00:01 John Daub: Welcome to Tokyo. Beyond this gate is Kiyosumi Garden. It's one of the great gardens of Tokyo. If you're in the area, it's certainly worth a visit. And with all of the stuff going on around the world, especially the US elections, I think it's time to chillax a little bit, get away from that kind of stuff, even American NFL football and stuff, and go into the garden and chill for a little bit.

00:23 John Daub: Here's a map of the garden. I want to show you exactly where this is in the city of Tokyo. So it's not that far away from Tokyo Station. You could probably walk here in about 30 minutes. The closest station is Kiyosumi-Shirakawa, which is on the Hanzomon Line and also on the Oedo Line, which goes around the city. It's very accessible from Morishita as well. And you can get here from Monzen-Nakacho in about a 20-minute walk from Monzen-Nakacho Station, which is on the Tozai Line.

00:53 John Daub: You can see the park on the left. You can see the park on the right. You can see the buildings here. They keep getting renovated and new buildings popping up here. But it's got a really nice vibe, that neighborhood called Kiyosumi-Shirakawa. I made a video about a year ago with the cafe culture here. There's Tokyo Station. You can see Kiyosumi Garden not that far away in the city of Tokyo. We've got a lot of green spots, which is something that I love about it, but it's hard to see on a big map like that one. So now you got an overview of Kiyosumi Garden. How you doing, everybody? Let's go inside.

01:54 John Daub: Let's kind of check this out here. But more than that, here's the park on the other side. There's a road that sort of divides it over there. This is open to anybody. You can get a bento and sit and relax here. There's a green area in the center. There's also, I saw a bunch of foreigners from the US and they said, is the Japanese Denny's the same as the American Denny's? The answer, no. It's very Japanese. And that's kind of a cool other spot that you could go and have breakfast, lunch or dinner over there. I think it's open 24 hours. Not quite sure about that. The menu is pretty cool.

02:34 John Daub: All right, let's go into the Kiyosumi Garden here. The entry fee is just 150 yen. And I'm hoping that the signal sticks in there. Jamie, how you doing? Thank you. Here's a map. And the map that I showed you is actually a picture of this. We can go over some of the information here real quickly. Kiyosumi Garden in the Edo era. The Nikunoyashiki, the daimyo suburban residence of the feudal lord Kuze Yamato-no-kami, stood on this site. It was then purchased by Iwasaki Yataro in the Meiji era, I believe the founder of Mitsubishi.

03:14 John Daub: Iwasaki chose—Mitsubishi is a massive corporation—this property to build the garden for the enjoyment of his employees and to entertain important guests. He opened the garden which he named Fukagawa Shimboku-en in 1880. The garden is one of the best examples of the Meiji period garden incorporating elements of the classic styles of the Edo period daimyo gardens, namely a strolling garden centered around a large pond filled with trees, which we all love. It features a large pond and large and unusually shaped rocks. The rocks are quite important.

03:46 John Daub: The garden sustained damage in the Kanto Earthquake of 1923 but proved very useful as an evacuation area. For this reason, it was donated to the city of Tokyo and in 1932 was opened to the public with the name of Kiyosumi Garden. In 1979, this garden was designated by the TMG as a place of scenic beauty. Again, not Tokyo City but Tokyo Metropolitan Government. Tokyo is actually one of the prefectures or like a state. All right, here's the entry and we're going to go inside. If you're over the age of 65, you get a discount. Oh, and an annual pass. The annual pass is only 600 yen. Kids are free. Hey, Timothy. Yeah, that's a good stop afterwards, but you find better cafes along the way. I must point that out.

05:18 John Daub: Okay, here's the ticket and they have information in other languages. So I'm going to pick the English one and we'll refer to this along the way. Fingers crossed the signal stays strong because I have bad luck with sometimes filming inside of parks in Tokyo. The signal strength isn't so good, but I start off pretty cool. Look at this. I love these. This is so Japanese. This dripping pool. That's so nice. There's just something to see the ripples. It's nature, you know?

