Takayama, Gifu, JapanMighty force of life
A crescendo crashing down
Watched by spirits of the earth
A crescendo crashing down
Watched by spirits of the earth
Holy crap - we had 41 different courses of food today and are officially in a food coma!
We were greeted with 17 different dishes each this morning.
Every one was made with care and attention and deserved to be sampled. Not everything was consumed, but everything was delicious. Our mushrooms cooked in miso and sesame on a magnolia leaf were a particular standout.
Completely stuffed and rested from our futon sleep (a little hard on this aching body) and we were ready to get back on the bus for another day exploring the magnificent Gifu region.
Our inn was a fabulous place to stay. It was spacious, with tatami floors and plenty of sliding doors to make the area cosier. It was well appointed with minimal fuss. The food was abundant, all fresh and artistically prepared. It is quiet at the moment, but sits at the car park to a ski field, with a public onsen across the way. Once the fog disappeared we could see the ski runs on the mountain.
Today was sunny with blue skies and perfect for a waterfall walk. We travelled by bus, slowly down the hill around switchbacks and turns, admiring the beautiful scenery of the countryside.
We arrived at Amida waterfall and began the climb.
We found the last of the cherry blossoms on one solitary tree, which was pretty exciting. Junko lost us all for a while as we took photos of it. Back to climbing up the steep stone path we could hear the roar of the waterfall, nightingales chirping and the occasional frog. We were very happy with the views of the little rapids on the river and a small waterfall, but then we saw the main event!
The Amida waterfall is a 60m high powerful force of nature. It thunders down the rock walls into a pond and sends out a spray of cooling water. The high gorge rocks surrounding it are speckled with foliage. There was a natural bridge and we spent time contemplating and, of course, photographing the spectacle.
Eventually we began the walk down. We didn’t see any of the black bears we had been told to watch out for. The surrounding plant life was lush and green with delicate foliage. At the very bottom of the descent, I managed to slip in some wet rocks and land on my bum! Jo did the same thing a while later.
Back on the bus, we headed towards Takayama city, with a population of about 80,000.
Driving along we could see many farmers planting their rice seedlings on this beautiful sunny day. The work is labour intensive, it is no wonder rice is treated at sacred and not to be wasted. Junko told us how during the pandemic the government gave everyone 4 x 5kg bags of rice because so many people, her included, could not work. Her consumption of rice is not great, the average is 55kg per person a year. Fermented foods and rice are a staple. She does make her own miso and salted plums in the winter.
We could see snow on Mt Haku, which is at the top of the pilgrimage walk we did yesterday. Much, much higher than we went! Driving closer to Takayama, we could see the Japanese Alps and the snow on Mt Norikura.
As we approached the city, we passed schools and a new age religious congregation which was very big. Junko compared them to the Moonies. They are Makikari, new age Buddhists.
We arrived at our inn, the Ryokan Asumaro. We were greeted with friendliness and were soon escorted to our rooms and had everything explained. Our futon is already made up and our yukata are ready to wear.
A quick cup of roasted green tea in our room and we were back on the bus heading to a restaurant for lunch. A short drive through town and we were at the doors of Kakashuko - for a Shojin culinary experience beyond all our expectations. We were greeted and directed to the original dining room in this 250 year old building. For the first time we were all seated at one table and the vegetarian “Monks” lunch began.
We had a 10 course delight of sights and tastes. The service was impeccable as each dish was delivered and explained by the waitresses dressed in traditional kimonos. We started with a sweet biscuit to counteract the bitterness of the matcha tea accompanying it.
Next was an artwork of food with an array of local vegetables, roots and tofu. It tasted as sublime as it looked. That was quietly whisked away and replaced with a sweet tofu and accompaniments on a silver leaf plate, to be stirred together to get the full flavour. Next came mountain vegetables in a red lacquer bowl, with a fan carved into one of the vegetables.
It was about now that Loh declared Michelin should come and rate this place. Kate mentioned that they only publish the big cities in the English version. So Mitzy had a look and discovered that Kakashuko is indeed a 1Michelin Star restaurant. Somehow the tour company missed this fact!
We were presented with a plate of rice tempura pepper, mushroom, tofu and pumpkin. The tempura is coated with a crunchy rice coating, made by freeze drying sticky rice. So good.
Buckwheat noodles with a broth was next, then more tempura, this time mountain vegetables, with an accompaniment of black beans in a sweet ginger syrup. This dish is the epitome of the mountain foods. The koshibala takes 3 days to cook and is difficult to get at the right texture and to hold the right shape. It is bitter, and the sweet beans are a perfect contrast. It was really delicious.
It was served in red laquer with a butterfly design on the inside of the lid.
Getting closer to the end, we had a dish of soy milk skin, bamboo shoot and seafood. The textures and flavours were all considered and wonderful.
Our final savoury dish as we were wilting under the pressure of all this food, (don’t forget the 17 different breakfast dishes) our waitress brought out a giant dish of rice. She served it to us with miso and pickles. The rice was cooked with bamboo shoots and was both crunchy and creamy.
Almost done! We finally finished with a wine jelly and grapefruit and kiwi. The perfect ending to a perfect meal. We were certainly spoilt today. Throughout the meal, our cups were constantly filled with tea and our water glasses were never empty. The service was at fine dining standard and the food certainly warranted that star. It was a cultural experience of ritual, service and gastronomy.
After lunch we admired the ancient pocket (private) garden of the restaurant before leaving and enjoying a stroll around the town. We followed Junko for a while, but veered off on our own when we saw the old town. We had a few hours wandering through the preserved historical area, popping in and out of shops and buying a couple of things. We couldn’t find a coffee shop and ended up with the supermarket pre-packed iced coffees to enjoy by the river.
The river runs through the town with lots of bridges criss crossing back and forward. It has a lovely feel and would be nice to spend a couple of days.
We headed back to our ryokan, deciding to grab a couple of drinks. We stopped by a tiny little sake shop and found beer. I fancied a wine, but couldn’t see any so chose what looked like spritzer type things. There was a little old lady in charge. She had her notepad and walked back and forward to the fridge to see the price and put into the calculator and then onto paper. She was very sweet.
Back in our very lovely room we had a drink and caught up on writing and sketching. Turns out my wine was sake. The first one was a plum sake and very delicious. We then popped on our yukata robes and went down to the onsen for a relax in the hot spring water. No private facilities here. Kate was just about to leave when I got there but hopped back in for a chat. It was nice to have her bubbly company and her knowledge of Japan is great. The onsen is quite small but, since we were the only 2 in there, quite adequate. Ken was all alone in the men’s onsen.
Dinner was in the ryokan dining room so we went downstairs in our yukata robes and joined the group. Our places were set for us and each setting had a house ornament covering two layers of dishes. The house is a traditional style and symbolises 2 hands together in prayer formation.
This was another traditional meal, similar in composition to the one we had at lunch - only now we had 14 courses. The sheer volume of food we have eaten today is hilarious and by the end of the meal some of the party were trying to refuse a course only to be told by the waitress that they must receive it. The food was very good - it just had a lot to live up to after our lunch experience. We were all incredulous at the number of courses we had eaten in one day. Tomorrow will need to be a big, big walk.
jillmac
2024-05-15
It sounds like they are prepping you for Sumo with all that food!!