Shane’s Japan Trip Report Day 6
Japan Trip Report Days 6: Rising Sun–In the Land of the Rising Sun
Rising Sun in Matsushima
According to plan, we woke up at 5:45, changed our clothes, and hiked several hundred meters out to a walkway with a spectacular view of the Pacific Ocean. Although the sky was beginning to get light, the sun was still hidden below the horizon. The sky was mostly clear with patches of clouds here and there, although none blocking our view of the rising sun.
As sure as death and taxes, the sun indeed began to rise.
Since it’s not a good idea to stare directly into the sun, I witnessed the spectable though the screen of my Ipod Touch, which I bought just for this trip. Since I live on the West coast, I’ve seen many beautiful sunsets disappear behind the Pacific Ocean. However, here on the opposite site of the Pacific, this was the first rising sun I had ever seen, and it was spectacular.
As it unfolded, I snapped picture after picture, and then wanted to kick myself for not taking a video of the entire thing. I was so captivated by the whole experience that I forgot to hit the video switch on the Ipod.
Oh well, the pictures turned out great, and I did get a short video toward the end. The sun’s already well above the horizon, but it will give you an idea of what we saw.
Very energized by the experience, we took a 40-minute walk along the coast as the sun continued to rise into the sky.
Refreshed, we returned to the lodge for another dip in the onsen before breakfast. I actually enjoyed the onsen more in the morning. The outdoor bath in particular was very refreshing, the heat contrasting nicely with the chilly morning air.
At about 7:30, we met Okaa-san and Otoo-san for breakfast, a nice buffet spread with a mix of Japanese and western offerings, which all in all were pretty high-quality fare.
Autumn Colors in Yamagata Prefecture
After breakfast, we retreated once again to our room for about an hour until checkout time. We checked out at 9am, and then were on the road for the trip home. On the way back, we took a roundabout route that would bring us to Yamagata prefecture, where two treats would await us: amazing mountain scenery full of trees nearing their peak of the autumn colors; and a very famous soba shop. Oh yeah, also this rainbow:
Indeed, it is not at all uncommon for Japanese to drive for hours or make an entire day trip out of journeying to some remote area to eat at a well-known eatery, and my food-loving in-laws were no exception.
Dewa-ya Soba in Yamagata Prefecture
After driving for a couple hours, we came upon Dewa-ya in Yamagata prefecture, a soba shop that one would never notice, much less ever come near, if not for the fact that it is of such well repute.
The interior was every bit as unspectacular as the exterior, although I found out later that the restaurant has a more upscale dining area for dinner featuring multi-course soba meals. It is also a ryokan. We sat down at a low tatami floor seating table. An exceedingly polite elderly waitress came to take our order. I ordered sansai zaru soba (cold soba with mountain vegetables) with a side of taki-komi gohan.
Once our meal was served, I understood the reputation of this shop. The noodles were amazing: thick, rustic, and perfectly al dente.
The sansai (mountain veggies) were also of a much higher quality than what one normally finds.
Very satisfied, I was happy my in-laws are among those Japanese who are happy to venture to remote areas in pursuit of great flavors.
As an aside, except for our group all of the other customers in the soba shop were local businessmen on lunch break. As they slurped away at their soba, I was reminded of the scene in the movie Tampopo
The rest of the drive home was long and rainy. Along the way, we were treated to the breathtaking autumn mountain landscape we had looked forward to. In Japan, the autumn leaves are called kouyou, and along with the blooming cherry blossoms in spring, is considered one of the two most beautiful seasons in Japan, and with good reason. It was hard to get good pictures from the car, as Otoo-san, impatient to get home, didn’t stop, but I managed to take some video that captured the scenery along the way.
The mountains eventually gave way to the coast, and the final 3-hour leg of the trip took us along the coast of the Japan Sea. In contrast to the calm, beautiful Pacific, the Japan Sea was stormy, dark, and angry. I certainly wouldn’t venture out there with my surfboard on this day. It was pretty spectacular though.
We finally made it home, and the rest of the night consisted of a quick dinner of gindara (a type of grilled fish) from the local fish market, and some store-bought salad. It was an interesting reflection of small-town life that as we were nearing Yoshida, Otoo-san made a quick call to the fish market, we stopped by, and the proprietor came out of the store and delivered our order of fish to the car window. No money exchanged hands. They would settle up next month. Or possibly the month after. Such a contrast to the big city. I loved it.
Although I did nothing but sit in the back seat and look out the window and nap during the entire ride home, I was nonetheless exhausted, and was fast asleep by 9:30.
Proceed to Shane’s Japan Trip Report Day 7–>
