Escaping to a sacred mountain temple - somewhere remote, somewhere quiet

where we can meditate and get away from it all.

The stresses of the daily life, the stresses of social media and the news and everything

and that is exactly what we're gonna do today.

It's the brainchild of one man; this man.

Ryotaro: Alright so today - you know you've been so online recently, like on Twitter and Facebook

and of course YouTube, and it's too much interaction as well.

They get you to your answer to comments, and they go "it's just what you'll be doing"

You'll be too nice it's almost like.

Chris: Yes, I'm too nice!

Ryotaro: So I'm taking you to this temple; which is 1,200 years old

and then put you into this strict---very strict training; Yamabushi Mountain training

Chris: Hmm...

Ryotaro: Yeah, you will love it.

Chris: But before we get to the strict mountain training and the secluded mountain

we're first going to one of the best most critically acclaimed restaurants in all of Tohoku

because it's quite near the mountain

So---before things get strict they're first gonna get rather gluttonous indeed.

[Ravenous side glance]

The region we're visiting surrounds the town of Tsuruoka in Yamagata, about a 30-minute drive south of the town

I once lived in, where I worked as a teacher for three years, and I'll gladly admit it's a region

I miss living in for the scenery alone and for its somewhat mystical surroundings

thanks to the area's roots in the religions of Shintoism and Buddhism

but more on that later because first there's food to be had.

So this restaurant, the Ai. Ché-cciano, is owned by a chef called Mr. Okuda

and he was counted as one of the best hundred chefs in the whole world

Chris: in the whole world!?

Roytaro: in the whole world, yeah.

Chris: Born in Tsuruoka in 1969, Masayuki Okuda has prepared food everywhere

from the World Economic Forum

to even serving the Pope in 2012.

His reputation comes from his philosophy of carefully sourcing local ingredients

which had been selected to cultivate a deeper appreciation for the food - and for the local area itself.

In the case of the Ai. Ché-cciano restaurant, he's managed to fuse Italian style dishes

with ingredients within a 30 Kilometer radius of the kitchen; from the nearby mountains, to the Sea of Japan.

So our first course has arrived and it is

Flounder, the fish from the Sea of Japan, just about 10 Kilometres that way---

so all the food here's local, but it's the salt that's the really interesting thing.

The salt has been harvested on the night of a full moon

when the water changes current, apparently it's the best time to get the salt from the sea

and the thick large grains of salt---

accompany the Flounder rather well.

You wouldn't normally think of those kind of things

but it's that kind of consideration that goes into the food here that makes it such a critically acclaimed place

and now Ryotaro is gonna review it for us.

Ryotaro: You actually feel the salt because---

Chris: well I should hope so, it's harvested on the night of a full moon.

Ryotaro: So this is the salt; normal salt is finer and a smaller scale, but this salt comes in this size

and so when you actually put it in your mouth you should feel the salt.

Chris: You put the salt in your mouth and you feel the salt...you've put my food reviewing to shame.

Flounder

Flounder

Chris: Yeah - floundering review.

So we got our next dish; which is Fugu-infused risotto.

I think it's the first time I've ever had Fugu actually---

the Blowfish which can kill you, so it's the most dangerous risotto I've ever had.

It's got seven herbs on top which are there to

cleanse the palate before the main course.

Looking at this risotto makes me very happy because it reminds me of a comment that I read yesterday

(Laughing) about Ryotaro

"Why do we never see Natsuki and 'Risottoro' in the same video, do they hate each other?"

(Laughing)

The reason you never see Natsuki and 'Risottoro' together is because they're actually the same person

with a severe case of split personality disorder---

Ryotaro: What!?

One of them smokes 30 cigarettes a day and the other version is just bald

but all I know is your new name is 'Risottoro' from here on in.

(Laughs in Risottoro)

Chris: It seems rather fitting that after receiving this comment yesterday you're now---

Ryotaro: 'Risottoro' with a British accent, is that right?

(Laughing in Risottoro pt. 2)

Chris: Risottoro!

Ryotaro: The blowfish!

Blowfish---

is definitely really worth risking your life

because it's so good.

Chris: You heard it here first; straight from the mouth of 'Risottoro'

Ryotaro: Okay, so we now have pork, it's called Yamaguchi pork

yeah, it's a local pork 'grown' in this area

and it's plain and what's so special is that it's been matured and it almost tastes like dried ham

Chris: Serrano Ham?

Ryotaro: Serrano Ham, yeah.

It's charcoal-grilled too, so it's crispy on the surface and very juicy inside.

Chris: What about the Fish?

Ryotaro: It's Winter Cod.

Chris: Winter Cod---

Ryotaro: Since they caught the Cod in the Winter it's got a lot of fat in it so it tastes different---

Chris: The Cod actually changes flavour throughout the seasons?

Ryotaro: Yeah.

Chris: That's quite cool, didn't know that!

Ryotaro: Well yeah, of course, you don't know anything. So anyway---

(Laughing)

Chris: You know, numerous are the times that I've visited a restaurant that hasn't quite lived up to its reputation

Ai. Ché-cciano is not one of them.

It's not every day you get to go to a restaurant where so much thought goes into the ingredients.

The way they use sauce and the way it's prepared---

long will I cherish the memories of the Yamaguchi pork and the Blowfish 'Risottoro'...

(Sideways glances)

...he doesn't look happy.

And now we are off to a mystical mountain to get rather spiritual isn't that right, Ryotaro?

