So how many did you manage?
15!
15?
Yeah I'm so proud!
So proud? But Ryotaro said that if you do less than 100 you're a looser
Ready?
I've got Mankey
But he's just a bad man A very bad man indeed
2 years ago I tragically lost a bet doing the wanko soba noodle challenge
Challenge that involves stuffing yourself with as many bowls of soba noodles as possible
without being physically sick
Not only did I lose a bet but my reputation as a man was completely destroyed as apparently a man should be able to eat over a hundred bowls
And I only managed....44
But recently I had a chance of redemption when my friend Ryotaro and I travelled 500 km across North Japan in 3 days
Over the years people have asked me where they can get traditional Japanese clothes to try on while they're in Japan
and I..never really know I'm not an expert on the subject
But I am now!
Japan's largest Tourism company, JTB just started a service where you can rent traditional Japanese clothes
from shops across most cities in Tohoku
have them professionally fitted and then go off and travel around!
Ryotaro and I were invited to try out that service
And wear them whilst traveling around for 3 days across Tohoku
To amazing and sometimes bizarre locations that I didn't even know existed
with the journey ending with Wanko Soba Noodle Battle to the death!
Err...except...without death
Sorry!
Our journey began in the city of Koriyama where we were joined by Hana, a Taiwanese blogger who would also be coming along on the journey
So these are our Yukatas here we can choose from
The trick to choosing the perfect Yukata Is to try and conceal your weight
So I think the black one is the best one, right?
That’s correct the black one make you look slimmer
I wanna look good so I want this one
You look like a Prince or something
I am actually…
I feel like I’m a Maharajah or something
Prince Muppet
Prince Muppet?!
I went with this pattern in the end
I found it conceals my figure better than the black one did
The patterns are a good distraction
Actually you know what for kimono it’s likeyou need to be…if you’re a little bit chubby, that actually suits you better
Obviously I’ve worn yukata a few times but I never thought I’d look good in it
You know I never thought it fitted very well
So I'm quite curious as to see if this fits alright
I think it might because there's quite a lot of people working on this
To make it look good
That's true
Finished?
Finished!
What a handsome young man
Shut up!
For our first destination we headed deep into the mountains of North Japan to visit the village of Ouchijuku
An old stopping off point for travelers hundreds of years ago
It was here that we would also be having quite a peculiar lunch
This is one of the best views of Tohoku
Yeah I guess so
Top ten view there
I think if you're gonna walk through one town in Japan wearing a Yukata, it should be here: Ouchijuku
Obviously the most distinctive thing is the roof
It's the roof yeah!
It's made out of the straws from the rice
That's pretty cool!
So not only can you eat rice but you can turn it into a house
That's right!
Alright so we're at the restaurant and we are going to eat soba, this soba is very special
You need to eat it with a long onion
With a long onion..?
Yeah
What.??
How is that even possible?
Surely the onion would just sort of like flop
Well we're gonna make it possible
Wow!
You really weren't kidding weren't you
I wasn't kidding
That's an onion
What it does is that
This onion is literally like a spice
And adds some flavor to it
You can just pick it
You look so proud
Coz I am!!
Aaah...so difficult!!
I think it's the first time I've eaten somewhere where you can eat the utensil you're using to eat
I can't think of any other time that I've done that
This is the only place in whole Japan that they do this
Really?
Yeah!
Eating with onion
What a unique way to eat
My onion is getting shorter, that's the problem!
I hate it when that happens
After a delicious lunch of noodles and onion
We left Ouchijuku and stopped off at an antique goods shop
In the nearby town of Aizu Wakamatsu
It was here we grabbed a popular old fashioned soda drink
Called Ramune
A drink that can often feel more like handling explosives
And then...BAM
Alright?
Ready?
Woah
There's a ball here
So if you just pull it too high then you'll stick the thing so...
Refreshing?
Very nice!
Like that?
And then..
Yeaaah
Who thought this up?
Who thought "oh yeah! This will be a good idea!"
And now there's a little ball in there
So when you pull it up like that and then if you do it too much
That's it!
Nothing's coming out!
That's magic
Because of the ball
Shit!
The ball got stuck
This is the most dangerous drink in Japan
But very refreshing!
For our last stop of the day we wanted to grab some souvenirs
So we headed to a famous local shop sculpting figurines and masks
With one rather questionable mask in particular standing out
This is one of our Gods
He's called Tengu
Tengu, he has a long nose
Look at his nose!
A little bit phallic
I would be quite scared if a God came to me with a nose like that
Yeah actually it's a scary one too
It tries to prevent human beings to go into the mountains because he's almost like a God
But not only he protects but he sometimes hurt people who do not..
With that nose?
Yes with that nose..
Chris...turn around
I must admit it is a slight improvement
As we walked around the shop
The owner was sitting quietly in the corner
Carefully hand painting the figurines, silently and elegantly
And then suddenly he threw on a change of clothes
Pulled out a retro boom box and did this:
And that's how the first day of our trip ended.
The next morning we caught the train to Sendai and dropped into the local Kimono shop
to switch clothes
So you're in black today
Do I look thin?
Ah...do you look thin? No, it doesn't help at all!
Really?
Yeah, I think this one's better than the one yesterday
You think so?
Yeah coz it conceals my stomach
Why do you care so much about concealing yourself?
I like to be overweight but give the illusion of being thin
That's the western dream
Western dream?!
