my trip to daigo

ok this is what i did on the 18th (i.e. today)

i have written an article for our new english language newsletter, E-Ibaraki Report, so i will just post of copy of that so i dont have to rewrite it all.

enjoy!

Eat your way through Daigo!

Yamizo Onsen - Takami-en Tea Farm - Oyaki School

We went to Daigo Town (http://www.town.daigo.ibaraki.jp/), about 50km north of Mito, on a mission. Halloween was coming and we needed some pumpkins to carve out faces from. But things didn't go exactly as planned. We ended on going on a great gourmet tabi!

Like most places in Ibaraki, Daigo (pop. 22,781) is famous for a number of food products, Tea, Konyaku (jelly made from starch of devils tongue), Yuba (dried tofu), Shamo (game fowl), Soba (buckwheat noodles), Wasabi (Horseradish paste), Apples, and for some reason, cheesecake. It turns out that pumpkins fit in there somewhere too.

Every year in late September there is a festival that celebrates HUGE pumpkins (some up to 400kgs) and we managed to get our hands on some of the leftovers.

This story turns out to be less about the pumpkins and more about the other place we ended up because of the pumpkins

Takami-en
The pick up place for the pumpkins was called “Takami-en”, a tea farm on the outskirts of Daigo. The owner of this farm is one of the organizers of the pumpkin festival.

After stuffing about 200kgs worth of orange goodness into the back of the station wagon we were lucky enough to try some of their tea.

They have been growing “sencha” tea leaves here for over 20 years and even turn some of them in English style tea which is very rare in Japan. I can tell you now that it tastes pretty good.

Now, the most interesting thing I discovered while I was drinking their tea and eating cakes with the owners was that anyone can actually become a part owner of their farm!

For only 8000 yen a year, you are given the right to 3.3 square metres of the crop. You can put a name plate next to your trees and in when it comes time to pick the crop in May and July, you are invited to come along to help. Then your tea is packaged up and sent to you. What a great souvenir to take home. After you have drunk all your tea, you are given a 20% discount on any more your buy from them.

The 3.3 square meters corresponds roughly to 600 grams of tea. Normally 100 grams of their tea sells for around 1500 yen so if you like tea, and would like to take part in the process, it's a pretty good deal.

For more details,

Takami-en
1421 Saki, Daigo Town, Kuji Country, Ibaraki Prefecture
TEL: 02957-2-1191
FAX: 02957-2-2501
http://www6.plala.or.jp/takamien


Yamizo Onsen
Next stop on the journey was something that I had heard about and couldn't believe so I needed to see it for myself. Funnily enough, the other day at work I ran into the manager of said place and when we said we were off to collect pumpkins in Daigo he said we should drop by

I am sure that everyone knows what an onsen is, you know, a hot spring. You get all naked with people you don't know and after washing yourself down on a little plastic stool, you plunge your body into scorching hot natural spring water.

So this normal enough in Japan, but what makes Yamizo different is the fact that they put whole apples in the onsen along with the naked bodies!

Why apples?, I am sure you ask. As I wrote earlier, Daigo is famous for apples among other things. About 20 years ago someone came up with the idea of using left over apples from the surrounding farms to make the onsen water sweet and delicious. Since then it has been a hit. Each day over 100 new apples are placed into each of the men’s and women’s baths.

Yamizo is the only onsen in Daigo that does this. In fact apples are not the only speciality of this onsen. Apple season is from the start of September to the end of January. From February to April the water is filled with the aroma of Hinoki (Japanese cypress) by placing special logs in the water. May and June is set aside for Shobu (Siberian iris), and July and August return to Hinoki again.

For more information,

Yamizo Leisure Centre
524－2 Yada, Daigo Town, Kuji Country, Ibaraki Prefecture
TEL: 02957-2-1511
FAX: 02957-2-1514
http://www.yamizo.com

Entry Cost
Junior High School and above
10am – 4pm 800 yen
4pm – 8pm 500 yen

Primary School and above
10am – 4pm 500 yen
4pm – 8pm 400 yen


Daigo Oyaki School
The final stop was an unplanned detour thanks to the recommendations of the owner of the onsen.

Another of Daigo”s specialities is called “Oyaki”. It is a kind of cake which can be roughly compared with Niku-man (pork buns).

At the Oyaki School you are able to learn how to make these oyaki, but this is not the only reason it is called a school. The building where it is housed was actually a real school house up until 1997. It must have been built about 100 years ago!

There are about 10 varieties of Oyaki which are produced on the premises. Pumpkin (not the big ones that we collected though), apple (not the ones from the onsen), vegetable, azuki bean, cheese, mushroom etc. While we were there they were in the midst of cooking up a batch of 2200 pumpkin ones for the local school lunches.

The Oyaki class goes for appromiately 45 mins and you get to make 5 or 6 or your own to take home and share. It costs 800 yen for adults and 500 yen for children. There is a discount for groups but you must book in advance. You can buy individual Oyaki for around 130 yen depending on the flavour.

Soba making classes are also available at the school. These take 1 hour and cost 2600 yen for up to 4 people. Add 600 yen if you want it cooked on the spot to eat then and there. Take note that soba classes are not available until December as the soba wheat will not be finished growing until then.

The Oyaki School is very into sustainable living and all of the ingredients used are grown on the premises.

For more information,

Daigo Oyaki School
2469 Daiji makinochi, Daigo Town, Kuji Country, Ibaraki Prefecture
TEL: 02957-8-0500
FAX: 02957-8-0509
http://www.town.daigo.ibaraki.jp/05spot/other/other08.html