Name: Exploring Two SECRET Traditional Japanese Towns
Uploaded: 2025-07-18T18:38:01.000Z
Duration: 23 min 38 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

This is pre-recorded I'm coming to you right now from Uchiko town, uh, which is in Ehime prefecture yesterday I flew from Tokyo to Matsuyama airport and uh, also I got the best view of Fuji along the way So if you fly from Tokyo keep an eye out because it was beautiful drove all the way here It is super early in the morning because i'm at a beautiful viewing platform looking out over what is soon to be The sunrise I brought a little picnic with me just so you know Ehime is famous for its citrus and this is their their local mascot.

This is mikkyan And yeah I've been invited here by Uchiko town and Ozu city to check out the areas Enjoy some beautiful nature and see what they have to offer.

So come with me on this journey and let's enjoy ourselves I'm gonna be quiet and give you guys a little bit of ambience except for the sound of me eating my breakfast Also, isn't that cute in the background we have some drying persimmons so good if you guys haven't tried dried persimmons, they're delicious They're incredibly sweet, but they're my favorite dried fruit.

I brought my own breakfast, but uh For certain parts of the year when you can see the sea of clouds They actually do a breakfast here so they'll make it for you and you can enjoy the view.

So Yeah Oh, they're just so pretty looking pretty So We were talking about the dried persimmons and now we get to do a little experience Because they brought over some persimmons so i'm gonna learn how to do it so I can do it myself at home Two for home, but then also I get to do it myself at home as well.

They give you so many persimmons Of course Oh my gosh, there's more things in Rodeo we got some sweet potatoes Okay, this is uh So mugwort in english mugwort, uh mochi with uh bean red bean inside Thank you And now 10 000 shiitake mushrooms, okay, here's my shiitake and they gave me more dry persimmons and persimmons to turn into dry persimmons, so See if they fit in my suitcase So kind and generous.

I wanted to let you know in this video I was with my co-worker kanako.

So you'll see her pop up every now and then.

Bye for now Hello, we're on to our next thing which is a walking tour around uchiko Uh, and we've already we've just started and we've come to the local soba shop and uh, they're making pickles right now Foreign We went on a walking tour through the hills of uchiko and got to see lots of nature farmland and a bunch of cute grandmas Including a very lively 93 year old grandma who was still working in the fields Oh We also had a guide with us who taught us about the town's history The highlight of the tour was a beautiful bridge that leads to yuge shrine, but unfortunately it was under construction Since then it's now being completed.

We did get to see the lake drained a bunch of workmen working on it We could still go over the bridge and visit the shrine So we finished the walking tour and now we've come to downtown uchiko to an area called uh And there's heaps of old houses here, yeah, we're having a look around So this area originally became famous for its wax which is used in a variety of things I think it's vegetable wax and uh used in candles and stuff And it became very prosperous and a lot of these houses are from the end of the Edo period and the beginning of the meiji period So some of them have different designs and different restorations depending on what period they're from also, yeah, the area has been nicely restored and they removed all of like the the modern signs and Telephone poles and stuff to keep it very pristine and very traditional.

So yeah, really beautiful area We got some mikan.

We got some persimmons, but I oh my look at Look at the size of these If I didn't already have a huge bag of them, I would take some with me It's always the hardest thing for me visiting smaller towns.

I just want to buy all the produce That's all I want yeah, just wandering around and learning about the history of this place and How they made the wax and everything and the guy who owned basically all of it hagasan Very interesting history lesson and the buildings are beautiful Hello!

Okay, got the goods I have so much to take home But I couldn't help myself Also, this is what traditional Japanese candles look like I want to hold one of these and wear a nightgown and a cap and see who goes there It's the perfect candle for that Also, just so you guys know There's a super cute cafe here If you want to stop and get some snacks or anything If you could come visit I'm in the bakery It's so so cute It's called Charumen Look at this presentation Especially when you're hungry It's so hard to chew It's just one thing Oh wait, I think I want the salty lemon dog A big old piece of lemon on the lemon dog Kogashi Cream Pan It's a little bit burnt And caramelised on top Okay, so we just grabbed some breads to go But we're a little bit too hungry to just be eating bread right now So we're going to go get some proper lunch Even though bread is proper lunch I need more I need more in my system So I'm thinking to get some noodles I would really really recommend this spot It's very beautiful, it's quite serene If you come here on a weekend, it'll be a bit more poppin A few more things open, but still, there was quite a bit open today Time for some lunch We're going to grab some udon We're in a little rest stop Oh no!

