00:02 John Daub: So this is where I spent the night here on the Shinetsu Trail in Nagano. It's a cabin and you can see the shape of it. I guess the snow will come off it easy with that kind of a roof. And we're going to go inside and take a look around. You can see the bedroom. There's even a second floor with a tatami room where you can, I guess you can have up to nine people stay here perhaps. But it's very interesting to look inside of an accommodations in Japan.

00:32 John Daub: It is raining, so we're going to have to be quick. This is the rental car that I drove from Echigo-Yuzawa Station. Nice picnic table when the sun is out. This is where you can have your mountain coffee either from that vending machine or from the cafe inside if it's open. This is the sink and the shower. Now there's no bathtub here because most people will just go to the onsen (hot spring), which is a hot spring. I think they have one inside, but there's a bunch of them around this area that you could go to. Of course, Japan being Japan, the toilet is immaculate. It's one of these washlet toilets that you get and you wouldn't expect to find that in the countryside, like literally in the mountains.

01:36 John Daub: I'm going to show you where I am on the map in a second. This is the place without light. And with the flick of a switch, it's the place with light. It's a lot better. It's comfortable. There's air conditioning up here. It's not what you would expect, I guess, in the middle of the country, in the middle of a forest. It's still kind of mind-boggling to me that we can get this kind of high-speed internet here, but you get it. And very comfortable. Again, this is too much space for one person. I'm not used to it. We got a table where you can work, which is what I've been doing here. I could have worked over there at the desk. This looks like the type of desk that Abraham Lincoln might have used. It smells like it, too. A little musty in here. You got a back door that leads you to nothing or something, which is nature.

02:37 John Daub: The rain is really coming down. Sofa, you know, for watching no TV, because there's no TV here. Nor should there be. The bed was very comfortable. I slept over here. I don't know why I picked that one. Maybe... Which one would you have picked? This one by the steps or that one by the window? I figured this by the desk here. The light was over there, so it just made a lot of sense.

03:07 John Daub: Murasaki writes in here, was that a kitchenette? Well, yes, it was. I'll take you there in a second. This is bear country. This is something that you should definitely be considering when you come here. I'm going to show you a little bit about that in a second. Thank you for sharing your great country with us, James Mair. You're very welcome. I'm glad that you are here. You are in Japan right now, too. This is a kitchenette. There's a couple of rules. This is the gas heater. You can turn the gas on by pushing this button. This is common almost in any Japanese home. There's a gas controller and you can change the temperature. That's what these are up making hotter and colder so you can change the water. And then when you're done, usually I turn it off. I just turned off the pilot light, I guess. So you could do some pretty good cooking here. Gas stove, which I love instead of the electric heaters. You have an oven toaster and a rice cooker. So if you want to make curry rice, that's great for families. A microwave oven, which is pretty amazing. And a bottle of green tea, which is mine. This is the kind that Shohei Ohtani promotes. It's quite good. Refreshing.

04:24 John Daub: Separate the garbage, PET bottles and raw garbage. And I'm going to take you upstairs. I don't know what this is, but I guess it looks like one of those things they store natto in or maybe rice. I don't know. Pickles. Basically everything you need, including a clock and a telephone. I suppose you would call 9 to get to the front desk. It's very much like a hotel. Guess who's in the house with me? Patrick Kang. How are you, Patrick?

05:03 John Daub: Now, this second floor is pretty nice. I gotta admit, I love the tatami. The smell of the tatami is intoxicating. It smells wonderful up here. You can put the futon 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7? I don't know. But you could fit six people up here. And there are six futon. So it's certainly comfortable up here on top. Patrick says here, for those who got membership, be sure to use emoji however you like. And John, lay on the bed and take a rest. Thank you, Patrick. I appreciate that. From a friend from Argentina, according to the currency just selected. Alright, I will take a nap for you, Patrick, here. Ah, there's nothing better than lying on the tatami. It is hard, but it's comforting. There's just something comfortable with the tatami. I really, really like it. A lot of homes these days don't have the tatami because it requires care. You can't just, you know, slap down the tatami and that's the end of it. It's like a living, breathing thing. So you have to replace it every... I think I replaced mine after eight years, I could have gotten replacement in my last rental home. But it's still... it's just easier to put in like wood floors or something. The fake wood floors. But the tatami is nice to have if you get the option. It certainly makes you feel like you're in Japan more.

06:46 John Daub: These are futon. The futon is actually the comforter on the top. And that would be the bottom part of the futon there, I suppose. I actually prefer futon to beds. I don't know why. I just sleep better on harder surfaces. But took time for me to get to that stage. But the bed was very comfortable. So I have to give them two points for the bed on a scale system I just made up. The table was nice. Anything else you guys want to see here? I'm going to show you on the map exactly where we are. And then I'll take some questions. Saya is here too. Hey, Saya.

