Kofun, The Ancient Graves.

     

What is this?

    Today we went to Kofun, literally means "Ancient Graves" in Japanese. It located in Minami Kofu, Yamanashi Prefecture. The place is right on the foothill. Actually i don't know precisely about the name of the hill, but the certain fact is it located in South Kofu. If the Takeda Shrine is located in North Kofu, so this time i went to South Kofu. The Kofun could be reached in 30 minutes by car from Takeda Shrine.

Looks like a keyhole if we see it from the above.

       When I just arrived to the place, i don't saw that place as my thought about grave. It was really like a common park, but who knows that common park-ish place has a history value? When i started to walk, I saw so many sign that we may found it in the park. But, there are something's unusual. What is it? 

You see the mound that looks like the Windows XP wallpaper? That's the thing that we talked about.

       There are so many mound-shaped graves which the size of the grave is differentiate the social rank of the person who has been buried there. Even there are so many mound that confirmed as grave, but some mound just contained the dead's treasures. You mind to steal it? Wait a minute. What ancient people's called as treasures are kinda different like what you think treasures are. It may be just contain things like mirror. Because in the past, around 1700 years ago, mirror is expensive and being the luxury symbol for the people in that age. There maybe contain Japanese Sword too. But, the sword has no weapon purpose. The sword just became a social rank symbol because in that age, the Sengoku Jidai still didn't happen. Furthermore, the Kai Province (now Yamanashi Prefecture) is surrounded by the mountains. So, that Kai Province gets attacked probability is low. 

Thanks for reading.

Pepi.

Yamanashi's Kofun - Japanese Massive Tombs

Today, I was given a chance to visit one of the Kofun that can be found in Kofu City, Yamanashi Prefecture. Kofun is Japanese ancient tomb-- and it's really, really big! I heard the more important you are, the bigger your kofun will be!

Taken at Choushi-dzuka Kofun's Top

I visited two kofun, Choushi-dzuka Kofun (銚子塚古墳) and Maruyama-dzuka Kofun (丸山塚古墳). Choushi-dzuka Kofun is shaped exactly like those ancient door keyholes, the one that is like a combination of circle and trapezoidal, if you look at it from above. The circle one is said to be the person's grave, and the trapezoidal one was for that person's valuable belongings.

Maruyama-dzuka Kofun was a little smaller than the previous one. Its shape is circle, and is supposed to be a person's grave. As it is the second biggest out of all the kofun here, the person who was buried here might be the second most powerful person in Yamanashi at the time.

Climbing the Kofun

Funny thing is, even though they were supposed to be people's graves, the person who first found these kofun said they checked inside, and found no body nor the remnants of it! But, as written above, there really were valuable things found in the Choushi-dzuka Kofun's trapezoidal part! No one could tell what happened to the body!

These kofun are located near mountains, so I think it will still be refreshing even in summer. I do not know if picnic is allowed or not here, but if it is, that would be awesome! Taking a walk here is also not a bad idea, because as the kofun is quite tall, you could see a part of Kofu City from above!

- Ocha

Takeda Shrine

If you are a fan of Japanese history, or at least have played Samurai Warriors series, then you should have known the existence of Takeda Shingen. In Yamanashi, there is shrine named after Takeda Shingen himself, which is none other than Takeda Shrine (武田神社 Takeda Jinja).

The map on the left does not show the area of Takeda Shrine, but the actual space of Takeda Shingen's castle, as Takeda Shrine was only a part of it. By the way, Takeda Shrine is the yellow building right in the middle of the map. All the things that are displayed on the map, even the mountains, were part of Takeda Shingen's castle!

Takeda Shrine's Omikuji

Like any other shrines, you could buy some Omamori (charms), pick Omikuji (fortune slips), or write Ema (votive pictures/writings)! This time, I got a chance to pick an omikuji, and got an "Average Luck". You could also see a lot of ema are hung right at the back.


There are some food stalls in front of Takeda Shrine, and one of them served Amazake, a drink made from fermented rice. I sipped a little of it, and whether the sweet taste or the fragrance really reminded me to Tapai, traditional fermented food that can be found in Southeast Asia.

I think Takeda Shrine will be a good visit if one day you visit Yamanashi!

