Spreading the charms of Fukui to the world! -Visiting Ichijodani Asakura Clan Ruins Part-3-

Source: Photographs of the restaurant, “Tempura Yaguruma” from the photo gallery of the official website of Tempura Yaguruma(the website is available only in Japanese)

 

As I introduced in our last blog, I had opportunity to join a tour visiting Ichijodani Asakura Clan Ruins with the president of the Hotel Riverge Akebono, Mr. Shimizu, and the intern of the hotel, Ms. Julia Coslian, the manager of Fukui City Hospitality and Tourism Promotion Office, Mr. Takama and his staff member, Mr. Juancho Santamaria in June 2017.

 

Before heading to Ichijodani Asakura Clans Ruins, we had lunch at the tempura restaurant, "Tempura Yaguruma" (the website is available only in Japanese) which is a popular tempura restaurants in Fukui.

 

 

Source: Photographs of the restaurant, from the photo gallery of the official website of Tempura Yaguruma(the website is available only in Japanese)

 

At “Tempura Yaguruma”, you can enjoy watching the traditional Japanese garden with a small waterfall, and the Japanese chef cooking tempura in front of you while you are eating.

 

 

There were many foods on the menu that all looked delicious so we couldn’t decide what to order. Mr. Shimizu suggested we order their special lunch combos.

 

Shortly after we ordered, a lady who works at the restaurant started serving our meals with a lovely and polite smile. First, Miso soup (the taste of the soup was amazing) then, Japanese pickled vegetables and freshly cooked rice were served. It was free refills on the rice. Following that, the tempura was served, which was cooked in the middle of the restaurant where everyone could see the chef prepare it.

 

As the chef finished cooking, the freshly made tempura, which was crispy and hot, was served for each of us. I loved the crispness of the vegetable, fish and shrimp tempura. The lunch combos were quite substantial. I would like to suggest this lunch combo to people who visit Fukui.

 

The condiments (or you may call it toppings) are a small plate of grated radish and chopped Welsh onions that are served with the tempura. We call it “Yakumi” and it can be added to your soup or tempura depending on your preference.

 

 

Source: dremstime, HOW TO USE CHOPSTICKS

 

I was amazed by how Julia and Juancho were using chopsticks skillfully and enjoying every meal without any problem. I realized that it is common for people from outside of Asia to be able to use chopsticks well these days.

 

 

Source: Photographs of the restaurant, from the photo gallery of the official website of Tempura Yaguruma(the website is available only in Japanese)

 

Julia and Juancho seemed impressed by the meal and the traditional Japanese garden at the restaurant.

 

 

Source: Japanzine Japan’s Must-Read Mgazine, Chopstick Crimes

 

Source: Hugh FoxⅢ Multicultural Lessons, Japan

 

To be able to eat Japanese food in the traditional way, there are many rules and manners one must know. Even some Japanese people find following the rules perfectly a challenge. Julia found it difficult as well. She said that because there is a certain order and etiquette when eating traditional Japanese food, she must watch others to enjoy it to learn properly.

 

As a Japanese person, I thought I knew how to have traditional Japanese food properly, but I realized that there are rules and manners I am still unsure about such as the order in which to eat, how to hold the bowl for miso soup and everything in between. I would like to properly learn it again to be able to teach others, especially from overseas, the rules, etiquette and the beauty of Japanese food.

 

Stay tuned for the next blog!

 

T.F

 

 

You can see some tourist attractions and the directions to these places from the webpage, "Hotel Reiverge Akebono, Tourist attractions around our hotel".

Made by Julia during her internship, this webpage has directions that are easy to follow.

She researched these tourist attractions, before visiting them and experiencing

the charms of Fukui herself. I'm sure that this map will help you get around easier.

 

There is also a Japanese version of this webpage(only available in Japanese).

However, some of the places which are introduced on the Japanese webpage

are different to the English version that Julia made.

