Cram time! A trip to Matsumoto and the Kiso Valley.

The Fuji family has been trying to cram as much fun as possible into our remaining days in Tokyo. The clock is ticking! Last week I was involved in putting on a performing arts camp here in Tokyo for girls between the ages of 12 and 18. It was exhausting, but great fun.
Then the Fujis skipped town and headed for Matsumoto a city in Nagano prefecture that sits on the edge of the glorious Japanese Northern Alps. We spent our first day driving out to the Kiso Valley to explore a little outpost town called Narai. The Nakasendo was a highway between Tokyo and Kyoto that was constructed in 1602 and went through the Kiso Valley. The towns in the valley, included Narai were places for travelers to stop along the way. Many of the buildings in Narai are made of cypress which has aged beautifully over the past few hundred years, many becoming almost black in color. It is swallow season in the area, and so we enjoyed watching hundreds of swallows flitting about and finding many nests tucked up under the eaves of the buildings.
While there, we managed to try oyaki, a specialty of the region. Oyaki is a delicious chewy bun filled with vegetables. I think I could live on these. It’s probably good that I don’t live anywhere near an oyaki stand . . .
Later that day we drove to Daio Wasabi Farm, the largest wasabi farm in Japan. We got there right before closing, so we quickly took a look at some of the fields and then sat for a moment to cool off while we enjoyed some wasabi ice cream. I actually loved the ice cream. It was sweet, not spicy, and had wonderful flavor. Real wasabi tastes quite different from the imitation wasabi that is normally served. Real wasabi is expensive and much more flavorful (and not as spicy). We’ve decided that we drive a wasabi car.

For dinner we sampled another of the regions specialties: horse meat. This is not a first for the Fujis. Mr. Fuji ordered a sampler plate, which ended up being a sampling of different parts of the entire horse (cartilage, fat, stomach, liver, etc.).
I had banikudon, a rice bowl topped with strips of horse steak. My meat was delicious–tender and flavorful, perfectly cooked.
The second day of our trip we visited Matsumoto-jo, or Matsumoto Castle. This castle is unique because it is mostly black (other Japanese castles are white). It is also the oldest five-tiered keep in Japan (built in 1593) and has the oldest walls and moat (built in 1504). Although it was tricky getting Squirrel through the tour (no elevators…5 flights of extremely steep wooden staircases), it was well worth it and we thoroughly enjoyed our visit. It was interesting to get a glimpse into what life might have been like at the castle and enjoy the views from the 5th tier.
We spent the rest of our day driving up into the Alps. We drove up as far as we were permitted (private cars are not permitted beyond a certain point) and then hired a driver to go the rest of the way to an area called Kamikochi. Kamikochi roughly translates to meet “where gods descend” and I found this to be a befitting description. The views were spectacular. We had a great view of smoking Mount Yake, the only active volcano in the Northern Alps.
We had an even more incredible view of Mount Hotaka, the highest peak in the Alps (10,470 ft/3,190 m), resplendent in the afternoon sun. We only wished we had longer to stay and soak in the fresh mountain air and peaceful atmosphere.Although Squirrel got carsick on the drive back to Tokyo and rewarded us with a display of vomiting reminiscent of Old Faithful, I think we were able to reach a state of personal zen that will get us through the next couple of weeks as we pack everything up, move, and start to try and settle into our new life in California.