Today's story time actually, storytime started yesterday, but with everything that happened, I was too excited to effectively put it into a video.

But yesterday, life started to change a little.

I have a really important guest showing up in, like 15 20 minutes, but before that there's something I want to show you.

It's all of this right here.

The simplest explanation is that those envelopes total five years of shamisen earnings.

Every live show that I did every TV spot that I did, Everything is right.

Well, obviously a lot of it's in the bank symbolism and all that.

And I was about to find out if it was time to spend all of that.

And I mean all of it on the next leg of my journey here in Japan.

Phone call.

E I.

I don't know if you notice that, but that call was from one of the Yoshida brothers.

So for any of you who don't know me, here's a little bit of a back story.

Long before YouTube, I actually drifted cards, really, and I crashed my card.

It was soon after crashing of my car that I was inspired to chase the impossible dream of becoming the apprentice of the Yoshida brothers.

These two incredible togethers, everything brothers here in Japan who play all over the world, they do the music for like, not adult and stuff like that.

I spent years chasing that goal, but about six or seven years ago I finally became their apprentice, and so at the time, I spend what was pretty much the last of my savings to buy my very first, Shami said.

They're expensive, and over time they wear about Tommy's, and it's served me beautifully for years.

Other be for practice or live shows, whatever it's been.

But recently, with more shamis and related jobs coming in, it was time for me to start thinking about buying a new one.

But there were three criteria that needed to be met first.

The first was research because I research everything.

I buy one of those types, but there is a small problem.

I know most of the shamisen makers and vendors and everything like that.

I wanted to get a really unbiased view, an opinion.

I wanted to speak to somebody who didn't know me, who would give me a lot more straight opinions and answers on everything.

Honestly, I struggled for a little while and finding somebody.

But while I was talking to some friends about it and they were like, Well, why don't you come with us?

They run this Facebook page called Japan Made where they just make really awesome videos about how stuff in Japan is made.

It's linked.

They were going out to see this chummy send maker and make a video about him and their oval.

Why?

Why don't you come with us?

We'll bring you along.

You can ask him whatever questions that you want, even for Japanese people.

This kind of place convene kind of surprising.

So everyone's like, Wow, is this really the place?

I wish I could explain to you what it feels like to walk into a shamisen shop that you've never been to for the first time.

But it's just something I can't put into words.

What is it with you no more?

I don't think you know.

You missed the part three years ago.

Okay?

Come in.

Equal units.

I was I just Come.

This got hit.

We spend the next little while going over things like materials and parts and different techniques at the show.

Can you use when they're building or crafting a shamisen?

We even took some time to just sit down, take a break and play.

I can honestly say it was time well spent that we were there for hours and a ton of new information.

But I did get a much clearer view of what to look for and learned a lot of needs stuff that is a Susan May Bonci.

They're very dangerous, and it's just like hanging out on my camera.

I think he's gone.

The 2nd 1 was the money, obviously.

But I have this weird rule when I made an investment into something like cameras or an instrument.

And it's that any money that I spend on that has to be made by the initial investment that makes sense.

For example, if I buy a shamisen if I want to buy something else, Tommy said related, I need to use that shamisen to make money.

I won't spend my savings, and the same goes for my cameras.

Anyway.

After about five years of performances, live shows and everything else, I finally have the money saved.

I'm not going to say exactly how much?

Because that would be weird.

But I will say that it's probably about the second largest purchase I've ever made in my life.

And my heart is just racing.

At the third point is the approval from doing judo himself, which is one of the reasons he was coming ovaries.

Time for me to ask him if he thought it was time for me to get a new show me sent if he even thought it was OK.

So we're about to get down to what is called Okay Co.

And Keiko is basically just training in practice.

For those of you who don't know this gentleman behind me, this is the older of the two Yoshida brothers.

I'm gonna ask officially a little something more doing So now I've got the approval, which is insanely exciting.

A large part of me kind of expected that he would say yes, that I need a new show me sand.

But it's just good to hear it now.

The next steps of the process are very involved.

I've actually gotta go out.

I've got to choose the neck for my shamisen and all this other stuff.

What?

We're moving forward it's happening.

This is a huge step into me, a major commitment, because it means that I am saying that I'm gonna be spending the next however long of my life and dedicating it to improving my skill and abilities in the shammy Senate, wrapping even mawr of my life around.

And that's a large part why it was so important for me to get okay from beauty toe.

This is says, really exciting for me.

I don't know, maybe maybe it's it's definitely exciting.

And since this entire journey started, which he said, I only thought it fitting that I shared this with all of you guys because because I'm standing in a bush, I'm literally let me show you.

This time I'm literally just standing in a bush.

Sometimes I feel like it owned.

Share.

Enough of the shamisen side of things here on Tokyo Lens remind you that is part of why I have the Shami said in Tokyo Channel.

Also, when you're carrying a shamisen and kimono, it can be really awkward and slightly unprofessional to carry a camera around to these performances and jobs.

It's gonna set the camera on the stages, and I don't But to all of you who are saying that you love to hear more shamisen stuff in the log and whatnot.

Thank you so much.

I will continue working it in wherever I can.

By the way, this park is like a five minute walk from sucks.

As you've noticed, other than the birds and the sounds of nature maybe a little construction.

Right now, it is a really, really quiet park.

If you're interested, maybe I'll do it.

Tokyo Tuesday on quiet areas near a success, actually.

Sounds like a pretty good You know what?

I'm on it.

Now let's see if we can't get out of this bush.

It's also the sky tree is like right there.