00:00:01 John Daub: So here we are in Tokyo. You can see the cherry blossoms, the river, the rain, the cold. The last four days have been less than ideal. It's a very weird cherry blossom season this year because if you look down on the ground, check this out, they're already starting to fall. That means they've reached mankai (full bloom) or 100% bloomed, and now the wind and rain are just knocking them down. This really is the nightmare scenario for the cherry blossoms. It's kind of heartbreaking.

00:00:42 John Daub: So I think there's some hope though. Tomorrow looks like it's going to be a super sunny day, zero percent chance of rain—hallelujah—and completely sunny. I'm going to have to do as much cherry blossom viewing in one day as I possibly can in Tokyo. But for today, let's look at what we have: local area cherry blossoms not that far away. I'm going to take a look at them from where I live in Chuo Ward. We'll go take a look and enjoy these. Let me show you the weather forecast and then we'll walk around the river.

00:01:27 John Daub: Hey guys, I see a lot of you coming into the chat now. Welcome. This is the current situation—it's been like this pretty much for the last three or four days during the peak of the cherry blossoms. It's very disappointing. Carrie, for one of your first cherry blossoms here in Japan, very disappointing, isn't it? But you can see the rain is going to move out tonight, and tomorrow looks very promising indeed. The weather for the rest of the week looks pretty good, so whatever is remaining on the trees, we're going to get a chance to see it over the next week. I'm hoping they hold on past this rain today and any winds that might come.

00:02:48 John Daub: Here's the weather forecast for the rest of the week. Most of Japan looks awesome tomorrow, except maybe Kushiro up there in eastern Hokkaido and Sapporo, which has snow. What? It's going to be a really good day for cherry blossoms all over the country. Thank goodness. The weekend looks pretty good too—Saturday morning in Tokyo, I would expect to be very festive, all the parks full of people. Despite having as many cherry blossoms, look at the moss here. I love this part of the riverside. It goes great with the cherry blossoms.

00:04:00 John Daub: PVG is very busy every March, so maybe next week we'll catch up. The advantage of rain is the contrast—the wood on the cherry blossoms is darker, adding a different kind of beauty. Because the weather is so crummy, you get most places all to yourself, like this mossy paradise along the riverside. You don't have anybody competing, so you can take cute pictures of the blossoms rubbing up against you or replacing your eye like Captain Hook with a flower patch. You could do all sorts of funny things, but just don't pluck the flowers. Hey, ole maon, thank you, kanpai. Let's see if we can find a hot drink—I'm just getting over a really nasty cold.

00:05:32 John Daub: I'm already starting to see some of the green ha (leaves) starting to penetrate through. That means we're well past 100% and on the way down. We're on the way down, but still high enough where it makes sense to go out to the parks and enjoy it. I love this place. We have it all to ourselves. This one's kind of a canopy—the leaves don't start to grow in for another week or two. It's nice to come here, just admire the river and that trash picker-upper boat.

00:06:32 John Daub: This is a trash skimmer boat—it picks up all the trash from the river. It's really cool because there's a conveyor belt: as it picks up the trash, the belt moves it back into the truck. It's neat to see the machines that make a city run. You can't even see Tokyo Skytree right now—just the top of it. Mysterious. Traveling for life. You thought it was a space boat? How dare you—space boat looks so much better. All right, let's go take a look a little bit more. From this point, there's this really beautiful tunnel of it—let's take a look.

00:09:09 John Daub: You can't go right to the water, but I can take you a little bit like right to the edge and clean your eyes here. It is real pretty. Underneath there, it's just cherry blossom trees—some sprouting through, but you get this feel of spring. This is Tokyo, of course. Wow. Because of the weather and rain, I'm staying local today—not going deeper into the city like Shibuya or Ueno. Wait until tomorrow. Where would you like me to go? What area of the city would you like me to stream from tomorrow? Let me know in the comments, and maybe I'll take you to a place based on them.

00:10:50 John Daub: Last weekend, about four days ago, these trees looked like this—the exact same tree. They weren't 100%—maybe 65%—but that didn't stop a lot of people from coming out and having a good time. The weather makes a big difference, doesn't it? So does the blue sky with the contrast of white blossoms. Picnic is really nice here—this is where I am right now. Quite a contrast: there's nobody here. You can get the whole spot to yourself. Usually on a sunny day, families are here scoping it out hours in advance—one family member wakes at 5:30 a.m., sets up the blue sheet, then they come after morning coffee. This is a pretty sakura hanami (cherry blossom viewing) spot, but you can already see petals falling to the ground.

00:13:39 John Daub: This is one of my favorite views in this neighborhood. We're going to go under this bridge here and check it out. You can walk along the river—this is a nice place to hang out and check out the sakura. Oh, they have some murals. When you get to Ryogoku, famous for sumo wrestling, they have amazing tile and cultural art on the river banks. It's free for everybody—shows the history, highlights sumo culture as well as old Edo period culture from the 17th, 18th, 19th century, before the Meiji Restoration. All laid out: old Tokyo in murals on the river side. A lot of people don't know about that because tourists stay at hotels or go to attractions. Sometimes the best attractions are in residential neighborhoods, between the buildings, where tourists aren't. Just the river banks, taking a bento (boxed lunch), having some fun—that's very culturally cool.

