Tokio Tuesday have your regular viewer
welcome back so many people ask me if I
know any great places to explore outside
of Tokyo and that that's what we're
doing today and like any good Tokyo lens
video starts with a story
today's story starts in an area that is
a mere one hour flight from Tokyo's
Haneda Airport and the best part is
today's story starts in a place that I
have never been
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the experience begins with one of the
most beautiful flights I have ever taken
out to the prefecture of Ishikawa to
head into a small village on the
peninsula known as soon dunno
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arriving at the home that I would stay
the me million or ocean house I couldn't
help but take a moment and appreciate
the beauty of the traditional Japanese
home despite having lived in Japan for
ten years there was just something so
beautiful about this place there aren't
that many things that scare me scare me
but I'm telling you Japanese stairwells
and these old houses are so steep they
just terrified me look how steep that is
that that is almost just vertical so
let's let's try not to die safe so in my
exploration of this place I found what
appears to be a secret tunnel
yeah I see that right there
oh wow that straight up a cave well it's
definitely not safe to go in there this
just feels like a bad idea
all right listen I'm not gonna go too
far in mostly because ever in the
countryside here there can be really
dangerous bugs that can get you sting
yeah you get really sick and hurt and
while our video would be pretty much
done at that point
in fact there was a centipede in the
home a minute ago and they took care of
it just like that like it was nothing
they're so used to it but seriously it's
a cave I'm dying of curiosity
I know hiked ago us fall died you have
to work you do you got ADT Bunker hahaha
so did I ever get a dye job so I just
asked what was in there and she said
there might be centipedes in there and
if I am okay with that then go for it
wow this actually this goes on for a
while way further than I expected
okay there's the end oh now the camera
can't really pick it up so I'm gonna use
my iPhone to get the shots to show you
guys what it looks like inside it's not
super deep but it's kind of neat I found
out afterwards that many of the houses
in this area have little caves similar
to this as they were used to mind their
own minerals in the past so this is what
it looks like inside actually it's a
little like an approach down here and
can't stand up or anything and the audio
quality is probably terrible
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so we're finished lunch which was all
made from local vegetables from the area
taken right from the ground while it's
still fresh in my head there are a few
things that I want to share about this
area the two things that stood out to me
right away is a how incredibly close it
is to the sea in fact there's only four
point four meters above sea level the
ocean is right there
additionally the vast majority of the
architecture here is made in the old
Japanese style and coming into this area
makes you feel like you've stepped into
the past and on top of all of that the
locals are incredibly friendly every
single person that I've passed so far
has greeted me and said hello some have
even started conversations
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walking the area you're just instantly
touched by the calm and peaceful
atmosphere you can tell that if you're
looking for a place to get away from the
crowds and just enjoy that feeling of
Japan this is the place to come
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so we all know that Japan is a pretty
safe country but there's something right
here that I want to show you and it's
this pharmacy countryside is known to be
even safer than Tokyo this pharmacy here
is wide open and there's not a single
person in it anybody could just rock in
there and get whatever they want but
it's not a concern the next leg of my
journey takes me out to the home of a
man that some might call the heart of
the village Kato
tada born in Noto in 1948 where he lives
with his wonderful wife Hiroko an
amazing person in herself mr. Khalid
delights in sharing the local traditions
and history he has taken on the role
promoting this area and everything that
it has to offer he has a special love
for the area and taught me so much more
than I could possibly fit into one
single video but perhaps above all else
were the experiences that mr. Tod shared
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we are out here in the forest picking
wild plants for our lunch
remember those stems that I picked
earlier yeah I'm eating those now and
they're amazing I had a chance to sit
down one-to-one with mr. Tana it was an
eye-opening opportunity you see this
area is faced with one major problem
despite the area's beauty and everything
that it has to offer there's one thing
that it doesn't have appeal to the
younger generation the younger
generations have all left to pursue
lives and studies in the cities leaving
the area with a population that is at or
nearing retirement age and if this trend
continues the area its lifestyle and as
traditions are all at risk of fading
into history in fact the only young
person I encountered on my visit was mr.
talas daughter visiting on break from
university
I think the most heartbreaking part of
my entire visit was the school this
right here is an abandoned elementary
school 15 years ago this school was down
to only five students and two teachers
when eventually the teachers and staff
outnumbered the students they had no
choice but to close down the school but
with the school being the core of the
community they wanted to do something to
keep it open and so they turned it into
a place for guests of the area to stay
each and every one of these rooms right
here has been turned into a bedroom for
people to stay
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but they haven't given up in the hopes
of keeping the area alive over 50
residents have opened their homes in the
form of traditional guest houses to
visitors while they still can
each home is a thing of beauty and
surrounded with nature and each visitor
is treated like an honored guest you
wanted a unique and truly Japanese
experience here it is
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you
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