Tokyo | Japanese New Year — Where to go? What to do?

greetings everybody welcome to send Shoji in Asakusa this is one of the famous temples of Tokyo this is a place where you've got to go if you're in Tokyo the cultural heart of the city this area stomm Watchi I'm talking about everywhere away from Shibuya sort of in the north it's such a beautiful area this is where most of the people are gonna be coming in a few days for New Year's and a lot of people been asking me where exactly do you go for New Year's holiday if you come in Tokyo and you're here for the holiday where do you go to you do you go to a countdown party somewhere in the city do you stay at your hotel are you trapped should you go out where should you go out to and the answer is in Japan most people that are here will go back to their hometowns Japanese don't stick around in Tokyo if they're from somewhere else they'll go back either to Hoku or they'll go back down to Kyushu or Osaka wherever they are from in the background you can hear people taking up Momiji thus the sticks for fortune-telling slips and on New Year's Day on the first and there's more to it than just what I'm telling you right now this is all story involved so you might want to you might want to buckle in for a good thirty minutes as we go through this in this area and then talk about some of the food some of the things that you can expect should you even come to Tokyo during New Year's it's important question I know there's a lot of people that are here because well this is the only time that they can get off you visit the time that you can visit here's Sensoji before New Year but in a couple of days this place is gonna be packed and everyone lining up to be the first people to pray when the first hits just kind of soak it up now because it's just gonna be really really like 20 times more crowded than it is right now most of the people here are tourists by the way nothing wrong with that they want to soak it in here so let's get out of here let's walk around this area maybe we'll go get some street food and we're gonna have this talk it's important to start off here this is where maybe maybe we'll be coming for our own show got to on the first but at midnight do Japanese go to countdown parties and I'm going through questions that people have asked me countdown parties the answer is no not really and it goes back all the way to the history and why did the Japanese celebrate New Year at all on January 1st when in China they have a different lunar calendar New Year schedule usually in February or March why do Japanese celebrate it on January 1st like the Western world and that you have to go all the way back to the Meiji period to the 1870s I think it was 1872 or 1873 when Japan started to adopt the Georgian calendar the Georgian calendar being like 1995 96 97 you know like the years that we know in the West it wasn't until 7 - 7 - 1870s that they started to do that before that they had more of like the Chinese calendar and yeah that changed things in Japan now time and space continuum sort of was a little different in the Meiji period they switched all the way over to the western style of things that meant that yeah what do you do on New Year's and then traditions started to come this cuisine is different culture is different and at this time of year Japanese tend to do nothing - just watch TV and relax with family go to the temple or the shrine and they'll pray hot sumo day which is a time where you'll do your first prayer of the year if you don't if you but you look you do have options right if you really really want to go to a countdown party and do the typical Western New Year countdown which is not what we do here in Japan but some deputies will go there it's a foreign thing you can do that Roppongi Shibuya they might have people on Shibuya hajikko scramble running down there I should you do it I if you really want Japanese culture and immerse yourself here I wouldn't but you can they've already started to set up the festival booths so we have some street food on the side here and this is significant in all part of what I'm gonna be talking about these food stands here are important because on the first one there's a ton of people there's gonna be a ton of people who want to eat and it turns into almost a festival so instead of going to count some parties where there they want a hundred dollars or ten thousand yen for you to go in there if all you can drink booze you get sick you're hanging out with a bunch of strangers come to the temple to the shrine and you can have the same kind of a better kind of feeling just dress really warmly bring bring a stack of cash and then you can eat and drink outside with everybody else the Buddhist temples are maybe a little bit better we have Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples Buddhist temples at midnight they will ring the bell 108 times and when CNN goes around the world and says okay the New Year's happened in Sydney and they showed Darling Harbour and they was at darling her no no they show the the the bridge and the Opera House and they show the fireworks off of the bridge and then they come to Japan which is usually second on the list here and they do the New Year's here they show Sheba Park at the Buddhist temple at edfu Cowen's and that's pretty significant because instead of going to like should be a Hachiko they've been showing the temple and what they do at the temple is they ring the bell 108 times to represent the 108 sins in the Buddhist religion and every time they ring it it dispels the Japanese citizens of those sins so it has a symbolism and it takes a long time so you hear these bells 108 times that's when you run and try to get some street food and usually there's street food around where the Bell is being rung so you get a picture of the dude ringing the bell the monk and get some street food and