weak. Yeah, that is really weak looking coffee. When I was in France, they called this... My French friend Eric, who I've known for 27 years. He calls this Sack Water. American coffee. Hold on a second. I'm gonna sit down here. He calls American coffee Sack Water. That's really weak. That's half hot water, half coffee. It's a little coffee talk with you guys.

28:17 John Daub: Let's see, any questions here? Hey, Eric is in the house. I'm going to Hokkaido next year. Will the fact that I only know some Japanese be an issue? I don't think so. You know, I think Hokkaido has done a really amazing job in the tourist attraction. It's one of the biggest tourist attraction areas of having people who can deal with tourists quite effectively. I talked with my friends at Aoba. Now, they didn't have a lot of tourists there in the past. They always say how good my Japanese is when I come in there. And the owners told me that they're getting more tourists than they are locals now, which is outstanding and also scary. And I told them that the video I made seven years ago was about 100,000 views. And he was shocked. The recipe for the Aoba ramen comes from China. And the third generation, the grandfather, he was in China during the war. And he learned how to make ramen. So apparently he was a lover, not a fighter. There were people like that. And he was a cook. And he brought back ramen to Asahikawa 77 years ago. And that's been one of the staples for Asahikawa ever since. So Aoba is just huge.

29:40 John Daub: Disabled gamer writes in here, Otani just got 50-50. Oh my god. Really? We knew it was going to happen. I just didn't expect it would happen so soon. Go for 60-60 now. Oh my gosh. Thanks for sharing that. Kay Coke writes in here, How's the foliage? It hasn't changed yet. So the foliage is the same. It's kind of browning. But it's going to be about 10 days later than last year. So 10 days later than normal. And last year was kind of late. So I would say, yeah, we're talking like mid-October. Nothing in September. Maybe late October. It's going to be later than in years past.

30:39 John Daub: John, it's weak. Thanks for the super chats because I'm going to have to get something stronger. Get coffee and pass the American. Don't get American. Get coffee. I'm just saying. If you like coffee and you want it to have caffeine in it, get coffee. Skip the American in Japan. Americano, no. Coffee. Unless you're drinking like a 32. You know what? In the US, they have these like one-liter coffees. It's massive. The coffee holders in the cars in America, I was told from a friend who works at Honda, he said they make the holes for the drinks from cars in America bigger than the holes in the cars that they make for the Japanese market. I believe that. But if you're going to be drinking a one-liter coffee, it's probably going to be weak coffee because you don't need to drink a one-liter coffee when it's coffee. If you catch my drift. I'll send you a bag of 100% Kona coffee. Michael, you don't have to do that. That's really kind of you. You don't have to do that. You know what? Save it for when I come to Hawaii again. Kanae and I are already talking about it. See if we can do it next year. If not earlier, it would be nice.

32:02 John Daub: All right. That's all that I got for you. I'm going to prepare. I got to get dressed. These clothes, this jacket is a rental. That's the story of the day. I'm going to bring into a rental clothing. I rented. I didn't bring any luggage. I rented all my clothes here. Like not yukata or kimono, like regular clothes. And I'm not undergarments. Okay. Just in case you're asking. Yeah. All right, everybody. That's all I got for you. I'm going to show you the lobby just a little bit. And then I'm going to skedaddle. But it's really pretty in here. So I hope that you guys have a good day and a good night. I'll see you. It's not Tim Hortons. We don't. I don't think we have that here.