15!

15?

Yeah I'm so proud!

So proud? But Ryotaro said that if you do less than 100 you're a looser

Ready?

I've got Mankey

But he's just a bad man A very bad man indeed

2 years ago I tragically lost a bet doing the wanko soba noodle challenge

Challenge that involves stuffing yourself with as many bowls of soba noodles as possible

without being physically sick

Not only did I lose a bet but my reputation as a man was completely destroyed as apparently a man should be able to eat over a hundred bowls

And I only managed....44

But recently I had a chance of redemption when my friend Ryotaro and I travelled 500 km across North Japan in 3 days

Over the years people have asked me where they can get traditional Japanese clothes to try on while they're in Japan

and I..never really know I'm not an expert on the subject

But I am now!

Japan's largest Tourism company, JTB just started a service where you can rent traditional Japanese clothes

from shops across most cities in Tohoku

have them professionally fitted and then go off and travel around!

Ryotaro and I were invited to try out that service

And wear them whilst traveling around for 3 days across Tohoku

To amazing and sometimes bizarre locations that I didn't even know existed

with the journey ending with Wanko Soba Noodle Battle to the death!

Err...except...without death

Sorry!

Our journey began in the city of Koriyama where we were joined by Hana, a Taiwanese blogger who would also be coming along on the journey

So these are our Yukatas here we can choose from

The trick to choosing the perfect Yukata Is to try and conceal your weight

So I think the black one is the best one, right?

That's correct the black one make you look slimmer

I wanna look good so I want this one

You look like a Prince or something

I am actually…

I feel like I'm a Maharajah or something

Prince Muppet

Prince Muppet?!

I went with this pattern in the end

I found it conceals my figure better than the black one did

The patterns are a good distraction

Actually you know what for kimono it's likeyou need to be…if you're a little bit chubby, that actually suits you better

Obviously I've worn yukata a few times but I never thought I'd look good in it

You know I never thought it fitted very well

So I'm quite curious as to see if this fits alright

I think it might because there's quite a lot of people working on this

To make it look good

That's true

Finished?

Finished!

What a handsome young man

Shut up!

For our first destination we headed deep into the mountains of North Japan to visit the village of Ouchijuku

An old stopping off point for travelers hundreds of years ago

It was here that we would also be having quite a peculiar lunch

This is one of the best views of Tohoku

Yeah I guess so

Top ten view there

I think if you're gonna walk through one town in Japan wearing a Yukata, it should be here: Ouchijuku

Obviously the most distinctive thing is the roof

It's the roof yeah!

It's made out of the straws from the rice

That's pretty cool!

So not only can you eat rice but you can turn it into a house

That's right!

Alright so we're at the restaurant and we are going to eat soba, this soba is very special

You need to eat it with a long onion

With a long onion..?

Yeah

What.??

How is that even possible?

Surely the onion would just sort of like flop

Well we're gonna make it possible

Wow!

You really weren't kidding weren't you

I wasn't kidding

That's an onion

What it does is that

This onion is literally like a spice

And adds some flavor to it

You can just pick it

You look so proud

Coz I am!!

Aaah...so difficult!!

I think it's the first time I've eaten somewhere where you can eat the utensil you're using to eat

I can't think of any other time that I've done that

This is the only place in whole Japan that they do this

Really?

Yeah!

Eating with onion

What a unique way to eat

My onion is getting shorter, that's the problem!

I hate it when that happens

After a delicious lunch of noodles and onion

We left Ouchijuku and stopped off at an antique goods shop

In the nearby town of Aizu Wakamatsu

It was here we grabbed a popular old fashioned soda drink

Called Ramune

A drink that can often feel more like handling explosives

And then...BAM

Alright?

Ready?

Woah

There's a ball here

So if you just pull it too high then you'll stick the thing so...

Refreshing?

Very nice!

Like that?

And then..

Yeaaah

Who thought this up?

Who thought "oh yeah! This will be a good idea!"

And now there's a little ball in there

So when you pull it up like that and then if you do it too much

That's it!

Nothing's coming out!

That's magic

Because of the ball

Shit!

The ball got stuck

This is the most dangerous drink in Japan

But very refreshing!

For our last stop of the day we wanted to grab some souvenirs

So we headed to a famous local shop sculpting figurines and masks

With one rather questionable mask in particular standing out

This is one of our Gods

He's called Tengu

Tengu, he has a long nose

Look at his nose!

