Wineshark Nice Hotel - Honen Mansaku 豊年万作

Walking a short distance from Fukuroda Falls is the ryokan we are staying for the night, Honen Mansaku 豊年万作.

Our Room 301 is a 11-mat traditional Japanese-style room 和室11畳, with veranda 広縁 and balcony.

The veranda has a comfy chair looking out the window.

There is also a Hori-Gotatsu 掘り炬燵, a traditional seating with cavity on the floor and a table covering it, with a heater inside, ideal for the cold seasons.

From the balcony it looks out to the parking lot and the road, with the trees and hills on the background.

The make-up room is simple.

And the bathroom is also basic, with a bathtub and showers.

Finishing the snack provided, we go to the public bath to relax. The indoor section is a hinoki cypress bath with natural wood aromas while the outdoor section is larger, offering a comfortable wild nature ambience. The water of Fukuroda Onsen 袋田温泉 is simple alkaline in nature.

Dinner is served at Tokinone 時季の音 on G/F, which also offers breakfast and lunch.

The appetizer 前菜 includes Pike Conger Eel Jelly 鱧煮こごり, Smoked Duck Breast 鴨薫製, Deep-fried Eggplant with Seafood 茄子海鮮はさみ揚げ, Tomato Tofu トマト豆腐, and Edamame 枝豆.

The bowl dish 御椀 is Corn Tofu in Soup とうもろこし豆腐.

The sashimi 御造り includes Tuna 鮪, Sea Bream 真鯛, and Salmon 妻いろいろ.

The small dish 凌ぎ is Hitachi Wagyu Beef Sushi 常陸牛の握り寿司.

The meat dish 肉料理 is Stone Grilled Hitachi Wagyu Beef 常陸牛の石焼き.

The light dish 中皿 is Roasted Hitachi Wagyu Beef 常陸牛のローストビーフ.

The meal 御食事 is Hitachi Wagyu Beef Rice 常陸牛しぐれご飯, which uses the local rice, with the pickles 香の物 including three types of vegetables 糠漬け三種盛り.

The dessert ヂザート includes Matcha Yokan 抹茶水ようかん, Warabimochi わらび餅, and Red Beans 小豆.

For the drink 御飲物 I have picked Coffee コーヒー.

Waking up to a beautiful day, we go to 時季の音 again for breakfast.

The hearty breakfast has salad, homemade tofu, grilled fish, vegetables and different pickles and delicacies, tasty and healthy. While the room is not particularly impressive, the food in this ryokan is very good. Total cost for the stay and other expenses is 43,686 yen for two.

Address: 茨城県久慈郡大子町袋田169-3

Tel: 029-572-3011

Wineshark Japan Journey - Fukuroda Falls 袋田の滝

Leaving Kasama, we drive to Fukuroda Falls 袋田の滝. It is regarded as one of Japan’s top three waterfalls, 120m high and 73m wide. It is also called Yodo Falls 四度の滝 as it flows down the large rock wall in four stages.

After paying the entry fee (300 yen), we walk into the 276m Kanbaku tunnel, which leads to the observation decks. The temperature significantly drops inside, providing us the much-needed cooling from the hot summer weather.

On the way is the Love’s Sanctuary monument, with the motif of mandarin duck, which is also the bird of Daigo 大子. A good spot to take photos sitting on the swing with the beautiful trees in the background.

Soon we reach the first observation deck 観瀑台, where we can feel the power of the waterfall up close, about only 10m away from the basin. The massive scale and amount of water put us in awe, and the water sprays will make people get wet even standing there for only a short while.

Taking the lift, we go up to the second observation deck. Fortunately, it is not crowded on the day, and we do not need to queue and wait.

Located about 50m high, here we can see the whole waterfall in full view and the four stages where the water flows down the rock face.

On the way out from the tunnel, instead of going through the same route, there is another exit leading to a suspension bridge over Takigawa 滝川, which connects the tunnel to the opposite bank.

Apart from the waterfall, the nearby scenery is also very beautiful, and no wonder this place is designated as National Scenic Beauty by the Japan government. It will be amazing to observe how the colours of nature will change throughout the four seasons.

