Nagoya Birthday trip part 5

Nagoya 名古屋

When I arrived at Nagoya Station I headed straight over to my hostel, Glocal Nagoya Backpackers Hostel, where I would be staying for two nights. I had a bottom bunk bed with a curtain. The people working at the hostel's bar were friendly so I sat chatting with them and some of their regulars all evening. I hadn't really planned what to do in Nagoya, so I took their recommendations. They also had cider!! Something you don't see very often in Japan.

First I headed over to Atsuta Shrine, one of the most important Shinto shrines in the country. It holds one of the three sacred imperial regalia. There's also a big tree that's been there for more than 1000 years.

The people at the hostel recommended Inuyama Castle, close to Nagoya, but as I only had a day I visited Nagoya Castle. There was a Spring Festival going on, so I tried some local street food and watched a taiko drumming group perform in front of the castle. I had Nagoya tebasaki spicy chicken wings.














The people working and drinking at the hostel were running a bar at a market in Noritake Garden, so I headed over for a birthday drink. Then I was taken for another Nagoya speciality, misonikomi udon, udon noodles cooked in a miso broth.

After food I headed to the Osu shopping area to see Osu Kannon Temple and have a wander.


That last photo is in support of Kumamoto, an area that had recently been hit by a big earthquake. The bear is called Kumamon, the mascot of Kumamoto Prefecture. 
I finished my Birthday off with a walk around by the Nagoya TV Tower and trying some more local food, Hitsumabushi. At the restaurant there were instructions on how to eat this meal. First you divide the bowl of rice and eel into quarters. You eat the first serving normally. To the second serving you add the nori seaweed, spring onions, and wasabi. Then you pour the dashi broth over the remaining half. I loved the food in Nagoya, it might have been my favourite day of my birthday trip because of the food.

Shirakawago Birthday trip part 4

Shirakawa-go 白川郷
I set off early by bus to get to Shirakawa-go, a small UNESCO village in the mountains. It's famous for the traditional thatched roof gassho-zukuri houses. Next to the bus station is Gassho-zukuri Minkaen, an open air museum displaying lots of relocated farmhouses. 
After wandering around the museum, I made my way across the across the bridge to the rest of the village. Many of the farmhouses are now restaurants or museums where you can wander around inside the houses. As well as walking round some of the farmhouses, I also visited the Doburoku Festival museum. Doburoku sake made at the shrine can be tried at the museum. 

On the other side of the village you can catch a shuttle bus to Shiroyama viewpoint. From here you can see lots of the houses surrounded by mountains and fields. 

Before catching the bus onwards to Nagoya, I had a local Hida beef teishoku meal at the restaurant by the bus station.

Zunda Taiyaki ずんだたい焼き

Zunda Taiyaki ずんだたい焼き

I tried making taiyaki for the first time today. I used my new taiyaki pan (they can be found on Amazon) and a recipe from The Japan Centre. This time they are filled with zunda.
Japan Centre Taiyaki Recipe
In Sendai I often used to go to Usugawa Taiyaki Taikichi taiyaki shop. I miss buying taiyaki filled with zunda mochi or gyutan (beef tongue) curry, two of Sendai's specialities. Taiyaki is a pancake like snack shaped like a fish. Often it is filled with red beans or custard, but it can be filled with anything. Zunda mochi is made from sweet edamame bean paste and mochi rice cakes.
Taikichi Taiyaki shop

Kanazawa Birthday trip part 3

Kanazawa 金沢
I took the tourist bus to different stops around the city today, starting with the Higashi Chaya District.

Higashi Chaya is one of Kanazawa's geisha entertainment districts. There are now a few teahouses that are open to the public in the area and shops selling gold leaf products, one of Kanazawa's specialities. I visited Shima teahouse, a former geisha house that has been preserved as a museum.
Next I headed over to the Samurai district, an area with lots of preserved samurai resdiences and museums.

On the edge of the Samurai district is Kanazawa Shinise Kinenkan, an old pharmacy building from the feudal period. It is now a museum displaying the lives of the merchant classes, a restored pharmacy, tearoom, local handicrafts and garden. The kaga temari balls caught my eye, with their colourful designs. Girls in noble families made them from expensive silk, but in the Edo period it spread to ordinary people too thanks to cotton.

Before heading to find food, I went for a wander round Oyama Shrine, Ozaki Shrine, and the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art. I'm not very interested in walking around art museums normally, but some of the pictures I'd seen of the place looked interesting.By Leandro Erlich, this swimming pool art installation gives the impression that people are standing at the bottom of the swimming pool. The illusion is created by 10cm of water between two panes of glass at the top of an empty pool. You can also walk into the pool and look up at the water above you.

I wandered through the Omicho Markets before going to find something to eat. In 2016 I was still unsure about eating alone in some types of restaurants or izakaya pubs, but this seafood rice bowl looked good on the menu so I went in.

I stayed at Guesthouse Shiro. The hostel is in a traditonal house very close to Kanazawa Castle Park. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for somewhere very cheap. There were two bunkbeds in the room I stayed in and each bed had curtains for privacy. The staff were very friendly too.

Guesthouse Shiro's website