This Village in Japan Should Be Dying. Why Isn't It?

[00:00:00]Oh, wow. I think we've found Japan's answer to the back roads.

[00:00:06]>> Nothing on the wire. Very strong.

[00:00:09]>> Hope a bridge here.

[00:00:11]>> Can you hear that? That's real or something.

[00:00:14]>> I'm banning British people from Japan.

[00:00:15]>> Is that okay with you?

[00:00:16]>> Oh, crap.

[00:00:23]I'll be real with you. It's one of the best views I've ever had in Japan, I think.

[00:00:27]But to get here, to be frank, it's no easy task.

[00:00:42]200 km west of Tokyo, beyond Mount Fuji, lies the Akaishi Mountains, also known as the South Japan Alps. For the longest time, I've wondered what goes on here.

[00:00:52]Because even in the most isolated mountains in the country, you can typically pass through and come out the other side through a series of endless tunnels. But here, the roads wind down the valleys and simply just disappear, lost amidst towering peaks 3,000 m tall.

[00:01:06]Natsuki and I recently set off on a 3-day road trip following these roads as far as they would take us into a region neither of us had ever explored. What we found were extraordinary people living in extraordinary places, including the very village wasabi was first discovered and cultivated 400 years ago. Good day.

[00:01:24]Sliced to look like Japan's answer to Machu Picchu. And dare I say, some rather precarious bridges thrown in.

[00:01:31]Perhaps above all, it was a place that challenged the unfortunate narrative that's come to surround rural Japan.

[00:01:36]These days, the Japanese countryside has become synonymous with aging, abandonment, and decline. 9 million homes around the country currently lie empty. And in the last 5 years alone, 45 out of 47 prefectures have seen their population shrink. Yet, as Natsuki and I ventured ever deeper into the mountains, we found a remote corner of the countryside that wasn't so much declining as thriving. So, join us on one of the most epic journeys we've ever taken as we head off into a mysterious world, a mysterious world of bridges, trinkets, and wasabi that lies hidden away in the peaks beyond Mount Fuji.

[00:02:15]My god, now that is a view. So, the start point of our journey is here up on the mountains over Shizuoka City. And if you have a powerful imagination, you can actually see where Fuji is. You need the imagination cuz it's so ridiculously high, you wouldn't normally look like above the clouds, but you can see it like the summit. I love that Ski's got this action man look going. Yeah, yeah, yeah. GI Joe.

[00:02:37]>> GI Joe Joe.

[00:02:42]>> It's uh it's a different look for uh going deep into the mountains.

[00:02:47]>> Soldier style.

[00:02:48]>> GI Joe Joe, a soldier style.

[00:02:54]Our first stop is one of Japan's most bizarre railway stations, Okuizumi cordial station, which seemingly floats in the middle of a lake. Exclusively accessible by a spectacular railway line that looks like the gateway to the underworld. Although, as we drive ever upwards through the perilous mountain pass, it's starting to look like we might reach the underworld somewhat ahead of schedule.

[00:03:24]Some of these roads certainly aren't for the faint of heart if you're not a confident driver. Extremely narrow, some big drops, and Natsuki's taking it like a [ __ ] rally driver. Dorifto king.

[00:03:48]Oh god.

[00:03:53]Most railway stations are built beside something useful, a town, a village, at the very least a vending machine. But the tiny Ikaruga line has taken a more experimental approach. Emerging from a tunnel, the railway crosses the lake 70 m above the water before briefly stopping on a narrow sliver of land with no town and barely enough room for Okuizumi station itself. There are two ways to see it, either ride the train or park up and hike through a dense forest and cross the railway bridge on foot.

[00:04:20]And for some reason, we chose the latter.

[00:04:25]Oh well.

[00:04:29]Wow.

[00:04:32]Have a look at this.

[00:04:34]Amazing spot.

