Why was teenage Snake-EYes hanging around some old timey-looking Japanese village dressed in vintage Japanese-style attire?

So far a 3 out of 11 of the "GI JOE" characters aren't military (including, of all people, SNAKE-EYES!).

The way this show is, I expect Beach-Head to be a surfer dude again.

Wild Bill will just be a Texas Ranger.

Stalker will just be a sympathetic street gang leader who hates Cobra.

Not that it matters to me that much, it's just a new spin. GI JOE has been reimagined a few times now. This is just another one. And at least it's not as vapid as Sigma Six.