Taste different different, yes im a content maker, activist and broadcaster. Hi, guys. This is my first blind vlog. Ten years ago, i lost my eyesight and since then, ive been on a mission to prove that having a disability doesnt have to hold me back. That having a disability ive come a long way learning to live with sight loss. Hello, sweetheart. Good girl. But ive never been this far away from home. Its just hit me like a ton of bricks that its actually really hard being in a new place when you cant see it. In this first episode. The ferry� s about to depart . Im travelling from the mainland to one of the remotest parts of japan. Oh, what are these for . But will i be able to make sense of a country so famous for its visual beauty . This is japan the way i see it. Im injapan� s capital city, tokyo. Its my first time injapan. Its going to be very exciting but very overwhelming. Wheres the line . Ive lost the line. 0h, here. Heres the line. I left my guide dog at home and im travelling with my long white cane. Ok, i think im on the crossing right now. Ooh, theres someone with a megaphone. And at the moment, i am feeling apprehensive. Loud street noises. Ah, theres so much noise im going to go for it. I love the fact that the streets are quite wide. Ifelt very confident walking up and down. Day one in tokyo, i am going to meet rikarin, who is an influencer and a fashion designer, and were going up harajuku. So, i want to know all about Harajuku Fashion. Then, im going to have a feel with all of my other senses, so i can understand where shes coming from and what fashion she likes to wear. 0k. Hey, hello its so lovely to meet you can i hug you . Yeah, course you can. Its lovely to meet you. Can i get a quick Audio Description of you . Sure, sure. I have a yellow, puffy dress, like this. Can i feel . Sure its like an organza dress. Oh, wow with a like a Border Knit Top with the jeans. Its a little bit casual style. Oh, youve put jeans underneath. Yeah, yeah. Can i be guided by your arm . Sure. So can i hold on to your. . Here. Thats it perfect. Fashion, its a massive passion of mine, just actively touching everything and feeling all the fabric. Theres this street, its called takeshita street. Okay. Its like the main street of harajuku. So, all the kids who have heard of harajuku first come here. It looks like so many different, like, tastes is mixed together. Some shops, like on the left here, is really gothic. Ah wow maybe on the right youll see kebab shop laughter. On the right again, i think youll be surprised. And actually, im going to take you to the sweet place. 0h, 0k. Heres the first step. Yep. Yes. Ok. The step is quite narrow. Wow. It really smells sugary. Yeah. 0k. You got one . Oh, my god, amazing oh, my gosh, its so big all the colours taste different different, yes. Wow. I think i like the pink one the best. Yeah . The blue ones nice but it tastes like more like fake sweets. So, this is what harajuku tastes like . Yeah. Ill stay here. Laughs. It feels exciting, it feels energetic, and very individual. And here is a shop sign. Oh, my god. He only has one eye. Oh, representation he knows how it feels hes visually impaired, too and the last one. 0k. Stop here. 0k. And turn to the right. This is a really very famous and important place for the culture called kawaii culture. Have you ever heard of it . No. Yeah, kawaii means like something cute. We say kawaii to every single thing that we love. Wow, thats so unusual. Yeah. It feels like theres loads of clothes around me, so the audio is very dampened. Mm hm. Yeah. The clothes there feel like nothing ive everfelt before that i would wear. It was a culture shock. 0h what do you think is that . I think you cannot. I dont know. Oh, my gosh. Its a big rat. A rat . a rat, yeah. Giggles. This culture was born because of a little bit of rebellion in a good way. Thats why Harajuku Fashion or Harajuku Culture is not only about something really cute. Like, its not like that. They always have, like, eyeballs or bones. Yeah. Something a little bit dark side. Yeah. Youre walking on the red carpet right now. Yeah i work it work it, work it laughter. Yeah this shop is for the cosmetics and this room is for the wigs. Shall we try some on . I could maybe try this one on. Fluffy one. Yeah. Ive never worn a wig. Oh, really . Yeah, never. Hey what do you think . You look like a poodle what made you want to get into this sort of Fashion Style . I was like a shy girl but after i found this community, i feel its totally different from my school or anything, like my family. Its different. So, its a completely new community, its new me, so i can be myself however i want. And that really changed my life, i think. I really relate to that because when i got my long white cane out, i felt really self conscious and nervous. Not dressing like other people makes you feel like, yeah, im me im individual. Yeah. I became blind at age 17 due to a really rare genetic condition. You want to just live the sighted life that you had and every day, every thing, every task that you go to do is a reminder that you cant do it any more and that, for me, mentally, was a massive struggle when i went blind. Im heading to saitama, about an hour away from tokyo. Im off to see ryusei. He is a blind skateboarder and he has not let his blindness define him. Im just really excited to understand why he skateboards and how he does it, because its really scary in my mind ryusei holds two World Records for performing Skateboard Tricks without eyesight. How long have you been a blind skaterfor . Whats it like to skate as a blind person . It seems scary. Although i cant see ryuseis skills, i remember what skateboarding looks like and it blows my mind that hes got the courage to get back up every time he falls. 