usually I get I'm embedded around one-30 or you can stay home and do what everybody does most people will just stay home they'll watch NHK the red and the white where musicians popular musicians are competing against one another and you do with your family New Year's is all about family and not so much about going out and getting wasted so you know I was I was on both sides of that so I was on both sides of that when I first came to Japan I didn't know what to do I didn't have a Japanese family and kanai's family will celebrate New Year's and of course I'm gonna be there with her sister her father and her her uncles and aunts and cousins which means I'm about to get a lot poorer because we have something called Toshi dhamma and Toshi Dhamma means at this time of year kids are super psyched up and energetic because of one reason money hard cash talks in Japan you get a special envelope and put you your Toshi dama or like for elementary school kids it's like three to five thousand yen or thirty to fifty dollars for junior high it's about fifty dollars five thousand yen and then for high school kids you got to give more which is like 10000 yen or a hundred dollars and it's a gift that only happens once a year and you can give that to them in a special envelope and usually you you feel the pain but I mean the kids so they need a little bit of money so yet end up spending a little bit depending on the size of your family so if you marry into a big family just get ready to pay your toshi dama it's part of the it's part of the tradition and because you're at home with your family at new years in japan japanese that's when you give the cash in the envelopes and the kids get all excited and thank you eternally as they spend it on pretty odd junk food so what i would do or save it kids save 10% at least all right we're here we're gonna keep walking around here this is where it's gonna be really really crowded and I don't think I'll be able to livestream on New Year's Day here but I might just film it and then upload it right afterwards so you can see it in glorious 4k on go there's the Tokyo Skytree it's a beautiful day pretty it's slightly cool there's a crisp Christmas to the air little breeze but it's warm enough where I can open up my jacket and let it go hey Antonio advanced Happy New Year thank you thank you I might try to livestream it why not right just a little bit of it to celebrate it because it'd be pretty cool to be watching this on 20/20 because I'm gonna be live-streaming a lot of a lot of the let's try to go this way glad they got melonpan hats that's like totally what I would do can I even go this way I'm like blocked in oh no I can go around so I would totally I would totally do that hey so oh yeah can I it's probably gonna be cooking up a storm with her sister and they make something called oh say cheerio T Oh said she'd yo t is the traditional Japanese New Year cuisine it it's comes in boxes usually it's a lacquer where it's very nice it's very presentable and it's almost always the same kind of food after a couple of years it's kind of boring but it's tradition its culture you have to eat it just like pizza during the Superbowl and nachos and cheese wings we have och EOD and here's some of the artwork just walking around ascus ah it takes a long time to cook and people start buying the ingredients for it can I I think has already bought it things closed down during new year so let's get back let's get back to it you are now a tourist you've decided to come to Japan on during the sake the show got the time of year that means you're gonna be here between December 30th and January 4th all right take notice everything is closed from January 1st 2nd and 3rd like 90 95 percent of this stuff is closed 1st 2nd 3rd people have off from work the streets are super quiet just take note of that which means that that's a great time if you want to go hiking go to the onsen go to the countryside get out of the city or stay in the city and just see how quiet the streets can be nothing is open just so you know that like very very few things the first even the supermarkets are closed the convenience stores might be open but some of them might even be closed out in the countryside on the second they have limited hours usually and the third is sort of the same and then on the 4th operations typically go back to normal so keep that in mind when you do come here things will be closed and you'll be out in the cold that your hotel be open don't worry I'm just kidding it's a plan plan for that meaning you can get on the Shinkansen but a lot of Japanese are traveling at the same time look at this show Kudo like all locals in there that's pretty cool looks like a local shokudo which is set menu meals let's take a look at the menus here Wow so it's all the typical Japanese fare on rice kimchi rice curry rice some udon and some dumb booty down there there's a cat suit on I love cats udon or yoga dawn and some ramen reasonable prices techo ku usually have prices under under 800 yen for really good set menus you'll get a miso soup and right here in the front they have Oden check that out look at that simmering oh down right there very nice if you're thinking of coming to Japan at this time it's pretty cool if you want on the 31st go to Roppongi you'll be able to walk around and get you might want to get the tickets in advance for countdown parties all right let's say you do want to go to a countdown party you can get the tickets online but some of the popular ones will sell out however if you just are in your hotel and say I got to go out there and count down you can go to Shibuya Hachiko I think they do something there or you can go to a club in Roppongi and typically it's very crowded but you can get tickets if you get there early or online in advance but you want to get there well before 12:00 midnight I the last time I did it