Sake, Spice and everything Nice!

Today was about discovering Japans’ flavours. In tbe beautiful small town of Takayama, we wandered through the small town, where the old timbered houses are exquisitely maintained. This town was known for its carpenters and they were sent thoughout the country to build the Temples and Shrines of long ago.

We were taken to a Sake brewery where a very personable young lady explained the way Sake is made. It is incorrectly known as Rice Wine although Rice is used in the fermentation, but she very proudly explained that this is a misnomer!!! With over one thousand Sake breweries in the country, the market is competitive.

We were given 3 different flavours to taste but honestly at 11 a.m. it was not for me!!! However quite a fascinating story none the less.

Afternoon at leisure,  Yipee!!! Time to investigate this town with all it’s Arts and Crafts. I quickly discovered a besutiful Art Gallery with magnificent paintings, sculptures and other forms of Art.

There was so much I could have purchased but had to confined myself to one modern piece of gilded metal, based on size and weight!! The creativity was breathtaking.

The atmosphere in this small town was laid back, calming and relaxing. Freed from the constant group walk, following the umbrella, I cherished some me time!!! I found a very beautiful courtyard coffee shop, where I decided to rest and ruminate! Heaven!! One of my travelling companions has a harsh loud voice, which I then heard, heading in my direction….yes, you guessed it ” There’s Jean”and my heart sank, as four fellow travellers decamped onto my lovely calm corner!!! Agh!!! After a reasonable period, I removed myself, disappointed at not having more me-time!!! Defo becoming very odd!!!!!

I then found a fantastic stationery shop. Stationery shops  are so beautiful in Japan, where obviously the art of letter writing is still strong. The range of types of paper, design and selection of cards,  writing papers , notebooks etc was enormous. Another large parcel for the bottom of the case!!!

Apart from the beautiful range of writing materials,  this shop had an upstairs, dedicated to writing instruments!! My John would have been in his element, as he always used a fountain pen and was very particular about the ink he used. There were hundreds of pens to choose from, ranging from Mont Blanc, Waterman and many other brands, new to me.

There were different types of paper on sale here also, which sparked my interest, as the previous day we had been brought to an original Washi paper making studio. Like so many crafts, this is also a dying one, with only 12 experts left working in this third generation company. The Washi paper, which we made, is a little like soft knarled blotting paper. We were shown the process, which was a bit yucky, and then proceeded to engage!!! My effort was not too bad!!!

Next class took place at a Miso plant, now run by the 6th generation of the family. An integral part of all Japanese cooking, the story of Miso production was quite intriguing. On departure, through the usual retail outlet, we were offered Miso ice cream, but I choose to pass on that one!!!

And finally to a Wasabi farm, another staple of cooking in Japan.

Grown in water, underneath these black tarpaulins, the root takes three years to grow. There were people working under these tarps, in water, as they harvested the wasabi!!!

More wasabi ice cream, but again, a polite No from me!!!!

So no more lessons for the day and on to Nagano!!!