Japanese culture, Local food

Vegan Cooking in Southern Nara

The city of Uda covers a vast amount of space in southern Nara prefecture, and includes mountains, rice fields, and many other crops. In the heart of its Oh-Uda area is a large souvenir shop, an onsen hot spring bath, and a traditional townscape. There are some unique restaurants and cafes in this townscape, and I had the pleasure of visiting one just the other day. Kyujitsu-Daiya, or “holiday schedule”, is a vegan cafe and restaurant located in that townscape. In addition to not using any animal products, they make the effort to use organic vegetables, and even organic coffee. It is a warm and cozy environment located in a traditional Japanese house, with a number of quiet, unique spots for guests to sit and eat. I sat in a floor seat facing the win dow of a small garden, and after I’d read a few pages in my book, the owner brought out my lunch and explained each item. It included a hamburger patty made from garbanzo beans and lotus root, a sweet potato salad made from apples, tofu okara, and soy milk mayonnaise, a bowl of brown rice, and soup made from homemade miso. It’s the kind of meal that makes you want to take your time and enjoy every bite. After my lunch, I had a hot cup of hot organic coffee while I sat by the window and continued reading. In a more touristy location, I might not have been able to take my time and enjoy such a quiet place. Homemade miso, local vegetables, I felt like I had a nice chance to appreciate the beauty the countryside has to offer, especially in southern Nara.

Here is Kyujitsu-Day’s instagram account. I recommend pairing a visit to Kyujitsu-Daiya with some other sightseeing in the area. Uda City has lots of beautiful landscapes and historic sites. One is Murou-ji Temple, which is famous for its huge pagoda. In the past, we have offered some programs at Murou-ji Temple that allow you to experience some rarely seen sides of this historic site, so please keep an eye out for more!

Japanese culture, Local food, Shrine and Temple

Warming Up at Hasedera Temple

Many famous shrines and temples in Japan have an “omotesando” street, a street with many traditional foods, souvenirs, snacks, etc. that leads everyone up to the entrance. Hasedera Temple in Sakurai City, Nara is no different. After my first visit to the temple yesterday, I strolled down this street and enjoyed the sights, smells, and sounds of all of the local specialties unique to southern Nara. As the short season of colorful leaves comes to an end, the days become a little cloudier and colder. Thankfully, there were a few local dishes that helped keep me warm.

Somen noodles originate from an area called Miwa in Sakurai City, so Miwa Somen is a popular choice for people who visit this region. Though ramen, udon, and soba are well-known abroad, somen noodles are very popular in Japan. They are thin, light, and versatile, as they can be served chilled as a cool summer meal, or in a warm broth with other ingredients in the cold winter days.

I also found a quick, warm snack in kusa-mochi, or “grass mochi”. It is made by mixing mochi with wormwood leaves, giving it a crisp flavor and soft, green color. They are filled with purple anko bean paste, which is common in other traditional Japanese sweets as well. Though you can packages of kusa-mochi in some grocery stores or souvenir shops, my favorite way to eat them is hot off the grill.

The owner of the shop spoke with me while cooked up a few pieces for me. These small treats may not make it into a Michelin guide or travel documentary, but for me, this is what the Japan experience is all about.

Sitting on a bench outside the shop, eating kusa-mochi, and drinking bancha tea, I felt like I caught a glimpse into how locals appreciate daily life.

On this same street is also a gallery called Hase-kura, or “Hase Storehouse”. In addition to displaying many original creations, this gallery also offers a program for visitors to design their own hand-made lantern. Visitors can take their time cutting their own traditional words or designs for the lanterns, and can easily take it home with them as their very own personal gift. If you are interested in giving it a try on your next visit to Hasedera Temple, please check out the page below for more program information (sorry, we currently only have information in Japanese).

No. 452 Hand-made Lantern Experience near Hasedera Temple

Uncategorized

Climbing the Steps of Hasedera Temple

Located among the hills of Sakurai City, Nara, the historic Hasedera Temple is beautiful year round, but it is especially popular as a place to see the vibrant reds, oranges, and yellows of autumn leaves. As I climbed the long, wooden staircase, I was gradually surrounded by more and more colorful leaves, with some still on their branches and others scattered across the mossy ground.