like it go out to Roppongi several thing was 2007 with with my friend Robin and I don't know we kind of went home at 1:00 a.m. it was we spent a lot of money we were a little toasted and it was it worth it I don't I don't know I don't think so I think it's good when you when you have friends or family and if you're alone traveling maybe you want to think about hanging out with other travelers and you feel a little bit more of that spirit Antonio missing of logs Starbucks even the Starbucks is closed I think on the first I don't know how about Starbucks some shops might be open but in general historically in the 20-some years that I've lived here even though Starbucks is have been closed some of the things that the train station will be open but even then it's very very limited and you won't be able to get a lot of food because factories are closed a lot of the fresh food of the convenience stores are very limited on the second and the third but I know that they're bringing in more staff from abroad that don't celebrate the new years the same way so maybe the foreign workers are gonna be stocking the the foods at the convenience stores I'm just trying to to go back through experience I know that because of immigration and a lot of people coming from other countries neighboring countries they're working harder for less money it also means that it's kind of profitable for convenience stores and other places to stay open make the food and the bentos and the stuff like that but my advice to you is just to stock up and have some extra stuff because the supermarkets are definitely closed on the first like things are changing of an in Japan I just you just don't know how much they're changing look at these jackets here these are pretty cool jackets look at that Adam boy I love these designs I'd love to give a look only in Japan logo like this would be pretty sweet yeah yeah let's walk down on this way a little bit click the thumbs up if you like this kind of content I'll bring you if you want me to livestream the New Year's at midnight click the thumbs up right now too because I need encouragement big time I'm on the fence with that a lot of people are out now they're done with work the businesses have let out so they have free time so there a lot of people are going out with friends there's a lot of Japanese tourists that came to Tokyo maybe to come to see their cousins and then they'll go back to their hometowns that happens to a lot so on the on the 31st I'll eat soba with kanai's family all right that's what's gonna happen hey michael kelly welcome to the stream on the 31st i'm gonna eat with kanai's family we have soba usually kind of cleanse ourselves before the new year i'm probably gonna be going with kunai and her sister to send Shoji to celebrate I've never been to send Shoji a new year it's gonna be pretty crowded but I might go there just to to film the experience and get some street food and then we come back and we have another meal and everything is like special everything during this those days is has a meaning to it osage ggot is deep and it is strong there's also Saki involved so everyone is drinking Japanese Saki Saki has a vey I guess I get cleansed it's cleansing holy water in a way I guess this is something called a Kagami mochi and mochi is something that's very significant in Japanese culture if you're walking around there's not much that you can do during during the New Year so if you're walking around local neighborhoods in the countryside you're gonna see family members that have taken these these big like wood cauldrons on the ground like big logs hollowed-out with hammers and they're beating the heck out of rice they're making mochi and that's a tradition that families have I just walking around my neighborhood on New Year's Day people will say hey look there's that foreigner guy come on over here take this hammer and start pounding it and and make some mochi with us then you get to bite into mochi like this it's really nice so that's something that you might want to look for going to local neighborhoods and just walk around the streets it's really quiet but you're gonna find people spilling out in the streets local communities making mochi and mochi is a huge part of Japanese new year's culture this is really festive here this alley of Asakusa has a lot of hotels and turrets but it also has a lot of little izakayas that you can go on and drink let actually going on Kenneth Lee writes in something important Kenneth you're absolutely right mochi kills more people than fugu mochi kills more than like like anything else at this time of year the governments in Japan local governments usually put out warnings and say please chew and swallow your mochi properly because if you if you don't you start to choke it's more it's more deadly than than fugu the Japanese Blowfish so be careful with don't try to swallow all your mochi in one bite you know let it let it let it get you properly is what I'm trying to say you know right pick a chew chew properly and don't drink too much I don't use anything in there it's interesting see think achoo just hanging out right here on the corner how you doing to meet you yeah we're you from okay you cheat oh okay here you go you found me go around different areas oh yeah sure yeah we're right now during that New Year's so you're here for New Year's yeah just this is my ninth visit Wow to move here yeah I love it here and you live here yeah okay showing you around a little bit yeah oh cool yeah I'm trying to tell the audience here a lot of people come to Japan during build-outs to during New Year's but Tokyo actually shuts down it gets really quiet it's the time for family yeah most people have left town right most people I know I don't get to see this weekend cuz they go back to their families so what do you plan to do over show God's event oh I'll just go around I might