**NOTE: THIS VIDEO IS THE BEHIND THE SCENES watch the Full Documentary** on the area and what happened to it *right here:* kzfaq.info/get/bejne/eKqAh5mixJqzeI0.html **THIS VIDEO WAS THE BEHIND THE SCENES/PART-2 TO THE DOCUMENTARY ABOVE** Did you have a favorite moment? a favorite interview? a favorite bee keeper with a super cool voice? let me know below!

Carrying camping gear just in case is the most Canadian thing. Incredible how friendly all those people were.

Hi, I'm from Osaka who became a Canadian citizen a while ago. It's very refreshing to see someone get so excited about things we ignore. Probably Japanese viewers like us are more excited with his reactions than the documentary itself, however, it becomes an exciting video to watch because of the hosts' contagious reactions, & good character. (Imagine you try to adventure your own local places with the same excitement) Please keep up your good job introducing places like these !

Can we take a moment to appreciate his genuine curiosity and his big heart? You don't find people like him often enough, you can just see it in his eyes.

As a historian, I really enjoyed the insides of these houses. I have a fondness for old architecture, particularly those made of wood. The area looks absolutely beautiful and I can imagine that in the 60s-80s this would have been a wonderful place to raise a family and teach the kids about the land, nature, and wild animals. Would love more stuff like this!

I cant believe Norm got eaten by a bear while spending 48 hours in an abandoned village in Japan

If you made hour-long videos, I'd watch them. Would have been good to see more interviews with the locals.

You've got some guts traveling to remote places like this alone. If I saw a person in the distance and then they disappeared, I would have ran away immediately. Thank you sharing with us.

It's a shame because even though I do love the comforts of modern technology, I get the feeling I would love to live in a place like this if it wasn't abandoned, a small village in a forested mountain area, sounds quite nice tbh

Your giddy kid energy at the prospect of finding new places and stories is rather infectious

An alternative title could be "I drove out to an abandoned village to get "Nihongo jouzu desu ne'd" haha Thanks for this amazing adventure Norm!

Norm's got guts , being in a abandoned forrest then noticing the guitar went missing and some freshly cut branches straight after that . To top it off , he said he wants to meet the people too ...

Thank you for sharing your experiences! I was hiking around Kyoto area in search of a waterfall, and walked through a small town that looked abandoned. There wasn't a single person in sight, all the houses were boarded up. Having grown up in a city that was a very surreal experience. It reminded me of Miyazaki Hayao's Spirited Away.

so amazing when someone go for the information and dive so deep to understand and share the story of those people/places, thank you for being one of these people Norm

The musical choices made for this one are so on point!

24:07 Norm: "This place is creepy. " Also Norm: " Should I come back?"

The bee guy was awesome. What a character and so lovely 🐝

The little shrine is so pretty

Such a shame. Reminds me of my late grandpa's village. Deep in the mountains. People moved out due to the lack of accessibility. In 20 years time nobody will be staying there. Progress devours everything but that's life.

Watching this in the middle of night while eating chocolate ice cream is the most relaxing thing for now.

Jozu-ed again... 😭😭😭

Love that you have taken the time to stop and reach out to (continue) to hear people’s stories. Keep on! Your excitement is infectious and inspiring. Watch out for those spiders 😬!

t’s always astonishing to me how many of the most wonderful adventures shared on KZfaq come from being curious, talking to strangers. & seeing where life leads. Stuff like this makes me just so thankful for this platform.

My heart aches for all the wasted resources, the memories long forgotten. Thank you for showing us things that we would not have known otherwise. Going through your footages must've been a nightmare. haha.

I love the eagerness of most people to share their stories and you going the extra mile (literally) to follow the leads. Might as well be a documentary on tv.

Notification Squad! Ah, the inevitable Nihongo jouzu lol. Cool that the dam staff were so helpful about finding a local who used to live in the village!

The true treasure really is the adventure you have along the way. Loved all the locals, especially that beekeeper.

Norm, your-kid-on-Christmas-morning energy is priceless. I keep saying it, but you're a treasure and I am grateful you chose to share your passion and enthusiasm with the world.