[00:04:38]Beautiful lake. It's pretty cool place, very visceral, shall we say. Red bridge, god knows if there's a train coming or not.

[00:04:45]The water looks like emerald green. This is like a train otaku's dream come true, this place.

[00:04:51]I don't know if I want to be on the bridge when the train comes, given it'll be like 1 ft away from my face.

[00:04:58]Arriving at Okuizumi station, we soon make two rather intriguing discoveries.

[00:05:03]Number one, it turns out the train is quite literally about to arrive. And number two, Natsuki's biggest Romanian fans appear to be waiting to catch that very train. How are you guys doing?

[00:05:13]>> Hello.

[00:05:15]>> I will say Natsuki and I thought there'd be nobody out here. We thought it'd all be like empty in the mountains.

[00:05:19]Natsuki's number one fan.

[00:05:21]>> Yeah.

[00:05:21]>> Say cheese. One of the trains that runs the Ikaruga line is Thomas the Tank Engine. Although to Natsuki's disappointment today, it is just a regular train.

[00:05:34]Don't be disappointed.

[00:05:40]But in true Natsuki fashion, not only does he soon become the impromptu train conductor, but he gives his fans the fitting send off that they so sorely deserve.

[00:05:49]>> All right. Well, lucky they're getting the train.

[00:05:52]You've got to walk back over the bridge.

[00:05:58]>> Wow.

[00:05:59]>> I hope I hope you caught that cuz it's not >> We filmed that, yeah.

[00:06:27]Say goodbye.

[00:06:29]Very sad.

[00:06:39]Oh, good timing.

[00:06:43]Awesome. Everybody's gone.

[00:06:46]Lonely station. Oh.

[00:06:52]Unsatisfied by just one bridge, that skin insists we press further up the valley to a structure so ridiculously thin, it practically looks like a piece of string floating across the valley.

[00:07:03]Welcome to Yume no Tsuri Bashi, literally the dream bridge. Great to look at, not so sure I'm keen to cross it. I mean, my god, it looks like something out of the Temple of Doom.

[00:07:17]Can you hear that? That's real thunder.

[00:07:20]It's not like edited in, that's actual thunder.

[00:07:23]Who's ready to cross the dream bridge?

[00:07:25]The [ __ ] nightmare bridge. Look at it. It's made out of like sticks.

[00:07:32]Oh my god.

[00:07:38]>> Big size.

[00:07:39]>> Big size?

[00:07:40][ __ ] off.

[00:07:41][ __ ] old Mike.

[00:07:43]This is ridiculous.

[00:07:45]>> The water's beautiful, but the shaking, the shaking. Oh my god. This is not where you want to be when the lightning strikes. Look at this.

[00:07:55]Who put a bridge here? What the [ __ ] So, [ __ ] off. Stop it, Yamete.

[00:08:01]Yamete.

[00:08:03]Yamete kudasai.

[00:08:04]This is genuinely quite scary. There's like thunder and lightning going on at the moment. Even though I'm really scared, I'm more scared of the lightning than the bridge. Oh, don't look down. Don't look down.

[00:08:15]Don't look down.

[00:08:17]I want to say it was fun, but I think I just wiped 3 years off my life.

[00:08:22]Yeah.

[00:08:24]>> Ah, it's finished.

[00:08:25]>> Never again. No more bridges. I'm banning >> One more? One >> No, no, no.

[00:08:29]I'm banning bridges from Abroad in Japan.

[00:08:31]The last bridge. I'm not going on a bridge ever again on this damn channel.

[00:08:35]>> Having survived the so-called dream bridge, Natsuki the compassionate is on hand to shepherd the next group of travelers across the bridge.

[00:08:43]>> Day's over.

[00:08:45]Oh.

[00:08:52]>> Oh, NO.

[00:08:54]NO.

[00:08:54]OH, SORRY.

[00:08:58]>> YOU BASTARD.

[00:09:00]THAT'S PURE EVIL. That's evil.