go out to okuru no there's OKC oh it's the fancy restaurant oh wow there's an old restaurant out there okay you could trip just to get out of the city and see surrounding that's a good plan like whenever I take a trip to got to people are making mochi and they recruit me in is to come out and get the hammer sir making mochi it's a little bit dangerous if you chew it all in one fight but it's you know it's fun to get in there with a murder well I don't think you're doing the hand thing like it not out with the mochi but just just the the banging of it is hard it's hard work yeah it's hard work it's already kimochi they turn into Popeye yeah are you staying here in Tokyo okay oh what's your one time okay doll well which city okay though okay all right yeah I'm going to nature's it's no wind skiing is it already snowing up there now how cool is that who's nice I'll be there I'll be there for the snow festival this year and I'm thinking of going to nobody bets it for the onsen festival before one semester okay Oh nobody bets here yeah oh how cool yeah I'm gonna try to film that that's the February 3rd and 4th everyone gets in there naked man window sheet and they run around the streets in this yeah nobody bets is pretty cold up there so I might do that yeah does your friends participate in no no Oh interesting ok that's how fun is that so you guys are walking around yeah good idea a good idea yeah I guess from the 31st everything starts to close and then it gets real quiet yeah I have to go back home 31st oh really I won't be here for New Year's okay so you're gonna celebrate on the airplane yeah oh that's awesome that means you can do it twice in a way it's the dream I've always wanted to do that for Christmas to get double the presents you can get kind of double the presents yeah no well it depends if you're in business class or not I never in business class I'm in economy they just look at you it's really good to meet you too yeah keep in touch yeah 20 years my wife's Japanese yeah I've lived all over the country over the 16 in 16 times I've moved of yours I saw were you over the bridge HMO Hoshi in 25 years yes yes she money politi yeah I tried to go to that bridge whatever student I went to something out though right and beautiful it's it's in an optical illusion it's respect I mean it's not as crazy as from the angle but it's respectable right it's worth going to see serious bridge yeah thanks to Stefan all right that's awesome so he's from he's from Hokkaido and he's going back home and he's a sushi chef I love this he made friends with Adam he's a chef and he's off and he's showing Adam around how cool is that that's so nice oh man that's a molten Oishi which is the Japanese spirit of showing hospitality to visitors very very cool so let's get back to it here show got to where was I so say ggod so I'm gonna be eating a lot and drinking a lot just for the family over the next week and it's good because you really shut down during the show katsu this is the Japanese time where you put work on hold and you know I'll be live-streaming it of course but typically you want to just stop stop what you're doing and and rest and it's a good thing and the country opens back up on the fourth and then probably the first three days until the seventh it's slow going it really is slow going I kind of don't mind that at all it's this slow going is good it's very good look at all these tents that keeps the heat in with the vinyl Asakusa is such a vibrant part of the city I love this area way way more than Shibuya and Harajuku in Roppongi you could spend that's why I always say if you're gonna get a hood he'll do it here Oh Street food okay that's some sweet potatoes Satsuma emo Wow all right let's see what I could find I was gonna go get a taiyaki if you guys want to come and get a taiyaki with me so we're talking about for those joining us this is a livestream we're talking about Japanese New Year if you're coming to Japan there's old cafe Kisa ten if you're coming to Japan during the Japanese New Year it's extremely quiet and you can leave a comment below if you have some experiences look at that friends meeting up that's kind of cool if you have if you've stayed here during show got stew during New Year's leave a comment below and tell us about your experience what are the things that you did and and was it difficult was it easy people are usually more relaxed and friendly at this time of year so I definitely think it's something that you should consider visiting we'll go over some of the traditions here alice is here Ellis I don't I forgot the peanut butter cups I wanted to Ella sent me some peanut butter cups that was really nice so right here they're selling some stuff for shokatsu you can see the bamboo again I told you about Nogami mochi which is something that people will display with me con or tangerines next to it is just sort of something that symbolized symbolizes new years and I don't want to get too much into it yeah this flamingo has nothing to do with New Year sorry this looks like it's made out of crab meat just a name that's just the name of the restaurant it looks good good stuff alright let's hang a left here and see if we get some Tai yaki so shokatsu is for families for Japanese no countdown parties for 99.999% we'll do that at home we'll celebrate it at the temple and the shrine with people outside it's cold bring warm stuff there's these pads that that you can heat up and put it in your pocket can I will take these pads that if when you rip off the top of it she slaps them all over her body and it generates heat inside of her blanket so she's like on fire inside I try to suffer because I know that in the winter build your body up for the cold and then for the rest of the winter it's not so bad but she like she needs like to be next to a fire the whole time but being outside for the cold have some