06:05 John Daub: When we walk around Tokyo, it's so modern. It's so urban. We forget, though, that Japanese culture is very much connected with nature. And I think in our everyday lives, we forget about that. That's why these kinds of parks are so important. If you're staying in Japan, you must, even in Tokyo, you must go and visit one of the strolling gardens, which is already very promising. So just fingers crossed that we have a signal in there. If it doesn't, just bear with me and I'll do my very best to find a place to get a signal again because it's so important.

06:35 John Daub: Let's see what happens because we're live. Tears of Sorrow writes in, Michael. I like to say tears of joy, but alright, let's go here, Route. And this is a famous tea house that is often closed to the public. I'm not sure how it's going to be today, but that's kind of neat. You get to walk across. Typically, I usually go the route less traveled, which would be the other way, but let's just go on the usual route here. Alright, step on a crack, break your mother's back. Sorry, mom. This is already kind of fun here.

07:31 John Daub: One of the best things about this place, I can hear the birds and the nature all around me. And I smell like freshly mowed grass. Alright, there's a dead end. This has got to be something here. I smell freshly cut grass. That smells so nice. Alright, I don't think this is the right way. I've already gone off of the beaten path. But look at that. So we're starting to see some of the trees change colors here in Tokyo. And it's about two weeks later than usual. The meteorological agency posted the update and it's sticking to it being quite delayed.

08:17 John Daub: Oh, do you see that? Do you see that? This park is famous for its koi, the carp, the fish here, and the turtles here. They are really fun to watch. As they get into big trouble. What trouble could they get into though? I'm not quite sure. But we're going to see where he goes. There's another turtle right there. And yeah. You know what? I think we're going to walk this way.

08:57 John Daub: Good evening. I actually was going to go to Mister Donut and go try the Pokemon donuts, but that's tomorrow. So I switched it up and this isn't very far from the Mister Donuts near where I live. I'm one step away from Mister Donuts. And he's a Nakacho. I mean, I did this a few years ago, but still. I think the signal wasn't very good. And this time we're doing a little bit better. Iwasaki was, I believe, the founder of Mitsubishi. It's one of the big, big corporations. Mining, cars, you guys know it. Tuna fish. You see the three diamond symbol of Mitsubishi. So this was part of his private gardens.

10:03 John Daub: And I'll pull up some of the history here in a second. I think this is maybe Koto Ward. I'm not sure. Water's kind of green, which I think is good. I guess there's a lot of algae, which is maybe bad. I'm not sure. I'm not a naturalist. I just really appreciate nature. All right, as I move along here, let's learn just a little bit about this. I asked our friend AI a little bit about this, for better or for worse. And I asked some of the things to know. The historical background.

10:39 John Daub: You can see here, originally built in the Edo period, 1603 to 1868. That's the Edo period. That's when Tokugawa Ieyasu took over as shogun. And you guys know that from the drama, the hit drama from earlier this year. By a wealthy merchant, which is Iwasaki-san, bought the garden. The garden became part of the property of the industrialist founder of Mitsubishi. In the late 19th century, he designed it as a place for company gatherings and events. That's a pretty amazing company. You'd have to have a lot of money for that for central Tokyo.

11:14 John Daub: Kiyosumi is a classical kaiyushiki teien (strolling garden), designed for visitors to enjoy scenic views as they walk along the path around the central pond, which is where we are right now. The heart of the garden is a large pond with three small islands. Stone bridges and stepping stones offer scenic views and places to stop and admire the reflections of the trees and the rocks. The garden is known for its carefully selected stones, some of which came from various regions in Japan. These stones are placed around the garden and along. So let's look for some interesting stones.

11:49 John Daub: Wildlife: Kiyosumi Garden is home to koi fish, turtles—we've seen those—and various birds and species. I've seen some of those, I can hear them. The combination of greenery and water attracts many migratory birds, making it a serene spot for bird watching. The garden is lovely year-round. That's true. Summer green, autumn foliage, tranquil winter scenes, each season offers a unique experience. And there's the Yotei Pavilion, which is the tea house. And it's quite accessible. Wow. You know, for the adventurers, it's like choose your own adventure. Remember those books?

