Via Inn Kanazawa

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 ...

Stone-walling streets of Yatsuo is a sight to see!! As houses are built high up on those stone walls, they almost look like a castellated walls. Those houses create unique view.

... The group was Mama-san, her sister, one of her friends, the two girls, Michiyo and Meg and Toshi and me – all loaded into the Mano's van and off we went. Toshi and I took the wide back seat and soon we were dosing as Meg drove into the night.

Japan has the most wonderful rest stops. They are nothing like what we have at home – these are little malls in the middle of no where. There are rest rooms, restaurants, little ...

... my son would love to eat elephant shaped kamaboko, although I don't think he would finish it all.

"It is said that KAMABOKO, a Japanese kneaded fish product, has peculiar origins. It has been a part of the national diet since the Jingu period (4th century) when the empress first tasted it during her travels. It was prepared by her serving men who kneaded the fish, placed it on the tip of a spear ...

... I have never paid attention to astronomy before. The attendant there was very hospitable and he explained many things about astronomy. By listening to him, little by little I got interested in astronomy especially in stars.

The cozy planetarium facility is good for families with small kids. If no other visitors there, you can have a private time with your family! They don't have a chair for you to sit in, so ...

... year. The festival is called "Owara Kaze-no-bon". To the mournful sound, people dance for 3 days all through the nights. The elegant dancing and unique sound of kokyu (Chinese violin) and shamisen (Japanese violin) attract people.


The festival is a must see once in a lifetime!

... I mutter jokingly

"Nah, of course not. You definitely have never been Europe. I see that type of thing quite often actually."

Hmm. I point over to a pair of salarymen, locked arm in arm stumbling merrily towards us.

"Ok, maybe not that type of thing perhaps..." Julian concedes

Now it's my chance to grin smugly.

I'm hankering for a beer and I tell Jules it's time we got a drink somewhere. There are so many places and I've so ...

... retelling of my Costa Rica story. However lets just say you are sure to avoid any possible trouble, such as an always embarrassing clogged toilet debacle. I will say however that once you figure out all the possible amenities offered by these toilets, I urge you to take full advantage of their function. For example, we all are used to seat warmers in our cars, why not toilet seats as well? I happen to think this could be tremendously popular in USA. Other ...

Hallo zusammen, mein heutiger Ausflug hat mich nach Kanazawa gefuehrt, an der Nordkueste Japans gelegen. Dort faehrt kein Shinkansen hin, der Expresszug hat 2 3/4h von Osaka gebraucht. Kanazawa ist eine mittelgrosse Stadt mit 500000 Einwohnern die im zweiten Weltkrieg verschont wurde. Sie wurde beherscht von der Maeda Familie, die sehr einflussreich und reich war, da die Gegend auch sehr viel Reis ...