street food it's a great way to celebrate the new year and that's that's sort of what I like to do so I'm gonna go to the temple enshrine I want a peaceful new year another thing that Japanese do during the new year is some of them I get this once in 2004 that you people will go to climb a mountain a local mountain Japan is a volcanic island with lots of mountains in the inside the Japanese Alps not all of them are super high but many of the mountains have temples on them and you can go there temples and shrines and to the mountain temple and shrine and see the first sunrise on the top of a mountain and a lot of Japanese friends that I know adventures people go to the mountains to celebrate on the top there and it's actually a pretty good idea when I did that I was just freezing cold but we had gas burners and we were making coffee and tea and hot amazake which is a Japanese suck' without the alcohol I guess that's the easiest way to say what it is it's it's really really good and we would heat that up and drink it and we'd stay hydrated and have lots of food and find a tree to go to the restroom and not get in trouble but yeah that was a really peaceful one and some places will have tours in Tokyo okuu Tama was really good even if you just go to Oklahoma you're gonna find a ton of people that are going to the mountain if you just go to Okutama station around 7 p.m. everyone's going in the same direction the taiyaki has a massive line look at that ah I don't know I don't know guys I don't know I don't know this is all right you know what I'm just gonna wait in line at least that I can talk to you when in line I can talk to you in line [Music] I need this taiyaki is a big line Jason it's worth it it's worth it it's healthy so so there's that prices for hotels are usually expensive because people are traveling hey you know if you're gonna get Shinkansen tickets as well do that in advance I would say anytime between December 27th and January 7th prices are high Shinkansen czar full you need to reserve in advance at least two months in advance I think and you'll get a better price for hotels as well onsen are booked out because couples and families that they want to visit their families and then they go to the onsen to relax for the rest of their winter holiday so you want to kind of make sure that you have reservations at the holiday period a lot of Japanese used to travel abroad but now more people are staying domestic mostly because of the family this is a time of year for the family but the airports are aren't as busy as they used to be at this time but as I said like countdown parties is such a Western thing Japanese have their own way they want to eat that special food because it brings them luck for the rest of the year so not so many people are traveling internationally as they used to back in the 1990s and 2000s when I lived here originally I I'm still last in line they have this premium custard that's why I wanted to try this look at that premium custard for 210 Yi and which temple should you go to which temples or shrines did you go to visit if you do come to Tokyo that's a good question as well a captain a unit sous arigato honey got though um I you know I'm gonna say Sensoji is really a good shrine to go to a good Hempel to go to this is a Buddhist temple I'm getting 210 and the end for the taiyaki I think that that's a great place but the problem is that it's very very crowded so the sometimes the best places are local places places in neighborhoods local smaller shrines where the lines are too long if it's very very cold outside you sort of want to avoid going to see the Sensoji or major major Jingu Meiji Shrine in the center the line I did Meiji Shrine once the line was three hours long and it was so long people go there they pray and they move on usually more more than one at a time the line was over three hours long it's like Walton it's like Tokyo Disneyland's so you have to be be prepared that's why going at midnight sometimes just get it over with you know be ready have Samoa days it's a important time of year for Japan the other tradition and I think you're gonna see this you'll see lots of traditional things all around Japan at this time of year the in the thumbnail is some of the show guts of stamps the this you're coming up is the year of the rat or Nezumi I like to think of it as a hamster my friend Kevin as a guinea pig maybe any kind of work any kind of rodent I suppose so you're the rat so you're gonna see rats all over the place on designs and things like that this time of year is named gallo time Nanga Joe is the New Year's card it's a postcard that you send to everybody in for business and you send it for families and Kenai and I have have had to prepare not just for our patreon supporters but for family and friends like over a hundred hundred postcards and most of them we send out before Christmas the post office will hold on to that and they'll deliver all of the Nanga Joe to the to those people on New Year's so they'll get a packet wrapped in an envelope in their mailbox of all the ninja Joe from all the people that they know and if you send it late like I usually do they'll get the postcards like on the second and the third and the fourth there's some late late bloomers late arrivals that's usually mine yeah the line is moving pretty quick that's a positive thing custard hot custard in pancake shaped fish fish shape pancake pancake shape officially pretty weird I'm a procrastinator it's just that just like so many things to do and then get you is not really high on my list oh you're making it there Marty arigato Marty so this this dry Aki is on Marty here Jeffrey you know exactly it's it's like an explosion of hot custard you could burn your mouth as much as you would for like takoyaki or something it's very dangerous so I have here one is 210 yen so there you go gonna get one oh