250 yen Do you know how much this would be in Tokyo?

Don't do this to me Please Please 300 yen For the cutest Oh no Come on man What the heck This is beautiful Wow That looks big I got the miku udon So meat udon noodles Wow Looks delicious, smells really good That's a huge size For a good price The view from the cafe is also awesome The beautiful river I got the, what was it again?

Tarai udon So tarai is this Kind of dashi The soup It's kind of traditional It has soybean in it And some shiitake Mushroom Really great texture Really nice and chewy It's a light but very savoury broth A little bit of sweetness Delicious And perfect for the cold weather today Okay that was my time In Uchiko and now I'm going to go to Ozu where I will be spending the night In a beautiful hotel which I'm super excited for So let's go Goodbye Uchiko Goodbye I bought all of your fruits and vegetables Thank you so much Hello I had a nap in the car We are now in Ozu And I'm staying at Nipponia Hotel I'm going to give you guys a little room tour And then before dinner I might take a nap because we got up Very early, cat No no no no no Close to the hotel Just in the I arrived at the hotel and ate some wagashi And checked in And let me tell you this place was fancy There were a bunch of different houses that the hotel owned around the town And I was staying in one with a garden attached In that garden there was a plum tree That was received from the emperor As a gift for silk that was made there And the plum tree still has plums and they use them In the hotel restaurant Also here's my raw reaction to seeing the place That I was staying in Is this Engawa?

Okay before the sun goes down And I take a nap let's do a little room tour And show you guys the entire place There's a double entrance, there's like a solid door And then there's this glass door Both lockable Shoes, genkan Come on in, myself Immediately you turn to the left and you have the bathroom Hello In the bathroom down here we have Hairdryer, towels, sink Wood bench Heaps of little things that I can use I love little things I can use And steal and take home, my favourite Trash And then in here we have the bath Hinoki, cypress wood I will be having a bath tonight Look at the size of that tap head But of course before I get into the bath I need to take a shower Which is over here Beautiful wooden walls And the tile is gorgeous Hinoki stool And back out we go, goodbye In here we have toilet Are you Toto?

Then we go up the stairs Beautifully lit Second floor The sun's going down It's gorgeous I'm out of breath again from the stairs Walking into the first room we have this Amazing kotatsu I think the most beautiful kotatsu I've seen in my entire life Over here I believe we have a fridge Woohoo And all of this is included in the price So I'm going to drink all of it Including some mikan juice From Ehime It's just a very nicely decorated And styled place And in here we have the bedroom Just gorgeous Also special note, this house used to be A place where they made Silk from silkworms So these lamps and the light on the ceiling And the lamps in the corner Are all based on the shape of Silk moth cocoons And then from here we can see The beautiful garden outside This is insane I'm just going to do my thing And I'll check in when I check in Maybe I'll just take a nap We are venturing out into The evening before the sun goes down It's just so nice That's where I live now I'm not leaving You don't have to drag me out Kicking and screaming Time to wander around before the sun completely leaves And before dinner time Hello Wow Stanced up Watch out they go in between Oh my goodness Cat Also coming just outside of the gates There is a beautiful river I nearly got it I did too They gave me a lantern Oh I look like I'm about to tell a spooky story They gave me a lantern So I can walk with the lantern Definitely it's very nice right now There's not too many people around I would not get these kind of vibes in Tokyo That's for sure Also I had a look And there's easy access from Matsuyama airport to here There's like a direct bus Leaving the way I don't know where we're going There's little shops around here too There's a leather crafting shop there Oh is this dry?

