I time travelled to Edo Japan in 1657! (Vlog) — Transcript

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1. 0:01Hey guys, welcome back to the channel
2. 0:03and I just walked into Edo in 1657,
3. 0:06which is Tokyo just like 400 years
4. 0:08early. Quick thing, Japan right now does
5. 0:10not let foreigners in at all and I am
6. 0:13100% a foreigner.
7. 0:16I'm here because I got a ride with the
8. 0:17one group they do let in, the Dutch.
9. 0:20They do a yearly walk to the castle to
10. 0:22pay respects. I'm tagging along.
11. 0:25Oh, and one more thing. Nobody knows it
12. 0:27yet, but everything you're about to see
13. 0:28today
14. 0:29gets wiped out in a matter of a few
15. 0:31days. I'll come back to that.
16. 0:33So, why did I come to Japan in 1657?
17. 0:36Well, I'm hoping this is the place I can
18. 0:38just like
19. 0:39reconnect with my soul, cleanse my mind,
20. 0:42and experience a culture I know pretty
21. 0:44much nothing about.
22. 0:46So, yeah. Let's go explore.
23. 0:58>> [music]
24. 1:04>> Okay, first impressions.
25. 1:06There are so many books here, like
26. 1:08actual hand-printed books and this
27. 1:12fabric is insane. I wasn't expecting
28. 1:14this level of like quality just casually
29. 1:17on a market street. Streets here are
30. 1:19organized by trade. This whole stretch
31. 1:20is books, tea, and textiles and a few
32. 1:22roads over it's something completely
33. 1:23different. And what's interesting is
34. 1:25that merchants own quite a lot of the
35. 1:26actual money in this city, but
36. 1:27officially sit at the bottom of the
37. 1:29social ladder below farmers and even
38. 1:31artisans. Status here isn't really about
39. 1:33wealth.
40. 1:48Everyone's yelling at me to buy things
41. 1:50and um
42. 1:51it's working, I think.
43. 1:54Not sure what the obsession with eels
44. 1:56is. I saw this in Tudor London, too. I'm
45. 1:58more of a noodles guy.
46. 2:02Oh, it smells so good. Konnichiwa.
47. 2:06One
48. 2:07one noodles.
49. 2:09I'd normally just ask for a a fork. I'm
50. 2:11not great with chopsticks.
51. 2:15Arigato.
52. 2:18So, these noodles are made from seaweed
53. 2:20and they eat them cold with this
54. 2:22soy vinegar sauce.
55. 2:26>> [laughter]
56. 2:30>> Yeah, that's really good. Not that
57. 2:31different to what you get today,
58. 2:31actually.
59. 2:33But, more tangy. Honestly, the street
60. 2:34here reminds me a bit of like an
61. 2:36open-air mark mark
62. 2:42Okay, right of way is not a courtesy
63. 2:44here. Everyone's got somewhere to be.
64. 2:47Once for rain, once for sun. Which one
65. 2:49should I get, guys?
66. 2:53Konnichiwa.
67. 3:11Come. Come.
68. 3:13I think she wants me to follow her.
69. 3:15Either that or I'm getting kidnapped Edo
70. 3:17Japan style.
71. 3:21No idea where we're going.
72. 3:23But, she just saved me from [music]
73. 3:24something. So, I'm following.
74. 3:32Come in.
75. 3:34Okay, I guess we're doing this. She's
76. 3:36inviting me into her actual home.
77. 3:39I think I'm meant to take off my
78. 3:41slippers.
79. 3:45Konnichiwa. [music]
80. 3:51Oh, guys, they have a cat. This is a
81. 3:521657 [music]
82. 3:53cat.
83. 3:55I swear every cat likes me. Apparently,
84. 3:57short tails like this were actually seen
85. 3:58as lucky here. Long-tailed cats were the
86. 4:00ones people got nervous about. Some
87. 4:01[music] believe that their tails could
88. 4:02split and they'd turn into demons. Not
89. 4:04this one, though.
