Otaru's illuminated canal

During a trip to Sapporo for the famous Snow Sculpture festival, we decided to take a day trip to Otary - known for their beautiful ice lanterns. I was excited to see the beautiful town. But walking down Sakaimachi street of Odori made me miserable. What once used to be a prosperous harbour town just became as overindulgent as its past opulence! It was a tourist trap. All the shops around the famous old merchant street were filled with unoriginal souvenirs and tacky discount signs. The streets were beautiful and the buildings and old warehouses painted a romantic picture on the glistening snow. Yet, the greedy tourists truly did spoil the atmosphere.

Old warehouses are turned into pastry and omiyage shops

beautiful old warehouses are frosted with snow

After wandering around the town and waiting for some winter illuminations to be lit, we stumbled across an attractive little restaurant on the outskirts of the touristy spots.

On the outside a brightly lit sign “Otaru Take No Zushi” greets visitors and, like many Japanese restaurants, plastic food replicas are neatly displayed outside to showcase what the restaurant has to offer.  What immediately attracted my attention was the fresh bright yellow sea urchin, or uni. Hokkaido is known for their fresh uni which is harvested in the eastern part of the island and some sea urchins feast on the kelp that grows in the colder ocean. So I was immediately intrigued and determined to try the delicious uni while they are still (somewhat) in season. 

Sea Urchin and Salmon Roe rice bowl (uni to ikura don)

The sushi chef warmly greeted us as we entered and the waitress even tried some English on us. The atmosphere inside was comfortable and homey – small tables create an intimate location for the patrons to spend a meal together. The sushi chef happily chats with customers whilst skilfully prepares the freshest sushi.

Salmon rice bowl (sake don)

I tried an uni-ikura don – a bowl of rice topped with fresh, distinctly mustard yellow uni and some salmon roe, which is very popular in Hokkaido. The texture of the uni was soft, creamy and savoury, with a subtle, yet distinctive seafood taste. The flavours infused perfectly well with the  saltiness of the salmon roe and the delicately soft rice.

Hokkaido is also known for their milk products, so I also tried some scallops prepared in a gentle butter sauce. The pairing was delicious and the scallops were perfectly grilled.

Scallops prepared in butter

And so, finally I experienced the authentic side of Otaru, through culinary delights that keep honest to the traditional and unique flavours of the prefecture.

After dinner we enjoyed the beautiful Otaru snow illuminations (小樽雪あかりの路, Otaru Yuki Akari no Michi). It was magical – the snow glistened with small snow statues illuminated with candles. And I realized – it doesn’t matter how touristy a city is, there is always something there that you can try or experience that makes the trip worthwhile. Whether it is a unique view or a delicious dinner – it is always important to find the beauty in even the most over clichéd of places…

Crystals shimmering in the snow

Friendship

Walking around the town becomes magical when the lanterns are illuminated 

A cute owl

(The restaurant is bilingual, although most of the menu is still in Japanese. The staff speak some English. Some meals are displayed next to pictures for clarification. Unfortunately I didn’t take a business card, but the restaurant is at the beginning of Sakaimachi street, closer to the station.)

 

Low quality photo of the outside of the restaurant: Otaru takeno zushi

Eyeballs in your alcohol and Russian Roulette. What more could you want for a ghoulish night out on the town? The famous Tokyo’s themed restaurant, The Lock Up, recently opened Shizuoka City and we just had to try it out.

The Lockup Entrance

Whilst waiting to be taken to our table, we hear screams, cracks and eerie music. And all of a sudden we are pushed into a skull-lined room, and greeted by a waitress dressed in a prison guard uniform. She handcuffs and chains one of our friends and led us down the corridor to our prison cell and locked us in.  All the private dining tables are themed like a prison cell. Demons, gargoyles and all kind of creatures lurk between the walls and perch on top of the prison cells – keeping an eye on the inmates. The vibe of the restaurant soon becomes intoxicating – especially after one or two syringe or test tube alcoholic beverage!

Roasted Ham, Salami and a Shrimp Salad

Smoked Salmon

Penne Pasta Chips

The name of the drinks all have to do with some sort of crime, from parking ticket to extortion. There are many different kind of drinks, from alcohol-filled syringes which are ejected into milk, to jelly-like drinks filed with a big jelly eye! 

