And having traveled 1,000 km across Japan by bicycle for over two weeks now,

I've been excited at the prospect of cycling over it into Shikoku (四国); filming it in 4K with drones,

all the while laughing and wearing Ray Ban sunglasses, pretending to be cool.

It was gonna be magical.

And then when I got to the bridge I discovered you can't actually cycle over it, and therefore I was an idiot.

Seriously, who builds a 3 billion dollar bridge that can't even hold a bicycle?

It's like building a Saturn V rocket without an adequate cup holder.

Anyway, every cloud has a silver lining.

The change of direction would mean we had an excuse to head towards

one of Japan's most stunning landmarks: Himeji Castle (姫路城).

Still, wasn't all happy news;

because for the next two days and 200 km as we explored the shores of Japan's Inland Sea,

amongst the chaos of things going wrong every turn,

we find ourselves lumbered with a travel companion with a talent for making situations at least three times worse.

Here he is, sitting alone.

It is, of course... Ryotaro.

Good morning, everyone.

And now I'm joining the tour!

Haha!

So how are you feeling, Ryotaro? Ready for the 45 km cycle today? - Not sure

- Not sure? You're pretty fit, you're a pretty fit young man.

I'm trying my best - Yeah. Yeah, yeah, I'm trying my best. - You're trying your best? - Yeah

- I must say, I do feel quite envious. We're sitting at the base of the bridge

and there's some sort of party going on at the park and... - Dude, a barbie!

Barbecue. Lucky devil.

I want to have a barbecue. Why can't I have a barbecue?

Well, why don't we have a barbecue? - We'll take a barbecue

Yeah

Let's get a barbecue and strap it to the bike. I'd love to.

Anyway, let's gear up and get out of here

Stretching with Ryotaro

Oh, shit! *people laughing off-camera*

My bike stretching [...]

So for the last couple of weeks, you guys have been telling me that I should have got a road bike

because my bike is, of course, a mountain bike with really thick tires,

which makes it really hard when cycling, or unnecessarily difficult.

But unfortunately, the bike has actually broken, there's something wrong with the chain.

There's a crack somewhere in this region, so we've had to get a replacement bicycle.

I don't know how long it's gonna be before we fix this, so we might have to even write it off.

But for now, we've actually got a road bike!

So finally, I have a bike with thin tires that's going to be a lot easier to cycle

Away we go, let the second half of the journey begin

Let's go! - Let's go.

I'm now midway through my Journey Across Japan from Yamagata (山形県) to Kagoshima (鹿児島市)

And for our trip with Ryotaro, we'll be heading first to Himeji (姫路市) than on to Okayama City (岡山市)

And it's certainly a journey of contrasts, from sprawling cities to endless rice fields.

I'm really excited about this, guys.

See, we have to cycle down the main street leading up to the castle,

and it looks incredible. Look at this.

Yeahhh!

Look at that castle.

I've actually been wanting to come to Himeji Castle for about two decades now.

Not because of its historical importance,

but because it was in my favorite James Bond film, "You Only Live Twice," in 1967.

Yes, in the late 1960s, James Bond himself visited Himeji Castle to attend a top-secret ninja training base.

So you can probably imagine my disappointment to discover

that Himeji Castle definitely isn't a secret ninja training base.

Himeji Castle, as it appears today, has stood for 400 years.

It was one of Japan's first UNESCO World Heritage Sites,

and it's the most visited castle in the country,

with its dazzling white appearance visible from miles away.

Some even say it looks like a heron taking flight.

Which is bollocks, because it's a castle.

But what makes Himeji so special is it's one of the few Japanese castles to have stood the test of time,

when 9 out of 10 castles you find in Japan have been burned to the ground at some point and rebuilt from scratch.

Even in World War II, when Himeji city was all but wiped off the map by over 700 tons of incendiary bombs,

the bomb that struck the castle refused to go off,

leaving the castle one of the last buildings standing in the city.

And then again in 1995, when Hyōgo Prefecture (兵庫県) was decimated by the Great Hanshin earthquake,

the castle itself was left virtually undamaged.

Simply put, Himeji Castle is the castle that refused to die.

To me, that is what makes it the greatest castle in all of Japan.

Ryotaro's face aside, this is one of the nicest views I've had on the trip so far in the morning.

And in the morning sun it just stands out beautifully, like a beacon. A beacon of history.

Bacon of history. - A bacon of history.

What the fuck are you on about?

And I brought the sunshine for us.

He brought the "shunshine"?

So this is the challenges you guys have sent in, we're now gonna get our challenge of the day

Yesterday the capsule, what are you doing? - Keep the capsule

What's going-- what's going on? Why is he here?

Pfft.

No complaining allowed, what a load of sh~~~~it.

Is Anpanman talking? - He's talking, see

He's telling you as well, he's telling you not to complain. And be optimistic, like he is.

Fabulous day. - Uh, nice.

It's gonna be a fabulous day.

Ryotaro has just mentioned... you have a friend here.

Yes, here in Himeji, a sweet shop

He owns a sweet shop? - Mm.

- Then why didn't you say so earlier?

I did that already, but you're not listening. As usual.

I'm not listening to Ryotaro most of the time when he speaks.

Because it's usually something ridiculous like... - Be optimistic and no complaints.

Oh yeah.

Uh, Ryotaro is a great guy and has lots of great things going for him.

He's so brilliant, yeah.

Really glad I came here, the view of the castle is incredible.

It looks so... wow, just wow.

Hands-down the most impressive castle I've seen in Japan so far.

After getting slightly lost in the back streets of Himeji,

Ryotaro calls ahead to Mr. Mori the sweet shop owner,

who eagerly greets us, business card in hand.