[00:09:02]>> It's a Japanese joke.

[00:09:04]>> Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's exactly it. It's a Japanese joke.

[00:09:09]>> While accommodation is few and far between in the region, we're extremely lucky to chance upon a homestay run by American and Japanese couple Claire and Shiro. And after getting to know them that evening, they kindly agreed to let us film and share their story.

[00:09:21]>> Ah, good morning. What a place to wake up. The view out that window. It is so beautiful. I'll show you in a minute, but I woke up in the middle of the night because I heard like a rustling outside, and I thought, "Oh, maybe it's Natsuki going for a a smoking break," which she does at like 3:00 a.m. And I saw these like eyes reflecting in the light out in the darkness, and I looked closer and it was a deer just wandering through the garden pretty coolly.

[00:09:42]Um let's go and find Nesky.

[00:09:49]Claire and Shido met in Shizuoka 12 years ago, and after spending many years living and working in Kawasaki in the greater Tokyo area, Shido's IT job went remote and they took the plunge to move out to the countryside. Given Claire's upbringing in Yosemite in California, she was keen to live in the mountains.

[00:10:03]And after a 1-year trial run, the two of them fell in love with life in Kawanehon, enjoying the slower pace of life and the sense of community for the four years they've now called this region home. And while unfortunately Shido has to spend the morning on Zoom calls working from home, Claire and I chat in the garden about the highs and lows of rural Japan life. While being intermittently interrupted by a stray cat who's taken up residence in their shed and befriended their pet cat Watabi.

[00:10:29]That's the loudest meow in the world.

[00:10:30]>> Yeah, he's very noisy. He really makes his presence known.

[00:10:34]>> You and I live like 90 minutes apart by bullet train.

[00:10:37]>> Right, right.

[00:10:38]>> But you might as well live on another planet compared to where I live.

[00:10:41]>> Yeah, definitely.

[00:10:42]>> I live in how everyone in Tokyo lives, right?

[00:10:44]>> Yeah.

[00:10:44]>> In the time we've spoken, I've got the idea that you really like it here an awful lot. I've but you haven't said anything about any downsides. Are there any downsides?

[00:10:53]>> So the transportation is probably the hardest thing. Like in the sound, if you need to go to the clinic, if you need to go to the hospital, which I'm very clumsy, so those kind of things you have to drive an hour and a half. If we need to take the cats to the vet, that's another hour and a half there, hour and a half back.

[00:11:11]If you're someone that's really into nightlife or those kind of things, >> Mhm.

[00:11:15]>> um then it's kind of it's not really the town for that.

[00:11:19]>> But there are like quite a lot of animals, insects, things to deal with.

[00:11:22]>> Yes. Yeah.

[00:11:23]I I'm also like very afraid of spiders.

[00:11:26]>> You told me the cat was playing with like a killer snake the other day.

[00:11:29]>> Yes.

[00:11:30]So so other day our cat Watabi was out in the field and he was just like, "Oh, snake. I'm going to touch this."

[00:11:37]>> What kind of snake was it?

[00:11:38]>> It was a mama snake.

[00:11:39]>> Oh my god.

[00:11:40]>> So, I was like, uh I'm going please come, please.

[00:11:46]And then when we got him inside then he was just complaining the entire time, "I want to go out and see that snake again." I'm like, "Why are you doing this to me?"

[00:11:52]>> Cat toy.

[00:11:53]>> So, we have deer, we have boar, we have monkeys, technically we're humans living in the animals' area, right?

[00:12:02]>> So, we have to just kind of like live with the nature that is around here cuz that's one of the benefits is that we get to live in such a beautiful area.

[00:12:10]>> Yeah, that sense of community I think certainly in the abundance in the countryside.