Restaurant that you can enjoy Russian food in Fukui City “Soupya”

As autumn deepens, I think you miss hot meals. And I went to the Russian restaurant “Soupya” for the first time in a long time. Probably, it is the only restaurant which serves authentic Russian dishes in Fukui City. I think “Soupya” was located originally in a shopping street close to Katamachi and then moved to the present residential area located on a hill. Even since then, it has been quite some time so you might say it is a long-established restaurant.

Now I arrived at the restaurant, when I was parking my car, presumed its owner came out and guided to park. It was quite dark already and my car has no back monitor, so it was thoughtful.

When I looked at the menu outside the door, I decided B course. Because it includes borscht, piroshki and gryby!

I was guided to a table beside the window and had a quiet meal looking taillights of cars go by below. And I thought that there were few restaurants such a location in Fukui. Recently, the number of cafes along the Echizen Coast have increased but restaurants and bars along a river like in Kyoto or with the evening view, or a stream of cars as a part of view are still few.

So, how about making riverside summer terrace on the Asuwa River bank? Or, how about inviting Starbucks at the foot of Saiwai Bridge like Sanjo-ohashi Bridge in Kyoto? Things unrelated to Russia popped into my head while eating ;) (H.S)

                                        The exterior of the Soupya

                                        Ornaments in the entrance hall

                                               Inside the Soupya

         There were Cheburashka, Putin and Medvedev on the rear wall of my table.

                           Start with borscht. Sour cream adds deep taste.

                             Freshly fried piroshki was soft and delicious.
                             Put mayonnaise or ketchup as desired.

                    Main gryby. You can choose fillings out of several kinds.
                    I chose cheese and mushrooms.

      Dessert and chai. Russian tea is thought to put jam in tea but in fact,                    Russian people put jam in the mouth first and have tea, the owner told me.

 

Beyond Koshihikari, new brand-name rice Ichihomare grown in Fukui finally unveiled

This autumn, Ichihomare, new brand-name rice which Fukui Prefecture is proud of, was ready for harvest for the first time and its sales started on a trial basis.

Then, I bought and tried it immediately.

When I look it cooked, it was glossy and shining. 
It isn’t need to wait for eating to know that it is delicious. 

Then at last, I had a taste nervously and I felt elastic first. Each grain was soft but firm and had a perfect gummy texture. Also, its delicious taste and sweetness were great. I realized again that rice is such delicious. 

Actually, after I ate Ichihomare, I came to feel that even Koshihikari tasted like something is missing.

In fact, my family grows Koshihikari, but are we going to grow Ichihomare someday? I am looking forward to it. (H.S)

Remarks :

ichi  →　the best

homare → honor  

Spreading the charms of Fukui to the world! - Visiting Ichijodani Asakura Clans Ruins Part-2 - Let more foreigners come visit Fukui!

Source：Travel Information of Echizen and Wakasa in Fukui Prefecture from Fukui Tourism Guide

 

There are many places that are very interesting and attractive for people to visit in Fukui. However, I often hear that not too many people visit Fukui. I would like more people to know about our beautiful city and come here to visit.

 

As I introduced in our previous blog (part-1), Julia, an intern from the USA at the Hotel Riverge Akebono, and I had a chance to talk about why not so many people visit Fukui.

 

She said that there are amazing places in Fukui but most of the places are difficult to get to. Even she wants to go to some places in Fukui by taking public transportation but there are no English signs and/or announcements on them.

 

When I took a local train in Fukui the other day, there was English guidance but not on local buses in Fukui. To visit many interesting places in Fukui, we need buses to reach them if we don’t drive, so I started remembering what Julia said. Some visitors from overseas would be ok going there without any English guidance but I’m sure for many of them it can be inconvenient. I had the same experience in the USA. There was no Japanese guidance on buses and trains and it was very inconvenient for me. After a few years, I was confident enough to ask people because I learned English, but before that, I did not event want to take buses and/or trains even though I wanted to go to many interesting places.

 

I hope people take what Julia said seriously to solve these problems and more people will want to visit Fukui.

 

Stay tuned for Part-3!

 

T.F

 

 

You can see some tourist attractions and the directions to these places from the webpage, "Hotel Reiverge Akebono, Tourist attractions around our hotel".

Made by Julia during her internship, this webpage has directions that are easy to follow.