90. 4:08Oh, this is so cute. I'm not sure what
91. 4:10I've done to deserve [music] this,
92. 4:11though.
93. 4:24I'm honestly [music] not sure what this
94. 4:26is, but it's so warming.
95. 4:41Wait.
96. 4:42Is this for me?
97. 5:02I think she likes it. [music] I
98. 5:03definitely like it. The clothing is so
99. 5:05beautiful here. Such a pretty little
100. 5:07garden.
101. 5:09>> [snorts]
102. 5:09>> And it smells so fresh.
103. 5:14Those are plum blossoms. It's too early
104. 5:17for cherry blossoms, but these [music]
105. 5:18bloom right through the cold. I keep
106. 5:20thinking about how kind she's been. She
107. 5:22didn't have to do any of this, the
108. 5:23clothes, the tea, letting me into her
109. 5:26home.
110. 5:27Honestly, I wonder if part of it is that
111. 5:29she's trying to protect me. Like she saw
112. 5:31exactly how much trouble I could get
113. 5:32into out there on my own.
114. 5:36Oh, what's this?
115. 5:41Oh, okay. I think I
116. 5:44Wait.
117. 5:45>> [laughter]
118. 5:46>> Okay, I am already losing to a
119. 5:477-year-old.
120. 5:52>> [laughter]
121. 5:52>> I think that's our cue.
122. 5:59No shared table?
123. 6:01Everyone gets their own little tray.
124. 6:03I kind of love that, actually.
125. 6:05There's something about this that I
126. 6:06didn't expect to hit me the way [music]
127. 6:08it has. No table and chairs, barely any
128. 6:10furniture at all, really. And somehow it
129. 6:13doesn't feel like less. [music]
130. 6:14It feels like there's nothing in the
131. 6:16way. Back home, dinner's rushed, or
132. 6:18[music] it's on a screen, or half of us
133. 6:20are somewhere else in our heads, even
134. 6:21when we're in the same room. Here,
135. 6:23there's just this.
136. 6:25I don't understand half of [music] what
137. 6:27they're saying to me. Doesn't seem to
138. 6:28matter much.
139. 6:34>> [laughter]
140. 6:34>> I'm guessing that's the husband.
141. 6:37Konnichiwa.
142. 6:39I've said that word so many times, but
143. 6:40it's one of the three words I know in
144. 6:42Japanese.
145. 6:51Wait, are you saying we're going to the
146. 6:52castle?
147. 6:54Okay, I'm actually buzzing right now.
148. 6:56We're going to Edo Castle.
149. 6:58The castle is where the shogun actually
150. 7:01rules the whole country from. Government
151. 7:03business, formal audiences, all of it
152. 7:05happens inside those walls. It's
153. 7:07basically the political center of Japan
154. 7:08right now.
155. 7:11>> [snorts]
156. 7:12>> Okay.
157. 7:13That's the castle.
158. 7:15It's a work of art.
159. 7:18Beyond the walls, only a select few were
160. 7:20ever allowed in. And that tower, it's
161. 7:22[music] painted black, not the white or
162. 7:24gold most people picture. Right now,
163. 7:26this [music] is one of the largest
164. 7:27castles anywhere in the world.
165. 7:31So, I've [music] been a proper tourist
166. 7:33so far, and now it's time for some
167. 7:35action. The kids insisted I try out
168. 7:37samurai training.
169. 7:39>> [music]
170. 7:39>> I'm on my way to a dojo. That's a place
171. 7:41where they practice with swords.
172. 7:45Not sure how this is going to go. Okay,
173. 7:47so the idea is
174. 7:48block his strike first, then redirect
175. 7:51toward the wrist.
176. 7:53The swords are wooden, by the way. I do
177. 7:54intend to make more videos.
178. 8:08That felt way cooler in my head.
179. 8:20Okay, that one actually worked.
180. 8:51So,
181. 8:52if anyone tries anything with me on the
182. 8:54street from now on, just know I've had
183. 8:55like 4 minutes of samurai training.