The 399 total steps seemed to lead me through thin clouds of red and orange. With every few steps, I made another beautiful discovery. As I climbed higher and higher, I could see even more of the natural beauty that I had passed through, with a few temple roofs mixed in.  

The long staircases and steps lead us all to the Main Hall, perched high up on a precipice. The Main Hall includes a famous deck, from which we could see Hasedera’s famous 5-story pagoda, as well as all of the colorful scenery we had passed through. This was my first time to this wonderful temple. Though this post focuses on the seasonal beauty of the temple, it has played a very important historical role in the region, and is a destination of both tourists and pilgrimage visitors year round.

If you are interested in coupling this temple with an experience, we offer a program nearby in which you can design your own hand-crafted lantern! The shop is on the road that leads up to Hasedera Temple, along with many snack shops and cafes. I look forward to writing more about those in another post, but for now, here is a link to the program!

Program No. 452 Craft Lantern

Outdoor

New Shades of Mountains

As persimmon season in southern Nara comes to an end, and just before the long winter begins, we are briefly greeted by the pleasant autumn colors sprinkled throughout our mountains.

Takumi-no-mura is a small community of artists in Kawakami Village. From ceramics to wood carving to traditional painting, they have both their residences and studios in this unique area atop a mountain, surrounded by trees and views of endless mountain ranges.

I took a stroll in the “geijutsu-no-mori”, or “Art Forest”, that is located just above the cottages for guests to stay in.

The higher I climbed through the fallen leaves, acorns, and chestnut skins, the more of the surrounding mountains I was able to see. At the end is deck made of logs that allows you to see the full expanse of the surrounding mountain ranges, and just how high up I was.

After my stroll, I had lunch at the recently re-styled cafe in the Takumi-no-mura gallery. Sitting at the counter along the broad windows, I had a great of both the expansive mountains and the artist community below.

The artists in Takumi-no-mura offer a variety of art experiences, including pottery, wood carving, jewelry making, and painting. It is a place where people can enjoy the slow flow of time, admiring nature, and creating something new.

http://www.takuminomura.gr.jp/

Local food, Uncategorized

Yoshino’s Kunisu Shokudo

Located in the eastern part of Nara’s Yoshino Town, the area of Kuzu is full of legends, stories, and history that has been passed down for hundreds of years. This old community is centered around a road that winds down in the valley along the Yoshino River, long-known for its production of traditional Japanese washi paper. It is here in this community that a new arrival and experienced locals have come together to turn a vacant pharmacy into a delicious intersection of the old and the new.

Kunisu Shokudo is a cafe started by a young man new to the area, along with some older, experienced locals. The young man moved to this area through a national program to help revitalize rural areas, and renovating this former pharmacy into a cafe has been part of his work. He officially opened Kunisu Shokudo this month.

It was naturally born from the desire to have a place to eat lunch and drink coffee. Though there are fewer and fewer people and shops in this area, there was still a demand for this kind of space. Locals from nearby, people from neighboring towns and villages, and other visitors have made the effort to stop by.

The lunch special is written in friendly characters on a chalkboard in front of the cafe. Consisting of standard Japanese diner favorites, with a bit of local wisdom mixed in, you might see grilled pork, marinated and pickled vegetables, and their famous enoki mushroom and tofu miso soup. Kunisu Shokudo uses locally grown vegetables and does its best not to use any unnecessary additives.

 

But this place wasn’t just started to serve food to people. It was born from a desire for a space where people can eat lunch, drink coffee, and come together. With a selection of coffee and desserts, countless floor pillows, and warm stove heaters, Kunisu Shokudo has quickly become a favorite of many to take a break from the day-to-day and warm up with cake, coffee, and conversation.

We offer an experience just around the corner from Kunisu Shokudo that allows you feel the local culture with your own hands. As this area is well-known for its production of traditional Japanese washi paper, you can try making it yourself, and design your own “one and only” postcards. After enjoying the flavors and scents of the cafe, and the sights and sounds of the Yoshino River, how about feeling the texture of tradition passed down from generation to generation to your hands?

Please click here for more information on the program.