Oh dry flowers We walked to the castle It's right there So from where I'll be sitting You can actually see the castle Right there Look at that that's crazy it's right there So before we talked about The tree at the front of the place That I'm staying How it is a tree That was a present from the emperor And it still has plums and ume tree And those plums are used By the hotel in different things Including this squash So this ume juice Ume squash And that's one of the plums from that plum tree So I'm very lucky and happy That I get to try it Super sweet Very nice ume flavour It's almost apricotty But that is really really delicious They've used a ripe ume So for a lot of umeshu You use unripe ume This is a ripe one so there's a different flavour to it It's really good, very refreshing Very delicious The hotel restaurant served Japanese and French fusion cuisine And it had some more experimental flavours That I really enjoyed I did describe every dish But if I included it in this video It would be like 2 hours long So I cut most of it But I did include some highlights The cauliflower is pickled And then that sweetness and sourness Matches nicely with the beef I keep thinking there's someone outside But it's my own reflection With that crunch I don't know what that crunch is But I like it The food was elegant, delicious Had a very sophisticated flavour And the dessert in particular Was very special They killed it It is so good Give me a second Ok give me Give me another second Hello good morning everybody Just woke up, feeling fresh I went to bed at like 9pm And now I'm alive again I had a really beautiful bath In the cypress tub last night It was awesome And now we're up a little bit early To go to do a tea ceremony How are you doing this morning Kanako?

Sleepy Me too Me too Wow this is the place Where we'll be doing the Tea ceremony Looks like there's construction going on For a big bridge or something Just a heads up guys, I am actually really bad at Seiza So like sitting on my knees I find it really painful so we'll see how we go This is the beautiful Wow can you guys see the colour of that water?

Dang that's like Fairy level colour Shame about the construction but Still look at that water What a place It's beautiful The construction definitely adds another level Please enjoy your tea Thank you very much We just started the day A lovely tea ceremony And now I guess we get to have a full on breakfast Oh okay Alright I see how it is Alright Oh my god Alright About to leave the hotel in a little bit But just having some final Kotatsu time It's just so good Makes me want to get one in my house I had a nightmare It was summer I had a nightmare that winter was already over I was so sad Goodbye beautiful house Goodbye Goodbye It's been nice seeing you Goodbye We've just gone for a little drive And now I've come to a woodworking workshop Woodwork workshop Shop the wood So I'm going to be doing some traditional style Woodwork here I think I'm going to be making a coaster And this style is popular in Ozu city so let's give it a go Thank you This company is called Fujita Tategu And they make beautiful Japanese wood features That are usually used indoors They use a traditional method called Kumiko Where the wood is carved so that it slots Perfectly together so no nails or glue Are needed So it means you can't really tell where the wood connects And it's really beautiful and seamless They also showed me some very fancy lamps That they were working on too Beautiful So the cord from down there to up here Is actually behind this piece of wood That's insane While I was there I got to experience a workshop And make my own coaster They make kits where they prepare the wood So that you get the experience of slotting it together perfectly And it is super satisfying Thank you Afterwards they showed me how to shave wood Into long strips and then turn those strips Into petals and then we put them together Into a little wooden flower Which I ended up having on my Christmas tree this past Christmas So it was very cute I forgot how to talk Nice Just went in the car for a little bit and we're back to the original spot In Ozu We're in the city, downtown And we've come to a place called Aburaya To have some lunch And this will be our final spot So nice thing to end on She got the moves She got the moves She's a dancing cool lady Even myself, I also have the moves Okay guys it's lunch time Itadakimasu I got a big bowl of Abura Soba Which is like oil soba There's no liquid But this has a lot of sudachi So a lot of, a certain kind of citrus It's like a very sour, almost limey citrus It's very very good But this is where I'm going to say goodbye I wanted to thank both Ozu And Uchiko so much for inviting me here I've had an awesome time And yeah, I definitely recommend it Both areas have their own unique things And they were both amazing experiences If you made it this far in the video, thank you so much for watching If you enjoyed this video, please give it a thumbs up And leave a comment down below Hit subscribe if you want to see more videos like this Or not like this But thank you so much for watching And I'll see you in the next video Ja ne!