Beautiful Autumn Kyoto

Beautiful season has come in Kyoto. This is Kinkakuji Temple.
Autumn red leaves layers are all around me. Not getting tired of watching it.

Every where is busy in Kyoto this season, so it is difficult to find best spot for enjoying autumn leaves without noisy people. However this is worth to visit here.

 

Every day BENTO -Inari Sushi-

This picture is Kyoto Fushimi Inari Taisha when I visited this spring.
You see a fox in front of a vermilion big gate called "torii", this is entrance to shrine.
The fox is a messenger of crop god, and they loves fried tofu which is called Inari.
Inari sushi is inari pocket with vinegared rice.

I love Inari sushi, sweet juicy fried tofu with rice is heavenly.
I make it for lunch very often. Inari sushi is called sushi pocket overseas, I understand but I don't call it in that way.


By the way, Kyoto Fushimi Inari Taisha is so nice to visit.

http://inari.jp/       ←Japanese
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3915.html　←English

 

This is famous shrine so many people including foreigners visit here.
Better to put comfortable shoes on because I think walking around here is tough. There are "senbon torii" , which is thousand of torii, we can walk up to hill. A thousand of vermilion gates are so beautiful to see and enjoy walking through.


Today's Inari sushi BENTO is bellow.



*Inari Sushi (sushi pocket)
Juicy fried bean curd with vinegard rice

*Sauteed sprout and mini sausage
*boiled egg
*Cheesy fish cake seasoned with green seaweed flake
*Cruncy lotus roots with sweet saysauce

Japanese pickles in Kyoto -Tsukemono-

    

I went to Kyoto last Sunday to meet my old friends.
Most of time we chatted in cafe or restaurant because we met since 10 years, but we felt to do something seems like Kyoto. So we went to famous huge food market in Kyoto called Nishiki Ichiba.

http://www.kyoto-nishiki.or.jp/ (Japanese)

http://kyoto.travel/en/thingstodo/entertainment/252 (English information)

This is long street which has more than a hundred food shop. We can get anything here, and enjoy Kyoto food.  There packed with people including foreigners.
I enjoyed to buy Tsukemono, Japanese pickles, here this time.

Japanese pickles taste salty, sometimes miso taste, not vinegar, so a little bit different from other country style.
We can buy pickles in local supermarkets but Kyoto is very famous for Kyoto veggies pickles. So good to eat with  rice.


      ↑                  ↑                 ↑
eggplant　　 burdock　　asuparagus


   

This is my favorite pickles, red beet. Tastes sour, salty and sweet a bit.

What I was surprised while shopping, I found Tsukemono which I can keep in room temperature. Usually Tsukemono should keep in fridge, so sometimes it is hard to bring them home. Easy to try for tourists!

I eat Tsukemono every day at supper time. I believe that rice, miso soup, and Tsukemono are exact basic Japanese cuisine.

Towel Museum in Imabari, Ehime

  

Towel Museum

http://www.towelmuseum-group.com/english/asakura_museum.html English

http://www.towelmuseum.com/ Japanese


When we hear the word, "Towel museum" , seems boring. yes, I was bored.
However, once I got in the museum, can feel so happy to be there.
I bet that Imabari towel has high quality, traditional, and famous brand worldwide.

We can watch towel manufacturing process, towel arts and collection, and get good quality towel made in Imabari in the shop.

It is not easy to get here without a car, of course we can take trains and taxi but a little bit  inconvenient from Osaka.

I really wanted to go towel museum in Imabari because it also has Moomin Exhibition inside. Moomin character is popular among Japanese girls, but originally comes from Finland.

 

This is 40 meters towel with Moomin, which has one story.  Isn't it great?

Still don't know why they has related to Imabari.

Anyway I love so fluffy towel and Moomin.

YAMATO Museum in KURE City, HIROSHIMA

When we go Kure maritime museum in Kure city in Hiroshima,  we can learn history and culture of Kure, and feel how Kure city developed to worldwide shipbuilding city.

And we can have fun to see many objects in exhibition room, one-tenth scale battleship YAMATO, submarine, zero fighter etc.

I spent 2 hours here. It is enough time to look around of whole museum, but I came back to look again after once I went out of museum. It's worth it!


English
http://www.yamato-museum.com/download-data/ref_201604_eng.pdf

Japanse website
http://yamato-museum.com/

GOHEI MOCHI

GOHEI MOCHI is local cuisine in Chubu region of Japan, especially famous for northern area of Gifu prefecture, Hida.

This is GOHEI MOCHI, which is skewered rice cake with sweet sauce. This Sauce is made of miso, soy sauce, sugar and walnuts, so very thick and tasty.  I love that!


It is familiar food even I don't live in Chubu area because GOHEI MOCHI vendors come to Kansai area from Hida. However, when I was a small child, a vendor came to supermarket near my place just once a month. I remember my mom was excited when she found a vendor. She knew my father loved GOHEI MOCHI.


Also, MITARASHI DANGO is good.


We can buy MITARASHI DANGO anywhere, but sauce is different as regular one.


This very tasty sweet sauce is special, that's why I really like those sweets, and probably makes me miss my childhood.
Now I can find HIDA vendors, anywhere in Osaka, and very often. I can buy anytime not once a month.
But, every time I see GOHEIMOCHI vendors, I can't help have feeling to buy it.
And actually buy, sometimes too much!

Hydrangea in Mimurodoji in Kyoto

Blooming hydrangea!
I love here, Mimurodoji in Kyoto.
http://www.mimurotoji.com/  (Japanese)

I hate rainy season but walking around wide open space in Mimurodoji makes me feel so refreshed.

I heard we can see heart shaped hydrangea here, just ten out of ten thousand hydrangea, so I tried to find it.


Easy to find it unexpectedly.
Gradation colour is so pretty.

I didn't know the origin of hydrangea is Japan.
A little bit far from my place, Osaka, or center of Kyoto, but worth it!