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Today, I've come to the Yamanashi Prefecture
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to see the koyo, or autumn foliage (autumn leaves).
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As you can see behind me,
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are beautiful orange and red leaves.
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The scenery is absolutely gorgeous.
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So I'm going to share some of that with you today.
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and the nice thing about this place
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is that there's nobody here.
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It's a three-day weekend, and as you can see,
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I've got this whole place to myself.
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So I just wanted to get out here
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and show you guys the beautiful Japanese koyo.
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Isn't this just beautiful??
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The fiery reds, burnt oranges, and golden yellows.
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It's like nature's celebration
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marking the end of the harvest season.
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It is such a drastic change in landscape
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from the cherry blossoms in the spring time.
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This is exactly why seasons play
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such an important role in Japanese culture,
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and why you need to come enjoy
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each and every one of them.
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The kanji for koyo is writtten
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ko is red (deep crimson red).
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It's another kanji for red.
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and yo is leaf.
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So it's red leaves.
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and you can also read it momiji.
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Momiji is Japanese maple.
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So the really red leaves you see,
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Those are momiji.
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and I think when you go to Kyoto,
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you'll see a lot of that.
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Depending on the area you're in
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you're going to see a completely different
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type of Autumn foliage (differe colors).
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a different type of koyo.
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But I think this is really beautiful
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because you get to experience
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all of the different colors
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as opposed to seeing it all just red.
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which is probably amazing as well,
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so I do hope to make it out to Kyoto sometime
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to see the koyo over there.
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We're going to be driving around,
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so I'll show you guys some amazing sites.
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I'm also going to have lunch up in the mountain.
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We're going to go eat hoto,
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which is a local Yamanashi dish.
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It's kind of like udon noodles,
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but the soup is miso soup,
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lots of vegetables.
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so you'll get to see me eating some of that!
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Enjoy the autumn foliage, it is so amazing!
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Just a little language memo.
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While cherry blossom watching is called hanami,
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fall foliage watching is called momijigari,
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which literally translates to maple picking.
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This term dates back to the Heian Period
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when momiji watching became a popular activity
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for the royal class
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and they would pick up the leaves for closer viewing.
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Okay, here you are. Thank you for waiting.
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Thank you!
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Be careful, it's hot.
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Ready?
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Oh, that looks so good!
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nametake, iwatake, murasaki-shimeji, usuzumi
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There are 4 kinds of mushurroms in this.
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take-shimeji. I guess there's five.
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Awsome! It looks delicious!
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OMG, this was so good!
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Anyway, let me tell you a few things about this
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delicious Yamanashi dish.
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Hoto is similar to udon.
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They're both made from kneading flour and water,
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but with hoto, there's no salt added into the dough.
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What salt does, is that it creates a chemical reaction
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that tightens the glucose structure in the dough.
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What does that mean?
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It means that it results in a firm chewiness in the noodles,
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which we call "koshi" in Japanese.
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So hoto, other than being much thicker than udon,
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is also a lot softer.
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There's no "koshi."
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It's more like thick dumpling skin than udon.
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By the way, "koshi" is usually a good thing in noodles,
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so why did they decide to leave the salt out of the hoto dough?
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Well, Yamanashi is completely inland
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and didn't have access to saltwater.
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hence, no salt!
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Also, since the area is very mountainous,
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they had very few rice fields,
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and relied on different types of grains for their carbs.
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As for the name,
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there are various theories on where it comes from,
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but one theory is that it comes from this word
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hoto, meaning a treasured family sword,
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passed down from one generation to the next.
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Why would a noodle dish be named after a sword?
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Well, they say that Takeda Shingen,
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a powerful feudal ruler of the Kai Province,
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which is now Yamanashi Prefecture,
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used to cut up the thick hoto noodles (and the ingredients) with his hoto,
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his family sword.
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This really warms me up.
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Oh, this is great!
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So full!
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It was really good!
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I'm all warmed up now!
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This place was awesome! Look at this!
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I hope that this video gave you a feel for what
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fall is like in Japan,
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but you really have to come yourself
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and experience it with all of your five sense
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to really understanding how amazing it is.
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Oh, by the way.
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what are the fall leaves like in your country?
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Let me know in the comments!
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I hope you guys enjoyed this,
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and I will see you guys again soon!
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See you soon!