Address: 茨城県久慈郡大子町袋田

Tel: 029-572-3017

Wineshark Japan Journey - Lunch & Café Tonosuke+ 陶之助+

Leaving Mt. Tsukuba, we drive to Lunch & Café Tonosuke+ 陶之助+ in Kasama 笠間. This restaurant is famous for using local fresh vegetables and serving the food with tableware made by artists in Kasama.

The restaurant is inside a re-developed circular building, having very high ceiling, with neat decors and using rustic materials like concrete and old wooden boards for furniture.

I order the Lunch Menu A with Cake (2,000 yen) while my wife has Soup Lunch Menu with Cake (1,900 yen). In my set there is an appetizer of 3-types, which wonderfully highlights the original flavours of the ingredients. Really delicious.

For the main course I have the grilled duck meat on rice. The duck meat has been grilled on charcoal, fragrant and juicy. Together with some pickles and an egg on the side, I devour the whole dish in no time, so delicious that I am tempted to order another set.

There is also a bowl of miso soup included, stewed with plenty of vegetables to bring forth a great sweet taste. A satisfying and wonderful meal which scores high marks.

For my wife, she starts with a western-style mixed vegetable soup, with celery, tomato, carrot, and many other types of vegetables, plus bacon, bringing forth the flavours of the ingredients.

The salad with prawn toast combines the healthy fresh vegetables that has been drizzled with some homemade dressing. The deep-fried prawn toast is also good in taste.

There is a small dessert included for both set, a panna cotta with some pomelo fruit and jelly on top. The acidity of the fruit balances the sweetness of the pudding perfectly.

For the cake, I have the cheesecake which is the signature of the restaurant. Rich but not too heavy.

The banana sponge cake that my wife orders is equally delicious, fluffy, light, and not too sweet.

Finishing with a cup of coffee and tea, served in nice Kasamayaki 笠間焼, this is a restaurant I highly recommend, one of the highlights in fact in this trip in Ibaraki.

Cost: 3,900 yen for two

Address: 茨城県笠間市笠間4036

Tel: 029 673-0577

Wineshark Japan Journey - Inaba Shuzo 稲葉酒造

Inaba Shuzo 稲葉酒造 is a sake brewery located at the foot of Mt. Tsukuba, now under their 13^th generation. In 1867, the 6^th generation owner started brewing Minanogawa 男女川, named after the river flowing between Mt. Tsukuba.

Using the pure water from Mt. Tsukuba, the sake is totally handmade, quite rare nowadays, from rice washing, checking of koji 麹 temperature, to the hanging of moromi (unrefined sake) in bag to allow the drip off drop by drop into Shizuku-sake 雫酒.

The current owner and brewer, Nobuko Inaba 稲葉伸子, is one of the few female brewers in Japan, taking over the family brewery since 2000. She has launched Stella, a premium Junmai Daiginjou with only 7 tanks made each year, winning consecutive gold medals from contests in recent years.

In 2019 she started to use local rice in Mt. Tsukuba to make Stella Sense and planning to only use local rice in future to add personality of the brewery. She also uses different rice polishing ratio every year to determine the optimal ratio depending on quality of the rice.

Address: 茨城県つくば市沼田1485番地

Tel: 029 866-0020

Wineshark Japan Journey - Mt. Tsukuba 筑波山

Walking up the steps next to Tsukubasan Shrine 筑波山神社, we soon arrive at Miyawaki Station 宮脇駅 of Tsukubasan Cable Car 筑波山ケーブルカー.

The cable car company has started operations in 1925 and has merged with Tsukubasan Ropeway 筑波山ロープウェイ in 1999, offering different means to go up Mt. Tsukuba at two locations.

The cable car uses a single rope to connect to the pulleys system at the summit station, with a total length of 1,634m and is the third longest in Japan. Each car can accommodate a maximum of 107 passengers.

One third of the track is curved, and on its way will pass through the 188m Nagamine 長峰 Tunnel, arriving at the 800m high Miyukigahara 御幸ヶ原 after 8 minutes.

Mt. Tsukuba is one of the 100 famous mountains in Japan, and from Miyukigahara there are trails going to the two peaks 男体山 and 女体山, about 15 minutes each way.

As the weather is gloomy with a bit of drizzle, the trail is a bit slippery. For safety, we decide not to hike to the peaks and return to the cable car station to go back down the mountain.