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13th Apr, 2007
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Kirin Factory, Sanda
We have been to the Asahi Factory so let’s check out the competition. We made our way back to central Sanda, and eventually found our goal. Much to my displeasure it wasn’t as fantastic as the Asahi factory and you could only get 2 drinks, the snacks were also pretty basic, but at the Kirin factory you had a choice of The gold, Ichiban lager or Kirin Lager.
From there we went to the gold temple and onto Arishiama, which was fantastic due to the large amounts of Sakura in full bloom. From there we went home via Shukagawa River to see the Sakura with illumination. On Monday I decided to go back to Shukagawa to revel in the festivities, on returning back to my car I saw some asshole had scratched and dented the right side off my car and had left no details and there where no security cameras there so the prick got away and left me out of pocket $800.
Today we headed off to Wakayama, which is around 2 hrs drive south from home. First stop was to the sea port for lunch but we had to wait to see the Maguro show. The shop had a show in which they cut up a 100 kg Tuna before taking away to slice smaller to make steaks, sushi and sashimi. We opted for a sashimi donburi set and the meat was melt in your mouth stuff it was kind off creamy and light tasting and the price was reasonable also.
From there we walked around the area sampling the multitudes of Ume boshi from the cheapest to the most expensive, which included sweet ones and the down right sour ones. Next to the sea port is Europe land which is a theme park and today was a cosplay special day there where hundreds of these people who where dressed in costumes. We then drove to Kimii dera which is a famous temple in the area and some off the Cherry blossoms had blossomed. The next stop was Wakayama castle which has a history of 400 years besides being rebuilt due to bombs dropped by the Yanks in the 2nd world war.
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Shiga Pref
Hikone castle is an orginal castle, ie it has survived the post feudal era without any destruction or renovatation, it was eventually finished in 1622 after 20 years of construction. Most of the castles moats, guard houses and gates remain intact, allowing visitors a true indicatation of what a complete feudal castle was like, although it is quite small in size compared to Himeji or Nagoya Castles it is just as grand. From there we went to Nagahama for lunch. We went to a popular restaurant named Torikita and were early around 11am but there was already a queue and before opening time of 11.30 there would have been over 100 people in the queue. We ate a dish called a Oyakodon Donburi which is a bowl of rice with simmered chicken, green onion, sauce and a raw egg on top, it was pretty good to eat and cheap at 650 yen a bowl. The whole area is surrounded by the Japan Alps which are still covered in snow and makes for quite a nice back drop:-)
Sanda, city!!
Today weather is pretty cold, but the sun is shining so we are going to head of to Sanda city, which is around 40km nth east from Kobe and is famous for having high quality beef. While driving across Mt Rokko the weather decided to turn and it became very cold and started to snow and continued to snow for a couple of hours. We arrived at a shiitake mushroom farm, which allows you to pick your own fresh mushrooms and then return to a vast hall full of bbqs to cook them.
After lunching on shiitake mushrooms, sanda beef and chicken we drove around 9 kms to Kiyomizu Dera a famous temple which dates back over 1800 years. It is situated on top of mountain a named “Mitake san” which gives you great views of the area. Kiyomizu means “pure water” was adapted as the name for the temple after Hodo Sennin the founder of the temple, prayed to the gods for water and it spurted out from the ground where Okageno Ido is now. The Konponchu Do (prayer hall) was built in 627ad the whole area is filled with a peaceful and serine feeling. On the way home we stopped at a butcher shop to buy some Sanda beef the Sanda beef steak was very expensive at $157.00 and $210.00 per kg. I also thought you would like to see my garden over here it maybe small but at least I don’t have to mow it!! How about the road sign “Woody town” hahaha how would you like to live there!!