12:26 John Daub: I could choose to go this way. Or I could choose to go the other way. There's like a little hill here, so you're elevated a few meters up, and you get another kind of viewpoint. That's what I like about this garden. That's what I love about Japanese gardens. They're designed for your pleasure. Like, you just absorb it and experience it. Let's go left here. I think the signal was bad in that corner, so I might not go all the way around.

12:52 John Daub: Is the audio not any good? See, you have those buildings in the background. Of course, those weren't here back in the day. But yeah, actually I think I have a picture of, I thought I had a picture of Kiyosumi Garden in the 1930s. There's one on Wikipedia. It hasn't changed much at all. Which is kind of funny. Gardens don't change much, and that's the point. We're walking in the footsteps of Iwasaki and perhaps some really big VIPs from back in the day.

14:05 John Daub: That hill over there, over yonder. You can go up that hill. You probably have like a really neat bird's eye view from up there. Aiken writes in here, Rikugien Garden is really nice too. That's another one that I might go visit. Because, you know, I've been to Rikugien a lot. That in autumn is the number one spot for visiting here in Tokyo. I think Rikugien is up there in the north of Tokyo. Number one spot for sure. They do an amazing job of illuminating it as well. So you get this night view of those orange trees. Oh, look at the little girl with the kimono up there. So you get a slice of life, everyday life in Japan. Again, this is a very local neighborhood. You're not going to see a lot of tourists here. You might be the only one. I saw a couple that went to the Denny's over there.

15:14 John Daub: Oh, check it out. Look at that boat. No, it's not a boat. It's a duck. He's moving. That duck is trucking. Look at that. Where's he going? Oh, this is fun. I wonder if anybody has ever fallen into the pond here. Duck disguised as a duck boat, writes in Frank. Oh my. Take it slow. The fact that the park has like an obstacle course. Of course, it's super cool. I mean, it's nothing challenging, but.

16:04 John Daub: Oh, here we go. Here we go. This is another reason to come to the park. Hello, guys. How you doing? I wish I had some food for you. They think I do. Oh, who's your friend? They're really close. I could probably pet them. I know I would lose a microphone or something, but I could probably pet them. I think they're really, I don't know. Sometimes they're like national treasures and stuff. You don't want to touch the deer in Nara, for example. Well, thanks for visiting, guys. Here comes a turtle. Wow. I saw a turtle go down deep. Sometimes they eat the duty of the fish. Kind of some nasty nature stuff here going on here.

17:07 John Daub: I saw a turtle. He went down deep. Here comes another koi. We had an earthquake last night. Not a very big one, but it was big enough where you kind of could notice it. Maybe we should, I wonder if we can feed the koi. Here comes another guy. Oh, he's coming back here. That's where I was. I guess he noticed that I moved. He's coming back over here. They can see pretty good. Hey, is he following me?

18:02 John Daub: Across the pond is the tea house. Now we start to see it come into plain view. And look at the reflection off of the pond. Very beautiful. That's another thing. I think we sometimes miss the little teeny details. When you come to a pond or Japanese garden, look at the reflections. There's a reason why the pond is here. It's not just a place for life, but it's a painting. It's a picture. Those reflections, you see it? With the slight ripples, I love it. You have to notice that kind of stuff. The smells, the sounds. Everything has a purpose almost. Like these rocks here. We're talking about. They're taken from all different places around Japan. According to the history here. So they're not all native to this one area. Mitsubishi is a big mining company. So I wonder if that had anything to do with it.

19:10 John Daub: All right, we get the trees here. Tree over there turning red. Now the summer was super hot. And the result of that is going to be less vibrant colors for the autumn foliage. But they're still going to be really nice. But when the temperatures are scorching like they were in the summer. Brutally hot most of the time. Make sure you keep off of the grass here. Respect the local rules here. And you know, it might be worth looking at the brochure. I'm sure they list some of the stuff in here. You get a map as well.

20:11 John Daub: Stepping stones arranged intermittently near the pond edge to allow passage to visitors. Providing a joy of panoramic view of the pond as well as carefully elaborated changing views as they continue steps. I think we just went through that one. And we're here at the Taisho Kinenkan, which is the, I guess it's like the memorial here. The relocated building which was originally used as the funeral hall for the funeral service of the Emperor Taisho. Interesting. That's the early 20th century. That's this one right here. So Japan has done a good job of relocating buildings. Kind of not destroying some of the history. But finding a place for it is certainly a good thing. Certainly not easy.

