T1D Wanderer

Video diary - Between videos in Sakai

Here is a brief Patreon-only video diary from Sakai, Japan. I shot an upcoming YouTube video during my wanderings today, and will do so tomorrow. Knees willing.

Watch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFjYRLkgLUM

[Newsletter] Creepy or amusing? The rakan statues of Otagi

▶︎ Watch the new video → https://youtu.be/kZfiu_dW6Hw

This week's video is a bit shorter than usual. But it's about a subject that's especially unique and, well, weird.

First of all, a couple unrelated notes

1. The Japan Series (baseball finale) has ended. My team, the Hanshin Tigers, lost in a cruel and heartbreaking way. Sympathy please.

2. You may have noticed several 2025-11-01 11:00:17 +0000 UTC View Post

[Extended version] Quirky roadside vending/game center stuck in 1982

This early link to the extended ad-free version of my Drive-in Daruma vintage vending machine video is exclusively for Travel Lovers, Travel Partners, and Travel Masters. It's 41 minutes long and includes the early morning train ride, the long walk from and back to Shinonome train station, a lot more drama from the place being closed when I arrived, more about the games and machines inside, and the surprisingly successful checklist.

The newsletter about this video will be published next week. To watch the extended vide...

[Raw footage] Me playing the classic Space Invaders

Complete game (short as it is) from the retro Drive-in Daruma.

[Raw footage] Me playing Tetris (but not for long)

After eating vintage vending machine food, I thought I was ready for Tetris.

[Raw footage] My first Super Mario Bros game in years

Of course the Drive-in Daruma retro game center had this classic video game. And of course I played it.

[Raw footage] Me and the driving game Rave Racer

I'd never heard of this game but I tried it when I saw it at Drive-in Daruma. How did I do? Well...

[Raw footage] Me playing Lupin the Third pachinko (or possibly not)

Did I play this game? What even is it? I do not know.

[Raw footage] Me playing Grass Derby (like Japanese pinball)

A fun game of flipper-less pinball at a Japanese retro game center. (Two games, in fact!)

[Raw footage] Me murdering Galaga for nine minutes

The entire video of my Galaga game at Drive-in Daruma. Not bad eh!

[Raw footage] Me playing Fist of the North Star (slot machine)

I was a bit confused, but I think I mostly figured it out...?

[Raw footage] My entire Pac-Man game

Complete game footage of Pac-Man from the Drive-in Daruma retro game/vending machine center in Kyōto, Japan.

Several other complete videos of the games I played this day available in my Raw footage videos playlist on Patreon. In case you have a lot of free time on your hands or just dig watching old games.

[Newsletter] Toxic mountain village with Japan's last wolf

▶︎ Watch the new video → https://youtu.be/95VDbw2wma0

The prefecture of Nara, Japan is very mountainous and there aren't many people. The actual city of Nara is a big tourist draw of a city, of course, as are its surrounding cities and towns. And visitors shouldn't miss them; they're great.

But the southern half of Nara Prefecture doesn't have any train lines, and hardly even any buses. But there are a few.

I took one of these buses deep into the mou...

[Extended version] Creepy or amusing? The rakan statues of Otagi

This early link to next week's video is the extended ad-free version, exclusively for Travel Lovers, Travel Partners, and Travel Masters. It's 12 minutes long and includes the bus ride through Arashiyama to the temple.

Extended, ad-free video →

https://youtu.be/4s_CGCXoD78

To be honest, this has only a very tiny bit of extra stuff in it – the short bus ride. Otherwise it's the same video as the public one. (The visit to the temple was relatively short ...

[Newsletter] Why locals love this ancient tree bridge

▶︎ Watch the new video → https://youtu.be/w0vcA6N7eCg

I found something unique and mostly unknown in a small town called Kaibara, Japan: an ancient tree beside a river that grew a single gigantic root across the river to the opposite bank.

So I went to see it for myself. And I also, as usual, was surprised by how much other stuff there was to see in the town.

The tree is called "kinonebashi", which means tree root br...

[Extended version] Toxic mountain village with Japan's last wolf

This early link to the extended ad-free version of next week's video is exclusively for Travel Lovers, Travel Partners, and Travel Masters. It's 43 minutes long and includes exploring many more streets and paths in town, marking further bonus items off my checklist, and the whole long tragic tale of how I got left behind by my bus and had to breathe the valley air even more.

Watch here:

https://youtu.be/jCGRB96VU5g

The newsletter about this video will be p...

[Newsletter] A train line, a river, a belly button - Kakogawa!

▶︎ Watch the new video → https://youtu.be/Ik5pg8nfTEk

Oh boy I've got a really good video for you this week, if I do say so myself. Another train line that turned out to be highly unusual and full of fascinating stops. This time, it's the JR Kakogawa Line.

Thanks for joining the live stream

Before we get into that, though, let me thank everyone who tuned in for my live stream last week (whether during the stream or...

[Extended version] Why locals love this ancient tree bridge

This early link to the extended ad-free version of next week's video from Kaibara, Japan is exclusively for Travel Lovers, Travel Partners, and Travel Masters. It's 30 minutes long and includes the story of Nagayamon gate from 1714, my impromptu guided tour around Kaibara, the story of a legendary 6-year-old haiku poet from the town, a nationally popular 1920s-era song said to be inspired by Kaibara, and my stroll around the quiet residential streets of the town and its compelling mix of buildings and decorations.

Watch here →

...

[Extended version] A train line, a river, a belly button - Kakogawa!