0h yeah. Yeah . Yeah. Is every skateboard as wobbly . How do you say three, two, one injapanese . San, ni. Ichi. Ichi. Yeah. Go yeah. Excited scream. Laughs. Wa hey i can see why this is freeing but i also dont want to go too fast 0k. I think thats me. Its so scary like me, ryusei lost his eyesight due to a rare disease. Hes now 95 blind. How did that affect you mentally, you know, suddenly having sight and then not . Cos i know, for me, i took it really badly for a couple of years. I had a mental breakdown. I just wondered about you and yourjourney. I know what its like to be in the darkest place because somethings happened to you that shatters your heart. When you cant do just the Little Things that make up your life, you dont believe you can, like, truly go on without some massive, massive willpower behind you. I admire ryuseis drive to keep doing what he loves. I think its really amazing to see other blind people just rock it wherever they are, and thats really special. Weve got something there that connects us. Its time to leave the city and im heading to a place thats unlike anywhere ive been. The Automated Gates for the. My destination is sado island. And then, you can go through the gate. My local producer is ryuso helping me on the ferry. Oh, my gosh. This is a line all the way to the ferry . Yeah. This is so cool. I wish we had this in our ports in england. It would stop me falling in the sea. Laughs. Right, now we are about to board the ferry. What is that Metal Drumming . Right, so, theyre telling us the ferry is about to depart thats what the drum is. Now, we are on the ferry. Yay oh, thats so cool yeah. There was no step up or anything. Its so accessible. Yeah, it was pretty smooth, wasnt it . Yeah. Whistle blows. The ferry is about to depart gong bangs. Cackles. That was really fun so, the ship is slowly turning directions. 0k. And then, from there, its 2. 5 hours to sadogashima. Lovely. How far down is the water . Oh, far enough that you dont want to fall. Laughs. Its about, like, a four storey building. 0h, 0k. I would say, yeah. Wow. These are the kind of experiences as a blind person that are really sensory for me the wind in my hair and the rain, like, little bits of rain. I can hear a seagull. Laughs. Gulls cry. I can hear the engine down below. I can hear the water. Really cool. Ive come to sado island in the sea ofjapan, and im here to experience a unique tradition called the Onidaiko Festival. So what is the Onidaiko Festival . We try to keep the Community Together and, at the same time, we wish a good harvest and health. The onidaiko is danced to represent the gods. Everythings connected to each other. I want to find ways to engage with the festival that dont rely on eyesight. Konnichiwa. Terue has brought me to the taiko drumming centre. This building is named tatakokan. Tatako. Yes. Tatako means lets play taiko injapanese. Oh, tatako yes tatako, yes taiko drumming is an ancient art thats central to the Onidaiko Festival. So this is taiko. Not so strong. 0k. Relax. Yes. Laughter. Ok, you lift your arm up higher. And down. Beats drum. Yes. 0k. More. Oh, its good. Ns good. I give you to se, no. Se, no is like one, two. 0k, 0k. Se, no next. Yes. Cheering. I feel like its a sense of self that you find when youre drumming. I cant see visual pieces of art, but to be able to experience it with wood all around me, i felt the sound just through my whole body. How was it . Amazing laughter. It was a massive sensory experience. When masami started to drum. I didnt expect to feel overcome with passion for what she does. I didnt know how moved i would be by hearing the sounds ricochet from the drum all the way around the room. It was so moving. Wow well done. Oh, my gosh, that was incredible. Ijust, ifeel this sense of calm after that because it was so. You just felt it through your whole body, dont you . Right. Its like your bodys echoing with the. Yeah. Drum. Yeah. I didnt have a need to, like, be able to see then, which is like one of the first times in my life. Being blind in that moment didnt matter. Yeah. You can feel that. You dont need to see it. Just feel it. Yeah. Thats what music does. Its just amazing. Sniffs. 0h. Laughs. Thank you. Speaks japanese. Thank you. Thank you so much. I am so super proud of myself and im not afraid to say it. To think, oh, being blind is so crummy, ill never go away and now, im over the other side of the world and im so excited to experience all of my other senses. As well as drumming, costumes are a key part of the onidaiko tradition. Konnichiwa. Ive come to meet watanabe aritsune, who carves traditional oni, or demon masks, worn by the festivals dancers. Translation theres some chair. Ok. One more, one more. One more, one more chair. Here . No, next to. Next to it. Laughs. We got there in the end. Whats in front of me . So, five oni masks in front of you. The masks are a tactile symbol of what once was and what is now. And i think thats beautiful to still have that within the small communities so, here is his mask. So that usually male only closing their mouths. 