THE RACE
From the Outback, teams must head to Tokyo. The Globetrotters start reminiscing about their previous time there. "They thought Godzilla was walking down the street," Flight Time says about the gigantic Big Easy. Everyone tries a different tactic: The BFFs cab it to the airport; the cowboys and Globetrotters take the train; and the mom-son and dad-son teams decide to hit up a travel agent first. The teams waffles on a flight that arrives 15 minutes earlier because it has a connecting flight, while the other flight is direct. The cheerleaders, pink and black attack, son-dad, BFFs and mom-son teams go for the earlier flight. Of course, the early flight doesn't get the worm—it arrives an hour and a half late. Ouch.
Once they hit the ground in Tokyo, teams go to a nearby garage for their next clue. They find out they have to drive to the Yabusame Dojo to grab their next clue.
ROADBLOCK
Teams will face a training exercise, a Yabusame ritual. First, they have perform a tai chi-like combination, then shoot a bow and arrow from a wooden horse and strike a target. The teams have a hard time mastering the precise ritual movements, meanwhile the cowboys, mom-son, cheerleaders, pink and black attack teams struggle to find their way to the dojo. Dad Ron was in first place, but couldn't get the steps down. The sisters are the first ones out of the dojo with the BFFs and Ms. Kentucky and her pops following.
As the cheerleaders drive down the streets of Japan, they hit a man's car, knocking off his side mirror. They try to offer him money, but the language barrier is a hurdle. The man decides to call the police, which of course is a lengthy process and just might put the redheads out of the competition. The cheerleaders finally make it to the dojo and are pumped to see other teams are still there, so they have a chance.
Next up, teams must go to a nearby railway station and find the Kintaro Statute. There, they hit a detour.
DETOUR
In this detour, teams choose between prayer of purity or frog of life. For purity, a Shinto religious cleansing ritual, teams don an outfit and learn a prayer that’s vocal and physical. Then they must stand under a cascading waterfall—whose chilly 45-degree waters come from Mt. Fuji—for a minute. In luck, teams strip down to bikini tops and diaper-like bottoms for the ladies and just diapers for the guys. "It was like we were really skinny sumo wrestlers," BFF Zev says. The teams then enter an enormous mud pit, and as people pelt them with mud, they have to search through the muck for a frog.
The BFFs and Ms. Kentucky and her dad get filthy crawling around looking for the small frog. "I got dirt in places where dirt should not be right now," one of the sisters says. The BFFs find the froggie first and start heading to the pit stop.
The dad-daughter and Globetrotters are the only ones to choose the purity ritual. Being in the freezing water was bad. "Having the intensity of the waterfall, it’s like having rocks thrown at you," dad Ron says. "I want my mama right now!" the Globetrotters scream. The basketball players finish first, but there seems to be a fanny pack mix-up. Dad and daughter scour the area for their missing pack, thinking the Globetrotters sabotaged them. But it turns out that the Globetrotters left the fanny pack down the mountain, near dad's clothes.
PIT STOP
The pit stop is Commodore Perry's Landing, a monument in Kurihama. The BFFs clinch their second consecutive win, snagging a trip to Costa Rica. It's especially impressive, since the guys started off in that delayed flight. Ms. Kentucky and dad get second, the Globetrotters third. But when four-place finishers dad and daughter get to the pit stop, unhappy about wasting time searching for the fanny pack, Phil agrees and gives the Globetrotters a 30-minute penalty, putting dad and daughter in third.
OUSTED
It comes down to the cheerleaders and the dad-son team. The cheerleaders are sure they are the ones to go, but dad and son had to go to an ambulance to warm up, since they searched in the cold, wet mud for so long. Dad and son arrive last and get eliminated. "[Mike] knew he was going to lose the race by calling me to get out [of the mud]," dad Mel says. "He cared more about me than the race. And it felt good." Son Mike adds, "My dad, he will never give up and that's why sometimes you have to give up for him."
NEXT WEEK
Dad Ron loses what little cool he has and screams at some poor driver and starts throwing things. The pink and black attack get lost and can't find their way.
[Photos: CBS]