there's the ingredients right there it looks like uncle and the mix a little bit of custard in there oh nice oh that's look that's a lot of custard [Music] on the custard to 240 custards 240 I want that one [Music] yes [Music] there's a lot of Thai acting going on here [Music] Uncle Dean sweet potato and now premium custard thank you very much [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] I casted oh that's okay one for Kenai [Music] [Music] [Music] oh it's so hot all right I got one for Kenai I'll put that in my bag oh it's so hot it's nice when I got a premium custard for you I know she's watching I like this taiyaki place yeah he's like just peeking out of his little envelope here hey there custard taiyaki why is it fish-shaped I don't know tie the tie in the taiyaki represents tie the fish tie so just lucky maybe but the question is it is like a pocket warmer question is do you go head first or tail first this is an age-old question head first or tail first and and where you bite sometimes just sizing your personality are you Asahi or Keating or South Laurel are you head first or tail first these are questions you ask your best friends decide if they're really your best friends alright I go head first but today I'll go tail first no no I'm gonna go head first because then the custard is gonna get all mushy if I go I'm not gonna go I'm just gonna wait a little bit kind of it's really hot Oh hot hot hot it is really good though I'm a pretty good incisors pretty good shape to my bite huh call that perfect bite no overbite hmm is this premium custard maybe oh you don't need to see me burn my mouth this is called the orange road because it's orange you see some people wearing kimono I'd say 90% of those people are wearing kimono for cosplay like dress-up a lot of companies in Japan allow tourists to dress up in chemo and walk around for a fee so most of the people are from Taiwan or China or from Hong Kong and Westerners who don't know the difference just like someone will take pictures with other foreign tourists and not know it just in cosplay it's kind of funny for me but yeah you know it makes people happy I'm happy it's all about being happy and I got custard I got hot custard so I'm pretty happy oh did you see the class yeah nobody wears a cotton Kinmen keep a yukata so they've got you caught the iron nobody wears you cut that so they're definitely tourists from China I think [Music] oh that crying kid I think he needs a dryer key oh that's Angelina's and they've they've closed which is my favorite bakery they've closed and a Sanrio shop what's what's happened here it's weird there was one of the oldest cafes in in Tokyo and it's now closed down and it's what a Sanrio shop that's weird or is it that coffee shop I don't know I'm an incredible cake Angelina's is gone [Music] hmm that is premium custard ma'am now I know what cheap custard tastes like because I've had premium all right let me show you around a little bit if you have some questions about shokatsu lay him on me about Japanese New Year I'm here for you and leave a comment down below it's always good to read the comment and if you're watching this and play back make sure your live chats on so you can see what everyone is writing because that's pretty useful see the tail doesn't have as much custard on there I got one for Kenai I'll try to keep it work we had tour group stay in front of the tour group he said all right you know step I'm gonna have to bias a sixer for the family because there's not much that we can do in a couple of days except for booze so I'm probably getting it I'll get a sixer of Sapporo yeah I'm gonna been doing live streams all through the holidays so I can you see that stop for oh it's like one of them's gonna be named except I never heard this is a keeping alcohol all right up ahead is um I I don't think it was designed by Kengo kuma the guy who designed the stadium but that's the Asakusa tourism building so you can get information in there on the first floor and across the street from there I can cross here across the street from there is coming a team on the big 40 gate at the tortilla but the the big Cho Chien gate Cho Chien is the big red lantern it's in the front of it I'm gonna take you there right now yeah when I stay in when I when people ask me where should you stay I always say here and I say if you can avoid it try to try not to stay in Shinjuku and and down there it's just it's really more expensive and I don't know like there's not as much culture there it's a lot more culture here you can feel it more like the the spirit of Japan that guy's really cruising well [Music] taiyaki power maybe could be could be yeah this is a great place to live as well I think you know if you're gonna live in Tokyo you might want to live where the culture is and in this area back there even behind Sensoji has a lot of it at new years because this is a last year about new years it's really really crowded here just so you know you will not be alone it's easy to make friends I think it's it's a meiji jingu is kind of neat Sensoji Shiba Chiba Cohen has a park there in front of Tokyo Tower there's a couple of other big shrines in Japan and in Tokyo that you can go to visit but I'm impartial to going to your local shrines and temples the best places are our local places there's not a lot of lines and you get to talk to people and it's much more relaxed but I'll tell you this almost all of the temples and shrines that are maybe small to medium size have a few food stands as well so you always have a chance to get street food and if you do go there at midnight at the temples and the shrines the I know that the shrine that I would the temple that I went to had a fire like a really big bonfire out in the middle of a forest this is my last apartment and people would take some of the charms and some of the things from from the year from