Takeda Shrine's Outing!

Today Mr. Usui took us to the Takeda Shrine to learn about Yamanashi Prefecture in the past. Takeda Shrine was the residence of the Takeda clan in the Sengoku Jidai period. Mr. Usui told us many things about the history of Japan, especially Yamanashi Prefecture, how was the Sengoku Jidai constellation, and more interesting things about Takeda clan in the past.


Even i was learnt about Japanese History when I was 1st grade student in my university, I don't recognize that Japanese History, especially the history about Sengoku Jidai is interesting to be learned. I started to have interest about Japanese History when my friend introduced me to Shogun 2 game. The game was so addictive like you want to stop the time just for playing that game. In that game, I think Takeda clan isn't players favorite clan because the location of the clan was surrounded by the opponent clan. Maybe Date clan, or Shimazu clan could be the player's favorite clan because neither Shimazu or Date clan wasn't getting surrounded by other clans, so they can go straight and take the opponent clan's territory without worrying about backstabbed by the other opponents.


Oh, I'm sorry to talk too much about game! I'll back to the context. Before we went back home, I drank Japanese traditional Amazake. When I drank it, I recalled to Indonesian's Fermented Cassava named Tapai. I thought that under-aged man according to Japanese rules cant drink this. But amazingly, how young or how old are you, you're welcomed for Amazake!

Pepi.

Kakurinbou - The Hidden Lodging

Greetings!

Just a quick introduction, my name is Ocha, one of the new writers for this blog! Like Ririn, I will spend about a year in one of Japan's prefecture, Yamanashi, and would like to share its awesomeness to you our readers! Yoroshiku onegaishimasu!

The other day, I went for a tour around Yamanashi. We went to a lot of places, but the place that I definitely have to share with you guys is this place!

Stairs and trees?

Well, they indeed were stairs!

And not just your usual stairs, they were especially quite a long walk! But like that one saying, "No pain, no gain", to gain something you have to put hard work first, and this place is a good example for that. But no worries, because once you have reached the top, you would be glad you had put all those efforts!

The things that greeted me first were the scene of Japanese traditional building, and the sound of a barking dog! I was too preoccupied with the dog, and forgot to take a better picture, but here is a first look of our destination!

Just your usual temple?

Wrong! It's called a temple lodging, a temple that also has a lodging in it. The temple lodging that I visited is called Kakurinbou (覚林坊). Although it is a lodging, I won't be talking about how the rooms were or was there an onsen because I did not get to experience those. 

Actually, we went there just to have a lunch. It's not just your usual Japanese foods being served in front of you, tough. All that climbing and all we got was food that you can get anywhere? No way!

We were served with a set of foods called Oteranchi, meaning a temple lunch. The cool thing about Oteranchi is most of the foods, aside from rice, are made from soybeans. No meats are used! And good news for muslims too, because they also do not use alcohol in the recipe! Banzai!! Also, I can totally assure you the taste. I love meat, but Oteranchi was really delicious! I don't know each name of the dishes, but the ones on the red and blue plates were especially tasty. 

We were also served with soy milk-based ice cream, but again, I forgot to take a picture of it :(

If you have a chance to visit Yamanashi, how about going to Kakurinbou for a change? Imagine, after you work all those muscle, and then a pile of fulfilling, low-calorie foods are served in front of you! And don't forget the ice cream! Yum!

Also, you can play with this cool little
guy!

Lake Inagako, Minami-alps City

     Hello, everyone. My name is Febrian Rizaldi. You can call me Pepi. I'm the new contributor of this Blog. I stay in Yamanashi for a year duration, and i'd like to share my story about live in Yamanashi Prefecture, Yamanashi Prefecture's sightseeing area, worthy place to visit and many Yamanashi Prefecture's unexposed Beauty which i want to let you guys discover and be your first-hand experience.

     Summer is over and Autumn is on the way. Guess what's interesting about Autumn in Japan? Yes. Autumn's red leaves scenery! Lake Inagako is one of the best autumn spot in Yamanashi Prefecture. It located in Minami-alps City, Yamanashi Prefecture. 