This early link to the extended ad-free version is exclusively for Travel Lovers, Travel Partners, and Travel Masters. It's 60 minutes long and includes extensive walks around both Yashirochō and Tanikawa, info about other stations, a look at the tricky train schedules, a close-up look at the Kakogawa river, more from Nishiwakishi station, and many more details and scenes from this ride.

Watch it here:

https://youtu.be/muUs_Cjp-U8

The newsletter about thi...

[Newsletter] Live stream this week

This week's video is going to be a live stream here: https://youtube.com/live/ilJwO-1jftA

Of course it's not possible to find a time that suits everyone, but I hope you can join this one. It's 8:00 pm in the Eastern Time zone in the U.S. (9:00 am Monday for me.)

As such, this week's newsletter will be a bit short because anything I have to say will be in the live stream. But for what it's worth:

It is finally getting cooler here in...

[Newsletter] Eerie night on the Rokkō Cable Car

▶︎ Watch the new video → https://youtu.be/PhLxHlWRaKQ

This week, yet another reminder that even when you think you know what to expect when visiting somewhere, things can go sideways. A whole new world can reveal itself when you're anticipating something else entirely.

So it was, when I rode a cable car up Mount Rokkō in Kōbe, Japan recently.

See, I thought this was going to be a simple little cable car ride and a brief exploration...

Notice: No early-access video this week

Hi!

Usually this is where the link to next week's video would be. But there isn't a link because there isn't a regular video; next week's video will be a live stream. (More info about that will be coming soon.)

I've been wanting to do a live stream for a couple months, and I was sick for a few days last week and didn't have a chance to go out and explore anywhere. Thus, the live stream scheduling decision was kind of made for me.

Hope you can join me for the live stream; I think it will be Sunday at 8:00 pm Eastern Time, bu...

[Extended version] Eerie night on the Rokkō Cable Car

What a night! This early link to next week's video is exclusively for Travel Lovers, Travel Partners, and Travel Masters. This extended, ad-free version is 39 minutes long and includes the many train and bus mistakes I made getting to the cable car in the first place, my experience barely leaving the Garden Terrace, and my journey back to the train station after descending the mountain.

Extended, ad-free video →

https://youtu.be/zdixPXorpPg 2025-09-20 11:05:59 +0000 UTC View Post

[Newsletter] Why does Japan's cursed Meishō train still exist?

▶︎ Watch the new video → https://youtu.be/jhGEMHMIqI8

I've got a really fun train ride for you this week. It's from the Meishō Line, a rural JR line in Mie Prefecture, just east of Nara.

The Meishō Line has had a very rough life. Several times over the decades, it has faced crises and threats and natural disasters, and each time it seemed like the line would be abandoned and the tracks torn up.

But, against overwhelming odds, it co...

[Extended version] Why does Japan's cursed Meishō train still exist?

This early link to the extended ad-free version is exclusively for Travel Lovers, Travel Partners, and Travel Masters. It's 54 minutes long and includes more from the stations, neighborhoods, and rural communities; the tale of a rare 16th century Buddhist carved stone near Isegi station; more from on board the trains; and a complete look at the scenery and places I saw along the line.

Watch here →

https://youtu.be/2r6kx0aQF7k

The newsletter about this vi...

[Newsletter] Surprising stories at the old Ishizu tram stop

▶︎ Watch the new video → https://youtu.be/_Avh32e_0RY

Greetings once again from a central Japan that's finally, sort of, becoming perhaps slightly less hot and humid than last month. A bit.

In my latest wander, I return to the Hankai Tramway that runs between the cities of Ōsaka and Sakai, to the south. I've long wanted to do a more comprehensive video about the tram line itself – I've explored parts of it, but not the entire thing in depth.

Well ...

[Newsletter] Madness and magic on a ferry to Kōbe

▶︎ Watch the new video → https://youtu.be/77APYyLLvSc

Time for a nice relaxing ferry ride! At least, that's what I thought when I was leaving Takamatsu to return to Ōsaka. What an adventure it turned out to be.

The Jumbo Ferry company runs a ferry service between Takamatsu and Kōbe. The ride takes almost five hours and goes through the Seto Inland Sea, including a stop at Shōdoshima. It leaves four times a day, and the ...

[Extended version] Surprising stories at the old Ishizu tram stop

This early link to the extended ad-free version is exclusively for Travel Lovers, Travel Partners, and Travel Masters. It's 28 minutes long and includes the other side of the tracks: a warehouse full of beer, a reverse river, older streets as grungy as they are tidy, and some surprising checklist finds.

Watch it here:

https://youtu.be/_P8RhTk16CY

The newsletter about this video will be published next week. To watch the extended video, be sure to use the li...

[Extended version] Madness and magic on a ferry to Kōbe

This early link to the extended ad-free version is exclusively for Travel Lovers, Travel Partners, and Travel Masters. It's 36 minutes long and includes lots more context and details about the amenities and features on board the Jumbo Ferry, tales from the shuttle buses on either end of the journey, and more scenery and images from the boat and the sea views.

Watch:

https://youtu.be/j0C9IUJxfEY

The newsletter about this video will be published next week. T...

[Newsletter] Tragic saga of the Kagawa Boat Gym

▶︎ Watch the new video → https://youtu.be/P9hhuO9Y1Hk

A bit of an unusual theme for this week's video – not a train or other transportation, but a close-up look at a controversial and tragic building: the (former) Kagawa Prefectural Gymnasium.

First of all, I have to give thanks to the AI chatbot ChatGPT – that's where I learned about this building. (In a recent video diary I discussed how I don't use AI to write or edit or anything; I...