Local food

Little Ball of Nara

Have you had enough persimmons yet? If you’ve spent anytime in southern Nara, met someone from southern Nara, or even just heard about southern Nara in the past few months, there is a good chance that you’ve heard about our specialty, persimmons! If you haven’t received them or eaten them, you have probably at least seen them. While I am always happy to have a few more persimmons around, I was pleasantly surprised to find them transformed into a traditional snack at a local sweet shop.

The Kaki-an-dama, or “persimmon-bean paste-ball”, is a sweet little snack that brings together two of the foods that southern Nara is most famous for. In addition to persimmons, it uses the Yoshino region’s famous kudzu, powder ground from the roots of kudzu plants. Combined with white bean paste into small sugar-coated balls, they are soft and doughy like many traditional bean paste snacks, but perhaps a tad bit sweeter.

Just like persimmons, kudzu, and the numerous snacks they’re in, the Kaki-an-dama is a quick, delicious introduction to the traditional culture of southern Nara. Though they are made down here in Yoshino Town, you can probably find them in other parts of Nara too, so please keep an eye out!

Agriculture & Forestry, Japanese culture, Local food

Eating, Listening, and Coming Together in Shimoichi

Fields of persimmon trees. Farms. Big, slow clouds, and some nice wind. That was what I expected on my first visit to Shimoichi Town last weekend, and well, that was what we had. My only prior knowledge of this peaceful, mountain town was what I had translated for the Anpo Persimmon making experience. We will have the English version up soon, but for now, here is the Japanese page. On the drive up the windy roads, I finally saw Guesthouse Apricot!

My destination in Shimoichi Town was “Yoshino Hirohashi Smile Village”, a former school, now turned into a wonderful place to hold local events.  This time, the event was the Manabiya Music Festival 2019, with musical guest Nao Kodama.

Prior to the main event, many of us were nourished by the local vendors outside the building, serving up a perfected shrimp ajillo, fried chicken, konyaku, and local specialties like persimmon leaf sushi, chagayu rice porridge, and kusamochi.  As you can see in the photo above, I never pass up a chance to have some chagayu rice porridge. All in all, there must have been close to 100 people there, with many children participating in toy-making workshops before the concert.

Nao Kodama’s musical performance was superb. She soothed when she was soft, and she rocked when she rocked! Sun spilled in through the old school windows, and the smooth, sliding lap steel guitar must have beckoned neighborhood cats to come watch from outside. Sitting alone on the stage, she was a fresh, new presence in a school some might have considered forgotten. For me, the beauty of this event was how it found a new use (music) for a former school, and through this, introduced local food and culture to the many visitors who came that day. In addition to helping preserve the culture, it brought people together in an area with fewer and fewer residents. It was truly a pleasure to be a part of it.

If you’re interested in visiting Guesthouse Apricot, which is very close to this school, please feel free participate in one of their events, or contact them as well!

Making Anpo Persimmons and Persimmon Leaf Sushi

Picking Persimmons and Making Persimmon Leaf Sushi

Staying in the Mountains of Shimoichi and Making Persimmon Leaf Sushi

Uncategorized

Sunday Driving in Gojo

After visiting a festival in Yoshino Town on Sunday morning, and seeing a concert in Shimoichi Town in the afternoon, my friends and I found ourselves with a little time on our hands, and went for a nice drive to Gojo City. We passed through communities with persimmon farms and lots of traditional Japanese houses, and made the smooth climb up the soft hills of the western side of the city until we came upon a park.The highlight of Goman-nin No Mori Park (or “50,000 Person Forest Park”) is without a doubt its spectacular view of the valley below. Climb up a long set of steps to an acorn filled path, and continue up to the lone deck perched over the park.

Along the ledge, a photo showed us which mountains lay before our eyes, and what they look like in winter. We could see Sanjo-gatake, the mountain behind my house. As I spend most of my time at the bottom of valleys with steep mountains, this long, clear view of southern Nara prefecture was incredibly refreshing.

Even in the late afternoon, this park still had a number of families enjoying one of these last warmer days of the season. With rental  spots for barbecuing and camping, along with wide patches of grass to run around on, it is a relatively quiet part of the city where people can relax and enjoy the outdoors.

