Exploring Two SECRET Traditional Japanese Towns

good morning hello beautiful people I'm coming to you live just kidding this is pre-recorded I'm coming to you right now from Ucho town uh which is in eim prefecture yesterday I flew from Tokyo to Matsuyama airport and uh also I got the best view of Fuji along the way so if you fly from Tokyo keep an eye out cuz it was beautiful drove all the way here it is super early in the morning because I'm at a beautiful viewing platform looking out over what is soon to be the sunrise I brought a little picnic with me just so you know ehe is famous for It's s and this is their their local mascot this is Mikan and yeah I've been invited here by Ucho town and U City to check out the areas enjoy some beautiful nature and see what they have to offer so come with me on this journey and let's enjoy ourselves I'm going to be quiet and give you guys a little bit of ambiance except for the sound of me eating my breakfast also isn't that cute in the background we have some drying pons so good if you guys have haven't tried dried pimms they're delicious they're incredibly sweet but they're my favorite dried fruit I recommend also guys I brought my own breakfast but uh for certain parts of the year when you can see the sea clouds they actually do a breakfast here so they'll make it for you and you can enjoy the view so yeah oh that just so pretty look [Music] pretty got a fire Li for us my [Music] hands we were talking about the dried pons and now we get to do a little experience cuz they brought over some pens so I'm going to learn how to do it so I can do it myself at home go [Music] for two for home but then also I get to do it myself at home as well they give me so many [Music] P it [Music] wow my gosh more things we got some sweet potatoes okay this is yi yii yi so mugart in English mugw uh Moi with uh Bean red bean [Music] inside and now [Music] we and now 10,000 shitake mushrooms okay here's my shake and they gave me more Dy p and pons to turn into dry pons Soo see if they fit in my suitcase so kind and generous oh that's so heavy hello it's voice over Emma here I wanted to let you know in this video I was with my cooworker kanako so you'll see her pop up every now and then okay bye for now hello we're on to our next thing which is a walking tour around uch uh and we've already we've just started and we've come to the local soba shop and uh they're making pickles right [Music] now we went on a walking tour through the hills of uchar and got to see lots of nature farmland and a bunch of cute grandmas including a very Lively 93y old grandma who is still working in the fields we also had a guide with us who taught us about the town's history the highlight of the tour was a beautiful bridge that leads to yug Shrine but unfortunately it was under construction since then it's now being completed we did get to see the lake drained a bunch of workmen working on it but we can still go over the bridge and visit the shrine end night so we finished the walking tour and now we've come to downtown Ucho to an area called uh yokichi gokoku and there's heaps of old houses here yeah we're having a look [Music] around so this area originally became famous for its wax which is used in a variety of things I think it's vegetable wax and uh used in candles and stuff and it became very prosperous and a lot of these houses are from the end of the Edo period and the beginning of the Magi period so some of them have different designs and different Restorations depending on what period they're from also yeah the area has been nicely restored and they removed all of like the the modern signs and telephone poles and stuff to keep it very pristine and very traditional so yeah really beautiful area we got some meon we got some pimms but I oh look at look at the size of these if I didn't already have a huge bag of them I would take some with me it's always the hardest thing for me visiting smaller towns I just want to buy all the produce that's all I want yeah just wandering around and learning about the history of this place and how they made the wax and everything and the guy who owned basically all of it haasan very interesting history lesson and the buildings are [Music] beautiful [Music] yay oh [Music] look wait oh I have to buy oh my that's so good oh no more things to buy oh that's so sweet okay got the goods I have so much to take home but I couldn't help myself also this is what traditional Japanese candles look like I want to hold one of these and wear a night gown and a cap and see who goes there it's the perfect candle for that also just so you guys know there's a super cute Cafe here if you want to St and get some snacks or anything if you come visit I'm in the bakery it's so so cute it's called Sho look at this presentation especially when you're hungry it's so hard to choose just one thing oh wait I think I want the salty lemon dog big old piece of lemon on the lemon dog cream P Kashi Cream Pan so a little bit burnt and caramel on top okay so we just grabbed some breads to go go and uh but we're a little bit too hungry to just be eating bread right now so we're going to go get some proper lunch even though bread is proper lunch I need more I need more of