Tomika Town

Yesterday two of my students took me to an old Sakae brewery near here. We went to view the Hina Dolls. These are small dolls that every girl is given when she is born. They are displayed every year between now and March 3rd until the girl is married. The Sakae shop has a huge display them from different time periods. 

We were also given a tour of the brewery which was huge. It is still working now and uses traditional methods. The brewery and the shop date back to 1759 and held lots of original Japanese housing features-the one we experienced most directly was the cold! But nevertheless it was fascinating.

 Rie press-though on a larger scale not so different to the cider press in the Temple of Doom.

 Sacks to sieve out the grains of rice.

The starting point-washing and boiling of the rice happens here. The further plank with a hole in it has a big space underneath where they light a fire.

Sushi

The sushi obsession continues...

 Whole baby squid with vegetables-my favourite dish of the night but had to be consumed without too much eye contact.

 Cooked fish fillet, sea-eel wrapped in egg and a stem of pink ginger.

 Sashimi selection: salmon, tuna, squid wrapped around cucumber, fish eggs and sea-bream.

 Sushi platter: tuna, squid, salmon, eel, sea bream, fish eggs and rolled seaweed.

 Tempura: prawn, bamboo, squid and pepper.

 Mixed rolled sushi-sorry 2 beers in and I can't remember the details.

Thanks to Nicole and the ipad2 for these photos.

Nagoya

 Shopping in the neon streets of Nagoya.

 Trying on Kimono in Osu.

The Nagoya T.V tower from the top of the bus station.

Mino City

Fishermen in the waters of the Nagara River in Mino City. In July and August these river banks were squashed full of people sunbathing and swimming. 

 Viewing platform at the top of Ogura Park.

 Mino Washi paper shop.

 Paper lantern sheep.

All photos courtesy of James.

Gifu Castle

Monday saw Mike, James, Jo and I in Gifu park in the pouring rain. We took the cable car up the mountain to visit Gifu castle. The cable car ascended into a white bank of mist. Half-way up and we could see nothing of the famous view. But wondering around old stone pathways and reading about sieges and surrenders it provided the perfect atmosphere for reliving a piece of history. You could feel the danger and the edginess of the unknown. 

All pictures courtesy of James.