21:01 John Daub: Every angle you get like these, you know, there's a tree here. There's stones here. You get a really interesting view from every single angle. The Takamatsu Nomiya Memorial Tree, 1953. Matsu means pine tree. So Matsuyama means pine tree mountain. Matsumoto. A lot of pine trees in Nagano. The stepping stones are really cool. I could see kids having a lot of fun going through this. This garden, it certainly keeps you on your toes. So you don't want to break your mama's back. What do you guys think? We're 20 minutes in. Are you relaxed a little bit?

21:59 John Daub: Again, the smell of cut grass is real nice. There's a little bit of a pine smell. I can hear on this corner the city outside. But I couldn't from the beginning, from the entrance. I couldn't hear the city around. But now I can hear and see the traffic on the other side. That kind of takes away from it over there. Ramsey Silent writes in here, go break your ankle. What? Oh no, only if you can go or break your ankle. I thought you were telling me, hey John, go break your ankle. Which you could do here. You have to be kind of careful. Don't try to be a hero, you know, or an idiot. I guess that's something I should say here. Just take it easy, take it slow.

22:48 John Daub: Mount Fuji still snow capless. I believe there's some snow up there. The media really latch onto that. Anything that has to do with scaring people. I'm pretty sure it was snowless into December in 2020 when the media was not reporting on anything. But I'm sure there's a little bit of snow on the top. It rained the day before yesterday and it was quite chilly. And I'm sure it's below zero up there. So now the media can stop complaining.

23:29 John Daub: Can I go this way? I guess there's no sign telling me that I can't. It just, it's all. Look at the reflection. Okay, I'll do it. Let's do it. I feel like I'm going out to the middle of the pond here. They should have stepping stones all the way to the tea house. You can hear the rustling of the grass here. Everything has a purpose. Everything has a meaning. What are those, blueberries? What is that? Let's just say I'm not going to try to eat them. But I'd like to know what they are. Boysenberries? If you know any berry people here, let me know. This is a live chat. So it's nice to have a few hundred people joining us here. Thanks, guys. Blueberries, writes in Jotty. Could be.

24:50 John Daub: Oh, oh my goodness me. That is a mammoth turtle. Well, you descend from the age of dinosaurs. And look at his little buddy here. Oh my goodness. You guys are massive. I'm staying away. Oh, wow. Look at your little snout. I took a deep breath. And you've gone under there. I'm not going to hurt you. It's a snapping turtle, writes in James. What? I hope not. Well, he can't snap at this distance. He went deep. He's gone. The murky, murky waters. He's gone. They want food. Oh, he's still there. He's still there. He sees us. I think he's just curious. I don't have any food, buddy. I don't know if I should feed you.

26:17 John Daub: But maybe I'll get an annual pass. It's just 600 yen. Five dollars for an annual pass. And I think that's a good idea to get because it supports the park. And I'm sure you get something with your picture on it or something. I should have got the annual pass. This is close enough where I could come once every couple of weeks. Excuse me. There's a turtle here. It's big. There's some more. Wow. That guy's got whiskers. He's got whiskers. Dude, yours is awesome. Oh, I thought that you looked like you had whiskers. How you doing? You look wise. How you doing? You want to say hi to the world? Maybe no. How about your buddy over here? He's staying just head down, just under the water. He's looking for food. That's a different one. But they're buddies. They're definitely buddies.

27:58 John Daub: Living the chill life. Yeah. You living the dream, bro? But I'm not sure I'd want to be a turtle. I'm not sure I'd want to eat the same stuff that you are. You can see how old they are when I was told as a kid. It depends on how many circles they got on the back or how many of those they have on the back there. You can tell their age. I want to go over there. There's more seats over there across the pond. I think that's really nice. I'm not going to circle the pond because I know that there's no signal over there. We're real fortunate to have it so far. But, you know, it's a good thing.

