Yes No Takayama

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.

... dipping sauce that had a little soy, sesame oil, and maybe some chili oil – very yummy!

After dinner (Toshi and I were able to sneak the check before it came to the table and pay for dinner!) we went down to the onsen, men to one side and women to another. After getting a locker, shucking our clothes we headed to the the natural hot springs. We were inside and outside (in the cold) in very hot, full of sulfur and it felt so good! While we were relaxing in this amazing place ...

... selling all sorts of treats from sweet potato soft ice cream and coffee vending machines that make the coffee right there from grinding to brewing, There is also a bakery and a small grocery store. These rest stops all feature some little regional foods or sweets and are stocked with "souvenirs." The Japanese are very big on bringing something to friends or family after a little trip – in fact after our trip I was loaded down with ...

We travelled from Tokyo on the super high speed clean shiny amazing shikansen trains run by japanese rail who, outside Japan, offer the JR Railpass- a discount pass only available to tourists abroad that offers unlimited travel on the shiansen and train network for 7, 14 or 21 days- invaluable if you want to see as much as possible in a short space of time.

After arriving at our ryokan in Takayama, Erin ran through the basic ettiquette of the onsens- red curtain ...

... for being of the Gassho-zukuri (literally “praying hands”)-style of thatched roofs. Built steeply to withstand the heavy snows, the thatching on the roof is an amazing 2-3 ft thick! Several of the buildings are open for exploration and contain artifacts from the period. Fires burned in most fireplaces to help repel insects and preserve the structure, as well as adding period atmosphere.

Takayama, Chubu, Japan chrisfite

... Although I'm not a dam mania, I quite enjoyed to see water coming out from the mouth of the dam.

About 10 min drive from the dam, there is a big store that sells local products. The store is called "Hietsu Fureai Bussan Center". One of the main local products they promote was "Rakkyo (scallion)". Rakkyo is well-known food in Japan, but we normally eat ...

... course. More foods, soups and deserts for us, and an entirely separate kids plate for the girls, consisting of prawn cutlets, rissoles, chicken, fish, prawn mornay pasta bake and salad. The amount of food was rediculous, and required another table to keep it all off the floor. I also learn't another thing. Sake tastes like cough syrup. We were given a small conical shaped glass of it, so I thought I might as well try it ...

... plus a portable shrine, and they are surprisingly old given that they're still in regular use today; some of them date back to the 17th century. Four of the floats were on display in the museum- the rest are stored in huge storehouse / garages dotted around the Old Town area- and again, the level of detail is astonishing. Several of the floats even had intricately designed puppet mechanisms built in, they really must be a sight to see when lined up outside ...