What's even scarier than a bear? A bear with a shotgun!! ...damn! Cheers Norm :)

Yes!!! ^_^ I loved the bee keeper from the full doc and I'm so glad there's a bit more footage of him. I'm so glad I can be a Patron of your channel Norm!! You've inspired me to get up early and explore places when there's no one around--places I've been to often take on a whole new vibe...and you've inspired me to go out and and explore more places around my area. Thank you!!!

You always keep making me add things to my bucket list for when I eventually start living in Japan haha 😆

This video reminded my of my first trip to Tokyo. I just walked everywhere and kept getting side tracked by random stuff I wanted to checkout. And when my body was ready to give out, I just kept going.

This Norm, this is what i am talking about, longer videos and more talking with the people! I hope for more videos where you talk to people, normal people and listen to their stories (and share it with us of course), that's one of the things that I love about Japan, to meet new people. I was really excited watching this as well, I could almost feel your energy while watching it. If you come back to hike, you just got to bring Quinlan with you, he is the hike sensei 😂

Loved this. So much extra footage. I think if you made a channel for just all of your unused B-roll, people would watch that too, cause personally I find this stuff fascinating and would love to watch it just to see all the little things that tell the story of such places.

I really enjoy when you have segments with you and locals speaking Japanese. I would love to see more of this in your videos.

Their story is so interesting and captivating. I like these type of mysteries that can be solved through talking with others.

I love seeing how the encounters happened chronologically in this behind the scenes vlog after seeing the full episode earlier. ^^ Comparing the two really highlights your amazing storytelling skills~

I know this video is a bit old, but I wanted to say that I love watching your apartment videos, and watching this has honestly just moved me so much on how you truly want to tell everyone’s story. It’s quite beautiful lol

I love your determination and courage to try to find out what's behind these abandoned villages. really enjoyed this series :)

Exploring Japan like this and meeting locals to hear their stories has always been my absolute favorite part of Japan. I miss it every day. Thank you for letting me live vicariously through you for a half hour. That was sorely neeeded.

I love how excited you are ! Keep that positive energy! We need more of that during these crazy times. Thanks Norm!

I could watch such videos for hours, just you exploring abandoned villages or just towns in general. It's so calming, aesthetic and in general you have a great vibe ♥

I love that you care and want to tell stories of ppl and places, KZfaq would be an emptier place without you! Here's to hoping we never lose you, thank you so much for all your hard work, for being a content creator, and such an inspiration. Can't wait to see what you film next ^^

Love these behind the scenes videos! It’s nice that so many people were willing to talk about their experiences. If some random person walked up to me and started asking random questions like that I’d probably be a lot more hesitant

The sense of adventure this video gives is so infectious. I love it, thank you for taking us with you in your adventures Norm 😊

The beekeeper literally looks and talks like a real life anime character.

Loved it! The aesthetics, peaceful and frozen in time vintage vibes of this place are amazing

Wow, love this video! Thank you for taking us with you!

This is such a gem of channel. Each new video, always surprises me. How each video is made from the b-roll to the music to the story telling. Amazing stuff Norm. Also more podcast episodes please!!

I’m so happy you mentioned the bugs and spiders. I always think everything is so perfect in videos, but you brought the real details to your video. Thanks @tokyolens

YES!!! Another Norm adventure! Everything was a favorite, but that Beekeeper’s voice! Your enthusiasm and excitement is invigorating. Definitely go back for more adventures and distractions. Thank you 🙏 .

The dedication that you put into this is just amazing!

Amazing work as always Norm! Your enthusiasm is quite contagious I love how respectful yet energetic you are towards other people's privacy, thank you soo much for sharing!! Also I absolutely love the longer videos ^.^

Just in time before I run out the door for work.

