What is the story behind the cats here? There really is like cat everything on this street.
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Hey!! We're in front of Nippori station right now.
We wanted to stop by here because it's kind of a hidden gem where they have old school things
like a old school street with souvenir shops and they have cat tail donuts, I've heard.
A what tail donut?
Cat tail donuts.
Cat tail?? Haha, ok...
Yeah, donuts shaped like cat tails, hahaha.
Sorry, I... this is like a surprise for me.
Yeah, she's like, WHAT??
Yeah, where are we going!?
So, right now... once we got out of the Nippori station,
on the west exit, there's like this cool overpass where you could see the trains pass by
and we're just waiting for a train... there's one coming right now.
Shinkansen! It's a bullet train!
It looks different... it must be one of those... Nozomi? Something like that.
So we just saw a bullet train go by, which you really don't get to see them like...
Not too often. Unless you're riding a bullet train, you don't really see them randomly like this.
So that was pretty cool. But yeah, it's this cool overpass and you get to see all these trains go by
and, I mean, to us it's kind of fun, hahaha!
I'm actually excited to go this place because we just came from Asakusa, which was super packed
and it's way more calm here. And now, I'm gonna go eat some... what? Cat tail? Is that what it is?
Cat tail donuts!
We'll see if we can find it, but that's what I heard is that there's cat tail shaped donuts.
CANDY: It's kind of a tongue twister. CRYS: I know.
Cat tail...cat tail shaped... cat tail donuts.
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It's so pretty...
This is Daikokuten Kyoo-ji Temple. It's a Buddhist temple
where a local wealthy farmer, a leader of Nippori village, and an ancestor of the
Kamuri Gonshiro family donated land in 1655 for the priests yosen in Nikkei.
And that's when the temple was built. But in 1868, the fleeing Shogitai troops
took refuge at this temple until they came under fire from the imperial army at the Battle of Ueno.
Don't know much about this Battle of Ueno but thought it was interesting that to this day
the bullet holes in the gate remain as a result of the conflict.
CANDY: This? Looks like a bullet hole, so... CRYS: Yeah... that's our best guess...
CANDY: Oh! And these right here. CRYS: Ohhhh! That looks like bullet holes.
CRYS: Yeah, those are probably the bullet holes, right?
CRYS: So, those are the bullet holes from 1868.
There's one over here... one over here.
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What is this story behind the cats here? There really is like cat everything on this street... or this town.
Oh, here it is!
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CRYS: It has cat paws on it. CANDY: It does?
CRYS: The little cat paws. CANDY: Oh yeah, that is cat paws!
CANDY: I guess that one has cat paws too.
I want the sakura or this one. This one looks like a tora (tiger).
Oh yeah, the way the tail is. That was is number one.
Oh it's tiger, "tora".
So I got my cat tail...this one is called Tora, which means tiger
cause you know, some cats have that striped... black and... or brown and beige, I guess.
So, I'm gonna take a bite of it.
Mmm... it's like really crispy on the outside
and it tastes like... it's a little bit dry... but it's good. It's a good cat tail. A good cat tail donut.
CANDY: It's a cat town but I have not seen one cat. CINDY: Yeah, that's true.
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CRYS: This little cafe is so cute.
She's taking pictures.
CRYS: She's learning from us. Hahaha!
If you want pancakes, you have to make reservations because it takes a long time.
CRYS: Alright, let's go to this cafe!
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CRYS: I like this one.
CINDY: It's for your smart phone. CRYS: Oh, you put your smart phone in there?
CRYS: Oh my gosh, that's so cute!
CANDY: I like those ones, the smart phone stands. Those are cute.
CRYS: Hm.
CRYS: Awww, we're alive!
I think I was going to die going down those stairs.
CRYS: I know!
Well, we were in cat town and did not see one cat. Hahaha!
Yeah, so they said this became a Cat Town... just because...
Yeah, one day, it just became a cat town.
I bet what probably happened was one person started selling a lot of cat stuff
and then the other store was like, Oooh! They're selling a lot of stuff because it must be popular.
So then another cat store opened and another cat store... I'm just making that up.
But I'm guessing that's how it happened because they don't really have a cool story.
Yeah, there's no real history behind it when we asked the people that work here.
He's like, "It just kinda became that way".
So this is the town that just became a cat town for no real reason, hahaha!
Mhmmm, interesting town.
Interesting town... A lot of local stuff, I want to say...
If you really want to see like real local things, this is probably a good place to come.
Yeah, I mean, it's really small. It's just like this one little street.
Yeah, I thought it was kinda interesting just to see.
Yeah, I mean, I liked it.
And it was on our way home anyway, so it kind of worked out.
Yup, I think it worked out! Hahaha!
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