Pork Chops

The restaurant is an izakaya-style restaurant; several different types of meals are served alongside drinks. The food was deliciously prepared. Some of the meals were themed - we had to throw some “arsenic” (or salt) on potato wedges and we even played some Russian roulette with some Takoyaki (deep fried squid balls).

Takoyaki Roulette. Which one of these takoyaki has a chilli in???

Without warning, one of our fellow “inmates” started screaming after unluckily biting into a takoyaki filled with burning hot chili!!! Needless to say, the milk served with some of the drinks were immediately downed…

"Arsenic Chips" and chicken nuggets

Test Tube Drinks

And all of a sudden the lights went off and creepy music began to play. And then the screams started! The prison doors slammed open and masked maniacs jumped into the room. My poor husband became the victim of a Jason-X like man rubbing all over him! The scene was twistedly funny.

The reason for this blurry photo has to be because of the ghosts coming to haunt us!

The Lock Up is definitely worth a try to anybody open to some unique restaurant experiences in Japan.

Have you ever been to a themed restaurant? What were your impressions?

With the arrival off autumn come a variety of local festivals (Matsuri), most symbolising the celebrations or prayers for a prosperous harvest. During this time, many cities become teeming with travellers as they enjoy watching (and sometimes even participating) the local festivities.

A young man elegantly shows his sharp reflexes by dancing  

Everyone working together to pull the massive float

Even the youngest participate in traditional dances

Often the cities have one big festival once every three years. We were lucky enough to be able to witness one of Shimada’s big festivals – Obi Matsuri. This festival has been celebrated since 1609 and comes around once every three years.

Awaiting the moment to start pulling the float

The festival has a long procession, symbolising the procession of a 100 000 units of rice (or ju man koku) – hundreds of marchers walk gracefully in the streets, horses carrying delicately dressed children trot slowly in procession and one (unlucky) horse carries a very large throne on its back.

Horse carrying a beautifully coloured throne

Portable shrine

But what makes this procession so unique isn’t the beautiful clothing worn by the participants nor the symbolism of the rice pickers dressed in traditional clothes. It is actually the beautiful obi (colourful cloth belts worn over kimono) carried and worn by oyakku (men dressed as samurai) whilst bearing their butts for the world to see.

Beautiful obi

Oyakku displaying the beautiful obi

Colourful obi draped over heavy swords

The oyakku wear large swords which are kept in place by beautifully painted and printed obi, whilst some obi are deftly draped over the heavy swords. The men carry purple parasols whilst walking in an elaborate manner. But it is only when you turn around, mesmerized by the beautiful obi sashes dangling on the swords, that you realize these brave men aren’t wearing any pants…

And..... we aren't wearing any pants

The reason for not wearing pants is rather unknown to me, but the story for carrying the obi goes something like this:

Recently married women who moved to Shimada, had to go to the main temple to pray for a safe childbirth. They dressed in their beautiful wedding kimono with their elaborate obi dangling from their backs. Because the process was a rather embarrassing one for a woman to endure, some brave men decided that they will take the woman’s obi to the temple for her and pray on her behalf for a safe childbirth.

But the festival offers much more than just od men with their derrières exposed – there are beautiful dances done by children and women and I also had the impression that this festival celebrates children just as much as the beautiful women. The children in the procession are dressed in elaborate clothing, and even the youngest are dancing in the processions.

Young girls wearing beautiful kimono

The strong men bravely pulling and manoeuvring the biggest floats through the streets and there is even a small celebration of beauty by showing the beauty of young girls wearing and dancing in a geisha-inspired fashion.

A beautiful young girl (aged 6) performing traditional dances in a geisha-inspired fashion

Traditional hats and clothes

Obi matsuri is not to be missed but only comes around once every three years. The next festival will be during 2016.

After three days, locals are still beating drums and playing flutes while forcefully manoeuvring the large floats down the streets. 

Have you ever been to this festival? What’s your impression of it?