I always have a feeling for abandoned places, to put it simple, I want to understand, to experience others' lives. When looking at an abandoned place, my mind will start drawing the pictures, like how people were living back then, what were there, TV programs, mangas, patin shoes, uniform, so they must have a school right, how was it, how was everything back then, what did the children do in the summer. Oh the curtains, they were used back then, when the weather was hot, how was everything then, how were the people, were there the children sitting there and reading books, or they gathered there in the evening to talk, to sing. The inside, the boxes were left there, they contained daily items, is that a present box, for who, when, what is it inside, how were the parties back then? Over 40-50 years ago? Back then, Vietnam was even in war! Things look peaceful there, the kitchen, the slide doors, the manga pages, the mail box. How were they abandoned, when, why? Who were the last one to leave, how did they feel, how did the people from nearby villages feel when their friends stopped visiting? By the time the houses were build, the time when the items inside the house were purchased, I didn't even born yet... Wow... but the keys, the clothes hanging, the books... somehow they make me feel familiar... Ah yeah because people still revisit the place XD also, even in the rural places, things look still new, I mean like there are still people, there are still items transfer to these places. It's so great to find a person share the same interest with you, when you say "I feel like a little kid, I feel like I'm having an adventure", I feel that too, even through the screen! I really hope that some days I will save up enough to travel and explore in Japan just like you do, and I hope I can see by my own eyes, and can compare stuffs with your videos

Its pretty cool that your showing how the abandoned villages/houses are left to time and age. Also how some of them are just left as is, like a time capsule of memories. Love the vids, keep up the great work.

Back at it again! Such an amazing piece again 😍

The last bit, that’s how I feel when I explore ruins in Japan. You always want to go further, always want to see more. Keep it up! Love your haikyo videos!

Honestly, after watching the first one, I really can't stop thinking of this place, like you'd still want to know and see more, and I'm surprisingly glad that you went back for more. Thank you truly for this second part of the journey.

my man, your channel is fantastic! it's awesome to know about people and places that we will never probably meet, much love!

My evening just got better!!

Interesting point of you Norm! I think one of the reasons the collapsed houses are abandoned is the owner died and there are no one to inherit or even if there is his child who has ownership, the child just lets it go because there are some taxes needed to pay for owing it. It is one of the problems Japan has regarding our lands.

I am genuinely impressed with your channel, and I find your adventures so interesting I cannot stop watching.

Hi Norm! Just wanted to say that this videos you are doing are among the very best internet content I've ever seen (and I've been on internet since the late 90s so I've seen A LOT). Great work, from editing to finding all this people and places, telling their stories and your impressions on all of it. Thanks a lot for sharing it with us.

I stumbled onto your site by accident and am so glad I did! I lived in Japan for four years and this is such a different perspective from my daily life. That said, the thing I find the same is the friendliness of the Japanese people and their love for sharing stories. Their unique perspective on life and nature is inspiring and lovely and you capture it very well. It is often hard to tell people why I loved it in Japan so much (my Japanese friends used to call me tamago, saying I was white on the outside, but yellow on the inside), but you really capture it. This makes my heart yearn to go back. Can I come work for you?! 😜🤣 Thanks for all the work you put into these videos! 🥰

I really enjoyed the documentary but the making of it was equally interesting and showed Norm at his investigative best. You should be damn proud of this series Norm, it's excellent.

I thoroughly enjoyed that video! I love seeing the real Japan and not the touristy areas. Thanks for showing us!

I honestly love your content Norm. Been following you for a while. I love your documentary style and your genuine passion for your work. 🥰👍🏻 Keep up your good work. Best regards from Norway 🇳🇴

10:50 wow, this gentleman's voice came out of nowhere!

7:02 made me spit my orange juice. 😂

I get so excited when you upload a new video about a place you've been/discovered. Keep up up the amazing work!

Such an amazing series! I admire your openness, bravery and excitement that you have with everything you do. You definitely deserve more views!

Abandoned villages are fascinating. Just watching this video made me wonder what it must've been like back when they lived there. Especially ones living deeper in the mountains. Still unbelievable there were people who just up and left everything behind as if they're just going out somewhere but never coming back. There's this sense of loneliness and dread when I saw those abandoned houses. I'm glad you met so many nice people. It's awesome they shared their stories and some of them seemed to have really wanted to do so. The villages might be abandoned but their story will go on cause of these videos. The last village was creepy! The bgm didn't help I just felt uneasy looking at it haha. It would definitely make an interesting video although it seems dangerous though.

I could watch a 5+h video of this guy walking around that place. It's rare and i've never seen something like that in real life.

love seeing this guy being happy and excited, thank you for sharing this with us!