28:43 John Daub: Hit that like button if you like these. I really want to hear from you. A lot of you have let me know that I've been doing a lot of newsworthy stuff. I get it. There's a lot of stuff happening. But let me know what you think of the gardens. You know, strolling in some of these parks here, taking a look at these, this aspect of Tokyo. Is that something you're interested in? And hit the like button. Usually that'll help me also determine if you don't have a lot to say. I've done live streams in Tokyo Disneyland, but live streaming is prohibited now inside of the park. So keep that in mind. They will stop you if you see you live streaming. You're not allowed to do that. You can film, but you can't live stream apparently. Especially if it's monetized. I think they've become quite strict on that. But in the past, I have done it before I got those warnings. So you shouldn't be live streaming in Disney. You won't, if you do find people doing it, it's not the right thing to do.

29:43 John Daub: I'm trying to, I'm always somebody trying to do the right thing. Right? Cause you know, YouTubers, we like to have some edge, you know, because we want to get people to view. But yeah, I think I'm past that now and a little bit. I think it's important to do the right thing. So you all do the right thing. Cause I live here. You have to do the right thing. All right, let's go up this way. Luke is here. You should come to Dublin, Ireland. I've been to Dublin twice. I'd love to go back. I did so much traveling before the social media age. Of course I went, I stayed in Dublin. It was even expensive back then in 1997, 1998. Wonderful, wonderful city. Had so much fun. Go to the pubs. Talk with people. I went up to Belfast as well. And had some amazing talks, discussions with locals up there. Didn't get a lot of Western tourists at the time in 98. But had a lot of really good discussions. And had some really good beer. And the music is amazing.

31:00 John Daub: All right, let's go around the other way. I'm going to cut across here again. Another great thing about coming to the park. It really clears your mind. There's so much distraction, so much stuff happening all around. This helps you reset a little bit. Just taking a stroll. Kind of a focus on something different here. I'm going to take it to the other side, just up to that mountain there. Cause I'm pretty sure that the signal is non-existent over in this area. But you're looking at live images of Tokyo. It's not a, it's like, it's a cloudy overcast day. It's warm though. I still got shorts on. But not warm enough where it's like a, you know, you have to. You still need a light jacket. And at night it goes down to where you probably should have pants on. But I'm going to fight this out until as long as I can. You're wearing shorts until you can't any longer. I look like a slob because maybe I can. It's probably a good idea not to. When you're in the city to dress a little better than I usually do. But go with what makes you comfortable. You know, you can have hiking stuff up here.

33:38 John Daub: This is new ground. We got a nice image of the park. I wanted to switch to the main lens here. I like how they cover the trees just a little bit. I think it keeps it warm. They put it up at points. I think that are packed full. But the way they do it with the straw like that, like the komo-maki (straw-wrapped trees). It's really traditional. Look. Oh, this is so cool. Look at this. The stepping stones go right into the pond all around the side. You could choose your own adventure. Go one way. Or go this way. And we got really nice views from the stepping stones here. Oh, look at this. So while you're strolling and you don't fall in. You get a nice view of the tea house over there.

35:01 John Daub: Sure, I've done collabs with other people, but it's not. I'd rather do collabs with my friends. I'm not really interested in other streamers. I guess you guys would be. I'm not. I don't care to meet, you know, someone who's just streaming like me. I mean, what do they have to offer? A point of view. I think it's kind of cool to have people that are my friends, you know, family. A new point of view. But I've done it before. A lot of people ask me to do stuff, but. I don't know. I'm not really. I collab with my friends. People that I get along with that. I like that. Add value to what you guys are watching for. There's not a lot of value just because it's a person. The YouTuber. I don't do things just for views. Kind of do it because I think it's fun, you know.

36:27 John Daub: All right. This corner of the park. There's not that much here. But. I think. Taking this stroll. It certainly will clear your mind. And if you're having a bad day. Getting a book. I saw a couple of people with books. Imagine them. People with books. Imagine. This is a great place. And this is a great weather for it. You probably want to have a jacket on. You can have a. Bring in a. A can of coffee or hot. Hot coffee from somewhere. The many cafes around Kiyosumi-Shirakawa. And you can just sip it inside the park and watch the ripples. And really. You can just read a book. And spend an hour or two doing that. My gosh. I miss books too. I have not read as much as. As I probably should have. I usually. I used to read 25 books a year. And now it's. Not nearly. Enough. Time to get back into that.