184. 8:58Consider yourselves warned. Okay,
185. 9:00samurai training complete.
186. 9:02Next stop's a bathhouse.
187. 9:04Apparently, people there aren't even
188. 9:06allowed to bathe at home right now,
189. 9:08something about fire risk, so everyone
190. 9:10ends up at the public ones instead.
191. 9:12Figured after swinging a sword around,
192. 9:13I've earned it.
193. 9:14Apparently, this is the entrance.
194. 9:17You have to crawl in.
195. 9:19Keeps the steam from escaping, or so I'm
196. 9:21told. Okay, sadly I couldn't film in
197. 9:23there. It's a very traditional public
198. 9:25bath, so for privacy reasons, filming
199. 9:27wasn't appropriate. It was really dark
200. 9:29inside, thick with steam. There were
201. 9:30attendants in these amazing colorful
202. 9:32outfits walking around. It was a very
203. 9:34authentic cultural experience, for sure.
204. 9:39Wait.
205. 9:41I've just seen some people wearing
206. 9:42baskets on their heads. I'm not sure if
207. 9:45I should be concerned.
208. 9:48Okay, I just Googled it. And yep, the
209. 9:50baskets are entirely on purpose.
210. 9:52Apparently, they hide the ego. They're
211. 9:54collecting donations, but there are
212. 9:55rumors these guys are actually spies.
213. 9:57So, I'm going to move on quite quickly.
214. 10:10Okay, I don't know what's happening
215. 10:11here, but a crowd has gathered and I
216. 10:13cannot look away.
217. 10:29Okay, so best guess, I think she's some
218. 10:32kind of Buddhist monk.
219. 10:34And it's something about hell, based on
220. 10:36that painting, which not going to lie,
221. 10:37was genuinely disturbing.
222. 10:40Well, she's convinced me. So, I'm off to
223. 10:41check out the local temple.
224. 10:49Okay, I don't really know why,
225. 10:51but I feel like I need to be quiet right
226. 10:53now. And this is where the monks would
227. 10:55meditate for hours. It's incredible to
228. 10:57think about.
229. 11:00Right.
230. 11:01Yeah, sorry.
231. 11:07>> [music]
232. 11:13[music]
233. 11:24>> Every single detail in here feels like
234. 11:26it means something.
235. 11:30I'm going to have a go at meditating
236. 11:32with them.
237. 11:36>> [music]
238. 11:43[music]
239. 11:51[music]
240. 12:02[music]
241. 12:12>> I feel different. I don't really know
242. 12:14how to explain it, but something
243. 12:15shifted. I'm definitely going to start
244. 12:17meditating more. I don't even fully
245. 12:19understand what just happened in there,
246. 12:20but I want more of it.
247. 12:24Okay, I think I'm ready to head off, but
248. 12:27first I need to find the lady I met
249. 12:28earlier. There's something I want to
250. 12:30give her.
251. 12:34Do I just
252. 12:35knock?
253. 12:46This is for you.
254. 13:01For those not aware, that was my scarab
255. 13:03beetle charm that I got in ancient
256. 13:05Egypt. I felt I had to give her
257. 13:06something.
258. 13:07She has been so kind. I need to come
259. 13:09clean about something I said at the
260. 13:11start. [music] I told you all of this
261. 13:12doesn't last. In a matter of weeks, 70%
262. 13:15of this place burns to the ground from a
263. 13:16fire. Everything is made of wood.
264. 13:18100,000 people die in the space of about
265. 13:203 days.
266. 13:21The same thing happens to London 9 years
267. 13:23from now. One thing I've learned [music]
268. 13:25is that history can be so fragile.
269. 13:27Something this beautiful can just be
270. 13:28gone in an instant.
271. 13:30I guess it still can.
272. 13:32Thanks for watching. [music] Make sure
273. 13:33you subscribe so you don't miss my next
274. 13:35adventure.
275. 13:38>> [music]