Raw Horse Meat Volume II

Well I did it! I ate raw horse meat, 馬刺し. Not bad. Very tender and a pleasant flavor. The motivation was suprisingly high, as Megumi and I had just finished finalizing my status in Japan. Do to me having been in Japan previously, combined with the fact that we have been married for almost 7 years, I have a very good chance of getting a permanent residence status, according to the Immigration officer. Regardless, I am offically a tax paying resident in Japan.

But, I digress... Horse meat, raw, very tasty. I would eat it again. We had this meal at a tempura restaurant in Nagano-city. But, for me I always need beer to accompany raw fish, so in the same fashion I drank some Kirin Lager and had horse sashimi.

Megumi has the camera this week as she is taking a short vacation with her mother up in Tochigi prefecture. The pictures will be forth coming.

Better View of Fuji.

Previously, we had taken some pictures of Mount Fuji, but noticed that the view of the mountain was not great. Therefore we painstakingly (ha ha) took some more pictures from our veranda. These should be much clearer and give you and idea of what we get to enjoy almost every morning. As recently, the weather as become cooler, the direction of the sun and other weather phenomenon have made it much easier to see this majestic treasure.

100 YEN SUSHI!!!

I am going to dedicate this entry to Daisuke (Shane). I know how much he digs the sushi like myself. The reason for this post is quite simple...every plate pictured only costs 100 Yen! Yes, 100 Yen. My family here always wonder why I want to go these chain restaurant called "Kappa" and "Sushi Ondo". Well for those of you in the states, quite possibly Europe as well, the price is quite ridiculous. The price here is CHEAP, and the quality is fantastic! (Pictured above Maguro sushi)
Here is just one side of the menu, this particular restaurant was "Kappa" and damn was it good. I usually go here at least once a week, to get my raw fish kick.
The mother-in-law helping to promote "Kappa's" image.
The toro is a little more expensive, (1 piece for 100 Yen) and not always the best looking, but for 100 Yen who is going to complain, you will definitely not hear a word from me.
Something for those of you who don't like raw fish, a mini-hamburger patty on rice, topped with mayo. Not bad, but if I need a hamburger I can always go to McDonald's.

The Neighborhood

Here is a natural mountain spring, less than 10 mins from my house. Unbelievable how close my home is to so much nature. I bought a 20 Liter water "tank" to take some water home with me. IT IS so refreshing and clean.
The water flows through a trough with two dragon heads.
The season is here for Dragonflies, where ever I go I see these little guys. This one literally "posed" for me, as after I took the picture he flew off.

The valley you see between the two mountains is were this spring in located, about 3 km up.
A little further up the road to the spring.
There is a river that flows in between the mountains, one of the several waterfalls along the way, very peaceful.
Cosmos flowers, growing rampantly in a farmers garden. In the fall these flowers are everywhere.
Another spectacular view of the river, so clear and clean.

Horse-Meat

Recently, I have been very busy with things (as usual), but I thought I might talk about a Japanese delicacy, raw horse-meat. Served in the same fashion as sashimi, it is eaten raw, usually with soy-sauce and ginger. I have yet to try it, I am not sure if I will be able to ever try this food, as my image of this animal is one of beauty and companionship.
The above image is packaged raw horse meat, or more commonly called basashi. 馬刺し。
It is also called "sakura" the same term used to describe cherry blossoms. This is due to horse meats very red coloring.
Something that should have never been created, raw horse meat ice cream. I can guarantee you that this is not popular any where in Japan, the thought of this makes one want to never eat ice-cream again. YUCK YUCK YUCK.

Lake Suwa Firework Festival

This is Lake Suwa just before sunset, we had to reserve are seat early as the fireworks show is the 3rd largest in Japan. Over 500,000 were present setting a new record for attendance.
This is my nephew, trying his best to "sport" his mother's hat.
A sample of some of the fireworks we viewed.

The conclusion...

Utsukushigara and Daio Wasabi Farm

The mountains you see in the background are called the Japanese Alps. They have the same allure as the Swiss and Austrian, and the same natural beauty. At the top of the second peak you see is a place called Utsukushigara-goken.