     The location is accessible by car, and because it located between the hill, it maybe require some effort to reach the lake Inagako. But you wouldn't be regret because the Lake Inagako is a worthy sightseeing area. And lake Inagako have a place to park your car. So, don't be worry about it.

     If you are seeking for an inspiration, i recommend this place for you to visit. The fresh air that gently breezing into you while you seeing a beautiful swan swimming on the green colored water may become a catalyst to think about something important decision in your life. The autumn breeze here maybe will lead you to a good conclusion. Or perhaps you need a good romantic spot to visit, Lake Inagako could be added to your options too! Visiting Lake Inagako in the right timing will be your unforgettable memories!

Please visit Lake Inagako! :)

                           

Harvesting Peach

It's finally summer in Japan! It means it is time to harvest peach! Peach is one of Yamanashi's famous  products. I've looking forward to harvest peaches ever since I came to Yamanashi! Last week I am finally able to do it!

Last week I went to Dream Farm company's farm and helped the production of peaches. On my last post, I talked about what I learn about cultivating peach. It's been a few weeks since that and the peaches are now big and ready to be harvested. 

The first thing I did when I arrived was helping making boxes. Folding boxes were not hard, you just have to fold the carton. I made around 50 boxes, than I helped boxing the peaches. I was taught that you should check if the peach is good enough to be sold or not. First, you have to check if there is any bug bites or if it has not been eaten by bugs or not. Second, you have to check if there is any mark or bruise in the peach. If there is a mark and when you try to touch or lightly push it it was tender, It means the peach is not good. Third, You have to check if there isn't any hole near the stem. This is because if there is a hole in the peach, water could enter the hole and rotten the fruit. If all of these is not found, then you can put the fruit cover and put it in the box.

I also learn that you have to put peaches of the same size in one box. This is so that the market could differentiate the size of the peaches easily. The size of the peaches are 特大(Extra large), 大(large), 中(Medium), 小(small). The size of the peach is determine by how many peaches can one box contain. For example if it could contain 18 to 20 peaches in one box, it is categorized as medium sized. This is why it is important to put the same size peaches in one box. 

The peaches with very good quality is rank A and the not so good peaches are rank B. Rank B peaches are peaches with some bruised but still good enough to sell.

It was fun helping and learn a lot of things about peaches! There are some places in Yamanashi where you can try harvesting peaches in the local farm. If you have a chance to come to Yamanashi this summer, why don't you try this experience too? It was fun and the peaches here are delicious!

Peach and grape field

Today I went to our company's grape and peach field. In Yamanashi it will soon will be the season of peach. Around July until August is the time to enjoy peach, and around August to September is grape. Today I was able to learn how to cultivate peach and grapes. It was harder than I thought it would be. There is so many things that you have to do to grow a good peach.

Regular peach

In our farm, we cultivate some kinds of peach. There are the regular pink peach, the golden peach, the Kimiko peach etc. As for you who don't know what Kimiko peach is, it is one of the expensive kinds of golden peach. In our company, one box consist of 9 peaches is priced more than 10.000 yen! 

Kimiko peach

I learn that when the peach reach a certain size it will be covered with a paper wrap. This is so that it will not get sun burn. It seems that if the peach got sun burned it will turned brown when it is ripe. Actually the pink color of the peach is from the sun burn. When it is big and ripe enough, the covers will be taken out so that it will got that pink colored peel.

Golden peach

As for the Golden peach and Kimiko peach, the covers are a little bit different.  To get that golden color, the peach is wrap with a wrap that does not allow sun shine to get in. These wrap won't be taken off until the peaches are ripe and ready to be harvested. I also learn that 90% of peaches that one tree produced were thrown away and only 10% of the fruits are able to sold. This is done in order to grow a big and delicious peaches. As for Kimiko peach, only 5% of the fruits will be harvested. It is because Kimiko peaches are more delicate and hard to grow. That is why the price is also expensive. 

After looking around the peach field, I went to the grape field. There I found a lot of small grapes buds. I learn that a bundle of grapes could only consist of 36 to 40 buds. So if there are more or less than 36 to 40, it will be taken out. This is done so that the grapes will grow big and so that it won't be too heavy for the vines to hold. Later when it is a rainy season, the grapes will be wrapped so that it won't get bad. Grapes are sensitive to rain. That is why before the rainy season starts all of the grapes will be covered by a plastic or waterproof material warp. 