my system so thinking to get some noodles I would really really recommend this spot it's very beautiful it's quite Serene if you come here on a weekend it'll be a bit more popping few more things open but still there was quite a bit open today time for some lunch we're going to grab some udon we're a little rest up oh no oh no I want oh two 250 y do you know how much this would be in don't do this to me please please 300 Yen for the cutest oh no come on man what the heck this is beautiful yeah I wow I got the niku udon so meat udon noodles looks delicious smells really good that's a huge size for a good price the view from the cafe is also awesome beautiful River kind of forgot the what was it again t t so T is this the baset kind of dashy the soup is kind of traditional they have been soybean in it oh nice and then some mushroom really great texture really nice and chewy it's a light but very Savory broth a little bit of sweetness it's delicious and perfect for the cold weather today okay that was my time in Ucho and now I'm going to go to ozu where I will be spending the night in a beautiful hotel which I'm super excited for so let's go goodbye goodbye I bought all of your fruits and vegetables thank you so much hello I had a nap in the car we are now in U uh and I'm staying at neonia hotel I'm going to give you guys a little room tour and then before dinner I might take a nap cuz we got up very early cat no no no no no no no no close to the hotel just in the [Music] I arrived at the hotel and ate some wagashi and checked in and let me tell you this place was fancy there were a bunch of different houses that the hotel owned around the town and I was staying in one with a garden attached in that Garden there was a plum tree that was received from the Emperor as a gift for silk that was made there and the plum tree still has plums and they use them in the hotel restaurant also here's my RO reaction to seeing the place that I was staying in okay o ooh o c ooh oh is this angwa ooh okay before the sun goes down and I take a nap let's do a little room tour and show you guys the entire place there's a double entrance there's like a solid door and then there's this glass door both lockable shoes ghon come on in myself immediately you turn to the left and you have the bathroom hello in the bathroom down here we have head dry towels sink wood bench heaps of little things that I can use I love little things I can use and steel and take home my favorite trash and then in here we have the bath hinoi Cypress Wood I will be having a bath tonight look at the size of that tap head but of course before I get into the bath I need to take a shower which is over here beautiful wooden walls and the tile is gorgeous gous hiny stool and back out we go goodbye in here we have toilet are you Toto or you Panasonic then we go up the stairs beautifully lit second floor oh the sun's going down it's gorgeous I'm out of breath again from the stairs walking into the first room we have this amazing kotatsu I think the most beautiful kotatsu I've seen in my entire life over here I believe we have a fridge woohoo and all of this is uh included in the price so I'm going to drink all of it including some meon juice for meime it's just a very nicely decorated and styled place and in here we have the bedroom just gorgeous also special note this house used to be a place where they made silk from silk worms so these lamps and the light on the ceiling and the lamps in the corner are all based on the shape of silk moth cocoons and then from here we can see the beautiful garden outside ah this is insane fast just going to do my thing and I'll check in when I check in maybe I'll just take a nap we are venturing out into the evening before the sun goes down it's just so nice that's where I live now I'm not leaving have to drag me out Kicking and Screaming time to wander around before the sun completely leaves and before dinner time hello wow oh stanced up what y they go between your legs oh my goodness oh my goodness cat also coming just outside of the gates there is a beautiful [Music] River got it [Music] [Laughter] [Music] oh I did [Music] two they gave me a a lantern oh look like I'm about to tell a spooky story they uh gave me a lantern so I can walk with the lantern definitely it's very nice right now there's not too many people around I would not get these kind of Vibes in Tokyo that's for sure but yeah also I had a look and uh there's easy access from matama airport to here there's like a direct bus leading the way I don't know where we're going there's little shops around here too there's a leather Crafting Shop there oh is this dried dried flowers well we walked to the castle it's right there so from where I'll be sitting you can actually see the castle right there look at that that's crazy it's right there so before we talked about the tree at the front of that place that I'm staying how it is a tree that was a present from the emperor and it still has plums and um tree and those plums s are used by the hotel in different things including this squash so this um um juice um squash and that's one of the plums from that plum tree so I'm very lucky and happy that I get to try it super sweet very nice um