{"id":3142,"date":"2013-06-11T19:43:13","date_gmt":"2013-06-12T02:43:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/?p=3142"},"modified":"2021-06-25T10:03:13","modified_gmt":"2021-06-25T17:03:13","slug":"japan-land-of-spectacular-festivals-foods-castles-gujo-hachiman-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/japan-land-of-spectacular-festivals-foods-castles-gujo-hachiman-part-2","title":{"rendered":"Japan \u2013 Land of Spectacular Foods, Festivals & Castles \u2013 Gujo Hachiman, 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gujo Hachiman is famous for its sake, ayu fish and soba due to its pristine waters. On our second day,\u00a0we managed to wine and dine through all three specialties and are glad to report them to be excellent as advertised!<\/p>\n

Gujo Hachiman’s other claim to fame is its ‘incredible inedible’ industry. The town’s numerous workshops supply shokuhin sanpuru<\/a> (aka fake food) to about 80% of the nation’s restaurants. We ended up taking a hands-on tour factory tour after sampling sake\u00a0at the Ueda sakaya (sake store). Luckily the tasting did not affect our artistic ability when it comes to making fake food \u2013 or maybe none was required?!<\/p>\n

\"Sculpture<\/a>
Sculpture in a Buddhist temple.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I came across this surprisingly contemporary work on the grounds of a temple.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
The Yanaka Komichi is an artfully paved street with a small stream running alongside it.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The picturesque alley lives up to its Water Town image. On both sides of this pedestrian-only street are some well preserved Edo-era homes built in the Kyoto style. The buildings, like New Orleans’ famed shot gun houses, are deeper than they are wide.<\/p>\n

\"Public<\/a>
Whimsical public art in the stream accompanied by colored marbles seemingly randomly strewn on the walkway and surrounding walls.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Purportedly some 80 thousand round rocks are used in the paving, and ‘80,000’ is pronounced as ‘hachiman’ in Japanese. Of course, this may just be another urban legend\u2026<\/p>\n

We visited Sample Kobo and signed up for a taiken (class) to make fruit tart replicas. It was fascinating to watch the staff help tourists make fake lettuce. Then\u00a0it was time to try our hand at filling\u00a0heart shaped tartlets\u00a0with whipped cream and berries. It was a blast and we triumphantly took our creations as mementos of the visit.<\/p>\n