She researched these tourist attractions, before visiting them and experiencing

the charms of Fukui herself. I'm sure that this map will help you get around easier.

 

There is also a Japanese version of this webpage(only available in Japanese).

However, some of the places which are introduced on the Japanese webpage

are different to the English version that Julia made.

Takefu Chrysanthemum Doll Festival and OSK Nippon Revue

I went to the Takefu Chrysanthemum Doll Festival in Echizen City after a long time. Speaking of the Takefu Chrysanthemum Doll Festival, it’s a very familiar event in Fukui. When I see an announcement about its opening, I feel that autumn has truly arrived. On the other hand, I thought that it always had finished before I was aware. This year, it has been held from October 5^th to November 5^th. 

When I got the site, I found the facilities have greatly improved. “Daruma Doll Square” supervised by Satoshi Kako, who is a famous picture book author from Echizen City, was completed. There are cafe and bakery in a new facility which is next to Echizen City Culture Center. In the main building for chrysanthemum dolls, there are countless numbers of chrysanthemums dressing dolls in many scenes of a popular NHK historical drama. 

Also, for the first time, I saw the stage of OSK Nippon Revue, which is another main event of the festival. The OSK Nippon Revue, which is called one of the three major girl revues in Japan, was established in 1922 and they are active and based in Osaka. The stage is titled “OSK Symphony” and they show a glammorous one-hour revue. There are “Beauty And the Beast” dance, flamenco, jazz dance, funny hip-hop dance featuring Fukui dialect and line dance. Even more than the great songs and dances, Yan Rin, who is playing a male part, is so cool and good looking. And female part dancers’ cute smiles made me feel comforted. 

While the show, Yan Rin and other members came down to the audience seats, so you can feel much closer to them. Their one-month performance at the festival is a grueling schedule that they play twice on weekdays, three times on the weekends and days off is only one day. Furthermore, I was touched by Yan Rin’s greeting at the end “We have practiced very hard for a long time to show great stage to everybody here.” I wish I could go to see them again before the final day. If you want to go to see them, please enter the center early because there are many fans from Osaka there. (H.S)

    

      There were still a lot of buds, so it will be more beautiful in the latter half. 

                    

                                     The lead role, Naotora Ii.  

Naotora, when she was a trainee priest. 

                                      The leftmost is Naomasa Ii. 

       Artisans of growing chrysanthemums come all this way from Yamagata                 Prefecture. 

Huge Yan Rin is waiting for you at the Echizen City Culture Center, where is

the hall of the OSK Revue. 

Recommendation of izakaya in Fukui City “Kunten”

*Izakaya means Japanese style pub Today, I will introduce an izakaya which has a little difficult name to read. The izakaya is located in a corner of Katamachi area, where is a restaurant district in Fukui City. Those who have visited the Kunten say that everything is good there. So I have always wanted to go and I finally went there the other day.

The first thing that I was surprised when I entered the izakaya was the number of the menu written on the blackboards. It has gone beyond izakaya and I could call “Bistro where you can eat Japanese food as well” because they have many Italian and French menus. In addition, all of those are delicious. Especially the penne was much better than Italian restaurants around here.

In fact, the woman owner cooks all dishes by herself at the izakaya and the staff is all women. As it is a small izakaya, it’s not noisy and the dishes are served at an appropriate time so I think that it’s a good one to enjoy meal and drink over conversation with friends.

It is a popular izakaya, so you should make a reservation before going. I would strongly recommend the Kunten. It is a really good izakaya. (H.S)

                                                    The entrance

The customers sitting at the counter are thinking what they will order while looking the blackboard menu.

                                                   An appetizer

                                   The Gorgonzola penne is superb.

                      Clams and shrimps fried in garlic oil with baguette.
                      I had it with red wine.

 

Spreading the charms of Fukui to the world! -Visiting Ichijodani Asakura Clans Ruins Part-1-

It just so happens that by coincidence I had opportunity to join a tour visiting

Ichijodani Asakura Clans Ruins with the president of the Hotel Riverge Akebono,

Mr. Shimizu, and the intern of the hotel, Ms. Julia Coslian,

the manager of Fukui City Hospitality and Tourism Promotion Office

(the information is only available in Japanese), Mr. Takama

and his staff member, Mr. Juancho Santamaria in June 2017.