07:32 John Daub: So this is where we are. This is actually called the Shinetsu Trail. This is what I'm filming here. This area. It's quite a ways I had to take the Shinkansen to get here. I thought I would drive it, but it's just easier to take the Shinkansen. And then instead of driving the whole way... I would have to pay the same amount of money with the tolls. Now see that line above here? That line going around? That's the border of Niigata and Nagano. So I'm pretty much on the border right here in the woods. There's a couple of rice fields there. But not much else. Oh, there's more rice fields over there. And then not much else. There's a river down there. It's in a valley. Historically, they couldn't grow rice here very well. But they found ways to do that through modern technology. I'm going to go down and explore that river and scout. There's a train station down there that crosses the two sides of the trail. So I'm going to go and film there today. Maybe I'll do a live stream. Get some background. And then I'm going to be interviewing and talking with some of the locals here about the trail. And I'm going to make an episode of this when the leaves change. But it's very good to make friends here before you film a main channel episode. I'm pretty much really deep in the Japanese countryside.

08:49 John Daub: When I was driving here... I put the phone down. And check this out. We go right through this torii gate. That's so cool. Right? I thought that was really cool. That was coming into a town. You'll see a lot in the Japanese countryside. You'll see a lot of these really unique sites. You do it in like any country when you go out into the great unknown of the country when you have a rental car. But that's kind of cool to drive around. You drive right through a torii gate going into a small town. There wasn't much else there. I got to the end of the road and I took a left. And you just go straight following the river all around the countryside. There's a lot of traffic lights. Not many convenience stores out here. But that's one of the things that I really love.

09:46 John Daub: Would you all go to Japan for six days? I have eight days off from work and two weeks and debating if I should. William, my advice to you is go whenever you can. For as long as you can. It's not going to be the ideal. But go whenever you can for as long as you can. It's a long flight if you're coming from New York. But if you're coming from other countries, especially neighboring countries, it's a lot less. California. I'd say if you're coming from Hawaii, for sure. If you're coming from New York, you have to think about it. Because 14 hours is a pretty big commitment to be on transportation and a flight. 12 and a half hours depending on which way you're going.

10:24 John Daub: The Shinkansen ride. Of course, you can't go there. But I wish you guys know that. I took the Shinkansen from Tokyo Station. This is the Toki Shinkansen. I think it's Joetsu, right? It goes towards Niigata. The Joetsu Shinkansen. The Toki Express at 1240. There's a Tokaido Shinkansen. The Tokaido Shinkansen. The Tohoku Shinkansen. And that right there is the Joetsu Shinkansen. And that's the one I took. There's a Tokaido Shinkansen leaving. That's the one that goes to Kyoto and Osaka and down to Hiroshima and eventually Hakata.

11:01 John Daub: And what do you think I did on the Shinkansen? Any guesses? Yeah. I got a bento. So this is the one I got. It was shocking to me because autumn has like just started. It's not even officially autumn. But this is the bento that I got. It's the Matsutake Autumn Bento. It's like September 9th. 8th. What the heck? I mean, give us a... I want to enjoy summer for even like another week or so. So that was interesting. It's a double decker. And here I open it up for you. I can't show you the outside without showing you the inside. It's double decker. They make it look like wood, but it's styrofoam. So here's the top part with all the goodies. And on the bottom is the rice. I'm trying to do it one-handed here. But this is the autumn cuisine. How did they even get it? I didn't even know that the matsutake harvest had started. But apparently that's matsutake rice. You got the sanma fish. Ginkgo beans. Little manju in there. Some pumpkin. There's a matsutake mushroom. It's really good. A little pricey though. That bento was 1,800 yen or about $13. Actually, think about it. It's not that bad. But I've lived here in Japan for a long time. And when I think about it, 1,800 yen is a lot of money. If you think about it in US dollars, it's never going to... Because of the exchange rate, it's going to seem like a bargain. But 1,800 yen is a lot for a bento. If you go to 7-Eleven, you can get a bento for 600 yen. Like a third of that price. But you're paying for the beauty of the box and the experience. And it is very special. And very limited bento. And just came out. So, you know, the newest, the best. And I had it on the train. I don't eat ekiben often much anymore. And I'm having trouble finding unagi bento. Which is what I usually go to. But I wasn't able to find it. I guess matsutake is more in season right now. Unagi is more of a summer thing.

