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

ashikaga flower park

Sunday, we got up with the sun (4:30) and headed out to Ashikaga, in Tochigi to visit Ashikaga Flower Park.

During this time of year, the park opens at 7:00, by the time we got there at 8:15-ish, there were already quite a number of people there. 

There are many huge wisteria trees, and if I'm not mistaken they were all 160 years old!

And were replanted here at the park 30 years ago when they were 130 years old!

The branches reach out so far that everyone can walk 

underneath the wisteria that is dangling down

This was something to see!

I overheard some people talking and they said the wisteria were not as "long" as in the past, must be due to global warming, we were still amazed to see this

There was also a white wisteria tunnel, this wasn't in full bloom as the purple variety

Because this is a flower park, there are all sorts of other flowers too

One of my favorite shots

The azalea were also in full bloom

Lots of places to sit too

An area called "ocean of azalea" was amazing to walk through

Satoshi had wisteria soft serve 500 yen (tax included), Kat had their sundae 650 yen (tax included)...to be honest, I don't know what wisteria would taste like, but the items in the sundae tasted more like lavender, especially that popcorn on the top.

Plus, there was almond tofu, wisteria gelee cubes, strawberries & pineapple in there too, the flavors were kinda all over the place...we were just thankful a grandma let us sit with her while we ate our desserts, it was also nice to sit and look at the flowers.

Some of my photos got deleted while uploading to my hard drive...boo!

Like this one that I had put into my IG reel...

Bucket list item checked...we were super happy the weather was cooperative and that we were able to see this.

Admission was 2300 yen (tax included) per person

Ashikaga Flower Park

607 Hasamacho

Ashikaga, Tochigi

*hours during this time of year 7:00-21:00

*there are other flowers during the year, check to see when they are open, admission rates and their hours