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.

Arakurasengen Shrine

Today I went to Arakurasengen Shrine. If ever see a picture of Mt. Fuji and a pagoda, that's Arakurasengen Shrine. Arakurasengen Shrine is located in Fujiyoshida city, Yamanashi prefecture. From the top of Arakurasengen Shrine in Spring, you can take a beautiful picture of Mt. Fuji with cherry blossom and a magnificent view of Fujiyoshida city. Today, unfortunately it was cloudy and I couldn't take a nice view of Mt. Fuji.

Konosakuya Stairs

Arakurasengen Shrine

Chureito Pagoda

The pagoda in Arakurasengen Shrine is called the Chureito Pagoda. It was build on August 12th 1958. It was build to pray for 960 citizen from Fujiyoshida who died in the wars after 1868. To get to the Chureito Pagoda and the photo spot, I have to climb 396 stairs. These stairs are called Konosakuya stairs. It was named after the Goddess of Mt. Fuji, Konohana Sakuyahime. 

After I went to Arakurasengen Shrine, I went to eat Yoshida Udon. This is a special dish from Fujiyoshida city. The characteristic of this udon is that the noodles are more thick and a little bit harder than a normal Udon. The taste of the udon is also good. If you have the chance to come to Fujiyoshida, you must try this udon. You won't regret it. 

Yoshida Udon

Melody Road

Have you ever heard about Melody road?

Melody road is a road where you can hear melody of a song while driving your car. In Japan, there are 28 melody road in some part of Japan, such as Hokkaido, Gunma area, Okinawa and Kyushu area, Shikoku area, Kansai area, Chubu area, Kanto area, Chugoku area, and Tohoku area. Each of the road plays different song. Most of the song are Japanese children songs. The song was decided by the image of the place.  The length of the roads are differs each area. 

The closest one to Yamanashi is at Fuji Subaru line road. It is a road that you take if you want to climb Mt. Fuji. Yamanashi, as you know is known as Fuji no kuni or Fuji's country, because it is located near Mt. Fuji. That is why the song that was played there is a song called Fuji no Yama. At Fuji Subaru line, you can hear the first part of the Fuji no Yama song on the ascending drive up to Mt. Fuji, and the second part of the song on the descending drive down form Mt. Fuji. 

You might wonder how did they make it. Well, the answer to that lies on road itself. When you look at it closely, the melody road is made with lines all over the road. These lines are the one produced the sound. If you look closely to the pictures, the lines make some gap on the road. When the car's wheels go through these lines, it produces sound. The gaps of the line was adjust so that it produces the right tone for the song. The closer the gap, the higher the pitch of the sound, and the wider the gap, the lower the pitch of the sound. 

If you go to climb Mount Fuji, don't forget to listen to this melody. It is a really amazing experience. You could actually hear a melody of a song from inside your car. The melody sound was not that loud, so you have to listen really carefully to hear it. 

Flower viewing at Maizuru Castle

It is finally spring in Yamanashi!! I am so excited to do Hanami or flower viewing here. On my last post, I've mention of plum blossom flower viewing, but this time it is finally the time for the famous cherry blossom to bloom! One of the best places to do hanami here in Kofu is at none other than the Kofu caslte or Maizuru Castle. So last week right before the Shingen festival, I went to Maizuru Castle to do some flower viewing with my friends.

Around the begining of April in some palces, the cherry blossom were mostly full bloomed and it was so pink and really beautiful. As you can see in the pictures, the were a lot of people besides us that do hanami here. At hanami, all you do is mostly resambles picnic. We ate snacks, played games, chated, and took pictures. It was really fun.

In some countries, Japan is famous as Sakura counrty and it really suited its name. The cherry blossom here was so beautiful, even when the wind blew and the flower petals were falling, it was still beautiful. Cherry blossom florwers are not a really strong flowers, they are so fragile and I think that is why they are beautiful.

There were also some people who did hanami at night or in the afternoon. Hanami at night is called Yozakura or night sakura. The atmosphere and the air is a little bit different during the night. It was more silent and a little bit chilly. But during night you can see sakura or cherry blossom in a very different view. Chatting and enjoying the night view with sakura is also a great experience to have.