Love the kind of determination you have to visit and document these places. You give us all such a good look and understanding of things that we might never be able to experience and you go and track down people who are around to get more information as well. Bravo (and, yes, we do love these longer video formats!)

This is honestly really depressing because this place seems so beautiful, like a place out of a studio ghibli movie. It’s sad that many of these families would of had to leave because they just couldn’t afford to live somewhere like that anymore due to a lack of jobs.

Just finished making my coffee 🥰

This is so intriguing and your showcasing of places and people are always so respectful and chill to watch. Love the content!

7 months later and I'm seeing this but oh my gosh! How cool is this?! I give you mad props for exploring the woods into the unknown! Especially with all the bugs and spiders. Thank you for sharing your experience with us as most of if not all who watch this will never get the chance to explore these abandoned villages.

Nice, just when I ran out of stuff to watch! Good evening, Norm.

Notification squad! What's up Norm? Excited for the video

I really like the presentation in this video. Especially the music choices, setting the mood from almost a whimsy adventure of discovery to the final, more ominous tone of a long time abandoned place in heavy state of decay. And he's right, how it's interesting how much "stuff" was left behind in some abandoned homes.

Wow.. it's so breathtaking watching your video.. The abandoned villages are so beautiful with the forest surrounding them. I can imagine how the villages used be back when it still populated. Such a shame for those places to be forgotten like that. Thanks for bringing these beautiful world to us😃

Thanks for sharing. When do the Tokyo lens abandon tours start?

Drop everything- we're going on an abandoned village adventure. #NotificationSquad

Wow, Norm, I'm speechless... This is so wonderful. Wish I was there with you ! Thanks for all the work. Stay safe !

It's so fascinating to see all these abandoned places. It really leaves me in awe and wonder with just how creepy but also beautiful they can be. Something about nature retaking things that we have made always leaves me with this indescribable feeling. I just want to delve into the seas of history and learn all the stories behind them. I truly love this and seeing you explore and talk to the people you meet truly makes me smile. I've even taken notes so that maybe one day I can see these places for myself! Thank You!

"So many bugs here!" Its okay, I can deal with that just fine! Exploring seems fun! "You would not believe how many spiders I found *on myself*" Nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope I'll leave the adventuring to you and just watch from my house after all...

imagine how tiring being homeless must be... camping is fun for a few days...

Gotta respect your dedication in these videos. Also really love longer vids like this it feels like I'm in the place as well. Thank you for another amazing story

What a spectacular video! I love these scenes of the Japanese mountains and the abandoned villages. I can only imagine how fun it'd be to go on one of these adventures with you. Thanks for sharing Norm!

Wow this series was amazing! 😍 You can attach a bell to your backpack to alert bears so they won't come near you!

do you every worry about your safety with strangers? is japan really that safe? i would love to do this in the states but i'd be afraid of who i may run into.

Nice one Norm! Loved it! I think it’s so incredibly cool that the stories of these places are preserved :) Keep em coming 💪🏻

This was amazing! I love the fact you are pretty much story hunting. I could really feel your excitement and it was making me excited too! This is such a beautiful location. I really hope I get the opportunity to go to Japan one day soon. Thank you so much for this amazing video. 😊🙏

Dam good video.... personally i would have loaded this first before the previous one.... my brain kept recollecting scenes from that video and merging it with this one... I wouldn't say they have an obsession rather they got it down pat as how to monetize everything... which is why i also think most of the towns/cities have their own "character rep" ...hmmm you know what could have helped you out with the insects and spiders Norm?!?🤔 Some sort of head gear 😉 One of the reasons i love hats is for protection of my hair, added benefit don't need to put sunscreen on my face 😁

To get out there and tell these stories of places that would just get past by, by everyday people is truly amazing. Every time I pass a unique person or small town, I’m always like what’s their story. You go out and do it. I should try and take inspiration from you!!!! Always great stuff!!

Your excitement are through the roof, it's also really cool when everybody just excited to share their stories.

i really appreciate the respect you show when going to abandoned places, especially those in other countries. too many tourists (typically white americans) treat other countries they visit as something to entertain them. you treat it like what it is; historically and culturally significant, a place where people used to live and raised families and lost loved ones and got married and lives full lives. and i really appreciate the lack of corny spooky music.