[00:12:14]>> We'll be sitting inside the house and all of a sudden somebody comes in and is like, "Hey, let's go swimming." Or, "Hey, I want to play taiko today. Like, I'm going to bring over my drums and tonight we're going to have a barbecue and play taiko outside the house." Like, I'm super super grateful to our community because when we were building this house we had like almost no floors, no shower, no kitchen cuz everything was demolished. And all of our neighbors would come over and be like, "I know you guys are eating convenience been every day. So, I made a little extra dinner. Here's that." Or like, "If you need to use our shower, you can come over and use it." And like >> Ironic really cuz in the in the city you'll be surrounded by hundreds, thousands of people and maybe you talk to you but out here >> Yeah.

[00:12:56]>> people will come to you and you can actually meet people.

[00:12:58]>> Yeah, and you'll get like the random grandpa next door who's like, "Oh, here's some beetles." And then the next day, "Here's some more beetles." You get just very random things happening all the time.

[00:13:11]>> It's hard not to feel slightly envious.

[00:13:12]>> Yeah, but you get it is very busy. Like, we do have a sense of responsibility that people have this idea of I'm going to move to the countryside and I'm going to sit on my front porch and drink coffee and that will will >> Oh, yeah. day. Here it's the opposite.

[00:13:28]In this community, if you didn't make enough food for yourself, then you had to hope that your neighbor would help you out. So, there is a tight, like, sense of that. In the same way, you need also be making sure you're giving back to the community. So, >> A lot of introverted people are like, "Yeah, I'll live in the country and be alone." But, actually, >> Yeah.

[00:13:46]>> you kind of need to be the opposite, by the sounds of things.

[00:13:48]>> For me and Shiro, we both have this idea that, like, if we're going to receive so much, we want to make sure that we're giving back just as much. You get to do a lot of really fun things, but sometimes those fun things can be at an inconvenient time.

[00:14:00]>> Like, the motorbike that's just pulled up.

[00:14:02]>> Yeah.

[00:14:04]>> So, yeah.

[00:14:04]>> They're off and now.

[00:14:06]I just say bye.

[00:14:09]Yeah.

[00:14:11]Yeah, so it's also, like, >> Nice.

[00:14:13]>> when the our mail guy comes over, he just opens the door and he puts the mail inside. And it's like, "Oh, wasn't expecting you." Glad I have clothes on.

[00:14:24]>> It's like Dr. Doolittle out here. So many cats, animals, creatures.

[00:14:29]Thank you so much for having us today.

[00:14:30]It's been a lot of fun.

[00:14:31]>> Thank you so much for coming out here.

[00:14:33]>> It's a shame we couldn't film Shiro.

[00:14:34]Shiro was He He like >> Busy boy.

[00:14:36]>> He's like on meetings, like, running the world from like a little office out back. See you again.

[00:14:40]>> Yeah, come back anytime. One of you will be waiting. Yuzu will be shy.

[00:14:46]Yeah.

[00:14:47]>> I want to be. I want to be.

[00:14:50]I want to be.

[00:14:51]>> If you want to be my lover, >> Oh god, don't get Natsuki started. He'll start singing his Spice Girls songs.

[00:14:58]If you really want to be my lover, I want I want to be.

[00:15:03]Natsuki singing didn't go down too well.

[00:15:06]Bye-bye.

[00:15:09]Before leaving, Claire tipped us off about a rather intriguing hidden spot further upstream. A warehouse of trinkets and treasures run by their friend Yamamoto-san. And, honestly, nothing can quite prepare us for what we find and the sheer scale of it all when we arrive.

[00:15:24]You know, my favorite thing doing this is traveling to the far-flung corners of Japan, seeing the parts of the country that nobody else gets to see. And I've always wanted to try and encourage you guys to do that as well. And that's why 12 months ago we launched Journey Japan eSim, Japan's fastest, most reliable internet in your pocket, no questions asked. And since then over 50,000 people have arrived in Japan, tapped a few buttons on their phone screen, and they never thought about internet ever again during the trip of their lifetime, as it should be, right? there are a lot of SIM card companies these days, and many of them are dodgy, not great, straight-up don't reveal things they should. For example, many unlimited SIM cards are actually capped at 3 GB a day. After that, your internet actually gets throttled, which isn't quite my definition of the word unlimited. We wanted something truly unlimited, and that's why this year we've partnered with KDDI, an award-winning 5G service with the fastest speeds of any provider.

