I have been on pretty much every
accessible rooftop that I can find on
this side of Tokyo there will be an
entire playlist and tonight we are out
in Akihabara an amazing area and the one
thing I've always wanted to do is a
little bit of rooftop camping love that
view Tokyo actually has a love that a
certain percentage of rooftops need to
be covered in Greenery now those ones
tend to be a little bit wider a little
more spacious maybe more suitable for
camping so I've done a bit of searching
and I think I found a spot for tonight
so out here in akihabit on some of these
rooftops you'll even find secret little
rooftop shrines
like this one here I've actually never
noticed this one before and if you're
curious as to how I get up on these or
how I find them that'll also be in that
playlist but for now let's go get set up
okay yeah this is definitely the space a
giant rooftop balcony way more than
enough space to put a tent and there are
rolls of astro turf literally just
waiting to be laid out
[Music]
well that
that couldn't be more perfect
here we go okay I am loving this this is
the perfect spot we are coming up at the
end of summer here in Tokyo the heat is
still there's about 30 degrees right now
30 degrees at night but I have not
gotten to do nearly as much camping this
year as I've wanted to
and honestly it's not every day that you
get to go camping on a rooftop in Tokyo
in fact one might say that it's an
opportunity that you never get I'm gonna
go ahead and say I'm gonna say you'd
never get that opportunity I know I
haven't if you have cool let me know
my first time pulling up the tent this
year I picked up this tent really cheap
on Amazon a couple years back and I did
so entirely because the bag is super
super small and it's really easy to set
up I want to buy another one I don't
sell them anymore
it's gone
so it just passed midnight here in Tokyo
which means all the colorful lights in
the background it's got shut off
[Music]
it's gonna stand up
considering that it's midnight it's
actually both pretty bright and fairly
quiet I would always assume that the
middle of Tokyo this late at night right
out in Akihabara would be much louder
than this there's been the odd train
going by and every now and then a loud
bike or truck but otherwise it's been
quiet and with the city in the
background I guess quiet is a little bit
more of a relative term in this case
you're never going to get the same quiet
that you would underneath the stars out
of the countryside but a new experience
is a new experience and the tent is kind
of set up this is just netting it's not
a see-through tent or anything it does
have a proper cover which we're actually
going to forgo for tonight and just
cross our fingers and hope that it
doesn't rain it's looking a little
suspicious up there and then I will need
my air mattress and my
summer sleeping bag
[Music]
the one big benefit to Rooftop camping
in the middle of the city
no bugs
and plenty of light here we are
here we are all set up and here let me
put this here there we go and in the
process of this somehow my shoe fell out
it's just too exciting we are in the
middle of Tokyo on a rooftop my heart is
literally racing a little bit right now
this is such a rare and unique
experience and it's well it's it's
technically legal the legality side of
things also this by the way if you
didn't catch the last video where I went
through all the secret shrines in Kyoto
I briefly addressed this in there I will
leave it in that one I'll link it the
legality of this though is technically
in Tokyo urban camping or camping in
public is not illegal it's not a crime
however don't take that on Surface value
each Ward or area of the city also has
kind of its own rules and regulations so
some areas you need approval some areas
you might be okay so if you were to just
take your tent and Pitch it in a public
park or something like that you may get
in trouble you may get stop you may be
fine it's a bit of a gamble I would
recommend checking the one place where
you're the most likely to be okay based
on how Japan and Tokyo River law works
are along a lot of the river sides again
these are things that you can call up
the ward office you can look on the
websites in fact before doing any of
this before even sharing this
information with you I had already
confirmed this with the city I confirmed
it with local police and I had confirmed
it with a YouTuber lawyer friend of mine
and I got kind of slightly different
answers from each of them but with a lot
of overlap and the overlap being that
you you should check there are things
for example that you 100
cannot do on these rooftops without a
permit or approval like for example this
right here this is my little set of
cookware and whatnot for when I come out
to these and this is a little canister
of gas and on top of that goes this
which is a little
burner I screwed this right onto here if
you've never been camping this will be
new to you if you have been camping this
is not a big surprise at all and spread
these open like this I open up the gas
and when I push this little button here
I've got a little flame and then I've
got my little pot and pan set that I can
boil water and cook stuff even something
like this without a proper permit a
fighter anywhere in the city is very
illegal in fact my campfire that I have
here this isn't even a campfire at all
this is
ah this is literally just a couple of
lights that have a fire mode to them to
look like a campfire they get a little
warm after a while but now I want food
or drink or snack and while I can't do a
campfire we are in the middle of the
city
[Music]
you know they always say don't shop for
food when you're hungry well I most
certainly didn't need almost any of this
I I already ate the burrito so that's
gone also the sky has started to clear
up a little bit and you can see stars
okay well a star you can see Ace
actually if you look out here you can
you can see more there are more stars
remember what I said earlier about being
quiet well it's about 2 30 in the
morning right now we have like bike
gangs running through they just rev
their engines really really loud this by
the way is a tuna mayonnaise onigiri or
rice ball and
I'm starving so those noisy biker gangs
by the way sometimes referred to as
bosozoku and their relationship with the
police is an interesting little mini
Japanese subculture that I've been
fascinated by 40 years
you see well the police still do harass
and Bug them from time to time for the
most part they kind of get a pass you
see they will literally go buy police
boxes the koban revving their engines
like that
and the police won't bat an eye they'll
just leave them be even though they are
breaking all kind of noise laws and they
are a huge bother to so many people but
there's this silent understanding that
when they reach a certain age that
