Tag Archives: 伊豆半島

Wasabi Ice Cream, Wild Boar, Ayu Trout And Joren Waterfalls in Yugashima, Izu Peninsula

The false and the true wasabi ice cream!LOL

If you wish to visit Izu Peninsula, one of the most famous tourist spots in the whole of Japan, be it for a single day or longer, there is a very simple way to do that allows you to explore the area on or off the beaten tracks.

Wherever you come from in Japan or Shizuoka Prefecture, first go to Mishima City and change trains from the JR Railway Line to the Private Izu Hakone Senzu Line which will take you all the way to Shizenji, its final destination.
Then at the Shuzenji Bus Station (beside the Railway Station) choose your destination (buses cover the whole peninsula from there) and enjoy a quiet ride. Take the very back sats if you can as they are always elevated and enable you to enjoy the views on the way from a better angle!

This time my destination was the Jyoren Waterfalls/浄の滝 in Yuugashima/湯ヶ島.
Don’t forget to take a picture of the bus stop sign for your collection!

What’s that inside the beus stop shelter?

“Beware of the Wild Boars!”
It’s not a joke! (Mind you, they make for good food, too!)

They look cute, but their sausages are a local delicacy!

They are also delicious as Inoshishi Man/猪まん/large teamed wild boar dumplings!

Incidentally visit the nearby souvenir shop where you can find Shizuoka Green Tea, real Shizuoka Wasabi Schochu and extravagant Shizuoka sake!

Now, what does that sign say?
Wasabi Soft!

Here they are! Hee they are!

Real wasabi (soft) ice cream (I men the one in the front!) made with wasabi grown in Izu peninsula!
Really piquant and sweet! A must!

Alright let’s go to the waterfalls!
But first consult the board for some useful information!

Quite a few stairs waiting for you!

More wasabi is apparently waiting for you downstairs!

More information on the way to the waterfalls!

Do make a point to read it!

More wasabi ice cream waiting for you!

And fresh wasabi roots on sale!

Can you see the wasabi water fields on your way down?

Impressive, isn’t it?

What are they doing?
Fishing ayu trout/鮎!

Now, here is some great fun for you and your kids:
Ask (for a fee) the small shop below to lend you a rod, line and lure to catch the ayu trouts in the river flowing away from the waterfalls and have your catch grilled for immediate pleasure!

Go there in the colder season when the water is pure and crystal clear!

Our destination: Jypuren No Taki/Jyoren Waterfalls!
You will realize there why the water in Shizuoka Prefecture and Izu Peninsula is so famous!

I must take a dip there next summer! (I wonder if they will let me?)

Looking forward to visit other spots in the Izu Peninsula!

RECOMMENDED RELATED SITES:
Warren Bobrow, Bread + Butter, Zoy Zhang, Hungry Neko, Think Twice, Frank Fariello, Mangantayon, Hapabento, Elinluv Tidbit Corner, Tokyo Terrace, Maison de Christina, Chrys Niles,Lexi, Culinary Musings, Wheeling Gourmet, Comestiblog, Chronicles Of A Curious Cook, Tokyo Through The Drinking Glass, Tokyo Foodcast, Palate To Pen, Yellin Yakimono Gallery, Tokyo Terrace, Hilah Cooking, More than a Mount Full, Arkonite Bento, Happy Little Bento; 5 Star Foodie; Jefferson’s Table; Oyster Culture; Gourmet Fury; Island Vittles; Good Beer & Country Boys; Rubber Slippers In Italy; Color Food daidokoro/Osaka;/a; The Witchy Kitchen; Citron Et Vanille, Lunsj Med Buffet/Estonian Gastronomy (English), Cook, Eat, Play, Repeat, Chrisoscope, Agrigraph, The Agriculture Portal to shizuoka!

Please check the new postings at:
sake, shochu and sushi

“Faces” of Shuzenji, Izu Peninsula

An avatar from Star Wars?

When you travel, be it in Japan or abroad, there are plenty of unusual sights to take in photo in posterity!
I found quite a few the other day in Shuzenji in the heart of Izu Penisula in Shizuoka Prefecture!

It’ s only a question to be lucky and attentive to details!LOL

A grinning lion?

A ravenous dragon?

One of the Seven Deities…

A hand-waving goblin?

Looking for more!

RECOMMENDED RELATED SITES:
Warren Bobrow, Bread + Butter, Zoy Zhang, Hungry Neko, Think Twice, Frank Fariello, Mangantayon, Hapabento, Elinluv Tidbit Corner, Tokyo Terrace, Maison de Christina, Chrys Niles,Lexi, Culinary Musings, Wheeling Gourmet, Comestiblog, Chronicles Of A Curious Cook, Tokyo Through The Drinking Glass, Tokyo Foodcast, Palate To Pen, Yellin Yakimono Gallery, Tokyo Terrace, Hilah Cooking, More than a Mount Full, Arkonite Bento, Happy Little Bento; 5 Star Foodie; Jefferson’s Table; Oyster Culture; Gourmet Fury; Island Vittles; Good Beer & Country Boys; Rubber Slippers In Italy; Color Food daidokoro/Osaka;/a; The Witchy Kitchen; Citron Et Vanille, Lunsj Med Buffet/Estonian Gastronomy (English), Cook, Eat, Play, Repeat, Chrisoscope, Agrigraph, The Agriculture Portal to shizuoka!