13:26 John Daub: I'll take a couple of questions before I tune out. I'm going to go... I got to check out of here. And I'm going to drive around. And I'm meeting a bear hunter for lunch. Oh, that's right. So, I'm meeting a guy. Because the laws in Japan changed this year. Because there's a massive amount of bear attacks or bear experiences. I have a bear spray canister. I got it... A Japanese company imports it from the United States. And the best bear spray comes from the US. It has a kind of like a pepper spray in it. A certain pepper that the bears really hate. So, the bear spray is more effective than a rifle. Number one, it doesn't kill them, first of all. Because they don't know any better. I mean, there's no like a bear college where these... The bear society is like... They're all geniuses. And they're planning out how to get off of Earth to go to space. Bears don't do that. So, they're not exactly the brightest. They're very smart. But you know. We should be able to outsmart them. So, we did. So, instead of having a rifle, we have bear spray which has like a pepper spray. But rather than a pepper spray which is kind of like a stream, this thing emits a mist. So, the can is bigger. The mist gets into their nose which is very sensitive and their eyes. And the pain is so much that they decide it's not worth it. And they turn around and leave. At least that's the hope. I have not heard of a situation where the bear spray did not work. But I have heard that the people use the bear spray incorrectly. You can't point it up. You have to point it... Bears, when they attack, they get low to the ground. So, you have to start off spraying low. Not here but spray low. And then that's where their nose is going to be. And then they jump up on you. So, I got, you know, a little bit of some pointers.

15:26 John Daub: So, I'm going to go talk with a bear hunter who... He has bear on the menu as well. And maybe make an episode on this. Because it's not hunting in general but bear safety, hiking safety. This is one of the things that scares me about hiking here. I have to be honest with you. I'm a little bit freaked out about hiking in Japan. Because on the YouTube, they just keep on showing you bear attack after bear attack.

15:55 John Daub: Flashlight, fly swatter, which I did not need. Some maps and information. I put a link in the description if you're interested in staying here. But it's a pretty cool experience if you've got a family. Or you're just alone, I guess. That's because I'm alone. I guess the bears would be that way. The bears. I have eaten bear before. Some of the ryokan in Gunma, Nagano, Niigata, this area, they have bear on the menu. It's a tough meat. It's not bad. It's tough. The blubber, I think the fat is used as well. Melted into soups. I guess it's supposed to give you power. You don't see bear claws and stuff. Although if you did, isn't that a donut? Bears, is it gamey? I would say like the inoshishi (wild boar), which are the wild hogs that are running around. That tastes a little gamey. And I wouldn't recommend eating it because they eat trash and stuff. So there's an inoshishi problem, which I guess are wild hogs. They got the tusks on them. Especially in Shikoku or in the south, they are all over the place in southwest Japan. They've started to make their way already north. So they're starting to get into like Tohoku. They weren't there originally. And there's not a lot of them, but I've been told by locals that you can see them occasionally. But mostly there's deer. There are bears. And a lot of birds. Some cats. And people. Aussies. A lot of Aussies in this area. I think it might be the Hakuba, the ski resorts. A lot of Aussies moved in here, started businesses. Boars. There you go. I guess they could be boars. But the bear does taste, guess, a little gamey because it's not like the beef or chicken that you get in the supermarket. It is tougher meat. But I think they eat it more nabe here. I didn't eat it like sliced meat.

17:17 John Daub: Vegans are going like, stop talking about this. So there you have it. Lions, tigers and bears. Oh my. I have not eaten lions or tigers though. But in a restaurant in Nairobi called Carnivore for $20 in 2001, I had all you can eat game meat. And that was not on the menu. I guess apparently they have to do some hunting. And instead of for control and instead of not eating it, they sell it to the restaurant. I ate, I think, giraffe, zebra, alligator, like African crocodile, I guess. That was gamey. They had a deer called eland. It's a big deer. That was the sweetest, most tender meat I think I might have ever had. And the Argentina beef, it was out of this world. It was out of sight in Argentina. It was just amazing. And they had these black sausages in Argentina, like tenedor libre, $2 US, all you can eat meat from Argentina. It's like that. It's insane. But, yes, zebra. They had on the table, if you ever get to Nairobi, I don't even know if this restaurant is still in existence. They had a special car that picked us up from our $5 a night guesthouse in Nairobi, which is kind of scary. Because we were really in the city, like deep in the city. And they had different jellies or jams or sauces. It could have been a blood sausage. I'm not sure. It was really tasty. The zebra meat had a mint jelly. The eland, I don't know what, I think it was just salt. It was such a good meat. You could have eaten that with no salt, just as it is. So tender. It's really good. There's a natural sweetness to it.

20:23 John Daub: I could see why people don't eat meat. But I eat meat. But I could see why. Like, I watched that octopus, my octopus teacher movie on the Netflix. And I got to be honest with you, it's hard for me to eat the octopus. Because they're like the humans of the sea. That could be whales and dolphins too. I can't eat a dolphin. I have limits. But you can eat anything. Probably eat that tree right there. If you were hungry, probably. Or a French chef, Japanese chef could probably find a way to make it appetizing.