The ride the top of this 2000+ meter mountain was beautiful but time consuming. Understandably, most mountains in Japan do not compare to the Cascades, Rockies, etc in America in terms of accessibility. The roads often have 10% incline, where in the US, as if I remember correctly, 6~7%. (If this is incorrect, please feel free to comment.) Due to this, our car which normally gets great gas mileage, was cut by half. Yet the drive was certainly worth it! As you can see in the background, you can almost touch the clouds.
The pictures we took here were from a lookout which was connect to a very famous museum at the top of the mountain. It actually has some very famous artists' work such as Picasso.

In addition to the art museum, there is an outdoor sculpture garden, or actually and outdoor sculpture field. It takes about 2 hours to walk through the entire garden, as there are dozens of pieces of art.

For all of you who enjoy using wasabi with your sushi or sashimi, I have a real treat for you. Meg and I spent an afternoon at a wasabi farm. Generally, the wasabi used in American sushi bars is green-colored horseradish. Generally, it is very expensive in the US, as the farming of wasabi requires the cleanest water possible. In the case of Diao Wasabi farm, they have redirected a portion of a river to "water" the root. This particular day was nearly 100 degrees with a humidy of around 85%+, so being near a river allowed for us to enjoy our day, somewhat.

Because this area is so natural, it attracts all types of insects and birds.
Here is a closer view of how the farming of wasabi is conducted. They pile rocks into a row, leaving space for the flowing water to penetrate to the root itself. Additionally, due to the extreme heat and intense rays of the sun, the entire area which is farmed is covered in black tarp.

A close of picture of "raw" wasabi. One root for 800 Yen.

You can also make wasabi soft-cream, (soft-serve ice cream). The flavor is actually quite good, and refreshing. Megumi really enjoyed hers. Actually, I ate most of it...

A larger view of one of the covered growing areas.

Yours truly, trying not to scream, as the water I am stepping in is only about 40~45 degrees.

Megumi concurs.
A more detailed view of how the root is arranged when grown.

Wasabi beer...what more can I say...

She likes it...

And of course, this guy definitely cant complain, ahhhhh beer...

As this place was just a wasabi farm, it needed other things to interest farmers, a traditional Japanese tea room.

Here is the shinto shrine on the property. The thing which Megumi is attempting to insert her foot into is a large, traditional Japanese sandal. This particular sandal was built for a very large god.

Kamioka - Nigata - New Cells

These first series of pictures were taken in the town of Kamioka. This castle is actually a rebuilt version of the original from the late 16th century. This town is quite large in terms of population as the town is literally in the middle of the mountains of Gifu prefecture.

The view from castle shows a massive "grave yard" (墓, 'haka') on the other side of town. Generally grave sites are used in a patralineal fashion. This one seems quite large for a town so small, but probably is several hundreds of years old.

How could I forget to write about my new cell! Having lived in America for most of my life I have adjusted to the "crap" of American cell phones. Well, I am no longer in California, so I was so blown away when my wife and I signed a contract with DoCoMo. This phone is known as the F904i. It has (deep breath) TV as clear as cable, a 3.2 Mega Pix digital camera, full internet browser capability with what seems to be High Speed, two telephone number, two email addresses, a 3.1" view able screen which rotates either 90 degress either left or right to watch TV or take pictures, and lastly a special I~mode service which generally is about $1.50 a month for service equal to an internet browser, but no capability of viewing your favorite websites. Oh yeah, GPS is also standard, but not yet free and a MPS player which about 12 hours of music, and if that is not enough you can purchase a MICRO SD chip up to 1GB to store more music and such. DAMN IMPRESSIVE.

And finally, our most recent outting, Nigata Prefecture. On the west side of Japan, facing towards China, has some of the best seafood I have ever had. The picture below shows my niece with her very fresh catch. We purchased 6 crabs in total for 3 adults and 2 children as a snack, and it came to less than $35. I can guarentee you that it was good, and the price was very fair. The vendor orignally was asking near $60, so all in all I felt we made a good bargin.

This is a picture of Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture on the way to Nigata. This area is know for its extreme beauty and was a major area for the '98' Olympics in the area. When winter hits the 2500+ meter moutains attract Japanese and foreigners alike for some of the best sking in the world!

Who is this sexy beast?