0h. 0h thats scary. How does it feel when you see your masks in the festival . Are you proud . I loves the lions mechanicaljaw. I think that was one of my favourite parts. Yeah, i like that. The tactile experience is now going to make the festival come alive to me in my mind. I now have a picture of what they may be wearing. I can have an Audio Description of how they dance, and then im hearing the music. I can fully immerse myself in the festival, so im really excited. Drum beats. There are over 100 onidaiko dance groups on the island and they dedicate their performances to a shrine. The lions came out. Now, shes trying to scare them. Wow. Theyre so close. Yeah. The lions are moving around as well. Yeah. Applause. Yay woo thank you. 0h hes got, hes got hair. I felt that day shifted my mind set. I always thought that my blind experience was less than. Oh, what are these for . That when i felt something tactile, i didnt see that as valid as actually looking at that thing in real life. This is the god of snake. The god of snake. That day proved to me that my tactile experience was as valid as a visual one. Yes yeah. Thank you. Up the road, a childrens dance group is performing door to door to the families in the village. I love that its all really immersive. The kids are so, so cute as well. What are they saying . Kids chant. It doesnt mean anything, but its cheering the people up. So, you mean like yay . Yes, thats. Yay chuckles. Chanting in japanese. This trip has made me more confident. I truly believe that the way i interact with the world in a tactile way when i go back home is enough. Chanting continues. I am enough. Chanting. Oh, my god. The energy is so electric right now. Im so excited. Its just the chanting. Its like, makes you feel like youre in a bit of a trance. Chants. Yay the kids are shouting. Its just such a sense of community. In the second part of my travels, im back in tokyo. Go. Asking whether guide dogs could be replaced. Faster, faster, faster. Ive never been guided by ai before. This is so cool squeals. And i head to hiroshima to find out about the resilience of its people. Hello. We have got some large contrasts in our weather today, especially the temperature. Warm and humid in the south of england. Fresh in scotland and northern ireland. Lets look at the forecast for the rest of the day. As we head into the evening, there is a Weather Front Slicing the uk more or less in half. To the north, cooler. 14 in aberdeen at about 6pm. The same in glasgow and belfast. He is the Weather Front. Showers in place. Close to the Weather Front across wales and the Weather Front across wales and the south west. London, still 25 at 6pm. Quite humid. You can see the colour difference. The temperature gradient. The Weather Front still with us through the night. It will be cold in the north. Particularly eastern scotland. A touch of frost on the way. To the south of the Weather Front it remains warm and humid. Perhaps no lower than 15 or 16 degrees in some spots. Here is the forecast for sunday. Lightning symbols, so a storm chance in some south western and western parts of the uk. These storms will drift north. A little bit further through the east. Plenty of bright weather. But for some of us, a wild spell at some point during the day, with these thunderstorms rumbling through. This is the forecast for the evening, moving through wales, part of the midlands. Thunderstorms could break out almost anywhere on sunday. Early next week we are going to see a transition to something a lot fresher. Orange colour is moving towards the east. That is a warm air mass. Multiple Weather Fronts sweeping off the atlantic. Here is one Weather Front crossing the uk during the course of monday. It is a cold front. Plus three for a time with heavy showers. Behind it, linked to this area of low pressure, fresher air sweeping in. Still holding on to this area of low pressure, fresher air sweeping in. Still holding onto the low 20s across the south east. It is only 15 in belfast. Look at this outlook remote every day there is the chance of some rain. Temperatures easing as well. Hold is knocking on the door. Bye bye. Live from london. This is bbc news. In iran, the mother of mahsa amini thanks people for keeping her daughters name alive one year after she died in police custody. The worst hit libyan city, derna, is being sealed off to allow rescue teams better access following last weeks devasting flash floods. A 14 year old boy remains in custody, on suspicion of murder, after another teenager was stabbed in manchester friday night. In south africa, the State Funeral is held for chief mangosuthu buthelezi, who died last week, aged 95. Youre watching bbc news, im gareth barlow. The mother of mahsa amini has issued a statement on the First Anniversary of her death, expressing her gratitude to all those who had kept the memory of her daughter alive. Iranian Security Forces have been mobilised around the family home on the First Anniversary of her death in custody, which inspired months of mass Anti Government protests. Her father was briefly detained as he was leaving the house, and he was warned against holding a ceremony at her grave. Meanwhile, the iranian authorities have tightened security across the country, to try to prevent a new wave of street demonstrations. Overnight, Anti Government chants were heard in a number