This being my third trip to Japan the past five years, I wanted to get away from the big cities. Since Ema had to return to her hometown of Saku to take photos with her sister before her sister’s Coming of Age ceremony (Seijin-Shiki / 成人式) next January, I took this opportunity to tag along. The first day was mostly spent getting to the city…

In the town of Saku, there are p.a. systems installed everywhere. Every day at 7am, music plays to ensure everyone gets an early start to the day, and every night at 5pm, music plays to ensure citizens get off work and go home, I KID YOU NOT. I can’t really remember what music was playing, but for the most part I ignored it. For breakfast, I had salmon with rice, pumpkin, fresh cherry tomatoes and tofu, ginger and vegetable soup. After breakfast we headed off to Teishouji temple, a quick 5 minute drive away. On the walk from the foot of the hill (the temple was at the top of a flight of stairs), there was this traditional Japanese house tucked away to the side. Upon closer inspection, the house appeared to be well maintained and two older women were inside, enjoying tea. Aside from the kettle hanging, the house was unfurnished. The tatami seemed new and the wood seemed to of been polished recently, but I suspect the house looked new due to the meticulous upkeep. We were invited by the ladies to take a look around; apparently they don’t live there but spend their time taking care of the house. After signing the guestbook, which Ema insisted I do because “how often would someone from Canada really stumble upon this place?” (yes foreigners are rare in this city), we continued up the steps to the temple.

Entrance to Teishouji

Unlike the temples I’ve seen in Tokyo and Osaka, this one was small and empty. There weren’t crowds of tourists and there were no priests or shrine maidens; it was just a tiny temple sitting in the mountains surrounded by trees. It wasn’t an abandoned temple either, I could see that some laundry was hung outside (probably only earlier in the morning) and the place was well kept. We washed our hands in the fountain and proceeded inside.

There here at least 100 cicada shells on this one tree…

After we left Teishouji , we made a quick 7-11 stop to pick up some onigiri and tea for lunch and drove up into the mountains. On the way up, there were cars just parked to the side of the road. They belong to people who are cultivating mushrooms in the forest. There are many varieties of mushrooms in these parts and some, like the Matsutake can be sold for quite a bit of money. According to wikipedia:

The Japanese matsutake at the beginning of the season, which is the highest grade, can go up to $2,000 per kilogram. In contrast, the average value for imported matsutake is about $90 per kilogram.

I didn’t know these even existed in Canada until now, but apparently Canada is a large source of Matsutake imports. Aside from random people stopping to pick mushrooms, we also passed a few places selling soft cream (soft ice-cream). Since it was still quite warm (we were still less than 2000m above sea level), we decided to stop for one, and oh it was good. I don’t even really like soft ice-cream and I thought it was delicious!

We finally reached our destination, Shiragoma no Ike. A lake in a forest 2000+ meters above sea level.  First thing I learnt, was how to hypnotize and capture dragonflies. First, you have to let them land somewhere. Secondly, from about 50cm away, you point at the dragonfly with your index finger and slowly twirl your finger making a circular motion. As you twirl, slowly move your hand closer to the dragonfly. The twirling motion will catch its attention and you can see its head trying to follow your finger. After a while it will be too dizzy to move and you can catch the dragonfly with your hands (by the way, if it is not dizzy enough, they will bite).

The forest itself was serine. There is a path through the forest that is roped off and because people stay on the path, the rest of the forest floor is undisturbed. Following the path will take you to a small lake/pond where, I imagine, during warmer weather people would be out there on paddleboats and canoes. But on this cool overcast day, it was just us and the dragonflies (and these two kids that ran by).

After exploring the forest we headed back home where we rested for a bit before heading out to the local supermarket to shop for dinner. Most important thing I learned today; wasabi is a plant (this is what happens when you eat cheap wasabi out of a tube all your life I guess…? That or ignorance.) Dinner consisted of assorted sashimi, veggies (pickled carrots, fresh cucumber with miso, pumpkin) and a clam and vegetable stew. Speaking of sashimi, I was surprised that they eat carp sashimi (I didn’t get a chance to try it). Normally, only saltwater fish is used because it is much cleaner and contain less bacteria than freshwater. So to be able to eat carp sashimi, well let’s just say the water is really really clean.