Japan Interactive

		Japanese Food and Culture / at Takayama city,
		Quite Tasty!
iwana		Takayma city is surrounded by mountains so we can enjoy specific food like Iwana, ayu and fuki. Iwana and ayu is living in a river and only those in a very pure water of a river can be eaten. I have tried many kinds of fish as sashimi but it was the first time to have iwana as sashimi, quite tasty! It might be only this place that we can eat it. Fuki is one of the sansai, literary means "mountain vegetables", which are edible wild greens. Picture of kaiseki 1 and kaiseki 2 is not exactly kaiseki ryoori. but it looks as kaiseki ryoori, so I call it so. Kaiseki ryoori is traditional and expensive Kyoto-style cuisine originally associated with the tea ceremony. When kaiseki ryouri is served, don't gobble it up. First appreciate the beauty of the plate or the bowl. It is not rare that even a plate costs more than 100 dollars. After you recognize its beauty, take a close look at the coordination and harmony of each materials of food and try to understand what the chef wants to express. Kaiseki ryoori like kaiseki 2 is kind of art. When you are quite hungry, it would not better for you to eat kaisek yoori so go on to a steak. The steak I show is bit different form the one you always have. It may be difficult to find it out (sorry) but click the pic of steak to enlarge. We dip it in miso sauce, which in on the grill at the right corner. Miso sauce is made of special miso and ingredients. One more thing I recommend is onsen tamago. It is an egg steamed with hot spring water.		kaiseki 1
ayu				kaiseki 2
fuki				steak with miso
dinner				onsen tamago

more impressive cuisine
misoshiru		osuimono		soomen		reishu		nori		breakfast

rotenburo for men		Cuisine at this hotel is fantastic but Talking about hot spring, there are lot of hot spring especially roten-buro, open air bath, in this area. I like roten-buro but I didn't feel to get it in at this hotel, because it is not totally covered by a kind of canopy. Roten-buro I have enjoyed are usually covered by fence or roof, but here, especially one for men got me feel down. Well, off course it depends because all of my colleague didn't care about it at all. When it comes to the bed at hotels in Japan, I sometimes get confused. "Tsuin ruumu ni ekisutra bedo wo ire te san-nin sama ga otomair itadakemasu" This phrase is usually heard at Japanese hotels. It literally means, Three people can stay at one room with twin beds and one extra bed. I always believe extra bed is a bed but it would be something like picture of bed 2. The staff insists placing mattress on it makes it bed. I have had such experience not only at this hotel but other hotels in Japan. "Ekisutora bedo" might be a sofa or a chair so it is better to confirm if it is real bed or not. Well, it may be trifle matter for you. but for this matter, none of my colleague wanted sleep on it as the room charge for each person is exactly same.		bed 1
rotenburo for women				bed 2

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