2019 Tochigi Vacation (Day 3)

Breakfast was served at the same restaurant and similar to the dinner we had a great feast. The special dish I wanted to highlight was a soup called Kishizo’s Soup 鬼子蔵汁. The story is that a farmer whose name is Kishizo was worried about his sick wife, prayed to the buddha.

He then heard a voice telling him to cook the wild vegetables from the mountains, which Kishizo followed. His wife miraculously got better and they were able to live happily thereafter. The villagers adopted the recipe as a way to keep themselves healthy.

Although it looked simple, the soup was really delicious, with the flavors from all the different vegetables integrated well together, and serving in a metal pot heated over a candle also helped to keep the soup hot, which was truly a must-try if you are in the area.

After breakfast we toured the ryokan, and was introduced to the mechanisms of traditional water mills, which were once used in Japan to scoop up water for irrigating rice fields, husking grains, and turning querns, through a rare inside view.

Checked out from the ryokan we drove to Ryuokyo Canyon 龍王峡. This canyon is formed by eruption of an underwater volcano 22 million years ago, and then over time eroded by the flow of the Kinu River 鬼怒川.  

As its name suggests, this place has the appearance of a dragon, running for about 3 km between Kawaji Onsen and Kinugawa Onsen 鬼怒川温泉. Since we don’t have enough time to walk along the whole canyon, we chose the White Dragon Canyon 白龍峡 for a short hike.

After visiting the temple 龍王神社, we went across the bridge 虹見橋, with both sides showing the white rhyolite 流紋岩. There are a number of waterfalls like 虹見の滝, 竪琴の滝. Some special rock formations are really interesting to take note too: かめ穴 and 流紋岩の割れ目.

The hike was not too difficulty but since the weather was rainy in the past few days the trek was slippery, making it a bit challenging. There are sections which we had to step on rocks and had to be careful. But overall it was a nice trail definitely worth exploring.

Then we drove to 報徳庵 for lunch. This restaurant specializes in hand-made soba, and the building itself is located in a park surrounded by cedar trees, a quaint Japanese village house, making the whole dining experience as if one has traveled back in time.

I had the cold soba with vegetable tempura. The tempura was very nicely deep-fried, with a thin coating and not oily at all. But the most memorable would be the soba, with a great chewy texture which was so amazing when eating after dipping into the soy sauce.

We then proceeded to visit a nearby sake brewery Watanabe Sadahiro 渡边佐平商店. Started in 1842, this brewery is in Imaichi 今市市, about 400m above sea level. Cool in summer and very cold in winter, the city offers the perfect weather for making good sake.

Its very pure and high-quality water flows from Kegon Falls 華厳の滝. The brewery has a well in front of the shop where many people come to take water. These are not only from the neighbors but also people coming from other prefectures.

Apart from water, the choice of rice is as important. The brewery has been using 五百万石, grown by farmers in Nikko, for their most famous sake 純米吟醸日光誉. In addition, they are using locally produced rice in Tochigi prefecture as much as possible.

The owner spoke fluent English and explained to us the different sake in their range. There was also a special set of sake cups which could be used to play a drinking game, and depends on the roll of the dice, the person would drink the whole cup (of different size) bottom-up.

I decided to buy a couple of sake to bring back home, going for their prestigious 純米大吟醸清開 and きざけ日光誉 徳利. The former is the premium sake featuring pure finesse while the latter is a pure rice original sake, without adding water to dilute, so having a higher alcohol and richer flavors. 　

Leaving Imaichi we drive to Edo Wonderland 日光江戸村. This village is modeled of life in Japan during the Edo Period, showing how in the 17^th century people lived, with a wide variety of entertaining performances, delicious food and interesting activities.

To deepen visitors’ experience in Edo and create some beautiful photo memories, visitors can change into Edo period clothing and become an Edo inhabitant for the day, becoming an Edo period character such as policeman, samurai, princess or even a lord to mention a few.

There are a variety of programs at Edo Wonderland designed to give visitors real Edo period experiences, like exploring the secret passages of the Karasu Ninja Mansion. There is also a theatre showing ninja action as well as hilarious comedy and traditional Edo performance art.

At Edo Wonderland visitors can also try some of these simple pastimes of the Edo Period. We tried out activities as shuriken throwing and archery. I was pretty good at archery, hitting 3 arrows straight in a row, and unfortunately could not finish the remaining 2 to win the big prize.

Unfortunately, the weather was bad during the visit and the rain was pretty heavy, making us less eager to go to visit each venue in more details. After around an hour we decided to leave to drive to the ryokan we are staying for the night: Kai Kinugawa 界 鬼怒川.

The ryokan is fed by the spring water from Kinugawa hotspring. It overlooks River Kinugawa from a high hilltop, accessed by a monorail. This is the first time I experienced a ryokan with such facility offering extra sense of privacy for guests.

Inside there is a courtyard which boasts beautiful seasonal colors, and the interiors are decorated by stunning local craft artworks. ‘Kurobane Aizome’ 黒羽藍染 decorates in various places of the building, giving a cool deep blue décor which paired great with the lush green background.

We have booked the Signature Japanese-style Room with Outdoor Bath, featuring some traditional Tochigi craftsmanship like 益子焼 and 黒羽藍染, as well as a terrace constructed from Oya stone. Soaking in the outdoor bath with the soothing winds blowing is highly comforting.

The ryokan also organized workshops to explain to guests the history of Mashiko-yaki and how to appreciate the pottery, allowing us a better understanding of all the arts we saw throughout our stay, particularly in the gallery where 300 pieces of the pottery are displayed.

Before dinner we went to the public bath. The outdoor bath has an expansive view of forests and gardens that sport different colors throughout the year, from pink cherry blossoms in the spring to vivid greens in the summer, vibrant colors in the fall, and snowscapes in the winter.

Dinner was another great feast, and we ordered the special cuisine ‘Dragon Hot Pot’ 龍神鍋. The fresh lobster, beef loin and vegetable are first put in a pot with the soup, then placing a stone heated to 800℃. Sizzling and steaming, the food was cooked quickly and the dish was so delicious.