Hey guys!
Morning. So we're in Tokyo today in Ota ward. Yesterday we were at Haneda airport, filming the airport Yeah. and they recommend some spots around the airport that we visit. Right. So that's what we're doing today. Just a long day of exploring. And this is actually right near where [we stayed at our hotel]. Anamori Inari Shrine. Inari shrines are my favorite. They're the fox shrines. Yeah, fox shrines. I looked up on Wikipedia how many there are and supposedly it's like 32,000 Inari shrines across Japan. Which is kinda crazy. Is that maybe the most popular type of Shinto shrine? Could be, yeah. It probably is. I also looked up that their messengers,
the foxes that are their messengers, are just like pure white little snow foxes. And how adorable is that! That's the cutest thing ever. I just really like foxes. Well all right, I guess here we are. Foxes!
Wait, you can see the fox. No look! It's mommy and a baby fox this time. :D That's so cute. This is actually the first time for me to
see the fox statue at a shrine. The first time seeing a fox statue? Yeah, it's normally not a fox in my city. We see them all the time. Not the fox. While we've been traveling. I mean, in my city. In your city? Yeah, it's normally dog. Inari shrines are the ones with all of these gates. Yep. Like this. So the really big shrine in Kyoto, that's also an Inari shrine. Fushimi Inari, yeah. Fushimi Inari Taisha. That's the main one. That one supposedly has like 10,000 gates? Or something? But I looked it up online and there's one Japanese dude who walked through and actually counted every single gate. Really?
Yeah. And I think he did collaborations or got numbers from
other people who walked through and counted every single gate and it ended up being significantly less. It was like 1/10th of the actual number they're supposed to have. Oh really? I remember there were a bunch of them, yeah. But they're always adding more because these are all donated by companies and... I don't know, maybe individuals can donate, too? So if you look on the back of all of these They have the names of the companies and people who paid for them. So... I wonder if we could... I wonder how much it costs. [overly dramatic gasping]
JUN We should do a Rachel & Jun gate. I'm going to look up how much it costs Uh-huh. to donate one. We should donate a gate to Fushimi Inari Taisha. That would be amazing. I just want to write on the back in English RACHEL & JUN & FRIENDS What are all those little gates for?
Omg. There's so many of them. Yeah, I've never seen small gates like these. What is it for? I have no idea. [teasing]
You're Japanese. You should know. Mayoke? (魔除け)
[a talisman that wards off evil] How do you explain mayoke? I don't know. Maybe- My parents have hamanoya (破魔の矢), which is an arrow and you just put it in the house. And that helps you... prevent getting bad luck. Maybe could be one of these? Anyway, if you want to find an Inari shrine like this there are Inari shrines EVERYWHERE. But not all of them have lots of gates like this. This one's really nice. Yeah, it is. If you want to come here and get shots with gates where no one else is going to be. And you don't have to go to Kyoto for it! So if you're just visiting Tokyo, and you want to come get
some cool shots of gates this would actually be a really good spot for that. And they got the fox with the baby statue. All right.
Let's get to the next place! This is a very popular restaurant and they have these
amazing eel tendon. I'm SUPER EXCITED.
It's in Ota-shijo, the market. I've never had eel tendon.
REALLY?! It's delicious! I've never had... I don't think I've ever had deep fried eel. Really?? Yeah. I'm sure you'll lovei t. What's the name? Name of what?
This restaurant. This restaurant? Fukuju. Fukuju.
Yep. Fukujo. Let's go! That's huge! That's really big. Wow. So this is anago-don. Basically there's rice on the bottom and on top there's a giant deep fried eel. Anago.
Yeah, anago. Anago's my favorite!
[unagi is another popular type of eel] I know, it's my favorite as well. So hungry.
Itadakimasu! And that's an eel bone? Yeah, it's eel bone that they deep fried so you can eat this bone as well. It may sound weird to you guys, but the best snack
in Japan, unagi pie, is made from eel bones. Actually, that's right! Yeah, exactly. Anyway, itadakimasu.
And I don't know how to start, but I'll try. Why don't you eat the eel bone? Sure! Eat that eel spine! Tastes good. Wow, this is so huge. Mmmmm On the outside it's really crunchy and on the inside it's really juicy and fluffy. It's so good. Hooow was it?! 2 thumbs up, 10/10 TEN. OUT. OF. TEN. It was definitely worth it. You should definitely come here and try this. Yeah, it was really really good. It tasted... basically like a snack. Like a Japanese deep fried snack that you could get
at a conbini or supermarket. This is better than what she's explaining so you should try it. Yeah, it's really good.
If you are afraid to try eel in Japan, it's really really delicious. But if you're afraid to try it, this is a really good way
to try it first. Uh-huh.
Because it's deep fried. So I mean, deep fried makes everything taste better. And you can't see that it's eel. It doesn't look like eel. Yeah, you guys even deep fried a whole sushi right? Yep. It's really delicious. If you're around here I would definitely recommend trying it out. Anyway, this is blah blah repeating selves Gochisousamadeshita. Right now we're at Kamata station, which is really close to Haneda airport. Takes less than 10 minutes I think by train.