[00:16:14]Whether you're coming for 15 days or 30 days, we've got SIM cards for both, and you can find them linked in the description box below. And if you do choose Journey Japan eSim, you've got some pretty cool rewards as well, including 500 yen off each person going to Big Echo Karaoke, Japan's largest karaoke chain, or 500 yen off your first cocktail at Los Bar, which you're probably going to need after a long flight over here. So, if you're coming to Japan, having the trip of a lifetime, don't get screwed around with dodgy internet. Choose Journey Japan eSim and have yourself an amazing time in this amazing country. See you on the road.

[00:16:47]Hidden away in an inconspicuous warehouse in the mountains of Shizuoka, lies the collective memories of hundreds of people, very much Japan's answer to the backrooms.

[00:16:57]If you've ever wondered where somebody's worldly possessions go after they're gone, the answer is here, the warehouse of Yamamoto-san.

[00:17:04]It's allegedly a second-hand goods store, but it feels more akin to a secret. Books, CDs, fans, clothes, electronics, anything goes.

[00:17:14]>> Treasure hunting. Treasure hunting.

[00:17:16]>> I love Natsuki-no.

[00:17:17]>> Oh, you're only kidding, aren't you?

[00:17:21]Not messy.

[00:17:22]Not messy in my house.

[00:17:25]Yes, it's all right.

[00:18:07]Absolutely warehouse of trinkets, treasures, and memories. Kind of reminds me of the place at the end of Indiana Jones. Or maybe more interesting cuz it's Japanese goods from the '60s. From the first glance, it does look like chaos defined. But, as you go a bit closer, things are sort of organized to some degree.

[00:18:26]Everything from DVDs and records to clothes, statues, even yakisoba, fried noodles that maybe you won't want to eat. Oh, yakisoba noodles.

[00:19:02]It has to be said there's some genuinely impressive things here. You've heard of ghost in the shell, well get ready for ghost in the cop.

[00:19:12]>> Oh.

[00:19:16]Oh.

[00:19:18]Oh.

[00:19:20]Oh.

[00:19:21]Oh, my camera.

[00:19:25]A picture. Oh.

[00:19:28]Why not?

[00:19:29]Go to meet her.

[00:19:31]English cup. Ghost cup.

[00:19:36]Mhm.

[00:19:38]Mhm.

[00:19:39]Mhm.

[00:19:40]Mhm.

[00:19:43]Oh.

[00:19:45]Mhm.

[00:19:47]Oh. Mhm. Mhm. Mhm.

[00:19:50]Mhm. Mhm.

[00:19:52]I'm a power stone. Mhm.

[00:19:56]Mhm.

[00:19:58]I'm going to get her. Mhm.

[00:19:59]Mhm.

[00:20:01]Mhm.

[00:20:03]Mhm.

[00:20:04]Mhm.

[00:20:05]I'll get her in there. Mhm. I get to see her.

[00:20:10]Mhm.

[00:20:11]Mhm.

[00:20:19]Mhm.

[00:20:22]Mhm.

[00:20:23]Mhm.

[00:20:25]Mhm.

[00:20:27]At last I can finally make a hanko stamp to be proud of.

[00:20:30]I have a power stone.

[00:20:32]Smells good.

[00:20:34]Smells like power. While Yamamoto-san has kindly gifted me a power stone, Natsuki has straight up disappeared until we find him concealed away in one of the back rooms.

[00:20:44]Beatles.

[00:20:48]Mhm.

[00:20:49]Mhm.