the year that passed and burned them put him in the fire so they could renew themselves and I like that culture I'd like to stand by the fire and eat street food you can go and get some taiyaki or go get some takoyaki or okonomiyaki or something and just sit there near the fire and talk with people usually young people that are off school will go there with their with their friends so it can be get a little rowdy but if you want to experience Japanese New Year go to the temple in shrines and stay away from the countdown parties which is not part of Japanese culture that's part of like Western culture and there's nothing wrong with it but I think could any drink not a beer II from Canada you get that right all right I will take care of Kenai does it place there's a place on the way home that sells organic orange juice so I'm gonna get a get get something for her that's such a nice thought thank you and ash D thank you so much from SD I really from India much appreciated Kai Aloha what is more celebrated New Year's Day or coming-of-age day whoa I'm an ox what year are you I'm not sure 1974 is that the year of the tiger or the dragon is something something ferocious I believe or is it the monkey I can't remember Mahalo for all the adventures in being good company please say hi to can I take care Kai Thank You Kai that's that's really nice I you know in terms of craziness of course coming-of-age especially down in Kyushu near Fukuoka it's insane I might go there this year maybe that's what I should do let me see if I can go and do that don't go down and Kyushu for it it's insane people aren't crazy new years though because it's a family holiday it's more subdued I don't know your whole family is together you don't really go home and and it's just young people for coming of age day and maybe some family members will go but most people are working in Tokyo they stay in Tokyo they don't go back to their hometowns for something like that unless they're university students I don't know yeah so you definitely show God Seuss new Japanese New Year's is is much bigger and it's quiet it's so quiet here would Tiger John so I'm a tiger or you're the tiger yeah baby Gregory thanks for that so many fors you're the tiger you get that right I think kinda can I was like a monkey or something it's my first super chat for you at Kenai an ice cream ash you got it cool alright we'll get an ice cream it's kind of cold for that ash but well we'll try any particular flavor any flavor you you're interested in a lot of roosters in here monkeys sheep everyone's writing in their sign rabbit Lilly that's a leak rabbits you're the rabbit was what five five six years ago I think yeah I like it because now in the city when you walk around everywhere like the post office especially you'll see rats on everything again I like to think of them as hamsters rats not exactly friendly rats can be friends but the show got some questions to end this live stream not really pink I'd love to go back to alga Shima um I'll probably go to an island maybe go to haha Jima or go back to one of the islands this summer but winters do if you go out to the Tokyo Islands in winter the ferry ride is very very violent it's very a hard ride so you might not want to you might not want to ride and in the winter she's checking out that vending machine this is a pretty good ramen shop when you start walking away from us kusa you start to find more local stuff this is this a pretty decent ramen shop they had this chassis ramen here let's see if I can show you the the menu look at that it's all like ciash steak that one looks good too yeah ramen can ice famous favorite ramen places straight down here about 15 minutes from Oskaloosa you can get there we're walking along the Sumida River right now yeah dead spot so to sum up everybody coming to Japan during shokatsu the new year it's a it's a pretty unique time because it's a chance to see Japanese culture it's time where the city kind of shuts down everything gets quiet but most people are off work people are a little bit friendlier things are more relaxed but if you're trying to come here to do a lot of stuff just be aware that many of the shops and activities are closed especially from the 1st to the 3rd of January which is not a bad thing prices are high you want to get your shingle constant tickets in advance make travel plans in advance I would say at least a month in advance if you have certain times hey Cindy can I could I needs a lot of orange juice yes that's true my husband and I will be in Japan for April yeah you know Cindy I was thinking of doing meetup on a boat and rent one of the the river boats and then getting everybody onto one of the river boats for like a dinner or a meal or just to have coffee or tea or something so I'll keep you up I usually put it on Instagram and Facebook all the meetup informations and the discord server but be great to catch up with you I'm gonna go get the kunai now a six pack of orange juice which is good because the supermarkets are closed on January 1st so she's gonna need to stock up on orange juice cuz she can't drink alcohol she gets she has an allergy to it yeah and I've been cutting down a lot on my consumption to the chagrin of mr. das who always gives me money for Asahi which is okay look at that this looks like a pretty festive place look how quiet it's gotten away from Asakusa it's a neat little building and they put these trees out here to celebrate toes it I believe this is a shrine right that's not a restaurant is it I smell food coming from there interesting because this is across the street from the Bondi building I guess it is a restaurant it's interesting because this is across the street from the Bondi building and you can see they put these statues out here not a lot of people know because it's quite separated from us Cassell the tourist places is it hum tunnel hey I