00:01 John Daub: Hello everybody! Welcome to Tokyo Ginza. This is Golden Week, May 5th. This is actually Children's Day, right? Boys' Day? Yeah. And today, it's Dada and Leo's day out since Mama is working, and I wanted to share a little bit about Golden Week, as well as Children's Day, and share today.

00:21 John Daub: Leo, do you want to say something? What do you want to say to the people? You want to dance? No? He does, actually. So today, we're just going out, we're riding bicycles. Let me share with you what we did today. So, we went out for a burger, we're riding around Yurakucho. A couple of people saw us and said hi, which is nice. It's always good to meet with people.

00:49 John Daub: I love this 360 camera. It gives us a chance to look around. They had classical music concerts playing in Yurakucho today at the International Forum. So we luckily got a seat, a couple of burgers, and we were able to... It was nice to watch the pigeons and the crows go by and listen to the music in the background. Yeah, opening the garage. Yeah. And then after that, we got back on the bicycle and we're riding around. We went to the Kochi store and... All the stores he wanted to go to.

01:23 John Daub: This accidentally... something happened. Oh, see, look. Did you notice that? He lost the ketchup. What happened to it? We had to clean it up. Here's the classic, I'm holding it there, but you can see there's the classical music. They're playing violin, they had Mozart going and a bunch of other songs Leo has heard only in... Yeah, the music he hears in Looney Tunes, basically.

01:51 John Daub: Look at him, he's like, you could do this by yourself, right? I didn't help you at all. So that was our day so far today. You want to say something now? Yeah, yeah. So what are they doing? Okay, he sees a microphone there. You want to dance? You going to dance? All right, Leo, ready? Do it! No. Well, he needs music, I guess. Paw Patrol? You can't put a guy on the spot like that.

02:42 John Daub: Sometimes he just makes his own music. I think he'd be able to build a song. He'd build up quite an audience. The great thing about Golden Week in Tokyo is a lot of people just get out of town, but tourism has brought it. Most of the people here are from like neighboring countries around Asia or international tourists. I'd say about 15% of the people here are actually Tokyoites, which is kind of cool. There's the Mitsukoshi building.

03:19 John Daub: Show Leo, everybody can hear you, the microphone's right here so when you're singing everyone hears you. You don't understand. One of the best places is that corner up there because you get to look down on the park here. Okay, come on, let's go to a vending machine, hold my hand, many people, stranger danger. Let's see if we can find a vending machine. I appreciate the super chats everybody, gotta make sure he stays real close.

03:51 John Daub: Golden Week is a time typically I would leave but the prices were always really high, but it was the only time if you're working in a Japanese company to be able to get out of town and have a complete week to yourself. And nowadays it's a time where I stay in and edit and work because there's no reason to go out for me anymore like that. We're going to Guam next week anyways and thank you to about the 30 people who contacted me through Instagram to meet up. We're going to do a Wednesday night market in Guam and we'll be there probably around 5, 5:30 when there's still some daylight because we would love to meet all of you and we'll try to do it live and at least I'll record it and share with you.

04:35 John Daub: Look at that, there's a lot of shops here on the weekend. Share with you that information, they, our viewers in Guam, that's gonna be really cool. I don't know how many people are gonna show up but if we get about 30 people that contacted me with their families this could be a pretty big meetup. And I want to shout out to Hank who is quickly becoming a really good friend. He lives in Guam and we've been contacting back and forth and he's helped me out immensely as well as a few other people with the sites and information and places we should go.

05:08 John Daub: Leo, do you see it? I don't see any vending machines. You know where we can go over here? Wait, first we gotta get out of the middle of the street. Ray writes in here, happy Golden Week, Leo-kun. This is Boys' Day today. Leo, no sticks, no sticks, this is the city. It's one thing to do it in a park, another thing to do it on the streets here.

05:51 John Daub: These are the kind of videos in five, ten years just really kind of appreciate like the wedding video I did in 2018 that's on this channel where I suddenly went live and told everybody oh by the way I'm married. That was funny, maybe one of the funniest videos that we have from the wedding day is that day because it was right literally before the ceremony and my wife's like stop streaming, stop streaming. You guys remember that? She didn't say it but she said it with her eyes in the video so you can see that on this channel which is hilarious.