I was truly amazed by the splendour of this festival, even though, I have to admit, the naked behind of old men contributed to the amazement…

It’s the dead of winter already… A bleak winter with blue skies – it truly does remind me of our South African winters (although it’s much colder!). With the little colour left in the pale Shizuoka winter, I realized how lifeless the once lush rice fields around our apartment look.  And it reminded me of our one trip to neighbouring Kikugawa to try and find a raved about artwork. A Rice Field Artwork, that is.

Tanbo Art

Rice field art, or Tanbo art (田んぼアート) isn’t uncommon in Japan. Basically, farmers plant different coloured rice plants to form a picture. This year’s theme was “Ultraman” – a very old Japanese TV series.

Ultraman

Our drive to Kikugawa was rather eventful – we were trying to find the location from a Japanese-only map, whilst trying to navigate down the narrow and crooked roads.  And finally we found it – rather inconspicuous, despite the “there will be a big crane suspended in the air for your viewing pleasure” information we were given.

Suspended from a crane several meters above ground. 

We paid about 300 Yen (30 Rands or 3 Dollars) for entrance – we got some hard hats, climbed on top of a lift crane and were pushed into the air. And then we finally saw the full picture – down below were two clear pictures: Ultraman, fighting some villain that looked like a praying mantis and a picture of a boy with Mt Fuji in the background. It was really impressive to see, considering that someone took the time to outline the picture and plant different coloured rice plants!

The different types of rice

Afterwards we were got 300Yen worth’s tickets to use at the local farmers’ stalls next to the rice art! So we bought some shaved ice (to help cool down in the blistering heat) and some succulent plants.

Once again, I was impressed by the things that the Japanese communities do, making me realize what a privilege it is to be part of such an experience.

So, have you ever been to an artwork made from plants? Or have you ever experienced any Tanbo art? 

Tsumago: view from the old castle ruins

After seeing the astounding view from the top of Tsumago, the title of Ishiguro’s book “A Pale View of Hills” kept echoing in my mind. We were surrounded by the Central Alps and nestled in the Valley Below was Magome, an old and well preserved post town. We just hiked from Tsumago to Magome into beautiful autumn foliage.

Mill close to the entrance of the town

Magome

We started our early morning in Magome. As soon as you get off the bus, it feels as if you stepped back into time and arrived in the Edo period (minus all the tourists wearing full-on hiking gear). No cars are allowed in the area and beautiful paved stones line the roads. Small streams of water cobble alongside the road, feeding lush green gardens and crystal clear fish ponds. One or two wooden mills silently turn in the streams.

Big koi fish in crystal clear water

We tried some chestnut-filled cakes, looked at the various souvenirs of the area (wooden and straw combs, bowls and toys).

Beautiful views of pale hills

Beautiful autumn colours

 From there we started walking to Tsumago, which was 8km away, following the Nakasendo route. The Nakasendo route used to be a road that connected Tokyo and Kyoto. The walk wasn’t too demanding and we definitely had more descents than ascents (and this was also evident on the worn-out look from the travelers who were travelling from the opposite direction). We travelled through beautiful forests and were wrapped in beautiful autumn colours. The calm sound of flowing rivers with clear waters echoed through the forests and mountains. The scent of wet foliage and wet wooden fires drifted through the moist air. The hike was actually very relaxing, despite all the “bear bells” around the route (which is supposed to chase the bears away when you ring it, not that I believe there are many bears to scare away to begin with).

Watch out for the bears!

Vibrant autumn foilage

Beautiful stream in the woods

Tsumago

After strolling around Tsumago, we made our way to the train station,  but not before Armand dragged me to a lookout point on top of a mountain. The lookout point is situated on the old ruins of a castle, not that there is much left to see of the castle though. But the view was beautiful and made it the slow walk up the mountain worth it (although I was initially too stubborn to admit it!).

Tsumago

Tsumago main street

Kiso valley was definitely worth the trip and it was amazing to see the beautiful foliage and enjoy the very comfortable autumn climate. And, of course, our trip didn’t end without trying some local flavour Kit Kats: Chili Kit Kats and Apple Kit Kats. Delicious.

So, have you ever been to Tsumago or Magome? Do you enjoy spending time outdoors. Please share your experiences!