Hey, this looks nice.
This looks big.
This looks, this looks intoxicating.
Can I just go in at the side?
There’s a whole country out there
of under explored little nooks and crannies
across all of Japan.
I’ve got a JR East pass here
to hit up all six prefectures of Tohoku.
Up in the North.
We’re at Geibikei Gorge which
is this deep meandering ravine that
disappears off into the hills behind me.
It’s real pretty and really pristine
and the best way to see it is on these boats.
Yeah.
Yeah, could I try?
Alright.
Up, up, down.
Okay, alright.
So, up.
Oh yeah, there’s a bit more...
method to this.
That was good?
It was okay.
Up and down, up and down.
I’m steering us into the sand.
So apparently there’s a rock
shaped like a lion just over this hill.
We’re going to go have a look.
So you buy these little clay pallets,
they’re imprinted with
the Japanese character for luck.
And the idea is that you
try to throw them in this hole
in the cliff face over there.
If you get them in, you get good luck.
I’m cursed.
This is Genbikei.
It’s basically a little rural town
on a big river.
I just noticed this crowd of people down here.
They seem to be getting excited about something.
So, the system, as I understand it,
is you put a bit of money in the basket,
you’ve got to bang it with the hammer,
and then this chef guy in the window,
he pulls it across the river,
and then you get something back.
So we'll try it out.
It’s all very mysterious.
He’s sent me a message.
"Where are you from?"
Australia!
So we’ve got a box of,
I’ve been told these are dango,
which is a type of sweet Japanese dumpling
made from rice.
And two cups of green tea.
Like everything in this country,
it’s all beautifully presented.
It’s like a really good mix of savoury,
sort of sour sauce,
with a really sweet, gooey dumpling.
Yeah, it’s great.
I better go thank the chef
who made these things.
Hello?
Oh, hello.
Your dango were delicious.
I can’t go nearly as fast as you.
This is a tough gig.
Seems about right.
One, two.
Okay.
You just unhook, and away it goes.
Hey, happy customers.
This is like the ultimate McDonalds.
Every prefecture has a slightly different vibe.
We got into Aomori last night.
This place.
Long rocky coastline with big expanses of grass
right next to the coastline.
This is Kushihiki,
and they’ve very kindly offered to bring us in
and give us a tour of the place.
What do we have here?
We’ve got different Ema
for different types of wishes.
There’s success and upcoming achievements.
Fertility.
And this one is apparently
a catch-all for all needs.
So I’m going to write on the back of it.
There we go.
With a little luck...
I might get it for Christmas.
It’s Saturday night, we’re in Aomori,
there’s music, there’s people all around,
there’s restaurants.
It smells great, it feels great.
I’m keen to get amongst it,
lets go check it out.
Hello.
What do you recommend?
Yeah.
Okay.
Beautiful.
One please.
Do I drink it from here
or do I drink...
Okay.
Oh yeah, that’s good.
It’s actually quite easy to drink.
I thought it would be like...
But no, it's...
Yum.
You drink boy.
Like a phoenix.
Okay, everyone say amori.
Thank you, thank you all.
I’m going to finish this up.
It’s good, it’s good stuff.