00:16:16 John Daub: These yatai-bune (food stall boats) are out. Over the last four days, despite the rain, I went outside a little—you got to get food. But I was sick, so not as much. These were still going—I think this one has food on board. You can get a hot meal on some of the teppanyaki (griddle-cooked). They have stovetop tables, all-you-can-drink beer too. For those drinking, keep going. I don't think there's a vending machine this way. I see we hit our goal—thanks, guys. Let's go up here and see if we can find a drink. There's a convenience store over there, but not a lot of vending machines.

00:18:12 John Daub: The wind is starting to pick up—oh, it's chilly. I think the rain is coming—look at the clouds. The Skytree is disappearing once again. Yesterday felt like winter. Because it's April, with wind and rain, it feels colder than December. This is why this time of year is the worst—a nightmare scenario with extended peak time when wind and rain knock them down. The only blessing is it happened just before the peak. These trees, which weren't blooming a week ago, are starting to hit 100%, so tomorrow will be really good for most. That's encouraging.

00:20:16 John Daub: Look at the way the roots are coming out here. Despite that, no people—and this is important: residential area. Nobody carves names in trees or vandalizes. I've never seen anybody climb. 99.99% of the time, nobody vandalizes, but when you do see it, it's shocking. Every year, people shake branches to make petals fall. In the past I never yelled, but this year I might. Look at this wonderful spot—my wife and I come out here in springtime with nicer weather, eat a bento or get food from a truck, and sit. The sun is usually behind you in the afternoon. Across the river there's a point I like to sit at—like my private beach. The boats come through to the Sumida River—this is a branch toward Toyosu. Those buildings back there are River City 21—one of the first high-rise apartment complexes on Tokyo Bay, where a lot of celebrities live.

00:24:43 John Daub: I love Chuo Ward—this is where I live, one of the 23 wards in metropolitan Tokyo. These cherry blossoms are for babies born in Chuo Ward last year—omedetou (congratulations) for the new births. They just put these in this year. Not a lot—I don't think Leo was born in Chuo Ward, but he probably has his name somewhere. Lions Club—they're doing good stuff. Make sure you carry out your garbage. Why is he so funny? Hey, what's your name? Tell us all about yourself. Trying to make friends out here—there's really nobody. We have it all to ourselves. I think he's eating bugs or nectar.

00:27:50 John Daub: It really stinks that it's been raining. I've been sick, so it worked out okay. The episode I've been editing for a very long time is done—shout out to UFO Bob for previewing, and Peter helped. This episode drops tonight. I've been in touch with Hitachi before the pandemic—I wanted to talk about their elevators, the world's fastest. They said okay, but couldn't because of COVID. Last year I went to the factory, interviewed the manager. It's one of the hardest challenges: faster speed needs more powerful generators, taller space to reach top speed—not zero to 60, needs 100 meters. They did it in a 500-meter-plus building in China.

00:29:39 John Daub: The longer the cable, the heavier; faster it goes, more it shakes and noise; higher you go, more ear pressure—different than horizontal travel. Makes you think about vertical travel challenges compounded by gravity. The world's fastest is 47 miles per hour, or 60-some km/h—not as fast as you think, but really fast in an elevator shaft. Feels much faster, done safely. Nobody's beaten them since 2019. Air pressure is a massive challenge—you'll see in the episode. Shout out to Patreon supporters—not sponsored, lots of info, starts with history back to Empire State Building 1932. Japan learned from Otis, but now specializes in speed. Cool episode—look for it tonight. I do talk about the space elevator.

00:31:39 John Daub: All right, let's get a hot drink to say thanks for the super chats. I was going to get hot hojicha (roasted green tea), but saw Sakura Green Tea—had to do that. This smells so good—oh my word. You got to try this. Itoen one was good, but can't find it. Rich taste and aroma of cherry blossoms—pairs well with Japanese cuisines and sweets. Sugar-free, natural sweetness. If you use boiling water on green tea, it makes it bitter and more caffeine—the bitterness is the caffeine. Use water at 68-70 degrees Fahrenheit: still has caffeine, but brings out sugars for sweeter taste. Never use boiling—let it cool, and tea's natural sweetness comes out. They did that here—not bitter at all.

00:35:49 John Daub: Sakura does have a flavor—floral. Typically Kawazu Sakura (pink ones) are harvested, preserved in salt, so confections have salty-sweet taste with slight floral. Not the Somei Yoshino (white ones)—those don't have the smell, not used in confections. Hundreds of sakura varieties; the white ones most prevalent since Meiji period. Can you imagine that little teeny police car chasing a hot rod? Not much power—lots of Ferraris in this neighborhood though. Chris says Nakameguro—that's a possibility. Tomorrow's the main day for cherry blossoms—make the best of it. Look for the video release tonight—Patreon early access. Postcards going out around April 11th from Tokyo Station—cool postmark. Take care, see you tomorrow with sunny weather. Matane (see you later).