06:31 John Daub: There's a Starbucks here, I might actually just get a... JKO Adventures remembers that and I thought I saw Ramsey Silent in the house, thank you Rams. They have this mango tea passion fruit latte but or tea thing but we just get it without the tea and then they just give them the mango. I guess they could do that at the Starbucks but there is this top secret and I say secret because it's usually really empty in the back of the Ginza Six building where you could sit up there and kind of take and soak up the atmosphere.

07:09 John Daub: But I have to say when we were eating burgers up here in Yurakucho that's not a good pose to stop on, it's really really nice to be up there, I'm sorry, to be in the International Forum because they have the trees there and it's shaded and it's so warm today, really nice. Oh by the way here's the postcard that's going to be sent from the Expo. I want to say we thank you to everybody, we hit our target which was 15 new members and actually we ended up getting about 25.

07:46 John Daub: So if you want to get a postcard you have until... All right, we're going to Guam on the 12th because of Golden Week the postcards don't arrive until the 12th because they're not printed yet. So I'm going to Osaka to hand deliver these postcards and on the back there's a QR code with a special video that I made when I was there so you get to play that video that's on the back of the postcard which is kind of cool, just scan it with your camera and then it'll open up the link.

08:15 John Daub: And I'm going to take this hand deliver it to the post office at the Expo so it gets an Expo cancel mark on the stamp which is an Expo stamp. This is a super special postcard, it's limited to the amount of stamps that I have as well. I think we're okay if we get 15, 20 new people there so yeah I'll be taking so sign up before the 15th of May and I'm going to take your card and you'll have an Osaka stamp from the Osaka Expo cancel mark on this Osaka Expo postcard.

08:42 John Daub: And I want to say thank you to all of you for making that possible because I wouldn't have gone on the Shinkansen and wasted a day or invested in a day to do this without your support. So thanks to everybody for doing that. Last month's cards have all gone out and if for some reason it never arrives or gets completely demolished, I will send you a new one so you don't have to worry about that. 99.9% of them make it to you just fine from Tokyo. But they are postcards. Sometimes it happens.

09:10 John Daub: Alright everybody, Leo, I guess we're going to go find a drink or a vending machine. The one thing I want to tell you about here, Golden Week is a crowded time. And even in Tokyo when locals get the heck out of the city, a lot of people from the countryside do come in. Less now than before. People just aren't traveling. The prices in Tokyo, the hotel prices are off the charts expensive right now. So a lot of domestic tourists are not coming to Tokyo. They're going to other places. And the city right now is just filled with international tourists, which it just feels like a different Golden Week than from years past.

09:54 John Daub: And during those years from 2020 to 2023, even this platform doesn't like it when you say the word. It's crazy, right? Free speech. But this place was so empty just two years ago on Golden Week. This place was so empty. Even 2023, there weren't a lot of people. There is a place called Happy Pancakes at the end of the street. They ask for a two weeks in advance reservation to go in there. And the waiting line for it is like 300 minutes if you don't have a reservation. That's insane for souffle pancakes, which are not even Japanese. They were invented in... I'm making a video on that that's going to be released in a couple of months.

10:41 John Daub: So pretty crazy stuff. And you can go to another Happy Pancake place that has no wait. Just go to Funabashi in Chiba or some other place. You don't have to make a reservation for it. They've got tons of locations. I thought it was kind of crazy. Okay, Leo, you follow the leader. Follow the leader. Okay, you go. Follow the leader.

11:07 John Daub: Whenever we go to the playground, Leo says that you're Captain Hook. And I'm... he's Peter Pan. Why can't I be Peter Pan, Leo? Because you are bad. Leo, do you see Kumamon? No. I spy Kumamon. Where is he? I see Kumamon. Leo. Leo. Touch Kumamon. Five, four, three, two, one. Leo. Ha ha ha ha ha ha. Why Kumamon? I don't know. But... but... I don't know Kumamon. Why is there Kumamon? Is this a sticker? I think maybe this is going to be the Kumamoto store?

12:05 John Daub: We can go to the Kumamoto store. So the final thing I just want to say here, because I could talk for hours. No. I want to go to Fukushima. This is Golden Week to me. Do you see the sunshine, Leo? It feels like summer is around the corner. Almost no humidity. It's so nice and warm. This is perfect weather. I can see the sun, Dada. Oh yeah, you better get your sunglasses. He says his eyes hurt. Well, don't look at the sun directly. Kind of do it indirectly.