 

 

Julia is from the USA and is a university student majoring in hospitality and tourism.

She had worked at Hotel Riverge Akebono from May to July of 2017 as an intern.

During her time here, she has learned the charms of Fukui and the spirit of Omotenashi

(hospitality).

 

The purpose of visiting Ichijodani Asakura Clans Ruins was for Julia to see

the ruins and experience the charms of Fukui and Japanese history.

The town, which was rebuilt, can show visitors how people used to live in

the Warring State Era. Mr. Shimizu, Mr. Takama and the guide explained the history

of the ruins to Julia so she was able to learn why the ruins were built,

who lived there, and more.

 

Let’s see how Julia felt about visiting Ichijodani Asakura Clans Ruins,

and Japanese/Fukui language and culture.

 

Stay tuned for the next blog!

 

T.F.

 

 

You can see some tourist attractions and the directions to these places from

the webpage, "Hotel Reiverge Akebono, Tourist attractions around our hotel".

Made by Julia during her internship, this webpage has directions that are easy to follow.

She researched these tourist attractions, before visiting them and experiencing

the charms of Fukui herself. As I mentioned in our blog, it can be difficult for tourists

to get to some great places in Fukui, so this map that Julia made will help you

get around easier.

 

There is also a Japanese version of this webpage(only available in Japanese).

However, some of the places which are introduced on the Japanese webpage

are different to the English version that Julia made.

The fifth collection of tanka by Machi Tawara called “I am Mario” (2013)

*Tanka means a 31-syllables Japanese poem. 

I read the book “I am Mario” sometimes before I go to sleep.

Every tanka is lively and I feel overwhelmed with her remarkable talent in creating tankas. 

Machi moved to Ishigaki Island from Sendai City after the Great East Japan Earthquake with her son, who was 7 years old. After a while, she noticed that he hasn’t been used his game machine and said to him “You don’t play a game lately, do you?” Then he replied “Because I am the Mario now, mom.” The book title was taken from this conversation. Since he came to Ishigaki Island, it seems that he came to think he himself was the game’s main character by spending time in nature.

Here is her tanka about that.

“I am Mario now” since we came to this island, my son stopped playing a game 

Talking of Machi’s son, now there is a collection of sayings on the internet. And his

sayings had been a popular topic on Twitter. He seems to have a good taste in choice of words, which may be because of a gene from his mother. 

Additionally, I will introduce some other tankas which are about life in Ishigaki Island from the collection. 

Short winter is gone like a part of paste and the island’s beaches open in March

A shower gets the island wet like crunchy straws are falling

Daily life like Orion Beer is always in the fridge is not bad and my 40’s passes

The day I did snorkeling, I thought humans are creatures on the upper half of the earth

School of fish turns around quickly and smoothly like dropping oil on a mass game  

In June, kids of the island practice in a rice field not for planting but harvesting           

My son is sleeping with a reward of the day, which he saw a crested serpent eagle  

While I can see everything through the eyes of a traveler, I see the blue of the sea 

By the way, Machi Tawara is a person who has a deep connection to Fukui Prefecture.

Because she used to live in Echizen City in her junior and high school days. Also,

she is a big fan of brothers and a cousin’s band “Kiiyama Shoten” from Ishigaki Island, like myself, so I have a sense of closeness very much. In Ishigaki Island, she was on the radio together with the members of the Kiiyama Shoten. Currently, she lives in Miyazaki City because of her work but she sometimes visits ‘home’ Ishigaki Island.  

　　　　

As for the cover of the book, the work of a textile designer from Ishigaki Island, MIMURI is used. The colors are very beautiful and bright. The image is exactly the same with vegetation in Okinawa and Ishigaki Island. The colors are very beautiful and bright. The image is exactly the same with vegetation in Okinawa and Ishigaki Island. (H.S)

Machi Tawara talks about “I am Mario” (Only in Japanese)