eventually they will shed this
rebellious stage of theirs and go off
into adulthood donning their suits or
whatever it is that they're doing and
start contributing to society now again
that doesn't hold up 100 of the time if
they break the law or every now and then
if you go to daiko Gusto with the car
meat and all the cars that gather there
you will see officers just bugging them
for the sake of you know kind of keeping
them in line if you will but I have that
silent understanding silent contract
explain to me I think in my first year
coming to Japan and watching it play out
as such has fascinated me ever since
and that's that's just a street cleaner
you can still see stars by the way well
the one the one star that's there this
space itself is just amazing though with
the complete lack of bugs and wind I
almost don't even need the tent I could
just lay right here on the grass the
only thing that would possibly make this
better is a
we need a hammock
[Music]
Yep this was definitely the best idea
I've had so far this evening also I
don't know if you can see that right
there but there is a gorgeous gorgeous
Crescent Moon peeking over the building
there and it is just spectacular I don't
know why I set up the tent tonight to be
honest not going to use it won't be
sleeping in if anything this hammock is
more than good look at this this hammock
is perfect as perfect as it is
suspicious and I feel like I should
explain the hammock and why I'm up here
how I'm up here and everything and I
will do that right after I give some
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of the sponsored second and I guess now
we're on to why I'm camped out on an
Akihabara rooftop why I'm even able to
do that and the main reason is because
this
this is actually this is my rooftop this
is you know let me turn on some lights
that balcony there and in fact this
entire space here this is my new studio
in Akihabara which feels absolutely
insane to be able to say by the way like
my studio Akihabara and since the
majority of my videos are shot out and
about anyway this isn't going to be like
where I shoot all my videos now this is
going to be more for post-production
events and meetups and more on all of
that in a minute before that if you got
my recent video of one of akihabara's
most legendary tiny shops closing up
this here this is a huge chunk of the
shop itself I have spent the last couple
weeks going back and forth up until
closing day to collect as much of the
shop as possible including on the last
day the ownership
gave me his old school cash register
which is easily 50 to 60 years old it
doesn't even close properly anymore he
said it was going to otherwise go in the
garbage little antique amazing things
like this that I am so there is a plan
with this that is incredible I have
literally no use for this but I couldn't
just let his shop Fade Into history and
just disappearing get dispersed all over
the place like the Dragon Balls across
the world yes that was very nerdy I had
to do something to bring it all together
and so a plan is in place there's still
more stuff that I need to collect I want
people to be able to see it to be able
to stand right in front of it to visit
it I always thought that if I got a
YouTube Studio it would have to be more
than just a space where I would make
videos I wanted it to be a collaborative
space I wanted to be a place that people
could visit where people could connect
you know even over 10 years ago I met
the shamisen duo named Kiki we made
videos together by 2019 we were being
paid to travel the world for them to
play shamisen in different countries
next thing I know we're running an
online shamisen school together and as
those businesses grew as well I started
thinking that you know what having a
studio big enough that I could continue
to support Kiki that they could do live
semi-sen performances or even teach
lessons right here would be amazing
people could come here I've always
wanted people to be able to come and
listen to shamisen music live but I've
never really had space for them to do
that now I do we're going to be holding
events and accepting packages and all of
that so we're not going to be hiding the
address just ask that you wait to be
invited that's fair right I feel like I
feel like that's fair oh well this place
is still an absolute mess with nothing
set up I cannot possibly be more excited
like come on it's I joked about it
before how many times have I joked about
having a studio right here in Akihabara
moving to Japan and meeting new people
was already a very difficult thing to do
before kovid and all the restrictions
and spending years of isolation and
everything now moving to Japan for those
who finally get their visas approved and
get into the country it's even harder to
meet and connect with new people and so
trying to throw together an event once
in a while that's a catalyst for people
to meet other people with potentially
similar interests is just I can't sit uh
want to say you get the point though
right I think I think all the pieces are
there we've now not only got this whole
space but also the balcony everything
for events but I should probably shut
all of this down and try to get at least
some rest tonight thank you guys so much
for watching this one and I will see you
again real soon okay I know I said I was
gonna shut it all down but I'm just I'm
way too excited like I mean I mean
seven minutes from Akihabara station
like from the train platform of the
mnode line to here seven minutes 10
minutes if you want to go to conda
station I'm kind of right in the middle
of both but seriously if you have been
with the channel since the very
beginning if you know what the blue
bridge is all about this is actually
just across the road from the blue
bridge I am so
whoo I just
need to get this place set up so that it
is ready and usable for events
there's a lot to get done okay gonna get
to work
okay last one because I haven't said it
for a while I just want to remind you
that I do play favorites like if you
were one of the early viewers watch
right on release to the end and leave me
something in the comment section you are
the trifecta and I absolutely love you
so thank you very much it almost makes
me want to put together like some kind
of sticker or mug or something and
release it just for the first 30 minutes
you know I think we're gonna do that for
the first 30 minutes of each video
release maybe an hour I don't know
there'll be Trifecta Squall make some
kind of fun little logo for us something
exclusive just for us that'll be down
there just at the beginning of the video
releases for I don't know for the next
foreseeable future but I'll goofy mugs
and stickers and all that aside I just
want to say I'm super super grateful to
have you here thank you so much and
welcome to the next stage