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[Music]
[Chris]:- We're going to Yamadera, it's the most
[Chris]:- beautiful temple in all of Tohoku. Well, I like
[Chris]:- it so much that I had it on my business
[Chris]:- cards for the longest time.
[Chris]:- But- [Sharla]:- You took it off now.
[Chris]:- I took it off now and I replaced it with a
[Chris]:- photo of a shrine in Hiroshima, but anyway-
[Sharla]:- Traitor!
[Chris]:- Yamadera, beautiful shrine, love it. It's probably
[Chris]:- at its best either now or in winter when
[Chris]:- you've got
lots of snow.
[Chris]:- It's a little bit of a climb, so I hope you've got your hiking
[Chris]:- shoes on. [Sharla]:- I don't. [Chris]:- Oh dear. [Sharla]:- It's up on the side of
[Sharla]:- a mountain, which is why it's called
[Sharla]:- Yamadera. I've never been, I've seen so
[Sharla]:- many photos and videos of it. It's probably
[Sharla]:- the most famous temple in North Japan, I
[Sharla]:- would say. So, the place we're going today
[Sharla]:- you can get to by car, obviously, or
[Sharla]:- you can take a train from Sendai station
[Sharla]:- and it'll take you right up to the
temple. [Chris]:- Mmm. [Sharla]:- It'll take about an hour, so it's pretty easily accessed from
[Sharla]:- Tokyo. So I feel like Yamagata prefecture
[Sharla]:- is probably one of the best places to
[Sharla]:- drive around in the autumn- [Chris]:- Mmm. [Sharla]:- because of
[Sharla]:- the mountains, they're so orange and
[Sharla]:- pretty right now. [Chris]:- It's an amazing place. [Sharla]:- Yeah.
[Chris]:- I'm very lucky to live here for three years
[Chris]:- I keep coming back, even now, and I
[Chris]:- honestly think it's one of the most
[Chris]:- beautiful preferences in all of Japan. [Sharla]:- If I had
[Sharla] to rate my favorite prefectures it would
[Sharla]:- probably be number one or two. We're
[Sharla]:- gonna park the car at the base of the
[Sharla]:- mountain, I guess. [Chris]:- Mmm. [Sharla]:- And then hike up for
[Sharla]:- about half hour and that'll bring us up to the
[Sharla]:- temple. [Chris]:- Half an hour? [Sharla]:- It's a little bit of a hike. [Chris]: - Speak for
yourself, ten minutes. [Sharla]:- Google said half hour- [Chris]:- We're
[Chris]:- running up it, no problem.
[Music]
[Sharla]:- So there's a really nice town down here
[Sharla]:- with lots of restaurants and shops
[Sharla]:- and probably places to stay too.
[Sharla]:- not sure if they have any Ryokan or
[Sharla]:- anything around here, but it looks like
[Sharla]:- the type of town that would. And a really
[Sharla]:- pretty river running through it. So cold
[Sharla]:- today! I was out of Japan for one month
and it went from summer to almost winter.
Oh, here this is where we start. Oh, cool.
I feel tired already just looking at
these stairs. 10 minutes. You probably used to make it in 10 minutes.
CB: How long do you think it will take me to get these stairs?
S: I don't know.
CB: What time is it?
CB: Ready?
Two, one ..
Idiot.
19 seconds
He was good charging up here like an
idiot. Everyone was feeling 'what the hell'
I've single-handedly ruined the
atmosphere of Yamadera.
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
Ou, Matsuo, Matsuo Bashō
Poet.
Writer.
[Music]
See, Yamagata is um well known for exporting
safflower.
Which is a
a flower used to stain clothing red.
So you know Yamagata was actually
quite rich and then
presumably they found a better source of
safflower but most importantly of all
there's a cat over here. Look at this.
[Applause]
Hi.
[Music]
All right, so we are
here
CB: The cat is here.
and we need to go
CB: Oh my goodness you really want to go up there.
... oh god, it's endless.
There, I think that's the glory there.
CB: Can't we just fly a drone up there.
There's literally like a heart attack warning,
because you'll die if you go up there
That's for you really.
CB: I'm still still
recovering from the stairs.
Тhe 19 seconds stair sprint.
Well, look at this rock. It's as big as it
looks
chris: Yeah that must be pretty great
sharla: looks really creepy
it looks like a monster
Sharla: so you have to pay a couple dollars to enter this area
i think it's 300 Yen
yeah about three dollars
oh it's so pretty!
*music*
sharla: have you ever seen a monkey here?
*indistinct chatter*
*music*
sharla: it's a really nice climb
it is tiring
*chris dying and gasping for air*
sharla: but um yeah there's lots of really pretty things to look at look at
look it's two-headed one
sharla: I've never seen it two-headed
sharla: get up there
chris: it's up there
*music*
sharla: it's a secret path up there,
I don't know where it goes
sharla, softly: secret path :)
sharla: maybe it's just another way up
chris: secret shot
in the uh
end game of the climb
it's always vertical bit
but also the most beautiful
*sharla laughing*
chris: stunning
sharla: do they light these up at night time?
chris: uhhh think they do in certain seasons
sharla: that'd be cool
chris: here for example there's a candle
sharla: yeah they all have one
sharla: yeah they all have one
*music*
sharla: oh look at that!
it is balancing them
sharla: that's pretty cool, they're not stuck
I think they're all just balanced though
sharla: should we try and stick one in?
chris: do it
so these are all...
balanced very precariously, right?
sharla: yeah
chris: it's pretty incredible
sharla: I'm scared to knock someone else's down D:
awww
chris: is it magnetic rock?
sharla: nooo
this is aluminum anyways
oh there! :D
*twinkle sound of success*
chris: oh wow that was easy
sharla: you can kind of wedge it in
sharla: don't knock the other ones off >:((((
*buzz noise of failure*
sharla: what the h***?
chris: shut up :'(
*sharla laughs*
chris: you did an easy one, I want a daring one
you know i want a challenge
that's what Abroad in Japan is all about,
challenging.... yourself.
chris: let's put a coin-
sharla: alright then go for it
chris: let's put a coin in the wall
chris, whispering: challenge
*buzz noise of failure #2*
chris, a little louder: challenge
*sharla laughs*
chris: oh?
chris, whispering again: get in ya bastard >:(((
sharla: there, that looks-
*chris snorts*
*sharla laughs*
*buzz noise of failure #3*
sharla: you suck at this