12:35 John Daub: This is the kind of weather that is Golden Week here. So this is why I say, yeah, you know what? It might be really crowded and expensive this time of year to travel. But Golden Week ends in two days. And then the prices go back to normal. And between early May and like June 10th, usually before the rainy season, this is the best season to be in Japan. Forget the cherry blossoms. Spring has broken and it is now full on warm weather where you could wear shorts and sandals and a nice shirt. I like to wear button down and enjoy even in Tokyo this wonderful weather. This is the time, the best time.

13:22 John Daub: So just want to let you know that. Look at all the people just hanging out on the street enjoying Golden Week. And on the holidays they shut down Chuo-dori (main avenue) here. So you don't have to do it. Any final words before we say goodbye? You want to say, look, everybody is here. There's UFO Bob. You're not impressed? What? There's Saya. You remember Saya? Oh yeah. He likes Saya. You haven't met UFO Bob yet. He's going to come to Japan soon. Remember Joy? Yeah. Joy brought us those purple cookies from Philippines. Remember? Those are really good Joy. I remember those. Those are really good.

14:15 John Daub: You want to say anything? Is there anyone have the Leo emoji? He wants to see it. If you remember you get the Leo emoji. Leo look. Someone's going to, someone's definitely going to do it. I don't even know if we have it. There's 300 people watching. More. More than 300 people. Almost 400 people watching. You have to have a comment Leo. Nothing? It's hard to put a dude on the spot. All right, come on. He's also getting a little bit sleepy because... Sleepy people here. And there's a lot of people around here.

15:04 John Daub: And I left my bike at the... Oh Leo look. There, there it is. It's Leo. Look. Ray did it. Steve. Look now he's happy. Look there's you. Ramsay Silent did like 10, 11 of you. And Super Mr. Crazy man has Leo the lion. That's you. One, two, three, four. One, two. I went by fast. That was Ramsay Silent. He's counting yours Ramsay. Yoda Jedi has two. That's easy. One, two, 11, 12, 13, 14. Now in Japanese. 18. Japanese. One, two. Two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15. He sees the face. And if it looks Japanese he speaks Japanese and if you don't look Japanese he speaks English. Or he just runs away.

16:13 John Daub: Now he'll speak to you. So if you do come and say hi to us on the street he'll make the determination and then pick the language. It's pretty cool. I mean I teach him English but not really like hardcore. But we talk and converse a lot so he picked up stuff since he was born and we talk English at home. Pretty smart. It's good when you grow up with two languages because then you always have a second perspective. A different way to look at things each time.

16:38 John Daub: So does the camera look Japanese or Western? I don't know. But I told him Ramsey Silent when he comes here. Ramsey Silent's a big dude. And I said Leo's not going to be afraid of the big dudes, right? So we're looking forward to seeing Ramsey Silent. Ramsey Silent's as big as a bear. He's like seven feet tall. Don't do that. I'm going to get a little dirty. Oh my god. We're looking at your feet. Can you moonwalk? Moonwalk. Moonwalk. That's pretty good. Brondania's going to be… Hey look, Brondania's here. You want to say hi to Brandy? Brandy's watching. Say hi Brandy.

17:32 John Daub: Are you going to go to Disney with Brandy? Brandy and us, we always go with Brandy to Disneyland. It's so much fun. No I want to go to Disney. But we went there with Brandy last time to DisneySea. Don't you want to go Disneyland this time? No well Brandy where do you want to go ah he's trying to sit in my knee oh all right we'll go see what Brandy wants.

18:02 John Daub: All right let's get moving here we gotta go back to the bicycle I parked it at the Nagano store. They're probably wondering where this guy went. I didn't know they have a... look they have a 100 yen shop, Seria (100 yen shop). What store do you want to go to? Ah there's the Kumamon store. The Kumamon store is... So on this avenue here, Sotobori-dori (outer moat avenue), there's a Kumamon... ah there it is, Kumamoto-kan (Kumamoto prefecture shop) right here it's just around the corner.

19:02 John Daub: Okay that's Yurakucho and we ate the burger um right here International Forum here uh that's uh Yurakucho station oh no no we ate it here the International Forum is down here uh that's where the oh this is where the Uniqlo is and the Kochi store that's the Kochi store and there's the Muji Hotel and here that's the police box koban (police box). Elevator okay let's go we're gonna take everybody to the Kumamoto store.

