Take a morning walk in Gujo Hachiman!

 Driving for 80 minutes from my hometown Nagoya city, there is a beautiful riverside town called "Gujo-hachiman(郡上八幡)" among mountains. One late summer morning, I visited there to take a walk.

 Every time I think about walking somewhere nice, this place always comes up to my mind. Small, traditional Japanese houses here and there, nice clean river with fresh fish... Oh, that's wonderful just to imagine!
 Since I arrived in the early morning, I could spend time alone :)

 As time passed by, people gradually showed up in cafes and streets. They all looked relaxed being there, just like me.

 Okay, it's time to have lunch!

 Yeah, I love this special grill meal "Houba-yaki(朴葉焼き)", which is a famous food in this region. Instead of putting ingredient and beef directly on a pot, they inserted a dried leaf, then put a popular local wagyu Hida beef(飛騨牛) as well as sweet soy paste and vegetable such as mushroom, green onion.

 Coming along with rice, pickled vegetables and small dish, I was so satisfied coming there :)

One-day trip to Kawagoe with fine sashimi dish!

 If you want to walk around old streets but not enough time to go far away from Tokyo, go to Kawagoe (川越) for one-day trip. Just 40km north west of Tokyo, one-hour-train-ride brings you to the city of Kawagoe, where is sometimes called “A tiny old city Edo”. It is a small, yet cozy and attractive place for many people, including foreigners, of course. One early spring in 2018, I visited there for the first time in four years. So…Let’s take a close look at what it’s like :)

 I arrived at a nearby station just before the noon, and have lunch at first. I made a reservation for a tiny restaurant in advance. But….where is it? Well, it actually…

 Here! Oh I took several minutes to find the place! It's too narrow and difficult!

 Built more than a hundred year ago, this amazingly cozy house with tiny garden became a Japanese cuisine restaurant named "Furin" with a wooden counter with chefs.

Sitting back one of seats, I enjoyed watching chefs cooking sushi, and waited for food to come. For the record, I took a raw fish Sashimi Dish, which was 1,250 yen (around USD11).

 Here, we have pudding-style chawan-mushi (茶碗蒸し) as a starter. Steamed with egg and sliced onion as well as dashi (出汁), it certainly warmed my body up after walking with cool air outside.

 This one-bowl dish is my favourite one with a variety of chopped fish, such as tuna, octopus, bonito, and more. I love this! It’s colourful, lots of different textures, and cheaper among other dish :)

 Private rooms, old interiors, decors, tiny garden are so great, worth visiting for meal :) I recommend you to make a reservation before coming, by the way. It would easily be fully occupied, especially in the weekend.

 So let’s go outside and see the old city, shall we? :)

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 Starbucks is everywhere, you know :)

After lots of sweets, beer, snacks, I waved my hands to Kawagoe, headed back to Tokyo ;)