[00:20:50]Also.

[00:20:51]When I was younger so much better than today.

[00:20:55]Mhm.

[00:20:57]This is the first time you know the words to a song. I'm impressed. And so at last with Natsuki having found his treasure, it's time for the painstaking bartering to begin.

[00:21:06]Mhm.

[00:21:08]Mhm.

[00:21:10]Half price.

[00:21:12]Wow.

[00:21:16]Super special honey.

[00:21:21]Oh, you're lucky today.

[00:21:25]Oh, that wasn't so hard.

[00:21:27]We leave not just with power stones and discount Beatles records, but a brand new side quest as we're tipped off once again about a nearby secret spot that's allegedly nicknamed the Machu Picchu of Shizuoka. The only problem is it's tucked down the most narrow road that either of us have ever seen.

[00:21:51]When you drive down a mountain road for 25 minutes without seeing a single solitary soul, you do start to wonder if you're about to hit a dead end. And there's one thing you don't expect to see.

[00:22:01]This.

[00:22:02]That is one hell of a view.

[00:22:06]A sudden unsuspecting village of genuine breathtaking beauty.

[00:22:15]I'll be real with you. It's one of the best views I've ever had in Japan, I think. Absolutely incredible. I think not just the view, but the fact we had to get here, you know, we went up a mountain and another mountain and you just keep going up and up and up and eventually you reach the edge of civilization in the mountains and this is it. This is very much it.

[00:22:33]Wow. And normally when you come out to places like this, you expect it to look a bit abandoned and sort of run down.

[00:22:38]All the homes look stunning. The tea fields meticulously tended to. It's like a secret world.

[00:22:43]>> Secret world. Not there because mountain laws, no money, no net, nothing more.

[00:22:50]Wow.

[00:22:51]Ikinari Machu Picchu. Machu Picchu.

[00:22:59]>> Why are they hiding >> Secret.

[00:23:03]Secret tea.

[00:23:05]For emperor.

[00:23:07]>> Those are >> Something new.

[00:23:15]>> Mhm.

[00:23:16]>> Maybe it's time you started a tea business.

[00:23:19]To revitalize Yamagata.

[00:23:21]Yamagata doesn't care inside.

[00:23:26]>> Book in tea business.

[00:23:28]>> Natsuki-chan.

[00:23:29]>> Natsuki-chan.

[00:23:30]>> Mhm.

[00:23:30]>> Oh, cha cha cha cha.

[00:23:32]I want to dance to you like a cha cha.

[00:23:36]Romancing.

[00:23:38]>> I said it before, I'll say it again.

[00:23:40]Satoyama is sort of places between nature and humanity. My favorite places in Japan. Um just that sense of harmony that's been cultivated for hundreds if not thousands of years. That balance between tending to the land, tending to the bamboo groves, temples, shrines. Having that overlap with nature, being intertwined with it, but getting the balance right.

[00:24:01]But also the reason we're seeing things like bear attacks on the rise is that breakdown between nature and civilization. Certainly in North Japan where the population's faltering and people are no longer tending to the mountains and the villages. That's where you're seeing things like bear attacks happen because bears no longer know where the line is drawn, right? But you just feel something out here that uh you really don't get in the cities of Japan.

[00:24:23]>> My heart super wash.

[00:24:28]>> The power washing of Natsuki's heart.

[00:24:31]Nature. I suppose in its own special way. That's very poetic.

[00:24:36]Yeah, quite vi- quite violent and visceral.

[00:24:39]But that's that's what we've come to expect from Natsuki, I suppose.

[00:24:42]>> So, Natsuki laundry.