[24 minutes, but nice try] At Ota Tourist Information Center. But it's not just an information center. You can also do a lot of stuff here. So we're going to try on a kimono and do a tea ceremony. Let's go! They also have like... calligraphy... Yeah, we can do all kinds of stuff here, I guess. Hello! Taiken (culture experience) is this way, please. You don't need this? I'm fine, thank you. May I borrow it then? Here's another one for you. I'm glad. How do I use this? Isn't this weird? You're the one using it? You're using a seat. I'm the one ... All right. Why not? I'll just try not to use it. I'm just making fun of you. Thanks. Pleased to meet you. Now please drink it. Wipe and purify your fingers with this. Turn the cup twice. Place it over the line of tatami. Now let's look at the cup and enjoy the artisan's work. When you look at the cup, make sure the cup is close to the floor. Is this hagi yaki? Yes. This was made in the place called hagi in Japan. Hold it like this. Turn it twice. Now thank her for making the tea. Please make me great tea. Pour half of the ladle. Could you give me a mixer? Very good. You better enjoy this. You're doing very good. You better enjoy my tea. I worked really hard on that. Thank you for making the tea. Hold the cup. Place your left hand underneath it. Turn the cup. Finish drinking it within a few sips. Return the cup to where it was. How was it? It was fun. Thank you very much. I had fun, too. Me, too. I'm glad. She was very excited. So now we're going to be wearing kimono! This one's the easy one, right? Yeah.
Just put it on. Very easy. I like that design.
Yeah, isn't it pretty? It is pretty. Wow, that was quick. This is the fastest I've ever worn a kimono. Yeah, that was quick. That was like a 5 minute kimono. [they're so cute! lol] Do you want to pose with umbrella? Oh, okay! They have everything for you! All right. It's your turn, Jun. Sure! Jun, you look like a jedi. Where's my lightsaber? Obi-wan Jun? I feel like they stole our idea. No, that's like a whole thing. Just kidding. No, it's like a whole thing that Star Wars was taken from samurai. Omg, he's just a jedi. You're so jedi! It's even more jedi now! Why are you so tall? It's from my dad. Thank you, dad. These jeans... Even he's making fun of me now. Even the guy in charge is making fun of Jun. How'd you like it? I look really good in mine.
You just look like a jedi. So if you're a male and you wanna be a jedi, come here. You can be a jedi. And bring your own lightsaber if you want. If you want to do the kimono wearing like this, then you have to make a reservation in advance. So if you think you're going to be passing through Haneda airport and you want to leave and come here, it's like 10 minutes [25, actually] from the airport. Then, make a reservation when you're going to be here. It's pretty easy too, and they speak Japanese as well. Yeah, they have a translator, and they're very nice. And they have a board of picture of other people wearing kimono from around the world, so you can get your picture on the board. So ours is gonna be on there too, I guess?
Yep. [Nope--we didn't have time lol] Pretty, pretty. Thank you! Thank you. So we're done filming kimono here and we're heading to Daini Hinodeyu which is an onsen.
Onseeeen! Let's go. So we made it to the onsen! It's a black onsen.
[the onsen has "black" water] It's a black onsen, as you can see. We did not know it was a black onsen. Have you been there?
I've never seen a black onsen in real life before. Actually, me neither. Jun didn't know it existed, even. I should be ashamed. Good job being Japanese, Jun. But it's common in Tokyo. We're going to go explore it together for the first time. Let's go inside. So apparently they rotate days for the outside onsen. And today is MEN'S day. So only Jun can enter the onsen. TOO BAD. So I won't be going in the onsen. Sorry for everyone who wants to see naked Rachel but it's gonna be ME.
Sorry. So this is the onsen entrance. And we worked it out with the owner so that I can come and film Jun by entering through this small-ass side door over here. And walking through the garden to come out the side and like... sneak shot film Jun outdoors. In the onsen. He didn't bring any swimwear or anything, so. Because you don't wear swimsuit in onsen.
They told us to bring swimsuits and I brought my swimsuit, and I was like "Jun, you should bring your swimsuit!" And he was like "Nah." I'm Japanese. I don't wear swimsuit when I go to onsen. All right, go please enjoy your onsen. I'll see you inside. Hi Jun! Hi. How is your onsen? It's really nice. Jun, we finally got our onsen shot! Yaaay. We finally have a video with an onsen! I'm sorry everyone who wanted to see beautiful my wife but instead you got me. AH HA HA HA Come on Jun, you have to look sexier. This is our one shot. This is our onsen video. Why don't you like come sit here? Here?
Yeah. Okay. Okay Jun. Look seductively over your shoulder. [NOT SEDUCTIVE]
Hi. :D It's really dark.
Yeah, it is. It's really cool. Wait okay, so why is it dark? Umm... I don't know the term in English but apparently the substance that's in water? makes this water black.
[....NO DUH] Oil? Like the fossils? How like... I don't know if it's the animals, but the plants and... all kinds of... stuff. Dead living matter.
[It's humic acid, produced from the biodegradation of of dead organic matter, like in peat, coal, and soil.] You are bathing in the remnants of the dead. Yeah.
Okay. All right, well enjoy the rest of your onsen. I'm gonna leave so all the other men can come back and join you. Have fun.
All right. See ya. Hi.
How was your onsen? That was great. I actually got onsen powder from the owner. Oh, you're gonna make an onsen at home? Yeah, this is for you! Oh, okay! Cool. I can try it. How's your skin feel? Uh, it feels actually really nice and smooth.
OOOH! You feel so soft and smooooth. I think my skin's better than yours now. It's always been better. My skin's TERRIBLE. So we're on our way home now and we're walking along a street that's kinda famous here. It's called Bourbon Road. Yeah. Bourbon Road. And they have a lot of restaurants here. Apparently 30 years ago it was a restaurant AND shopping street But, I don't know.
They were not getting along well. It's like the West Side Story. Two factions fought and divided. And one of them had to move a couple streets over.
Yeah, so now they're divided now. And so now this is just all restaurants.
Yep. But it's late, and if we want to catch the shinkansen home before the last shinkansen we have to go, so we're not eating. And I can't even drink. If I drink I won't be able to drive a car. It's illegal. Well it'll still be like 3 hours before you would have to drive anything. Maybe 4. I think you'd be okay by then. You know that I can't really drink. Well anyway, thank you guys for watching! This is Ota Ward.
Bye!
[awkward conclusion OUT]
