ashikaga & sano

From Ashikaga Flower Park, we went one station over to Ashikaga.

Satoshi was interested in checking out two places.

Ashikaga Gakko was the most prominent academic institution in the Kanto area back in the day and at its peak over 3000 students gathered at one time to study here.

This flower is called Kurobanarobai (Calycanthus Floridus), I should've gone up closer to see if it had a fragrance, but thought it was cool that the robai had a black version.

After looking online, I don't think the two are of the same family.

Down the street is Bannaji, a temple founded by Ashikaga Yoshikane approximately 800 years ago and was once thought to be a residence of the Ashikaga clan.

I was amazed by this huge ginkgo nut tree

And since we were in the area, we remembered hearing about Sano ramen, so we headed back towards Sano.

And headed to the first shop that we saw...Fujiya

We weren't too sure what Sano ramen's characteristics were...afterwards, we checked online and apparently the noodles need to be pressed with a green bamboo, the soup is usually shoyu based and very "light" not heavy, toppings include char siu, leeks and menma (bamboo shoots)

I ordered their Salt lemon ramen...1030 yen (tax included)

Because it was kinda blazing, Kat originally wanted their hiyashi (cold) version, but it was sold out, so had to go with their hot version.

The soup was chicken based and the lemon actually did not do much for the overall ramen, though it did make the ramen flavor a little brighter

I didn't like the "scrunched" type of noodles, I felt it was hard to eat and made me "splash" my surroundings while trying to get the noodles out of the soup.

Satoshi ordered their Yuzu Ramen with gyoza...1400 yen (tax included)

Satoshi also was not impressed with the yuzu in the soup but said he enjoyed the gyoza.

While we were there, they ran out soup, so they closed up shop before 14:00

Sanomaru is their local character, you'll see him on all their food products as well as advertising for all things in Sano.

Sano Yakuyoke Taishi, is part of the big 3 taishi temples in the Kanto area.

The other 2 are, Kawagoe Taishi (also called Kitain) in Saitama and Aoyagi Daishi in Gunma

And as we walked back to the station, we stopped at their tourist center, where I picked up some radishes, miso manju by Araiya, hoshiimo (dried sweet potato), strawberry jam and cup sake 

Bummer the miso manju did not have a distinct miso flavor.

Look forward to trying the other items soon.

One item that Sano is known for is their worcestershire-like sauces, they use it on yakisoba and also on their B-kyu gurume item, Imofry...150 yen (tax included) which we tried at Hashimoto

potatoes are coated with a batter and deep fried then dipped into a thick worcestershire like sauce.

This particular shop uses Madorosu brand sauce.

We enjoyed this food item and the sauce reminded us of sauces used for tonkatsu or even okonomiyaki.

Across the street from Hashimoto is this house with a huge wisteria tree!

We also shared this strawberry fruit sandwich from Pinoya...390 yen (tax included)

The weather was blazing, and we were lucky to be able to see, do and eat all that we did.

We hope you enjoyed our adventure as much as we did.

Fujiya

179 Wakamatsucho

Sano, Tochigi

Closed Tuesdays & Wednesdays

Hours: 11:00-18:00

*closes early if they run out of soup

*cash only

Hashimoto

2509 Kanaikamicho

Sano, Tochigi

Open only on weekends

Hours: 10:00-17:00

*cash only

Pinoya

54 Wakamatsucho

Sano, Tochigi

No hours or days off noted

*cash only