[00:24:44]>> I think what surprised Natsuki and I the most about this place isn't just that the region appears to be thriving, but there's an absence of abandoned buildings, something that unfortunately is rather commonplace up in North Japan where Natsuki and I spend most of our time. So, what's the secret? Only a handful of prefectures in Japan actually cultivate tea. Tea can generate far more value from limited land, roughly 2 million yen in gross output per hectare compared with around 1.1 million yen for rice. That means even the tiniest, most isolated plots can become economically viable. Make no mistake though, Shizuoka is facing depopulation. Since 2020, the number of residents has fallen by 4.5%.

[00:25:20]And perhaps it is just better disguised up here. After all, tea is a perennial crop and so a handful of aging farmers can keep an entire mountainside looking immaculate even as the village beside it empties out. But there is one more place more remote than this over in the next valley. And it's here they cultivate one of the hardest to grow plants on the planet. Man, the mountains of Japan are certainly good for the soul. If you guys are enjoying this road trip, hit the like button, comment.

[00:25:47]Do those things. Kind of helps us, lets us know you guys are enjoying this stuff so we know to come back and make more.

[00:25:54]Hidden among the upper reaches of the Abe River lies Utogi, a tiny, unassuming mountain settlement that changed Japanese cuisine forever or at the very least made eating sushi considerably more fun. For the road might end here, but it's where something rather brilliant began.

[00:26:12]We're on holy ground here today. This is the impossibly remote village of Utogi, the birthplace and home of wasabi. It was believed it was first cultivated and discovered here in the streams about 400 years ago. Given how isolated this place is, it feels rather fitting that the greatest food in all of Japan was discovered here. And today they're still cultivating it.

[00:26:32]So, let's get our hands on some.

[00:26:40]This place is pretty incredible.

[00:26:41]Weirdly, there's nobody here. We haven't seen anybody in the village. Not even when I know.

[00:26:47]It's like an abandoned village.

[00:26:49]>> Everybody dead.

[00:26:50]>> I hope they're not. Wasabi is notoriously difficult to grow and cultivate. It takes 18 months to 3 years. Wasabi needs a constant source of water, constantly keeping the roots cool with mineral-rich spring water. And so, it's only in mountain communities really that you find it cultivated. Places like this, right? High in the mountains where the temperature's kind of cool and stable, and the water is abundant. Only problem is there's one restaurant in town, and it's shut today. So, very hungry.

[00:27:19]>> Wasabi >> No, no, no, no. It's not ready.

[00:27:22]I'm sure we can find somewhere selling wasabi around here.

[00:27:25]Just as it's starting to look like our quest for wasabi might have ended in failure, it turns out tonight's traditional inn in the nearby hot spring town of Umegashima is thankfully serving wasabi on the menu. And as we check into the hotel at the furthest point of our entire journey, we soon discover our hotel room has a somewhat rather unique addition.

[00:27:44]Oh, nice. Good view.

[00:27:47]Good smell.

[00:27:50]Oh, nice view. Beautiful.

[00:27:53]Nice view, isn't it?

[00:27:54]Heavy view, heavy.

[00:28:01]It's nice.

[00:28:03]What a noisy sound.

[00:28:06]In the dead of night, the sound of the spring. As Natsuki swings from side to side.

[00:28:14]Oh, big size.

[00:28:16]>> What?

[00:28:18]>> It's a really big toilet.

[00:28:20]>> Wait, mountain road no, no. Short. Why big toilet?

[00:28:25]>> Natsuki joked that the rope was like more narrow than the toilet. It was certainly more narrow than that toilet.

[00:28:30]That's the biggest toilet I've ever seen.

[00:28:32]>> Yeah.

[00:28:32]>> Ridiculous. Chair swings and mega toilets.

[00:28:36]Let's test THIS JAPANESE ENGINEERING.

[00:28:39]>> CHAIR chair toilet so oh, very soft chair.

[00:28:45]>> So, even though it's a hot spring, we don't have a bath in our room. And what they've done is there's cash kitty kind of private bathrooms. You get them for like an hour. And we got this one called Rin.

[00:28:56]And Natsuki's already long gone. He's very much in it already.