Please check the new postings at:
sake, shochu and sushi

Shizuoka Local Products at Shuzenji Station, Izu Peninsula

The only real Wasabi Shochu in the whole world by Bandai Brewery in Shuzenji!

If you wish to visit the Izu Peninsula, especially away from the beaten tracks, Shuzenji Station should be your starting point!
Wherever you come from in Japan or Shizuoka Prefecture, first go to Mishima City and change trains from the JR Railway Line to the Private Izu Hakone Senzu Line which will take you all the way to Shizenji, its final destination.
Shuzenji is a, if not the, major hubub in Izu Peninsula whose hot springs have been famed for unknown centuries.

Shuzenji Hot Springs sign in front of the station.

But when it comes to discover and buy local products for really original gifts and souvenirs, Shuzenji Station is the best place as it provides for all in small enough space to enjoy browsing!
Let me take you on a quick tour!

Shuzenji Station seen from the outside.

What’s that small food booth by the entrance?

Local ekiben/railway bentos, 7 of them! A must for your meal on your way back!

There are two entries to the shop. Pick yours!

But you are already hungry?
No problem, there is a hot food stand inside the souvenir shop!
Once you feel revived, we can start shopping!

Izu Peninsula is by definition is surrounded by the sea. Now, how about some nori/dry seaweed seasoned with wasabi? Incidentally, Shizuoka Prefecture produces no less than 80% of the whole Japanese wasabi crop!

The shop is full of artifacts to remind you this is wasabi land! (actually the second land in Shizuoka Prefecture, as wasabi was first grown in Utougi/有東木 in Shizuoka City!)

When it comes to wasabi related processed products, it is just an embarrassment of choices!

Now, something for the vegans and vegetarians, Kuromai Daifuku/Black Rice Buns/黒米大福, Soba Daifuku/そば大福, Mame daifuku/Soy Beans Buns/豆大福 and more!

Jam Sticks made with fruit cultivated in Izu Peninsula whose fruit is another major product!

For vegans and vegetarians again: Kuromai Udon/黒米うどん/Black Rice Udon, and Jinenjyou Soba/自然薯/Wild Yam Soba!

More wasabi-related processed products!

Japanese sake line-up (of the more reasonable prices) from Bandai Brewery, the only sake brewery in Shuzenji and Izu peninsula!

Forget the bottle on the left… the bottles in the center are shochu from local rice by Fujinishiki Brewery (located nesr Mount Fuji), a white loquat wine bottle by Bandai Brewery and some fiey shochu by the same!

The only real Wasabi Shochu in the whole world by Bandai Brewery in Shuzenji!

Real wines by the Naka Izu Winery, the only wine-producing compabny in Shizuoka Prefecture!

Again, more wasabi-related processed products!

This is only a small round-up, and I’m sure you will find more to your liking!

RECOMMENDED RELATED SITES:
Warren Bobrow, Bread + Butter, Zoy Zhang, Hungry Neko, Think Twice, Frank Fariello, Mangantayon, Hapabento, Elinluv Tidbit Corner, Tokyo Terrace, Maison de Christina, Chrys Niles,Lexi, Culinary Musings, Wheeling Gourmet, Comestiblog, Chronicles Of A Curious Cook, Tokyo Through The Drinking Glass, Tokyo Foodcast, Palate To Pen, Yellin Yakimono Gallery, Tokyo Terrace, Hilah Cooking, More than a Mount Full, Arkonite Bento, Happy Little Bento; 5 Star Foodie; Jefferson’s Table; Oyster Culture; Gourmet Fury; Island Vittles; Good Beer & Country Boys; Rubber Slippers In Italy; Color Food daidokoro/Osaka;/a; The Witchy Kitchen; Citron Et Vanille, Lunsj Med Buffet/Estonian Gastronomy (English), Cook, Eat, Play, Repeat, Chrisoscope, Agrigraph, The Agriculture Portal to shizuoka!

Please check the new postings at:
sake, shochu and sushi

Shizuoka Sake Tasting: Bandai Brewery-Junmai Ginjo Genshu Homare Fuji

Bandai Brewery is located in one of the most scenic cities of Shizuoka Prefecture, Izu Peninsula formerly called Shuzenji. The city has recently been included into a larger city called Izu City, but people and tourists certainly don’t mix the two when they say they are going to Shuzenji!
One can reach this city also famous for its hotsprings and Japanese inns by taking a local train from Mishima City.
When you go down at Shuzenji Station, don’t forget to visit the souvenir shop where you will find all the products of Bandai Brewery, including real wasabi shochu!