know you no no don't graffiti this please do not climb on the character and don't spray-paint them is that try not to Ellis look who's here Ellis now let's love us drywall it's pretty cool right in front of it oh look just salt Ramon whoa you're a pretty big old Ramon chu man's pretty big Happy New Year everybody what does this do does this activate I guess you have to have the secret code or something it's interesting it's pretty cool and then this is what is that bug man I really don't know a lot of the old old-school stuff there's no but nothing to explain who these people are bug man [Music] mask rider and then there's some other ones it's kind of neat kind of neat who here would like to work at Kamen Rider who here would like to work at Bondi huh imagine that that'd be pretty fun take the back road here don't touch Ultraman you can touch it if it can if it can take rain on it I said you don't climb on it like you can put your arm around Ultraman he's not gonna mine too much I didn't really touch it just kind of grazed it I did not have malicious malevolent malicious intent in anyways I think Ultraman can can defend himself right that'd be pretty cool if Ultraman would come to life if anyone climbed on him he would come to life and really freak people out someone they should do that like as a gag I would totally I would love to be there to livestream that yeah common writer the button launches a missile somewhere in the world you don't know what you don't know from where yeah I think was summing up that said I was doing so to sum up yeah she'll guts is pretty chill if you can a home state would be really good to do I think and and definitely if you go to a hotel or something I know it's gonna be pricey I know it's gonna be expensive but if you can try to get a hold of some Osage GDOT osechi yo D which is the New Year's cuisine because it's it's interesting it's different it's not it's not you only eat this at this time of year the only time you can get Osage ggot is on New Year's so if you're interested in Japanese food and trying all sorts of stuff that's a reason to come to New Year's sort that out with your hotel in advance and if you can't if they can't they will usually recommend a place where you can go and they'll give you a box of food with the lacquer box filled with food and it's interesting I'm not a big fan of it the ozoni the soup with the mochi inside of it it's okay but you know what I prefer my my buffalo wings inside all the junk food Sarika night it's good I'll eat it it's really good I kind of like you know thank God okay I'll tell you secret all right don't tell anyone but three years ago I brought my toaster my toaster oven a pizza oven to kanai's house and I made some pizza dough and I made everybody pizza for New Year so I started my own new tradition that was kind of funny and the pizzas pretty good pizzas pretty good you gotta have you have to get good cheese and good this but um I started my own tradition just because you know there's och if I'm gonna drinking beer a lot with the family I want some pizza alright chicken wings maybe in the future sometime but pizza yes don't tell anyone the 850 people watching sorry yes that's true filled offerings is here have some food my treat enjoy New Year's thank you Oh trust me we are gonna do a New Year Street food episode we're gonna find some food stands on New Year's and oh my word we're gonna have a really really roaring good time and midnight that's the ultimate midnight snack run wouldn't you say can you think of a more ultimate midnight snack run then going on New Year's and hitting as many of the food stands I'm gonna be starving I'm not gonna eat maybe the soba because I have to like I don't eat until midnight and I'm gonna go to all those food stands I have a really good time ah Lisa I'm psyching myself up for New Year's now I usually don't like this time of year because it's so cold but now because I'm sharing it this with you it's gonna be pretty cool so you're all invited so New Year's so we'll do a live stream after the New Year's has has rung and I will get going get some Street food in Asakusa if the signal allows us if the signal allows us so in New York time that's like what is that like 10:00 a.m. California that's like 7 a.m. sorry this is really early I think something like that but you'll wake up and we'll be in 2020 and you'll be 2019 awesome we're a day ahead of you so we're gonna be like 14 hours ahead 17 hours ahead of California so you're gonna see the new year the next year and see how it's like and I will report to you live on how I'm feeling and if twenty twenties like feels different than 2019 it's like a completely different world just note that Japan did not start used with the Georgian calendar which is like 2000 2019 2020 until 1872 so it's not really a tradition of Japan a long tradition to have to be celebrating this they would celebrate like the Chinese New Year so this is sort of a new thing from the Meiji Restoration but I'm really excited about it and I hope that you are too thanks for watching I'm going home now if you have any questions once again leave in the comments below hit the like button and encourage me right now to do the new year's live stream so then you can be here with us as we celebrate on location like yet at I think maybe Sensoji shrine or Meiji Shrine someplace big I'm gonna take you with me we're gonna rock this 2020 celebration together sounds good huh All Right see you guys then have a good day have a good night wherever you are in the world bye guys thanks for watching

Channel: ONLY in JAPAN * GO

Views: 25,764

Keywords: Only in Japan, Japan, tokyo, new years, new year's eve, NYE, event, where to go, osechi, ryori, food, what to do, mochi, countdown, club, culture, japanese

Id: gQaGARmLHpE

Length: 61min 53sec (3713 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 27 2019