Miyuki and her two friends invited the four of us to go to the countryside and pick wild plants. It took over an hour to arrive at our destination, making a few stops along the way. The countryside is nothing like I imagined it would be in Japan. There are mountains covered in green pine trees, lots of rice fields and houses scattered everywhere.
at stopped at Hitomi's parents' house to see their small Japanese garden. I couldn't imagine having to drive up this extremely narrow driveway. In the garden there was a natural spring running from a pipe into the garden as well as some beautiful plants. One plant in particular is used in wasabi, big green leaves. They also had some pretty tulips growing. A natural spring runs from the local mountains and in this town there's place where you can fill your water bottles with the fresh, clear water. We tasted some and it was the best water I've ever tasted.
Before we began our plant-hunting adventures we had lunch at a soba restaurant. This type of soba is made from buck wheat and has a dark grey colour. The soba noodles we ate were made at the restaurant.Our delicious lunch (again required chopsticks, not that this worried mum and dad anymore!) consisted of soba noodles in a broth, wild rice with carrots and wild plants, tempura (fried) wild plants and pickles. Yum, yum, yum. After the meal Dad took the bill for the table and paid. When the ladies discovered that this was going on they almost had a panic attack! It is not Japanese custom for guests to pay for others' meals, but once they settled down they were very grateful.
Miyuki's friends were on the hunt for some really small wild plants, similar to those we ate for lunch. After spending time walking up a path and studying the hillside, the 7 of us found a total of 3 plants! Mum managed to find what looked like the wild plants we were searching for, only to be informed that they were a mere imitation! Not your most successful day, but at least we weren't depending on them to feed us! It was such a different feeling being in the countryside compared to the city. We heard birds call and swatted away large mozzie-looking insects. The best part was chatting with Miyuki who taught us Japanese animal noises! Hilarious. VISITORS COMMENTS
Our driver, Miyuki, was extremely good at manoeuvring through the narrow streets of the country side, which reminded me a little of New Zealand with it's steep hills, covered with pine trees and clear running water. We had to pull over to the side of the road a few times to let another car pass us. The air was fresh and clean and the meal at the local eatery was most unusual, but tasty. We saw the camping area, no tents but huts off the ground.
