In mid-December, I was mindlessly scrolling through Reddit when I stumbled across a clip of a tourist meeting a local in Japan. It seemed quite innocuous at first, but it quickly grabbed my attention as I watched these two strangers share fragments of their lives with each other. I needed to know more.

Thankfully, in the comments, someone shared a link to a much longer video on YouTube. It’s an hour-long travel vlog by Adam Matheson, in which he charts part of his trip to Japan. I promise it’s worth the watch:

I’ve watched the full thing a few times, but I’ve struggled to find a way to write about it. It’s hard to distill how I feel about what makes this special.

On paper, it’s a documentation of two people meeting for the first time and very quickly becoming fast friends. I just found it to be a shining beacon of humanity that I discovered during a perilous, awful time and a wonderful example of an authentic, organic connection.

I should probably explain what it’s about: Matheson didn’t know much about Kushiro before going there, but several people he met on his trip suggested that he visit the city, which is on Japan’s second-largest island. Until this point, Matheson had mixed feelings about his time in Japan. That’s documented a bit in another enjoyable video, which I’ll share later on.

In this particular vlog, Matheson explores Kushiro a bit and has breakfast at a fish market. This first part isn’t terribly exciting to watch, but it sets the mood nicely. Before long, he stumbles across a place called Alpha English Academy. The owner turned part of the English school into a cafe to help make ends meet.

Matheson and the gentleman, Fumio Funaki, get to know each other over the course of the video. Funaki used to live in the US, where Matheson is from. He shares parts of his life story and things like his thoughts on aging. He also introduces Matheson to his daughter through a FaceTime call, and the two men discuss an idea to turn the building into a guest house.

Later, they go on a mini road trip together, as Funaki takes Matheson to a few scenic spots close by. They talk about things like being extroverts in an introverted society before Funaki brings Matheson to a hotel and the two part ways.

I don’t think I’m really spoiling anything by telling you all of this. It’s just a beautiful thing to watch play out.

I also liked this other video from earlier in Matheson’s stay in Japan. In Sapporo (Hokkaido’s capital and largest city), Matheson meets a young woman named Sho, who is a tourist from Tokyo. They enjoy each other’s company as they spend part of the day together. It didn’t quite have the resonance for me as the other vlog, but I still enjoyed it quite a bit:

I really ought to watch more of Matheson’s videos.

I took my own first solo vacation earlier this year, just a couple of days by myself in Paris. While I enjoyed exploring and taking in the sights, sounds and flavors of the city, I didn’t really talk to anyone other than the staff at my hotel, restaurant workers and a cab driver. I was fine with that, because I’m very introverted by nature.

But Matheson’s videos were in the back of my mind during my time there. I can’t help but feel like I missed out on something by not making connections with new people while I was in Paris, even though that’s something I generally have difficulty doing anyway.

That’s going to be food for thought if I do actually end up taking another solo vacation I tentatively have planned for later this year. As it happens, that would be to Japan.

P.S. I really enjoy the Lo-Fi Japan playlist on Apple Music. There isn’t really a bad song in the bunch, but I do love “Hakata Station,” a chill track from Freddie Joachim feat. Nahokimama:

P.P.S. If you enjoyed this, please share it with someone else you think might like it. I’m trying to grow Pastimes (and to write non-Connections things here more regularly), and I’d appreciate your support :)