Bandai Brewery is one of the oldest breweries in the Prefecture and its history under other names can be traced back to the 16th Century!
Like most of the other sake breweries in Shizuoka Prefecture, it has started to use locally grown sake rice to ensure a stable output.

Rice: Homare Fuji 100% (grown in Shizuoka Prefecture)
Rice milled down to 60%
Dryness: +3
Alcohol: 16~17 degrees (genshu: no water added)
Bottled in July 2010

Clarity: very clear
Colour: faint golden hue
Aroma: Strong and fruity: banana, vanilla, hints of pineapple
Body: fluid
Taste: Strongish attack with junmai petillant and a lot of fruit. Warms back of the palate. Well-rounded backed up by pleasant alcohol.
Complex: banana, gum-candy, almonds with memories of coffee beans later.
Softens with food to turn dry again on its own.
Almonds and banana tend to follow each other alternatively.

Overall: A sake you might as well drink chilled as it is quite sweet in spite of a +3 dryness level (quite dry by Shizuoka standards).
One of those sake you can pour over an ice-cream!
Very pleasant. Tends to get drier with food.
Would very well accompany blue cheese like a Port wine, or being drunk as a digestif!

Must-see tasting websites:
-Sake: Tokyo Through The Drinking Glass, Tokyo Foodcast, Urban Sake, Sake World
-Wine: Palate To Pen, Warren Bobrow, Cellar Tours, Ancient Fire Wines Blog
-Beer: Good Beer & Country Boys, Another Pint, Please!
-Japanese Pottery to enjoy your favourite drinks: Yellin Yakimono Gallery
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Please check the new postings at:
sake, shochu and sushi

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日本語のブログ
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Shizuoka Beer 7/2: Hansharo Beer/Kurayanarusawa Brewery-Tarozaemon

tarozaemon

The weather having definitely turned warmer, I just becomes too difficult to get away from real beer! Time again to delve back into more Shizuoka micro-breweries brews!
The Good Beer and Country Boys in Nagoya will get tempted!

This particular brew, “Tarozaemon is another Pilsen type by Kurayanarusawa in Izu-Nagaoka (Izu no Kuni City in Izu Peninsula)

Hansharo Beer/Kurayanarusawa Brewery-Tarozaemon
Ingredients: Grain Malt, Hops, Yeast
Alcohol: 5%
Contents: 300ml
Live yeast, unfiltered, unpasteurized.

Clarity: Very clear
Colour: Golden
Foam: Long head, fine bubbles
Aroma: Dry, oranges, bread
Taste: Shortish tail. Dry. Oranges, bread.
Solid, refreshing impression

Overall: Very refreshing, easy to drink. Thirst-quaffing.
Light, but solid.

Kurayanarusawa Brewery
Shizuoka Ken, Izu no Kuni Shi, Naka, 272-1
Tel.: 055-949-1208
Sales on site or through the Internet (Japanese)
Visits possible
Restaurant on site

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Must-see tasting websites:
-Sake: Tokyo Through The Drinking Glass, Tokyo Foodcast, Urban Sake, Sake World
-Wine: Palate To Pen
-Beer: Good Beer & Country Boys, Another Pint, Please!
-Japanese Pottery to enjoy your favourite drinks: Yellin Yakimono Gallery
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Please check the new postings at:
sake, shochu and sushi

—————————————-
日本語のブログ
—————————————-

Shizuoka Beer 7/1: Hansharo Beer/Kurayanarusawa Brewery-Masako

hansharo-masako

The weather having turned for the warmer these days, I felt it was time to delve back into more Shizuoka micro-breweries brews!
The Good Beer and Country Boys in Nagoya will get tempted!

This particular brew, “Masako” by Kurayanarusawa in Izu-Nagaoka (Izu no Kuni City in Izu Peninsula) is a bit extra0rdinary: The master Brewer also works at Bandai Brewery (sake and shochu in Shizenji, Izu Peninsula) and after consulting Denbei Kawamura, the man who revolutionized sake in Shizuoka Prefecture, he used Shizuoka HD-1 usually utilized in brewing sake!

I can tell you I’m not one to complain!

Hansharo Beer/Kurayanarusawa Brewery-Masako
Ingredients: Grain Malt, Hops, HD-1 Yeast (Shizuoka)
Alcohol: 5%
Contents: 300ml
Live yeast, unfiltered, unpasteurized.

Clarity: Very clear
Colour: Dark orange
Foam: Longish, fine bubbles
Aroma: Strong, oranges, bread
Taste: Well-rounded with a comparatively soft attack. Shortish tail. Some welcome acidity with a dry finish.
Dry persimmons, memories of oranges. Bread. Oranges reappearing later.

Overall: Very refreshing, easy to drink. Thirst-quaffing. Goes well with a snack. Softer than expected.

Kurayanarusawa Brewery
Shizuoka Ken, Izu no Kuni Shi, Naka, 272-1
Tel.: 055-949-1208
Sales on site or through the Internet (Japanese)
Visits possible
Restaurant on site

Please check the new postings at:
sake, shochu and sushi

—————————————-
日本語のブログ
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