New Year in Japan

Happy New Year!

I was pretty busy at the end of last year through January this year. I spent couples of days with my parents and friends in Osaka and Kyoto. Ways of spending new year are like:

• Eating Soba (buck wheat noodles)
• Eating Osechi (special menu only eaten when celebrating new year)
• Eating Zouni (soup with rice cake)
• Going to Hatsu-moude (going to temples and shrines to wish good fortune)
• Giving Otoshi-dama (giving children some money)

Pretty neat huh?

Other posts you might be interested

• 2010 New Year Sale!
• Udon Is My Best Noodle
• Autumn in Mount Takao
• iPad On Sale In Japan
• Beautiful Festival in Japan

Autumn in Mount Takao

Cherry blossoms in the spring is the best season to visit Japan, but I would say autumn is another great season you can fully enjoy in Japan. Leaves in the trees changes its color from green to yellow and red, which is so beautiful that any painter can not copy in their paintings.

Just an hour ride on a train from Tokyo, Mt. Takao is the best place you can visit to enjoy this natural painting. Mt. Takao marked 3 stars in the Michelin guide, one of the world’s famous tour guide book. And yes, 3 stars is well deserved.

When you imagine Tokyo, what color do you see? I believe most of the people will not say green. Mt. Takao will break that! Full of nature, gourmet and shrines. This place preserves ancient Japan, not filled with skyscrapers like now a days…

Other posts you might be interested

• Udon Is My Best Noodle
• Black Boiled Egg in Hakone
• Beautiful Festival in Japan
• 2016 Olympic Games to Tokyo
• Zekkei The Main Gate of Nanzen-ji.

Udon Is My Best Noodle

I’ve had a day off in 26th, so I made Japanese noodle called Udon. Hey, its not just like getting dried spaghetti in the market and throwing them into the boiling water. I made up Udon from ingredients!

Maybe famous Japanese noodle is Ramen, because it is popular through out the world. You can find instant type Ramen in super markets near you. Udon is not that famous, however very popular in Japan. Udon is very old style noodle, so young people might not select this for their meal so often, but I very much like this.

Last year, I went to Kagawa prefecture for sight seeing, which is located in middle-west part of Japan. Kagawa is very famous place for Udon, that numbers of Udon shop is more than numbers of traffic lights. I don’t know this is real or not, but Kagawa is definitely the place you need to visit for eating Udon. When I visited Kagawa last year, I also went to one-day Udon school and learned how to make best Udon. Since then, I like to make my own Udon

Udon I made this time is Kitsune Udon. Kitsune Udon is the Udon with sweet flavored deep fried thin tofu. This type of Udon is often eaten by people in Osaka. Osaka is the place where I born and spent most of my young days. So I love Kitsune Udon.

I made this Kitsune Udon. It was marvelous

If you have a chance, please try Udon. When you visit Japan, you can easily find the place to eat.

Other posts you might be interested

• Autumn in Mount Takao
• New Year in Japan
• 2016 Olympic Games to Tokyo
• April Fool Websites
• Zekkei The Main Gate of Nanzen-ji.