Ryotaro: Yeah, we're going to see some ghosts

[Ghostly glare]

The shrine we're staying in rests on the sacred secluded peak of Mt. Haguro

and holds the record for having the thickest thatched roof in all of Japan

and that's a lot of alliteration...

but it's 2 meters thick because, despite being only 414 meters, Haguro receives a ridiculous amount of snow.

Just to give you a sense of scale to the snowfall they get here; look at this---

So Ryotaro how tall are you?

Ryotaro: Uh I'm...5'6" or something?

Chris: 5 foot six, 5 foot seven?

Chris: So that's at least twice your height - about 10 foot.

That's what they have to deal with here every winter, and then they have to deal with people like this coming

just to make things worse.

(Laughing)

So this is the room I'm staying in in the temple, the key word here is 'cozy'

and that's because of the kerosene heater.

in Japan in winter you live and die by the grace of the kerosene heater.

Because it's 28 degrees in here it's lovely and warm and cozy, but out here---

It is a mere...fuck-all degrees Celsius, it's so cold.

You can see the snow falling out there a little bit, but if I go like that

(Exhale)

you can see my breath, it's magical.

In there - nice and cozy

out here - it's like a fridge so let's get back inside.

So we've got the kerosene heater and the futon there with no less than three blankets to keep me warm

and then over here---

this is my favourite room

this is the room that I like to call the 'Tea Room'

come on in.

So you can sit here, enjoy your tea, watch a bit of television, and enjoy the second kerosene heater

which I haven't put on yet but I'm definitely gonna put on soon because it's absolutely freezing in here.

Because of the Shoji sliding doors; as beautiful as Shoji sliding doors are they're terrible insulators

and out here we've just got...well that's it basically

that's the edge of the temple.

in a way though the snow acts like an insulator itself because it piles up about a meter or two high

throughout the winter months and kind of helps insulate the building

but let's keep the door shut to keep warm.

That was pretty stupid on my part.

It's like a puzzle closing Shoji sliding doors is like an exciting puzzle - a puzzle which is very simple.

'Yamabushido' is the term used to describe the mountain aesthetic practiced by monks for over 1,500 years.

In recent times the secretive practice has opened up to anyone who's looking to detoxify themsevles

in a five-day practice held in the summer months; where participants live by a strict aesthetic

of Buddhist vegetarian cuisine

travelling in silence across mountains, forests, rivers, and even meditate in waterfalls.

It's overseen by Master Hoshino; probably the coolest looking man I've ever seen

and a 13th generation of his family to live as a Yamabushi priest.

However, given it's the winter months and the temperatures hovering around zero degrees,

we're gonna be practising for several hours.

Before we begin we asked master Hoshino to help define the concept of Yamabushido.

So here we are at the base of Haguro Mountain, and I'm dressed in this white costume

In Japanese it's literally 'Shiro Shozoku' right?

Ryotaro: Yeah, you pronounce it alright.

Chris: Good pronounciation there.

But it literally means white costume and this mountain

Haguro Mountain represents rebirth, and to be reborn you first need to be dead and in Japan at a funeral

the body is wrapped up in white cloth, and thus being wrapped up in white cloth

we're technically dead, metaphorically dead, not literally dead that would be---

awful.

Dead. Simply dead. Simply red? No, simply dead.

Why do we let him go anywhere near the camera?

So this is Takeharu and he's our guide for today

I'm wondering why can't we speak while we're going into the mountain?

What's the significance of not talking and being silent?

Takeharu: Because it's gonna be a training practice; if you think about things to say or talk

then you cannot be in the moment.

Chris: If you talk you can't be in the moment, so you can't appreciate the journey.

Okay, that makes sense, the only thing that worries me though

are there any bears in the forest?

Takeharu: Yes.

(Nervous laughter)

Chris: You said that so confidently.

If I see a bear can I talk then?

Takeharu: No.

(Sudden tortured piano sound)

from now on we will have

mountain trekking mediation session.

(Loud horn bellows and a bell chimes)

(No man made sounds except snow crunching under toe, and the sound of rushing water throughout)

Chris: At first it feels a bit odd---

travelling in silence, and in these temperatures all we can think of is how cold our feet are

especially if like me - you've forgotten to put on thick socks.

And as a phone addict

it's hard not to Google something about snow or to quickly gaze a Facebook notification

of an amusing cat video, but going deeper into the forest across bridges

with the sound of water gushing down, and waterfalls and along streams

and with the towering presence of cedar trees dating back over 500 years old

you really do just stop caring.

You learn that being silent is the only way to truly appreciate the surroundings and all of a sudden

I'm overcome with a sense of regret that I don't do this more often, that I've forgotten how

spectacular everything is when you stop and look around, just being in the present---

It's something I don't do often enough.

(Chanting in Japanese)

Takeharu: I used to work---

at an advertising agency in Tokyo, and I enjoyed the city life but

I found that something was lacking

in myself and

here I feel like part of

something great.

I used to think about the future

always what's next? what's next?

but now

I can feel I'm in the moment.

Chris: Was it just me or was Hoshino-san - the dude with the beard

The coolest looking man in the world ever?

His face was the very definition of 'Bushido'

Ryotaro: Yeah, I think that how he looks---

I mean is quite rare for a Japanese person

I don't really see a person like that with a long beard with such an aura.

Chris: Just an exceptional face, really.

Ryotaro: And that's what I think is the kind of person that the Westerners

expect from a traditional Japanese person from Bushido

(Laughing)

Chris: You know he's fulfilled my stereotype.