There is also a shop where you can buy local vegetables, snacks, and souvenirs. There are many traditional, handmade items here that you probably can’t find near most tourist destinations.

As you can see, Gojo City is beautiful part of Nara Prefecture!  There are many other parts of the city to see as well, including the historic Shinmachi-dori, so I hope you get a chance to visit. If you have any questions or need recommendations, please don’t hesitate to contact us!

Here is the park’s Japanese homepage.

Local food

The Aroma of Miyataki

From where I live in the mountains, the nearest train station, grocery store, and even convenience store are all in Yoshino Town. To get to any of those place, I drive down Nat. Hwy 169 and pass through Yoshino Town’s community of Miyataki. As I approach the large Yoshino cedar barrel on the side of the road, I always roll down my window so I can smell the sweet, delicious aroma of soy sauce being brewed.

The aroma comes from the Umetani Soy Sauce brewery in Miyataki, Yoshino Town. Their soy sauce is recognizable in this area, as I see its distinct yellow label with the characters for “Miyataki” in both household and restaurant kitchens. As soy sauce is such a fundamental ingredient in many dishes, it’s fair to say that this Umetani Soy Sauce plays a large role in local culinary traditions for a long time. Mr. Umetani is the fourth generation to run his family’s brewery, and he still brews their famous soy sauce the old-fashioned way here in Yoshino cedar barrels.

Mr. Umetani gave me a personal introduction of the wide variety of soy sauces they offer. In addition to the familiar yellow label, they have lighter and stronger flavors, as well as dipping broths for noodles and ponzu for when eating from a large hot pot. Mr. Umetani seemed most proud of their strong-flavored, natural soy sauce, so I decided to buy a bottle to take home.

It is autumn, and prime “mochi-maki” season. It is a season when many festivals end with the custom of tossing mochi into the air for people to catch or gather and take home. As a result, my freezer is full of mochi. I de-frosted a few, baked them in my oven, and dripped a bit of the strong-flavored, natural soy sauce over them. The flavor itself was warm, not too strong, and it was so delicious that I almost wanted to drink it.  Living here in the mountains, surrounded by cedar trees, it is nice to know that this rich flavor comes from the hard work of many local people across a variety of industries, going back many generations. I can eat this mochi with soy sauce everyday, which might make my freezer a little easier to organize.

Are you interested in learning about making soy sauce? We offer experiences that allow you to see first-hand how soy sauce is made, being wrapped in the aroma of the brewery, and having a chance to taste it fresh.

Tasting Tour: Soy Sauce and Tofu in Gose (Local Food Experience)

See Organic Soy Sauce Made by a Woman Master Brewer

Local food

Seasonal Flavors of Southern Nara

It’s persimmon season, and you’ll see these small, orange globes of sweetness for sale along the sides of roads and highways throughout southern Nara Prefecture. While I am happy enough to eat these almost everyday, their presence also means that the season of persimmon leaf sushi will soon be coming to an end. I wanted to enjoy this local specialty while I still could, and stopped by Matsuya in Kawakami Village yesterday.

Though there were plenty of persimmons for sale in front of the shop, the kind owner brought me a plate of figs from their personal tree. “The monkeys ate most of them last night, but we still had some good ones left,” he laughed as he walked back to the kitchen. I sipped my tea and took my time eating them while I waited for my chagayu rice porridge lunch.

My colorful lunch arrived after a few minutes. Included with its namesake chagayu rice porridge was the famous persimmon leaf sushi, ayu fish, local Nara pickles, and a variety of local wild vegetables. In addition to being delicious, I love this meal because it is a combination you can only find in southern Nara.

The persimmon leaves are still green, but they will soon be vibrant colors of red, yellow, and orange. While I love the beauty that this season brings to this delicious food, it unfortunately means we will soon have a long winter without sushi, and have to wait until the leaves are once again ready in spring.

We offer many programs that allow you to make local specialties, such as persimmon leaf sushi and chagayu rice porridge. Please feel free to ask us for more information!

Picking Persimmons and Making Persimmon Leaf Sushi

Staying in a Mountain Village and Making Persimmon Leaf Sushi

Making Anpo Persimmons and Persimmon Leaf Sushi

Stay in a Temple and Experience Yoga and Making Sushi