Yeah, I'm dressed a little fancy today.

I've come out for an event today and this particular event is unlike anything I've done before.

A very large part of me feels like this is just gonna be the start of an adventure.

Alright, so it's about 7.

30 in the morning right now.

I just got on the way.

Tonight's hotel?

Yeah, Yeah, I have no idea what to expect.

I e don't want to say I have high expectations for the evening, but I am somewhat excited.

E just found out I might actually be wearing a sandwich.

I cost you a some point so that e e just arrived.

Attn.

Ugly A station.

And this is but a brief stop on today's adventure.

I have not been out here in about 14 years on today is a pursuit of Japanese culture on heritage.

Wasn't that despite my years in Japan, I've never taken the time to do before, so we're doing it today.

Now this entire night is kind of a tribute to the Battle of Sekigahara.

So what we have ahead of us is the night of dinner adventure on learning.

I suppose so.

Behind me they're dressing somebody up in a samurai outfits, and while I've seen it before, I've never had the opportunity to actually wear.

It feels really weird to say this.

After being in Japan for well over 10 years, I I haven't gotten into those quintessential Japanese cultural aspect like the samurai side of things.

I've been out to the like the ninja areas, but never samurai eso.

When opportunities present themselves, you pretty much have to jump on them right right now.

I just arrived in an area called Sekigahara, which is home to one of Japan's most famous, if not arguably the single most famous samurai battle in Japanese history.

It's set the course of Japanese history for like the next two centuries.

2.5 centuries toe follow eso.

The battle itself started in October of the year 1600 and since half the fun is actually doing the research and learning about the story of the battle, there's like movies and everything.

I'm not going to share all the details, but spoiler alert ahead.

This particular battle actually led to the establishment of the Tokugawa Shogunate.

Amazingly, before this battle, that position had remained vacant for 27 years.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, trust me, it is worth research.

It's a really interesting story.

Yeah, So the story of the events leading up to the battle are probably just about his famous as the battle itself.

And I learned about all of this from Sekigahara as mayor at the event when he stood up to speak, he had so much passion, like mayor.

So I've actually swung by the town center to see if I can't at least just say hello and surprise him.

Let him know that Come all the way out here.

All right, So a little bit of an update.

I had the opportunity to meet the mayor.

Hey, actually opened up some time for me, and now he's taking me up to the roof so that I can see the official view of the entire area in battlefield right from the roof of this building.

So it's pretty exciting, E So on top of getting to see the roof, it seems like they're actually gonna sign like a chauffeur and guide to me for the day.

I was not expecting any of this.

I don't really need that bicycle rental, did I?

E things has turned into a real adventure.

Wow!

All right, Things has got definitely definitely got some weight to it.

Give me a second just to show you the whole thing.

Now I know the shoes don't exactly match, and the entire thing is really heavy and feeling the way it's all tied around me.

I'm amazed that samurai were ever actually able to move.

That being said, I'm somewhat used of logging in like the kimono and ha comma because I do that for my shamisen performances.

But this thing, this is new.

They were saying that the original full samurai armor could sometimes way anywhere from 20 to for 40 kg and that these ones averaged somewhere around 10 maybe 15.

But oh, this It definitely has some weight to it.

But let's head back into the event.

Yeah, sure.

Absolutely.

What's your name?

Where you're from, sort of being kind enough to take me around thio some of the battle spots, especially the more preserved ones, so I could get a real feel for what the area is like and this is one of them here.

Way.

So this is Mr Soleimani.

He's been kind enough to be my guide for today, and he was just explaining that this particular spot is the spot of one of the final battles.

A really, really beautiful spot.

Thank you.

Kind God has been nice enough to bring me up to Sasayama or mounted Cecil.

This might actually be the best spot in Sekigahara because you can see everything.

E.

I asked what it was like to grow up in this area.

He's like, actually, most of these places were just places that we played his kids and hung out.

We knew the history, but you know, that's where you live.

You play, you enjoy.

Hey said that the only way to really help me understand is to bring me out to the middle school that he went to where there's actually a battle site memorial right here High E.

So it's starting to feel like it's time for lunch, and I asked Mr Sawamura where we should eat.

He said that there is a really popular soba shop that's really loved by tourists, But I asked him to take me somewhere that the locals would eat on.

So we're going to this restaurant here called Booth.

I'm a firm believer in the idea that when you go out to somewhere, if you eat where the locals eat, you might have a chance to meet the locals.

So you guys do come out here E o a light.

Last place, I swear.

This'll here was like the final, I guess Post battle resting spot where Tokugawa would sit and inspect his well, basically inspect the severed heads of his enemies.

This this is a real thing that happened.

I also just found out that you can actually climb some of the mountains around here, which is pretty interesting in its own.

And it definitely makes for a good trip.

If you come out here.

The average one here apparently takes anywhere from 45 to an hour or so.

E.

So something important that the guide mentioned to me is that there aren't really that many hotels here like there are, but there's like only one or two.

If you are coming out to this place and you want to stay somewhere nearby, he recommended Gifu or Bogucki as decent places to stay key Food is always good, especially if you come out in the winter.

Mind you, this would be kind of cold to do in the winter.

Additionally, although the area looks flat, it's actually got lots of little hills.

So if you do rent a bicycle, get one with a motor.

Trust me, you're gonna want that.

Mhm.

Grab a cough from me.

A amazing These right here.

Seriously.

Really good.

A alright, wrapping things up.

A little gifts for us.

This has been a really interesting event.

I wouldn't be surprised.

I actually end up in Sekigahara because this just doesn't feel like enough.

It feels like just feels like a taste.

Eso, uh, dropped the GoPro and like this, it took some damage on this one.

Jeez, every single time I hit the record button, One of these guys comes by another elevation.

Hi, I got a good time.

I've been here for nearly an hour and I've barely recorded three minutes of audio.

So the battle itself kicked off in October of 2016.

Arguably most famous battle.

Wow, That bird was distracting.

So it's about 7.