37:28 John Daub: Try to read in the morning. Every morning. Wake up early. Read for an hour. Stimulates the mind. And this park does too. You know. I think the one thing that I always learned was like. The great thing about cooking. Or just doing the laundry. Or doing any kind of a task. Is that if you just put all of your mind into doing that one task. It relieves so much stress. And helps you forget all the other things that are going around. Cooking is great in that way. You kind of just forget about everything else around you. And you focus on a task. Walking around the pond. Same thing. You go one time around the pond. Just look around and enjoy. And by the time you finish the circle. You probably will have forgotten all the things that were really stressing you out in the world. And for me. It certainly did the trick. I'm ready to go back and attack some of the editing now. Get back home and do it.

38:19 John Daub: If you have any questions. Let me know in the comments below. I love to hear from you guys. If you have any other parks. Maybe Rikugien is a place that we'll go this autumn. To check out the autumn foliage over there. But this is. Ramsey Sands at 61 books this year. Well done brother. That's inspiring. I think I've read maybe three. It's awful. This is the worst year of them all. But. There's still time to catch up. See you next time. There's still time to catch up. Frank. I respect that so much. Frank spends $500 to $1,000 a month on books. A month. Wow. Are there first editions? That's really great.

38:56 John Daub: You know what I do? I go to the library. They even have English books at the library in Tokyo. Which is crazy. And you can get the library books. You don't have to spend money. You share that wisdom. Don't read library books on the toilet. Please don't do that. I know some people do that. Please don't do that. That's nasty stuff. I don't want to. As somebody who respects and loves the library. I, you know. I respect the book. Very old books. Jason. Why are you laughing out loud, Jason? What does that mean, Jason? All right, guys. Take care. Thanks for joining me this afternoon. Or this evening. Wherever you are in the world. I'll see you in another livestream tomorrow. Probably it's election day.

39:41 John Daub: I know you guys are reading your smartphones there. That's why. When somebody. Can I just be honest? When somebody gives me their smartphone to take a picture. I'm very hesitant to take a picture. Would you take a picture of us? That doesn't happen so much thanks to the selfies. I'm very hesitant to touch somebody's smartphone. Nobody really cleans those things. And I know. All right. Call me a germaphobe. Whatever. But I know that they're watching whatever they are on the hopper. Let's be real here. You're going to know. You're going to know what you're touching. But with library books. Yeah. I love the libraries and take advantage of your local library. There's a lot of good books in there. You don't have to pay for. You can give them back. There's no space in your house. At least in my house to take them. So there's something really great about it.

40:36 John Daub: Leo's going there. He's discovered the library and we go in there. They get a place. Play areas or corners where they can take a book and go through the pages. And he can't read yet. But he's. He loves. Looking at all the stimulated by all the different books. And pictures here. Just like the images you're getting from this live stream. All right, everybody. Thanks so much. I will see you tomorrow. It's going to be an election day. So maybe we'll go get those. Those Pokemon doughnuts. Which are coming out. Here it is. Here's the. I have a picture of it. Here we go. The Pokemon doughnuts. Which are coming out in. 24 hours. Some social media people have already gotten their hands on them. But they're bringing it back. But we're going to see how different they are. There's some really good looking ones. And this should take the edge off of the election results. For those that are watching.

41:33 John Daub: Go. Please go out and vote as well. I'm not telling you who I voted for. It's none of your business. It's nobody's business who you vote for. Don't try to go on social media and influence people. Except for one thing. Go out and vote in your United States. Go out and do it. Let's see if we can get 100 million people doing it. I think that's a good thing. But you don't need to know who I voted for. And it's none of your darn business. Lonely is like what election? Yeah right. The whole world is watching this. Japan news is just filled with the election. It's really crazy. But let's go eat some donuts tomorrow. Until then you go check out the Oscar Watermelon video or something. Matane.