flavor it's almost apricot but that is really really delicious they've used a ripe um so for a lot of umu you use uh unrip um this is a ripe one so there's a different flavor to it it's really good very refreshing very delicious the hotel restaurant served Japanese and French Fusion Cuisine and it had some more experimental flavors that I really enjoyed I did describe every dish but if I included it in this video it would be like 2 hours long so I C most of it um but I did include some highlights the cauliflower is pickled and then that like sweetness and sourness matches nicely with the beef I keep thinking there's someone outside but it's my own reflection m with that crunch I don't know what that crunch is but I like it the food was elegant delicious had a very sophisticated flavor and the dessert in particular was very special they killed it it is so good give give me a second okay give me give me another second hello hello good morning everybody just woke up feeling fresh I went to bed at like 9:00 p.m. and now I'm alive again I had a really beautiful bath in the Cypress tub last night and it was awesome and now we're up a little bit early to go to do a tea ceremony how are you doing this morning conical sleepy sleepy me too me [Music] too wow this is the place we'll be doing the uh Tea Ceremony it looks like there's a lot of construction going on for a big bridge or something just a heads up guys I am actually really bad at cesa so like sitting on my knees I find it really painful so we'll see how we [Music] go wow can you guys see the color of that [Music] W dang it's like fairy level color I mean Shame about the construction but still look at that water what a [Music] place [Music] the construction definitely adds another level m [Music] yeah that was really delicious really really good green tea high quality it didn't have as much of a bitterness as it usually does very fun very cool and beautiful view while we do it well that was a beautiful way to start the day a lovely tea ceremony and now I guess we get to have a full-on breakfast oh okay all right I see how it is all right oh my God all [Music] right stop good about to leave the hotel in a little bit but just having some final quatu time it's just so good makes me want to get one in my house I had a nightmare it was summer I had a nightmare that winter was already over I was so sad goodbye beautiful house goodbye goodbye has been nice seeing [Music] you we've just gone for a little drive and now I've come to a woodworking Workshop woodwork Workshop shop the work wood uh so I'm going to be doing some traditional style uh woodwork here I think I'm going to be making a coaster uh and this style is popular in aie city so let's give it a [Music] go this company is called fuj Tatu and they make beautiful Japanese wood features that are usually used in doors they use a traditional method called Kumiko where the wood is carved so that it slots perfectly together so no nails or glue are needed so it means you can't really tell where the wood connects and it's really beautiful and seamless they also showed me some very fancy lamps that they were working on too o oo beautiful lamp a that's there so the cord from down there to up here is actually behind this piece of wood that's insane while I was there I got to experience a workshop and make my own coaster they make kits where they prepare the wood so that you get the experience of slotting it together perfectly and it is super satisfying [Applause] must afterwards they showed me how to shave wood into long strips and then turn those strips into petals and then we put them together into like a little wooden flower which I ended up having on my Christmas tree this past Christmas so it was very cute concentrating so much I forgot how to talk nice nice just went in the car for a little bit and we're back to the original spot uh in U City downtown and we've come to a place called Aba to have some lunch and this will be our final spot so nice thing to end on woohoo she got the moves she got the moves is a dancing cool lady's got the even myself I also have the moves okay guys it's lunch time it's I got a big bowl of ab SOA which is like oil soba there's no liquid uh but this has a lot of sudachi so a lot of the certain kind of citrus it's like a very sour almost limey Citrus uh it's very very good but this is where I'm going to say goodbye I wanted to thank both oo and Ucho so much for inviting me here I've had an awesome time and yeah I definitely recommend it both areas have their own unique things and they were both amazing experiences you made it this far in the video thank you so much for watching if you enjoyed this video please give it a thumbs up leave a comment down below hit subscribe if you want to see more videos like this or not like this but thank you so much for watching and I'll see you in the next video [Music] John [Music] oh

Channel: Tokidoki Traveller

Views: 73,566

Keywords: tokidoki, life in japan, living in japan, living in tokyo, life in tokyo, tokidoki traveler, Emma in Japan, Japan, Tokyo, jvlogger, ehime, uchiko, ozu, japanese countryside

Id: qCXh6rXdmx4

Length: 23min 38sec (1418 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 03 2024