Western culture summarized
Alright let's go
Our first stop of the day was Genbikei Gorge
And it was here that we would discover the exciting future of food delivery
So there's a sweet shop over there making kind of Dango
Which is a kind of chewy rice sweet
But it's quite far away it's actually across this gorge
But the guy worked it out, he put a basket system in place that goes across the river
You can sit here in this nice spot and enjoy his products
You hit this bit of wood here with this hammer
Put in your order
And he will send over the basket
Let's just hit the wood
Yes please!
How hard?
Really hard!
I don't want to smash the basket into the gorge
The fastest basket pulling I've ever seen
He just changed the flag
To what? Which one?
He's changing it to the Union Jack
He's waving it
He's playing the British....National Anthem
I'm not even making this up
God Save the Queen!
Wow! So fast!
And look! All these drinks!
Nothing spilled
How did he do that?
It's really nice!
Is it nice like..you know with a scenery like that?
I want all my food brought to me in a basket
Over a gorge from now on
Look how many people are coming to see this
It's amazing
It's the greatest marketing I've ever seen
If you have a restaurant just put your stuff in a basket
And send it over the gorge and the people will come
The only thing is it might be difficult getting a gorge....build one!
For lunch we stopped and had some mouth-watering Maezawa Beef
The most famous beef in Iwate Prefecture
Juicy juicy beef
You dip it in the sauce
And into the mouth!
Watch his face!
Our last stop of the day was Hanamaki Hot Spring resort
In a hotel that recently won numerous architectural awards
However there was one rather worrying flaw
We just arrived at Hanamaki Onsen, it's a hot spring resort
In Iwate Prefecture
This place is called the Koyokan which means the house of falling leaves
The first that got my attention was this sign
Warning of a pair of bears spotted in the area
Around here, and we're going for a walk aren't we?
Yeah we are
Rubbish! Coming across bears before dinner?!
That'd be truly unbearable
In the end though we didn't have to worry about bears
As we stayed in so Ryotaro could play Pokemon Go
It's the day Pokemon Go has been released
He's been playing it more than I have
Well I'm on level 3 still though
I'm on level 1 I haven't caught on really
Fucking Bulbasaur is on your leg
Come on!
You got it!
Wow!
I got Mankey
It was the final day of our trip and as the Wanko Soba Noodle Challenge loomed ahead
We first ventured into Akita Prefecture
To the town of Kakunodate
A famous Samurai town home to one of the best preserved samurai manners
In all of Japan
So much armor
How much does it weigh?
It's around 25 kilos
25 kilos...?
If I'm going out in a 25 kilogram samurai armor
It's not gonna do much good is it?
Coz I'm gonna be like:
What you want is:
Grab a shotgun, grab a katana
And just sort of...
Naked?
Obviously you're gonna wear clothes
Oh okay
Not naked
Otherwise you would look a little bit stupid
Give it a swing
Fucking hell, he's trying to break the glass
That's what I'm trying to do
I'm gonna make you look slimmer
By cutting me in half?
Yeah exactly
What is this twisted surgery?
After narrowly avoiding Yotaro's questionable weight-loss program
We passed a stand selling my favorite Japanese drink called Amazake
A sweet drink made from the leftover rice grains used to produce Japanese sake
Like a rice pudding in a drink
True!
That's the best way to describe it!
A rice pudding in a drink!
More liquid though
It's really really great! It's not alcoholic
So anyone can drink it
And on a very hot day like this
It's the perfect thing to drink
It's quite refreshing
The time had come for Wanko soba
44 bowls to beat my previous awful record
And 100 bowls to be a man
This is Ryotaro's first time right
Well, you did it when you were like 3
Yeah
200 years ago so this is it this is the big chance!
It's expected he's gonna beat me because he eats everything
As Hana was doing hers separately, it was just me and Ryotaro
With his smirking cheeky face before me
There was everything to play for
The record here is 570 bowls
570 ??!
The average for a male is 50
It's relentless, absolutely relentless
She's like aiming at you!
I'd be going so fast I had no idea how many I'd eaten
However I had forgotten that Wanko soba was actually a game
You're trying to beat the person giving you the noodles
You can't stop until you put the lid on your empty bowl
This was proving bloody difficult
Incredibly though I'd done it I'd finally beaten 100 bowls
You did alright! 118 yeah!
How many did you do? 120?
122!
I was that close?!! I hadn't known that I would have carried on!
122!
122 and...118
I didn't know I was 4 away from beating you!
Get out of my eyesight!
So how many did you manage?
15!
15?
Yeah I'm so proud!
So proud? But Ryotaro said that if you do less than 100 you're a looser
No, I'm a girl
I think you're a winner
But he's just a bad man
A very bad man indeed!
I've actually really enjoyed wearing a Yukata
I've done it a few times and I must admit it's very nice
In the height of summer
It's quite liberating wearing a Yukata in summer
Having the evening breeze blow around
But I do recommend it! And if you wanna visit any of the locations
We've seen in this video, again all the details are in the description box below
As for us we're heading back to Sendai now
And Ryotaro can finally play Pokemon Go
He's been dying to play Pokemon Go for the last few days
You haven't got a Pikachu yet?
No I haven't got a Pikachu
I do
Whatever! Well done!
Great, thanks for watching guys, see ya next time!
Bye!!
Don't play Pokemon Go
Right so I've got all these Pokemon and I'm already Level 4