Wagashi, meaning Japanese confectionery,

often straddle the line between being sweets and works of handcrafted art.

So much so that eating them is often accompanied with a sensation of guilt.

Typically enjoyed alongside matcha green tea,

they're made from plant-based ingredients such as mochi rice cake,

anko red bean paste, and various fruits,

making them healthier than their Western confectionery counterparts.

To put it bluntly, you can eat as many as you want and never die.

A lot of these shops are quite well-hidden though.

This shop is like two meters across.

There's a big street, then there's a very tiny little...

It's almost like a speakeasy bar or something, where it's concealed behind this, like, little door.

This isn't gonna do much for my reputation.

I've already eaten Kobe beef, black ramen, and fried chicken galore.

Now I'm stuffing myself with Japanese sweets.

But Japanese sweets are actually a bit more healthy than what we're used to in the west, and there's less sugar.

For example instead of using sugar, we've got red bean paste inside this pancake here.

I want one of each of these, these differen colored ones. - All right.

And uhm

The orange - That orange - Orange in a mochi. - No grape? - Orange

- No grape? - Orange.

And so he's gonna buy me the orange and the grape, and he's paying! Haha!

I'm not.

You're not?

- I can be happy and optimistic, but I didn't need to be generous today.

That wasn't in the challenge, was it?

So Ryotaro's friend of a friend Mori-san, he's over there

His little shop is getting absolutely rammed.

He started-- he was a salary man till he was 34 years old,

and then he decided, "One day, I'm gonna do something fun."

"I'm gonna start a sweet shop," and he did.

I like it when people do that

A lot of people when they reach their mid-thirties, sort of - They just see the enlightenment suddenly

They get enlightened or they give up on their dreams I find, so it's nice that he followed his and made sweets

Like I did

You followed your dream? - Yeah, I did. - To be on the Abroad In Japan channel?

Not really

Our endpoint today is the small port town of Ako and for dinner

we get stuck into a bustling seafood diner, just a few miles down the coastline

So we've just stopped off at a little barbecue spot.

Because we're cycling around the Inland Sea,

There's also a place where you can sit down relax and eat seafood, yeah this place you can have a barbecue. It's wonderful

However, Ryotaro is not a great cook, we figured it wouldn't be a good idea to go to a barbecue because

Ryotaro is such a great cook. He's so wonderful. His cooking skills are second to none

I love it when Ryotaro cooks. - He just remembered the promise he made. - I just thought he cycles so hard today, he shouldn't cook things

He should relax, it's been a nice cycle though, once we got out of Himeji, things started to get a lot more pleasant, I hate

cycling cities, I mean, cycling in cities is really fun, but sometimes it's nice not to cycle in the city

Happy happy. - Oh god, this is

Brilliant - Full of hope and dreams

It's so wonderful, even if it is burning my throat from the inside out

I think I did a pretty good job today being overly optimistic and happy, I think that's because

I know at the end of this cycle today, a very massive pile of Japanese sweets waiting for us at our hotel

Kindly given to us by Mori-san and the chap of the the shop, Ryotaro's friend of a friend of a friend of a

brothers, uncles, mums, friends, cousins

House

Yeah

Don't kill our cameraman

Unbelievable, well that's another day done. - Yep - Off goes the GoPro

Well guys, it's been a long day

I tell you what, being overly optimistic and "happy" all day has taken more energy out of me than the cycle

This is the sweet I've been looking forward to all day

This is mochi rice cake with an orange inside it and it's very gooey and it's exploded everywhere

It's literally just an orange with rice cake around it

That's quite, I was expecting it's just be some sort of flavoring, but it is just an orange in a rice cake

Ii've never seen that before. - First time. - Now, let's finish off this cider

Did I complete this challenge though?

That's the big question guys. The thing is, I did, I keep, it's hard

It's hard. - You keep forgetting. - To manipulate and change your personality

Yeah, he is just so used to being sarcastic all the time

It's true

Do you think I'm different on screen compared to how I am in real life?

Not

Right

Well, I thought you were gonna say; I'm much nicer in real life

Happier

I just have to tell it truth to the viewers. Do you know what I mean?

Bye, guys!

Bye

After cycling for several weeks now, I've been growing accustomed to most small towns looking more or less the same

But turning the corner from our hotel in Ako village, we come across a colorful horde

of 1950s and 1960s memorabilia, every now and then on your travels across Japan

You'll stumble across a Showa era museum, dedicated to goods and items

From a time when Japan's post-war economy was booming

The Japanese society was a golden era, that many people are still keen to remember

So take you back, do you feel nostalgic?

Not really

But look, It says salt in here

They used to, need a special license to sell salt

Really? - It was so important. - James Bond, license to kill, Japanese business license to sell salt

License to salt? Sell salt, all right

Dialing it and

Here is our mission for today

Try to learn 3 Japanese tongue twisters

That's good, at least we got a Japanese guy with us today. We can finally use Ryotaro's main skill, his ability to speak Japanese. - Main skill?

Yeah, we don't really use the fact that you speak Japanese much on this channel, so. - That's true. - We can do that today

So, good news, ladies and gentlemen, the bike is back my beloved mountain bike that has seen us through the first part the journey has returned

The gear system on this bike was screwed 2 days ago

And they've actually rebuilt it and replaced it and now it's as good as ever, ready to get back on the road

So 3 minutes into the cycle and my adulation of the bike being repaired has quickly turned to horror and frustration

So it turns out, I couldn't realize this that the bike now only has like, only has 3 gears

and what this means is Ryotaro has already disappeared from my view ahead, because he can go fast on his bike