that's made out of wood--completely made out of wood.

They have all these old tools and stuff.

And we can go inside, so we'll see what that's like.

Thank you!

This is where we were coming. The old school.

Welp, we're gonna hafta take our shoes off.

OH OH IT'S A RING TOSS

YES

MILLIE

They have ring toss!

NYANYANYA

UNGH

YESSS!

You can do it.

Oh, I only did one.

And I- yes.

A boat halfway in...?

Oh this doorway is

HECKA low

I'm 5'5.

166cm.

Stylin, dude.

Ancient Japanese gang signs.

You know he wants to fight.

Mimei, check out the view!

That these kids had. Yeah!

Sorry I'm late for class, Millie-sensei.

What are we learning today?

We're learning about THE WOOORLD

Ohooo SWEET.

On our school trip we're gonna go to the place I'm just going to point, so

Okay.

We're going to...

[confusion]

That...

globe...

is confusing me right now.

Yeah.

What is...?

[confusion intensifies]

I don't even understand what...

Oh this is Africa!

So this is Algeria?

Yeah, Algeria.

IT WAS ALGERIA

YESSS

Good job! Did I pass my geography quiz?

Yes. A+

Yeeey

This is the headmaster.

Looks like a swell guy.

We've made it to the restaurant!

We managed to get the same exact taxi somehow.

So we're at a special restaurant where the meal comes in these little bamboo containers.

I got kani, which is crab.

The wappameshi is the bowl.

What'd you get? Oysters.

Oysters!

It's still really hot.

This was delicious

but it was VERY filling.

They're so nice here!

The owners kept coming over and talking to us throughout our meal.

They were really sweet and interested in hearing where we're from.

They talked about how their child studied abroad in Canada.

It's really sweet. I really love these smaller towns like this

because people are more likely to talk to you and you can have real conversations.

So I think all of my best experiences

interacting with Japanese people have been at smaller places like this.

Thank you for the meal!

Do you have an umbrella?

They wanna know if anyone needs an umbrella.

Do you want to take an umbrella?

Is it really okay? Yeah!

Is this one okay?

Thank you so much! Yep yep don't mention it.

Do you want one?

Here you go. Thank you!

Restaurant Yamaboshi.

[That was probably also his name] Thank you!

So sweet!!

SEE! That's what I'm talking about! They're so nice in cities like this.

I highly recommend trying to talk to the people at small restaurants when you visit.

They're just so sweet, usually.

I really love this.

This is like... JAPAN to me.

The people who are just friendly and happy to talk to you.

This is my favorite part of traveling, honestly.

We lost Millie. I have no idea where she went.

The panda yaki store is right there! That's where she went.

Everything's so close to each other here.

Was it like a normal deal or were they just like "Here, have one for free?"

She was like, "This is bonus one."

Bonus!

So nice!

So we just got free umbrellas and Millie got a free panda yaki.

Oh

Oh

Not real people.

NOT real people.

We have come to the shrine.

Actually, the boys are supposed to be at the shrine today and we're supposed to come back at night

but we found out there's deer.

And so we've come early to go find the deer.

These are the shinroku (神鹿)

or GOD DEER.

In ancient times, deer were believed to be the messengers of the gods,

and these deer at Yahiko have been considered holy for so long

that they are now designated as protected species,

along with these chickens.

These are holy chickens.

They have one of each kind of holy chicken.

They're all different colors.

WOAHWOAH look at these-

Look at this dude.

This dude's got like the f-

Hey.

Hey buddy.

The deer are so important that there were even poems written about them more than 1,300 years ago

in the Manyoushuu, Japan’s oldest poetry anthology.

As one of Japan’s oldest shrines, Yahiko also maintains an ancient tradition.

In most of Japan’s 80,000+ Shinto shrines,

the custom is to clap twice before praying to the gods.

At Yahiko, you clap 4 times.

Some say this is the praying tradition of ancient Shinto.

During the Meiji era, Imperial Japan attempted to unify Shinto shrines throughout Japan

by enforcing State Shinto,

which standardized the praying method as two bows, two claps, one bow. (二礼二拍手一礼)

Only a few of Japan’s most ancient shrines maintained their traditional method of four or more claps.

I was told that even in Yahiko not everyone knew the correct way to pray

but to be brave and clap four times even if no one else was doing it.

At the shrine I waited for ten minutes, watching dozens of visitors pray

and not one of them clapped four times.

I wondered if it was REALLY a thing

or if no one actually cared about it anymore

until...

Yahiko is one of the only remaining villages that has preserved this ancient tradition.

Others include Ise Jingu and Izumo-taisha, two of Japan's oldest and holiest shrines.

Time and time again I’m amazed to find places in Japan that still aren’t that well known yet,

despite the fact that they should be.

Like Geibikei Gorge, and Gujo Hachiman,

Yahiko village held a beautiful appeal

that transported me away from the crowded and impersonal cities of Japan.

#4 miss.

#3 miss.

[TARGET STRIKE]

I really want to encourage anyone who comes to Japan to take a break from the big tourist centers

and get out into the countryside where traditions are undisturbed and people are curious and welcoming.

I think we all enjoyed Yahiko.

You can check out Jun’s and everyone else’s videos down in the description box.

See you guys later.