Hotel Amaharashi Takaoka

It's almost impossible to guess how nice & luxurious the inside of the hotel was just by looking at the exterior of Garaku. A huge glass window reflects a flow of Zinzu river. I had thought that Zinzu river is just an ordinary river which is not so much worth watching. I was quite surprised to see how nice the river looks through the glass window there! I was quite impressed by the ...

Soba restaurant "Takano" that stands on the half way of the two main streets of Yatsuo, I heard, is famous among soba manias. Soba plant is cultivated by Yatsuo farmers, so there are many soba restaurant that serve locally made soba noodles.



You cannot leave Yatsuo without having soba!!

A stone-path street and houses with lattice doors are good match!! They surely create an atmosphere of nostalgia. Lattice doors are quite functional as it can breathe and at the same time it can ...

... himself explained the roots and history of kamanboko! After the presentation, we were led to see inside of the kamaboko factory. There was a long and big window from which we can see kamaboko making process. It was interesting to see how they handle colorfully colored fish paste to decorate kamaboko. They are not only making fish-shaped kamaboko but also shapes of flowers and animals. I really ...

Furudo is just the outskirts of Toyama City. There is a dam for agricultural purpose. Although there were no people (no tourists) present when we were there, I thought the dam could be a nice sightseeing spot. Since there is a bath house there, I hope people find this place to have a relaxing time.

There is an astronomical observatory near the dam.
I'm not a big fun of stars.. Maybe that's not it. To be ...

Route 41 is a road that goes along with Zinzu river. Autumn is the best season to come to Zinzu river as trees alongside of the river turns their colors.

When we went there it was a bit early for the best season. I really wanted to come back to see the autumn leaves, but I never had time to do so. Too bad.

There is a small dam on the way to ...

Medicine making in Toyama has a history of over 300 years. Medicine peddlers who delivered medicine door to door all over Japan are famous. They introduced a unique marketing system of "use first, pay later". Those medicine peddlers are still in business today.



Ikedaya-Yasube Shoten is located in the city ...

... There is a very famous curator who courteously explains anything about the town of Iwase! He just goes on if there is no one to stop him... Fortunately(?) when we were there a female staff (his wife??) came out to ask him to stop!





There are many ...

The Street of Iwase (Omachi-Niikawamachi Avenue)

There still remain antique buildings on the street of Iwase. There are unique craftsman & artists living in this ancient feeling town. Grasswork artists, musicians, local sake-makers, a soba cook, ceramic artists and many others. I was told that we can even look inside pf sake breweries in winter time. Too bad that they don't usually make sake during the summer ...

... automobile (c'est-a-dire surement pour aller acheter des voitures japonaises et les ramener chez eux). Sur le bateau il y avait une piscine (pas vraiment le meilleur moment pour nager) et 2 discos ! Le soir, les russes s'etaient fait tout beau pour aller danser toute la nuit sur de la techno (salle des jeunes) ou des hits russes (chanteur avec sa guitare dans la salle du haut). Ca valait quand meme le coup d'oeil ! A notre arrivee a Fushiki, les douaniers et ...