[00:29:00]This is the first hot spring of our trip.

[00:29:03]>> No, no, no. So, that is one day mountain, two day mountain, three day mountain.

[00:29:10]Also, hot spring.

[00:29:12]Nice.

[00:29:36]versus human and the human.

[00:29:43]>> Ooh.

[00:29:45]Very delicious.

[00:29:50]Goodbye.

[00:29:51]>> Hey. Cheers.

[00:29:52]>> Hey.

[00:29:53]>> And at last, we have real wasabi, Natsuki.

[00:29:57]Hee hee for you.

[00:30:02]>> rolling style >> Oh, really?

[00:30:05]>> So, no good.

[00:30:07]slide rolling roll fresh fresh da S- kore wa s- great. Yes, that's good now I got it. I got it.

[00:30:21]Kore wa yes smell da ne. fresh wasabi Itadakimasu.

[00:30:28]>> That's really spicy.

[00:30:30]>> Ooh.

[00:30:31]quick quick quick quick spicy Ooh.

[00:30:35]Ooh, fresh.

[00:30:37]Ooh, but good taste, but spicy. Don't you wish Ooh, demo oishii kedo.

[00:30:44]>> It's >> common knowledge that the wasabi you get a lot of sushi restaurants isn't the real deal. It's like horseradish, right?

[00:30:50]But is the real thing actually spicy?

[00:30:52]Let's find out.

[00:30:54]Yes.

[00:30:55]Yes, it is. Wow. It's got a sort of satisfying freshness to it though.

[00:31:00]I can actually wasabi raw and enjoy it as it is.

[00:31:10]Wow. So Shamo chicken is like the wagyu of chicken. It's sort of firmer, bit chewier. It's said to have more umami flavor. Be a bit sort of juicier. Wow.

[00:31:21]It's got sort of a gamey flavor to it.

[00:31:23]Sort of in between chicken and duck maybe. Oh, really good. That's about as good as yakitori can possibly get. My god.

[00:31:31]Shamo everybody.

[00:31:34]Is it good?

[00:31:34]>> Oh.

[00:31:36]Taste is deep more than chicken.

[00:31:42]>> So they have shochu with wasabi in the bottom of it. Check this out. You stir it up.

[00:31:50]>> Cheers.

[00:31:50]>> Wasabi shochu.

[00:31:54]>> Never been Never before.

[00:31:55]>> It's really good.

[00:31:57]>> Excellent.

[00:31:58]>> I It's really nice. It's got a really subtle sort of spicy kick right at the back of your throat but oh, this is the future.

[00:32:04]>> Next to future.

[00:32:05]>> Fill this at Lost Bar. Lost Bar.

[00:32:07]You should make this at Lost Bar. This is genius. Wasabi plus alcohol. I think we've discovered the holy grail of alcohol and shamo and chicken.

[00:32:15]>> Chicken.

[00:32:17]>> And with that, our epic three-day journey across Shizuoka is at an end and our passionate driver is allowed some well-earned rest.

[00:32:29]Well, our trip is over. We're here back on the coastline overlooking Shizuoka and Izu. We've come here because I thought we could see Mount Fuji but chasing after Fuji is a fool's errand.

[00:32:38]It's always in the clouds, right? Look at that. God damn it.

[00:32:55]What was your favorite moment from the trip though?

[00:32:57]>> Dream bridge.

[00:32:58]>> Ah, the dream the nightmare bridge.

[00:33:01]I'd say my favorite moment was Natsuki running alongside the train.

[00:33:05]>> Oh, bye-bye.

[00:33:05]>> Waving goodbye. But uh we met so many great people. Yamamoto-san, Claire and Shiro. Like so many great people on this trip. But unfortunately, it's back to Tokyo, back to reality. It's time to say goodbye to GI Joe Joe.

[00:33:17]>> Yeah. GI Joe Joe serious.

[00:33:19]>> Let's make it happen. My God.