A little bit phallic

I would be quite scared if a God came to me with a nose like that

Yeah actually it's a scary one too

It tries to prevent human beings to go into the mountains because he's almost like a God

But not only he protects but he sometimes hurt people who do not..

With that nose?

Yes with that nose..

Chris...turn around

I must admit it is a slight improvement

As we walked around the shop

The owner was sitting quietly in the corner

Carefully hand painting the figurines, silently and elegantly

And then suddenly he threw on a change of clothes

Pulled out a retro boom box and did this:

And that's how the first day of our trip ended.

The next morning we caught the train to Sendai and dropped into the local Kimono shop

to switch clothes

So you're in black today

Do I look thin?

Ah...do you look thin? No, it doesn't help at all!

Really?

Yeah, I think this one's better than the one yesterday

You think so?

Yeah coz it conceals my stomach

Why do you care so much about concealing yourself?

I like to be overweight but give the illusion of being thin

That's the western dream

Western dream?!

Western culture summarized

Alright let's go

Our first stop of the day was Genbikei Gorge

And it was here that we would discover the exciting future of food delivery

So there's a sweet shop over there making kind of Dango

Which is a kind of chewy rice sweet

But it's quite far away it's actually across this gorge

But the guy worked it out, he put a basket system in place that goes across the river

You can sit here in this nice spot and enjoy his products

You hit this bit of wood here with this hammer

Put in your order

And he will send over the basket

Let's just hit the wood

Yes please!

How hard?

Really hard!

I don't want to smash the basket into the gorge

The fastest basket pulling I've ever seen

He just changed the flag

To what? Which one?

He's changing it to the Union Jack

He's waving it

He's playing the British....National Anthem

I'm not even making this up

God Save the Queen!

Wow! So fast!

And look! All these drinks!

Nothing spilled

How did he do that?

It's really nice!

Is it nice like..you know with a scenery like that?

I want all my food brought to me in a basket

Over a gorge from now on

Look how many people are coming to see this

It's amazing

It's the greatest marketing I've ever seen

If you have a restaurant just put your stuff in a basket

And send it over the gorge and the people will come

The only thing is it might be difficult getting a gorge....build one!

For lunch we stopped and had some mouth-watering Maezawa Beef

The most famous beef in Iwate Prefecture

Juicy juicy beef

You dip it in the sauce

And into the mouth!

Watch his face!

Our last stop of the day was Hanamaki Hot Spring resort

In a hotel that recently won numerous architectural awards

However there was one rather worrying flaw

We just arrived at Hanamaki Onsen, it's a hot spring resort

In Iwate Prefecture

This place is called the Koyokan which means the house of falling leaves

The first that got my attention was this sign

Warning of a pair of bears spotted in the area

Around here, and we're going for a walk aren't we?

Yeah we are

Rubbish! Coming across bears before dinner?!

That'd be truly unbearable

In the end though we didn't have to worry about bears

As we stayed in so Ryotaro could play Pokemon Go

It's the day Pokemon Go has been released

He's been playing it more than I have

Well I'm on level 3 still though

I'm on level 1 I haven't caught on really

Fucking Bulbasaur is on your leg

Come on!

You got it!

Wow!

I got Mankey

It was the final day of our trip and as the Wanko Soba Noodle Challenge loomed ahead

We first ventured into Akita Prefecture

To the town of Kakunodate

A famous Samurai town home to one of the best preserved samurai manners

In all of Japan

So much armor

How much does it weigh?

It's around 25 kilos

25 kilos...?

If I'm going out in a 25 kilogram samurai armor

It's not gonna do much good is it?

Coz I'm gonna be like:

What you want is:

Grab a shotgun, grab a katana

And just sort of...

Naked?

Obviously you're gonna wear clothes

Oh okay

Not naked

Otherwise you would look a little bit stupid

Give it a swing

Fucking hell, he's trying to break the glass

That's what I'm trying to do

I'm gonna make you look slimmer

By cutting me in half?

Yeah exactly

What is this twisted surgery?

After narrowly avoiding Yotaro's questionable weight-loss program

We passed a stand selling my favorite Japanese drink called Amazake

A sweet drink made from the leftover rice grains used to produce Japanese sake

Like a rice pudding in a drink

True!

That's the best way to describe it!

A rice pudding in a drink!