Tokyo University of Agriculture 121st Annual Harvest Festival / 東京農業大学 第１４１収穫祭

I still had a few posts left over from last year that I haven't gotten around to writing about until now.  The first one being Tokyo University of Agriculture's 121st Annual Harvest Festival.  Mikako and I have been going to this every year for the last five or six years (maybe seven).  Of course, our main objective is always the food!

昨年でまだ書かれてなかったネタが残ってたんので、やっと書ける時間を作りました。まだ話してなかったのは東京農業大学の第１２１収穫祭。僕と美香子はもう５年か６年（もしくは７年）連続行ってます。目的はもちろん屋台の食べ物。今年も美味しいもの食べましたよ。

Some student art work / 学生の作品でしょう

This year's first treat - furofuki daikon / 今年はふろふき大根から始まり

Don't you love the homemade signs - hey it's Kumamon, mascot of Kumamoto Prefecture!

手作り感が良いね、あっ、熊本県のマスコットくまもんだ！

Go-jiru / 誤汁

It may seem extremely crowded but I think this is least crowded we've seen since we've been going to this festival.

込んでると見えますが、今年は昨年やその前より人が少ない感じでした。

This booth was selling ichizenyaki

Ichizenyaki  / 一銭焼き

Charlie Brown selling Korean snack food - hottoku / チャーリー・ブラウンが韓国のホットクを販売してる

Hottoku / ホットク

Ah, that's what was missing - it seems there were less foreign students this year

あ～、今年留学生の屋台があんまりなかった。

But we had some green curry / タイのクリーンカレー

And Thai-style gyoza / タイ風餃子

Couldn't pass up the pork either, although there was no sign of a pig being roasted on a spit this year.

角煮も外せませんね。豚は食べたけど今年も豚の丸焼きはなかったみたい。

Finishing off our culinary feast with a little donut-like snack.

〆はこの小さなあげぱんみたなやつ。



Bon Appetit!

いただきます！

Japanese Restaurant [Tengu] / 和食れすとらん 「天狗」

We decided to have lunch around Takahata Fudoson as it was a little past noon.  However, there wasn't many places to choose from.  All the eateries centered around the station and almost all of them were crowded and had long waiting lines.  We decided to go explore a bit.  We came across this Japanese restaurant that had reasonable prices and was not very crowded.  The place was called [Tengu], not to be confused with the Izakaya chain.  We both ordered the tempura plate which came with a choice of soba or udon.  I chose the udon.  Also on the menu was Oyster Rockefellers which looked pretty appetizing so we ordered that as well.

初詣を済ましたら丁度昼ごろになった。どっか食べようとしても、駅周辺にある店は全部込んでて、行列もあり、駅からちょっと離れてどっかの飲食店を探した。やっと決めたのは和食れすとらん「天狗」。居酒屋のチェイン店とは関係ありません。二人で天ぷらを注文。天ぷらせっとにミニうどんか蕎麦が選べる。自分はうどん。美香子は蕎麦。あとメニューにあったのはオイスターロックフェラー。食べるしかないでしょう。

But first, a beer.  This place serves their own craft beer, Beer Brown.  It was quite delicious.

でも料理の前はやっぱりビールですね。「天狗」でしか飲まないビールがあります。 小さな酸造所で造ってるビール・ブラウン。結構飲みやすかった。

Tempura with shrimp, squid, and veggies topped over rice.

天ぷらはたまに食べると凄く美味しく感じます。

Hot udon on a cold day really hits the spot too.

寒い日に温かいうどんも良いですよ。

Tyrone needs to make more of these on our next visit back to the States.

旬の食材を使ってオイスターロックフェラーも食べました！


Bon Appetit!

いただきます！

First Shrine Visit of the Year (Part 2) / 初詣 （パート２）

Continuing are wanderings around Takahata Fudoson.

高畠不動尊探索のつづき。

The 5 story pagoda we saw from the monorail.

五重塔。

Like I said, it was cold, but crowded.

寒いのに、やっぱり正月の時期お寺や神社は込みますね。

Standing in front of the 5 story pagoda.

五重塔の前に撮った写真。

Lots of food booths around the temple grounds, but we wanted to sit and eat in a nice, cozy and warm restaurant so we didn't buy any goodies from the food stalls.

屋台はいっぱい出てましたが、寒いから外で食べたくなかった。

How cold was it outside?  Enough to freeze the water surrounding the pagoda.

どのくらい寒いか？ 五重塔の周りのみずが凍ってましたよ！

 Ando / 行堂

Shoden-do / 聖天堂 （しょうでんどう）

The stairs lead up to the temple bell but was closed to the public.

階段の上に鐘があり、でも階段は閉まってた。

Kannon / 観音様

I'm not sure who he is as I didn't read the fine printing.

誰だか分かりません、細かい部分読んでなかったもんで。

Statue of Toshizo Hijikata / 土方歳三

Toshizo Hijikata was a member of the Shinsengumi and led one of the final battles of the Shogunate in Hakodate at Goryokaku.  There is a Hijikata Toshizo museum in Hino as well.  There is a museum in Hakodate as well that me and my family had checked out when we were visited Hakodate a few years ago.

Bridge that leads to a shrine to Benzaiten (one of the Seven Lucky Gods of Fortune).  The bridge is also called Benten-bashi.

橋の向こうは弁財天。この橋も弁天橋です。

The top of the Niomon Gate / 仁王門

Ah, most important part of the temple or shrine pilgrimage is the omikuji (fortune).  Mine started out with the best you can get - Dai Kichi!  Yep, I think its going to be a good year.

あっ、初詣で忘れちゃいけませんはおみくじだ。僕は大当たりの大吉でした！！やっぱり今年良い年になりそう！

What's a visit to a shrine or temple without checking out their koi pond.

やっぱりお寺か神社に吹かせないものは鯉かも知りませんね。

Why yes, that is me!

そう、その後ろ姿は僕です。

One last look at the whole area before heading off to lunch.

昼食を食べる前に振り返ってもう一度高畠不動尊を眺める。