21:01 John Daub: But that's where I am. We would normally see mountains, sometimes snow capped over there. But not today. That's all I have for you today. For now. I am going to go to a station, a train station, a local one. We'll see if I can maybe do a quick live stream in the afternoon. But it's not the greatest day to be out filming. There's not a lot I can do. I didn't bring rain gear. I have a rain jacket, but it's not... It's for light stuff like this, but not for like a two-hour hike. So I'm limited to yesterday.

21:33 John Daub: Yesterday's dinner, there is... This is so weird. In Japan. This is why you guys who don't get off of the main route, like the golden route, Kyoto, Tokyo, Osaka, you're missing out so much. I walked... Me and Suzuki-san, who's going to be joining me in this... Main channel episode. We're scouting and I'm writing the script, but I wanted to meet him and I wanted to meet the people in the area and talk with people and scout it out before I write the script. So I came down here. And we walked this way for about 15 minutes to a restaurant in the middle of the woods. And it's a beautifully renovated house. And inside is a restaurant of Okinawa cuisine. And we had, you know, the rafute and Okinawa soba and the tempura, the seaweed tempura, which is so good. It's like the spongy, mochi, salty seaweed tempura. It's so good. It was aosa, I think. And there were two kinds. So good. And I had a beer, which I rarely, rarely do. That's maybe my first beer this summer. Although it's autumn now. So it was a good night. And I got a chance to bond with my co-partner here and my partner in crime, I guess, for this one. And he's going to... He hiked the Appalachian Trail in the US. So he has a lot of insight into hiking in Japan. And I think it's a good idea to be able to learn more about this area from local people, right?

23:31 John Daub: But that's about it. So we have a rainy day. This place would look really good if you had come with a bunch of friends. But maybe not so great if you're alone. I get a check out now. Get back to work. I saw Suzuki-san over there. That's why I was waving. But very comfortable place. I got some work done last night writing the script. I went up there and said, maybe I'll sleep here. No, I'm going to stay on the bed. And then I've been working here this morning. But it's very cozy. One thing that's missing, fireplace. That would be the... I would pay more for a fireplace, right? Because you get that smoky smell. But they have gas heaters and they have a heater up here. Danboru. I think that's what it's called. And very comfortable. There's a fan. It's like on the verge of not needing this air conditioner. I wanted to just open up the windows. But I didn't really get comfortable in here until after dark. And I just wanted to go to sleep. So I just took a shower. And typed up a couple of stuff from our meeting. And I fell asleep. Yeah. It does need a fireplace though. I think that would be the icing on the cake of this really, really cozy place.

24:47 John Daub: There's my backpack that I hiked Mount Fuji up with. It's got all my camera gear. But if you have any questions about this, you can go ahead and leave a comment below. You can catch me on the Discord server. If you have a Nitro boost, we always enjoy that. That helps the server. We have these name tags that we like to use. If we have a certain amount of boosts, I really appreciate it. And thanks for the super chats. I'm going to use that. And let's see if we can do another live stream at one of the countryside stations. A little bit more about the Shinetsu Trail today since I'm here. And I'll be going back to Tokyo in, I don't know, about six or seven hours. So I got to make the most out of it with that car right there.

25:30 John Daub: Is it okay to leave windows open in bear country? I guess so. Just keep the screens on there. I don't think bears really, I don't know. But we're seeing bears go into houses. That's a good question. Bottom line is if they can smell food, they're going to want to investigate. So maybe you want the windows at higher up areas. But maybe no. Or not open the windows up so wide. But it's hard not to take advantage of the such amazing air that we got out here. It's so clean. I guess you could. I think it's a little bit humid. But it's cool enough where I don't need the air conditioning. But yeah, maybe the window is not a barrier to a bear. So maybe crack them. If you see the bear coming, I guess you could go like this. Bears typically don't want to fight. The only reason they fight is because their cubs are near. Or they're just really hungry. Or they feel you're encroaching on them. But if they're coming to you, that's different. They probably just want to get the heck out of there if they see you. But we're just seeing more and more bears seem to be used to humans. And they are getting a little bit closer. So it's something that I'm concerned about. Because I'm human. And I look tasty. I have less meat on me. Bears should have gotten me a few years ago during the pandemic. I was a lot meatier.

27:21 John Daub: Alright, take care. I'll see you maybe a little bit later on. Or back in Tokyo. I'm leaving from Echigo-Yuzawa, which is one of my favorite stations. That's the station with the sake vending machines inside. Which is really cool. You get to try about 300 different sake. If you've got a lot of coins. Alright, take care guys. See you again soon. See you.