Osaka to Okayama and on to Hiroshima

New trip mates and heading…on south.

First stop was Himeji Castle. Simply amazing grounds and a magnificent garden. 

The gardens are famous grounds of another beautiful castle - Korakuen gardens at Okayama Castle. 

Browsed through a lovely old precinct called Kurashiki in the morning. Lovely buildings well preserved. The area is famous for its Japanese denim. 

Ferry to Miyajima Island and a visit to the famous Itsukushima Shinto shrine. Spectacular views across the bay. Lots of oysters for sale. Those oysters are seriously huge!!

Hiroshima War Memorial. We walked through the museum. Such a lot to read and a tribute to the folk who lost their lives. We dropped off our paper cranes at the kids memorial. Literally millions there. Think they must burn some and add the ashes to the rose gardens. 

Tokyo and off to Osaka

Back in Tokyo we farewelled our fellow farm to farm travellers and enjoyed a look around at leisure. We tripped up the Shinjuku Prefecture building for a last peek at Mt Fuji. Down below we met the Olympic mascots and saw information for the World athletics 2025 to be held in Tokyo.

Always fascinated by the food options and packaging as we browsed on supermarkets…

And on by bullet train (2 1/2 hours) and we were in Osaka. Just a short metro trip and then a wee walk and we were at our hotel. Our explore was beyond amazing. So many market style stalls down rows and rows of streets. We found a local restaurant and had a tasty bite although to be quite honest don’t think we really knew what we were doing. 😂😂

Final wow of the night was this kitchen shop. The photos really don’t do it justice. Toko Kitchens!!

Kyoto again

Today we experienced tea farming and tasting. A gloriously long countryside drive during which the statisticians in our midst declared we’d been through 50 tunnels… that’s over 100 for the day. Up into the mountains and a gorgeous family who grow tea bushes and long onions (leeks). We tasted the new growth (2nd flush) and asked lots of questions. Saw a harvesting demo and tried freshly dried green tea and the roasted variety.

Lunch was sukiyaki but again I was fascinated by the shoe selection as we need to enter the restaurant without our shoes. Our venue was a local government facility so we were well fed and watered. Martin made friends with a calf and I was introduced to ski fields Kyoto style - summer variety of course. 



Another day and another shrine in Kyoto. Catherine, we visited this one but the garden wasn’t open in the winter but perhaps there was another festival on… Below are the advertising sake barrels - sponsorship at the shrines. 

Glorious garden. Of course we were told not to attempt the stepping stones - but, guess who…

Magnificent colours and the Japanese water irises were in flower. Simply gorgeous. Martin fed the carp and occasionally a wee turtle managed a bite. 

Loving the professionalism of the Shinkansen staff. They really are a treat to watch. These trains really are on task and get you there fast!! 

Oops. This pic is out of order but you get the picture. Happy days, J

Kyoto

The Golden Palace in Kyoto really is quite amazing. We were thronged by school students on their school trips. The views we had were great though. 

Water lily lake behind in these gorgeous shogun gardens. Was intrigued by the amount of support etc these elderly trees are given. M and I would be out with the chainsaw. It is an elderly and beautiful maple tree though. 

Street gardens are delightful. So colourful and well tended in their pots. 

Indoor bamboo forest an amazing lamb lunch restaurant above and below the bamboo tunnel, a shady relief in the heat of Saga today when Martin and I explored solo. Underground, tram and historic train mastered. 



The historic train which took us from Arashiyama to Kameoka. A tree lined gorge with lovely views of the river. In flood so river trips cancelled today. 

After much wandering and looking at restaurant menus we found Copain. A menu on a stick restaurant with delicious dipping sauces. 10 pieces was our limit and no… the chef isn’t putting cream in the side of the bamboo shoot glass - it was a ginger concoction. Delish!!

Matsumoto - Takyama

A very wet day - wisps of a tropical typhoon made dancing in the rain our plan today. We visited a wasabi farm at Dario. Really interesting place. Shark skin graters are apparently the best. Lots of products for sale there including wasabi ice-cream. 

On to Matsumoto and the Castle - Crow Castle - wonderful history and efforts put into the restoration. Tricky stairs so didn’t make it to the top of the tower - this time!!

Soyba noodle making (soyba is the Japanese name for buckwheat) was next on our programme. Our lunch afterwards included noodles the group had prepared. 

Then… we were to continue to Takyama but the road was closed, so back to Matsumoto for us. Miyuki did a wonderful job of finding us last minute accommodation and we didn’t have to walk too far in the rain to find dinner. 

Wednesday dawned fine and clear. Off again we travelled into the mountains. A visit to a hydroponic farm using an abandoned building in an impoverished village was really interesting. The young directors have great plans and provided a clear presentation. Delicious micro greens and flower petals are going to high end markets. 

And finally on to Takyama after an informative and tasty Hida beef lunch cooked ourselves on hot rocks. More about Takyama tomorrow. 



And a final good night from the pyjama party team.

Nagano

Two Shinkansen (bullet train - 300km/hr) train routes later we were in lovely Nagano. And off to see the snow monkeys minus the snow. 40 minute walk in to the monkey park and lots of hijinks as they frolicked around. Good time to see babies. 



Martin doesn’t know it yet but I have a grand plan for our old skis. Actually he does know…

Up early this morning and off to the local fruit and vegetable markets. The fruit and vegetable actions were quite enthralling. Lots of sign language. 

Mushroom production a great process to follow through and then we were off into the hills to harvest our own asparagus for lunch. So delicious and fresh. 

Very windy outside the rice co-operative - why did no one tell me about the hair fail?😂. Great information re rice production locally. Japan is almost 100% sufficient in rice production - short grain sticky rice which is the most popular - sticks to your chopsticks best. 

Sendai

Bullet train from Tokyo to Kurikoma where our first port of call was a delicious lunch of steamed pork and vegetables (in the box still cooking) and all the yummy accompaniments. Then off to a wagu beef farm. Pic below of the barley crop and in the background what I thought might be snow. Turns out it is a solar panel farm and today we saw another being created on the other side of the valley on the way to Zeio. 

The rice farmer was giving his son instructions in planting the young rice plants they grow to this stage themselves. This was very interesting learning about such an important crop for Japan in which they are self-sufficient. 

This dairy farmer has diversified into making ice cream and sorbet and has a small cafe on his property. Miyuki, our guide leads the discussion. Earlier before lunch we had been out on Matsushima Bay to see where seaweed farms and oyster farms are in the area. 

We sneaked a peek at a former shogun residence. Moat still outside. Lovely older part of a village where we lunched. We’re staying in an older traditional hotel in Sendai - perfect for exploring and finding a meal/beer in cutsie wee restaurants.