That's all from me today, I can't wait for the peach season to start!

Cherry Farm Hakusanen

It is the season of cherry in Yamanashi so last week I went to a cherry picking farm called Hakusanen. For your information in Japan, Cherry season is last from May until June. 

Here I learn a lot about cultivating cherry. Here, in Hakusen, they have around 12 different kinds of cherry. Here you can eat pick up and eat cherry as many as you want for 40 minutes for 2000 yen for adult and 1000 yen for children. It is located about 20 to 30 minutes walk from Enzan station. It has a really nice environment and atmosphere. 

Here I learned how to pick cherry, how to choose a delicious cherry, and I also learned that cherry tree can grow until 7 meter high. Hakusanen also sells Shine muscat and dried persimmon that you can order online at the farm home page. You also need a reservation to do cherry picking that you can do online or by phone. 

Since it is quiet far from the station, I suggests to take a taxi from the station. It only take 15 minutes by taxi. If you want to come here by walking and get lost in the way, you can call the shop and the staff will pick you up or give you direction to the farm. 

Near the cherry field there is a place for the customers to rest after cherry picking. The resting place is design as a traditional Japanese room. It also has a unique terrace with a grape vines roof. It is said that this kinds of roof is a Yamanshi style of terrace. The grape vines help blocked the sunshine in summer making the entrance chill and nice. This roof is not just a decoration, it could also be harvested. 

Here you can also buy cherry that the staff picked as a souvenir and send it all around Japan.

Kikyouya

Do you know Yamanashi's famous Shingen Mochi? Shingen Mochi is one of the famous local products in Yamanashi. As you can see the name of the product came from Yamanashi's famous Daimyo, Shingen Takeda. 

Today I went to one of the company that makes Shingen Mochi called Kikyouya. Kikyouya is located in Fuefuki city, Yamanashi Prefecture. Here, I went for the factory's tour and saw how they make Shingen Mochi. The surprising thing is that the packaging of the products are not handled by machine, but by hands! As you can see in the pictures below, the packaging are handled by hands by these workers. I was amazed by the speed. They can finish more than 100.000 packaging a day! 

 At the end of the tour, guest can try to do the packaging for 390 yen. I tried it, but it is harder than I thought it was. It is really difficult. It took me 30 seconds until 1 minute to finish packaging one mochi. The surprising fact is that it only takes 6 seconds for the employees here!  The factory tour is free, but the tour is not every hour and it is only seven times a day. The tour hours are at 09:00, 10:00, 11:00, 12:40, 13:40, 15:00, and 16:00.

  

Here I also bought a shingen mochi soft cream. It is really delicious. The combination of soft cream, black caramel, shingen mochi and bean powder is amazing. The mochi was delicious the soft cream was so creamy and soft, the mix between the bean powder and black caramel was delightful. If you come to Yamanashi, this is one of the local sweets that you have to try! 

Fuji Shiba-zakura Festival

Today I went to Shiba-zakura Festival at the foot of Mount Fuji. The festival is held from 15th April to 28th May. From the festival site, I can see a view of shiba-zakura (mossphlox) flowerbed below the famous Mount Fuji. This year is the 10th anniversary of the festival. This festival is the largest shiba-zakura festival in Japan.


There are thousands of pink, purple, and white shiba-zakuras covering the festival area.The view of the shiba-zakuras were so magnificent and stunning.  When the wind blows, you can smell the fragrance of these flowers. You could also take a picture of the mini Shiba-zakura Fuji, a shiba-zakura flowerbed that shaped like Mount Fuji.



Beside taking picture you can also try the Panorama foot bath and the Panorama Cafe, where you can relax while enjoying the view of Mount Fuji and shiba-zakura. There is also a Photo contest that you can try to take part in, a souvenir shop to buy some limited-edition souvenir such as Fujiyama Cookies, Fuji Shiba-zakura Manju, Fuji Shiba-zakura limited "Shingen Mochi", Sakura leaf Rice Cakes etc. and you can also try some delicious Mt. Fuji Gourmet. Finally there are some live performances to brighten your day. That's all from me for today, see you on my next post.