Tsurugi Koizuki Kamiichi-machi

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 ...

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.

... 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 ...

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 ...

... 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 ...

... of Toyama. The store used to be a manifacturer of Hangontan which is a traditional medicine of Toyama. It is said to be one of the first medicine to be produced and sold in Toyama.


When I entered the store, I could sense a bitter-tasting smell of medicine right away. The store looked pretty new, probably renovated ...

... artcrafts displayed inside the house. Every archiectural piece that used to build this house is extremely lavish, the curator explains. For example, they used immense monolith that were brought from Shodo Island for stepping of their entrance.

... should have taken a picture, but there is a very cool traditional Japanese style restaurant called "Shogetu" at the mouth of this street. They serve mainly shiroebi, a kind of white shrimp that is only caught in Toyama bay!! Shiroebi is slightly pink in colour but almost transparent, and because of its mysterious colour it is sometimes called "jewery of Toyama Bay". You must taste shiroebi once in your life time! It's so ...