19:34 John Daub: I think Peso is still here aren't you Peso is still in town he was up in he caught the cherry blossoms up in Aomori I think he went up to Hakodate he's with the... oh my gosh what's it is your day it's Boys' Day so. So now we're just cruising through Ginza. I just love all the trees lined along Ginza avenues and alleys.

20:21 John Daub: I guess it's Kids' Day but it's really for the boys uh Hina Matsuri (Girls' Festival) is the girls festival that's on March 3rd, 3/3 and on 5/5 it's kind of like the Boys' Day and Grandpa Leo's uh Gigi uh Kanae's father bought Leo a helmet like a Japanese samurai war helmet kabuto (samurai helmet) and those are the things that you give to boys on the 5th and we'll stop by the shrine and give a little prayer and yeah that's sort of how we celebrate and he gets like some treats tonight at dinner probably I think Mama's going to bring some stuff home but I have because she's working that's why that Leo and I are hanging out today.

21:07 John Daub: Oh this is uh if you remember see this the Lupin this was in I believe You Only Live Twice in the James Bond movie you can see it in the background so there's some like old legacy stuff here in Ginza I'm pretty sure that was in the background of some of the old movies in the 1960s the alley bars they have not a lot of them have not changed for 50 years or more. I say I'm not a koinobori (carp streamers) or kabuto (samurai helmet) so boys get kabuto on their I guess fifth birthday but I think Gigi bought him one this year I guess five years old is a sort of a big deal in Japan for boys.

22:07 John Daub: Just a note if for Irvine if you're here I think our cut to don't place went out of business or moved location Tonki is gone or it's permanently closed he's for 2021-2025 and No Face it's that guy. Leo the Kumamoto store's here but you have to hold my hand because there's some cars here there's Tonki down there it says Tonkatsu somebody said that it closed down so I went there and wasn't open as something something's going on there.

22:55 John Daub: Tonki has been around for a long time I think they have more than one shop but there's an Asics store I want to ask why the Asics why they don't have some shoes they have the super they don't have the Superblast in Japan but they carry the Nova Blast the answer because they could sell it for $200 in the United States but they can't sell it for 30,000 yen which is the equivalent in Japan so they prioritize the Western market over the domestic market which is kind of crazy.

23:35 John Daub: All right here's the Kumamoto store Leo right here Kumamoto do you see it in the green blue and black a green blue and red Asics no Onitsuka Tiger yes. Maybe. If you ever read Phil Knight's Shoe Dog book, you kind of don't come out with a nice image of Onitsuka Tiger after reading Phil Knight. But of course, they are this competitor. There you go. Kumamoto store.

24:18 John Daub: Leo has a new favorite song. You want to sing your song? We've been learning about American presidents. What's a president's song? Hail to the Chief. Can you do it for us? Who's your favorite president? I don't know why. Truman? Why do you like Truman? What about Eisenhower or Nixon? Or Johnson? Andrew Johnson? After Lincoln? What about Lincoln? Who do you like? George Washington? Washington? Yeah, George Washington was pretty good.

25:21 John Daub: He likes Truman because Grandpa and Grandma were born during the Truman era. What about FDR? He doesn't know FDR so much. He's a four-term president. Four times he was president, FDR. He's from New York. Do you like Trump? Up, up, up. Oh yeah. Madison. Madison? Yeah. You like Madison? Yeah. How do you know Madison? He was the fourth president? Yeah. How do you know that?

26:09 John Daub: Who was a better president? Lincoln or Washington? Madison. Who? And moderators, you don't have to block someone if they write in. If they think Trump is president, don't block them. If they think Biden is the best president, don't block them. Let people speak. There's nothing wrong with that.

26:40 John Daub: The Kumamon. Yeah. The what? No. The [inaudible]. No? No. What do you mean? Kumamon the thing that's... Who is the Night Bot? Yeah, I guess it's... Well, we're going to have to fix the Night Bot, but... There's nothing wrong by just saying which president that you like. There's nothing political about that. It doesn't matter.

27:29 John Daub: Hey, everybody. Come on over here, Leo. People have their personal preferences, and you should be able to say that. Here, Leo. What's this? I don't know, but say goodbye to everybody. Grandma and Grandpa might be watching, too. All right. Bye, everybody. Bye, everybody. Thanks for watching, hanging out on Golden Week. It's a holiday, so we have to have a good time here. Thanks, everybody. Bye, Mom. Goodbye, Mom.