At Japan’s Earthquake-Stricken Small Town Festival | Bike Touring Japan #7

At Japan’s Earthquake-Stricken Small Town Festival | Bike Touring Japan #7

Yeah! Okay, I’ll have to wash this one. Countryside festivals in Japan are always better than big city festivals, in my opinion. And in this video, we are checking out the Fushiki Hikiyama Festival in Takaoka City. There, I meet some of the friendly locals, and you’ll witness their fighting spirit as this small town still recovers from a devastating earthquake that struck just five months earlier. We pay a visit to a sweet little old lady for a bite to eat. Once again, I don’t know if it’s this good or I’m just really hungry. I also share with you guys a little travel hack that I use for doing laundry. And if you haven’t already, please check out the previous episodes of the bike tour across Japan series. And like and subscribe and comment as it helps spread the video to newer audiences. That don’t look too bad. Some raisin bread, peanut butter, banana and honey, open -faced little sandwiches. That boy was not happy, was he? He needs to cheer up. It’s a beautiful day today. Thank you to this beautiful piece of grass right here for last night. It’s leb like a baby I think I made it just in time for the starting the start of the festival I think this is gonna be pretty cool. I’m glad I found this last night It’s been a while since I’ve been to a Japanese festival, I’m excited Four or five years So I guess that’s what they do. They just roll down the streets through the neighborhoods, doing their little chants. They’ve hung these up all along the neighborhoods here. I think these represent something to do with the Shinto religion, but each one of these groups right here represents a different machi, a different part of the neighborhood, a different part of the city. And I guess that’s kind of what they do. They just roll through the neighborhoods, everyone comes out here and takes their pictures and witnesses the show. All righty, so the coin laundry costs like at least sand for wash and dry. It’s like seven bucks for a load. I’ll pass. I would rather wash my stuff in a sink and let it air dry out here in the hot sun. What a beautiful sight. It’s crazy there’s still snow on those mountains over there. All right, so this is what we’re going to do. I’m not going to go up there and pay $10 to do a load of laundry. No, we’re going to do some laundry right here. Let me show you how we’re going to do it. We’re going to use my dry bag. We’re going to use these laundry sheets right here that you can pick up on Amazon. They’re great. And we’re just going to wash the clothes inside the bag and then hang them up right here to dry. Hey, nice timing. And so, yeah, slowly but surely I’m going to do two or three items at a time, hang them up to dry and then… I don’t know, it’s a beautiful day. Get some sun, I might go take a dip. Maybe work on the computer right here. The festival, it’s gonna be going on all day. Like there’s no need just to like sit around and watch those things roll by. Later on, what I do wanna go see is when they smash them together. That’ll be cool. But for now, I’m gonna enjoy a couple of o ‘nigadys and then do some laundry and chill out. All right, so apparently it doesn’t take much. It’s just like one fourth of a sheet here. Put it right in the bag. I got my smart wool and my pants in there. So I’m just gonna watch those two together right now. All right, got a good amount of water in there. You can see the suds already working. Now what you do is you just close it up. This one has a little valve at the bottom so you can let all the extra air out. Then, you just wash it like this. Sure, it’s not perfect, but it’s better than nothing. They actually sell little dry bags that are meant to do this. They have a little like gristle, like rubber, like pad in there, which will help get the dirt and grime out, but I didn’t want to spend the money. I would just use a regular dry bag and do it this way. Maybe not as clean, but like I said, better than nothing. I think this is the most hobo shit I’ve ever done in my life. I think I got just about everything I own drying right now besides the bore shorts that I’m wearing, but the sun’s out, it’s going to dry quick. Even got my sleeping bag over here getting some sun. I didn’t wash it because, well, yeah, it’s just too big, but it’s good to get it aired out when possible. Let’s go for a little dip, see if there’s anything out there to look at while my clothes dry off. There is a little island out there. I wonder if I can swim out to it. It ain’t no warm Filipino water, that’s for sure. Damn, it’s cold. Damn, it is freezing. Some cold water. That is some cold water. Yeah, I’m not swimming out there. Nope, that’s too far, that is too far with this cold water. Uh uh. Shit. Went for a slam comeback and the crows had gotten into my little baggie here and tore apart my oats. The oats that Nick T. gave me. And they ate my bread. Damn, those crows, they got a good sense of smell, don’t they? I mean, all my stuff out here, kind of messy, but they knew right where to go. Great little break, nice little swim, laundry is done, I’ll definitely be heading back there tonight though I think. If I