January 16, 2010

Katsunuma Budou-kyou, Isawa Onsen and Yamanashi-shi, Yamanashi


Katsunuma Budou-kyou.
Lots of vineyard around this area.

(1)
We went to Yamanashi prefecture this weekend.
First we stopped by the Katsunuma Budou-kyou Sta. and walked around for a while. We saw some snowy mountains far away and the Kofu Basin.
Here are some pictures taken at Katsunuma.


Opuntia sp. (Prickly pears).


Some rape flowers were blooming already.


The Kofu Basin.


The Kofu Basin.


Lamium amplexicaule (Hotokenoza).
We found some veronica flowers, too.

(2)
Here are some pictures taken at Isawa Onsen area, where our YH is located.
There are quite a few hotels and inns around there, but it seemed not many things to see...


After the sunset, by the river.


Horse meat Sashimi.
馬刺し。初めて食べたかも…かみごたえがある感じでした。


Houtou noodles. One of the local dish in Yamanashi.
It tasted pretty good. I like the flavour of Miso.

(3)
We got up at 4:30 AM and took the first train from Isawa Onsen Sta. to Yamanashi-shi Sta.
We expected to get a taxi from there pretty easily, but there were no taxi or anything in front of the station at that time of the day. I finally managed to call a taxi company and get a taxi to go to Hottarakashi Onsen (hot spring) before the sunrise. Here are the pictures taken there and on the way back to the Yamanashi-shi Sta.


Hottarakashi Onsen.
We arrived there around 5:45 AM.


Here is the entrance of the hot spring.
The sky was getting pretty bright.


We could see Mt. Fuji clearly!


Lots of people were already there and waiting for the sunrise.


After the sunrise.


It felt great to bathe after waiting for the taxi in the coldness... It was -5℃ or so this morning.


We had breakfast with looking Mt. Fuji after bathing.


We found a few cute cats at the hot spring.


A bird's nest.


Phoenicurus auroreus (Joubitaki, Daurian Redstart).


There were lots of smokes coming out of the ground.
Lots of farmers were cutting the branches of the grapes or peaches and burning them down at the Kofu Basin.


Peach trees were everywhere. It must be pretty in spring with peach blossoms.


A peach tree.


We found a plum tree with pink blossoms blooming already.

10 comments:

JPPreaux said...

Are the grapes used for wine or only for the table ?

bioskop said...

They make the grapes for wine and the table. There are lots of wineries around that area, too. We had no chance to visit one, though...

JPPreaux said...

Thanks for answering !
So is it white or red wine and do you know which is the "cépage" ? Have you drunk this wine ? I am very interested by wine...I live in France !

JPPreaux said...

Hi Bioskop,

The comments by "Anonymous" are made by a computer. Bad indeed !
I have had the same problem with my blog.

bioskop said...

I was shocked when I found the nonsense comments by Anonymous today. What is the point of those comments?! I deleted them right away.

I didn't have a chance to have their wine this time, but I have had some wine from Yamanashi before. They have lots of kinds, red and white and rose... But it seems they usually taste a little weaker than French ones.
For making white wine, they seems to use the local kind of grape called "Koushuu" more often. I couldn't find the English site, but you can see what kind of grapes they grow in that area...

http://katsunumawine.info/grapes.htm

JPPreaux said...

http://www.katsunuma-winery.com/english/pg/koshupg/koshu.html

With this link and thanks to you I have had explanations about "Koshu Grapes". Very very interesting.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.