stick around this city, right now I want to go see how the festival’s doing, I want to go see if there’s any festival food. Go find some yakisoba or takoyaki or something like that. I guess now we’re at the stage in the festival where you carry the gods around I don’t know how to say it I don’t know how to say it I don’t know how to say it I don’t know how to say it I don’t know how to say it I don’t know how to say it What’s your name? I’m a son of a son My name is Nick Nick Nick I’m American So the kamisama, it lives here? Kamisama I’m from Moscow What’s your name today? Today What’s your name today? My name is Zuko Zuko What’s your name? Matzuri Matzuri Matzuri Matzuri Matzuri Matzuri Matzuri Matzuri Matzuri Matzuri Matzuri Matzuri Matzuri On January 1, 2024, at 4 .10 pm, a 7 .6th earthquake struck the Noto Peninsula My workplace was completely destroyed by the tsunami and all my work tools are gone It feels like 3 months have gone by and I haven’t been able to do anything What’s your name? Nick Nick Nick What’s your name? Tokomido Tokomido What’s your name? What’s your name? Tokomido What’s your name? Tokomido What’s your name? I’m from a restaurant in Moscow What’s your name? Thank you Thank you Ahh! Thank you. Can I have a snack? Of course. I’d like to have two. You’d like to have one? Of course. You’re welcome. Of course. You know what? Just give me one of these. I’ll give you a few of these. No, I’ll give you two. No, I’ll give you one. This is your first time. I’ll try this one. That’s right. They’re good. I’ve been doing it for so long. Okay. How many piano pieces? That’s how many. How many? Okay, let’s go back to the Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you. Wow. Running this place by herself. How much do you like this place? I like it a lot. I like it a lot. I like it a lot. I like it a lot. I like it a lot. Thank you very much. So we have beef and onions and rice. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you. Odiuta, what were you saying that was special about this year? Only local people. And that’s because of the big earthquake a couple of months ago. So, I guess… this year, maybe a little tamer, but… he was saying, I’m lucky to be here because, you know, not so many outsiders from… from this town are here this year. Thank you Dutta, nice to meet you man, nice to meet you. Thank you. So I think that’s kind of it. I think that’s as close as we’re going to be able to get. They do have some bleachers and some stands over there for the special people, the VIPs, but everyone else has to stand back here and watch it from a distance. So it’s a little bit underwhelming, I’d say. Here they go again. Everybody goes, whoa, whoa, whoa. I think that’s it. I think that’s it. I’ll have to play, I guess, a different video on YouTube of a close -up so I can get a better idea too, I guess. Welcome to my humble abode. This is how I sleep. I am covered up. I am trying to stay warm. So this is what I got to do with my sleeping bag because the zipper on the end broke. And so to keep my feet warm, I sleep with my raincoat on like this, covering the end of my sleeping bag to keep my toes warm. Because honestly, last night I was freezing. I even bring in my hammock here and it’s kind of my last resort. If I’m freezing, I’ll open that up and put that on top of me. I did get some more information there at the end. I talked to another local and was just like, is this it? Because everyone was standing from like really far away and only a few number of people got to get up close and be like, oh yeah, this is it. This is as close as you can get this year Usually they have it at a different location and she was like, yeah You can get right up next not right up next to it Obviously, but you can get closer and get a better get a better view of it And so I kept wanting to compare it to the festivals in Guma Because they’re awesome Anyways, I’m gonna get some sleep time to end the video. Thanks for watching and good night

In this video, we are checking out the Fushiki Hikiyama festival in Takaoka City. I meet some of the friendly locals and you’ll witness their fighting spirit as this small town still recovers from a devastating earthquake that struck just 5 months earlier. We visit a local restaurant for a bite to eat, and I also share with you guys a little travel hack that I use for doing laundry. And if you haven’t already, please check out the previous episodes of the Bike Tour Across Japan series, and like subscribe, and comment as it helps spread the video to newer audiences. Arigato!

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Music by Manny Marx: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMcHURZ3FnY&t=775s

00:00 In This Video…
01:13 Morning Campsite
02:04 Start Of Festival
03:49 Laundry Break At Beach
05:21 Laundry Travel Hack
08:03 Attacked By Birds, Again!
08:53 Meeting The Locals
09:53 Why There Is No Food Today
10:59 Local Man Gifts Me His Sweaty Towel
12:00 Lunch With Sweet Old Lady
12:54 Nighttime Festivities
14:24 The MAIN EVENT!
15:11 Final Thoughts…

#japanvlog #cyclinglife #japanadventure #japaneseculture #japanesefestival #exploremore #takaoka #toyama #japanesefood #japanesecuisine #japaneselifestyle #ruraljapan #japaneselanguage