godaikan

I love ume (pickled apricot). Until I moved to Japan, I only thought there was one kind of pickled apricot...scrunch up your face sour ones. But, there are actually sweet ones too--these are soaked in honey.

On Friday, we stayed at a B & B like hotel called Godaikan, which was featured on a local program a few years ago. (Godai means 5th generation, kan means building. This pickled apricot producer has been in business since 1834.)

I was interested in staying here because they have a furo (bath) in which you bathe inside of a large taru (barrel) which was once used to pickle apricots. And soaking in the water, they also have ume (pickled apricots) floating in a lingerie net. After the apricots soak awhile in the bath water, they start to fall off the stone and you are bathing in the pickled apricots.

In February, a famous Japanese actress gave their apricots away in her hikidemono (gift for attending the wedding reception), so her photo is displayed at the front desk, and is probably why this place was hard to get a reservation at.

When you first enter your room, most ryokan (Japanese inn) or hotels have a little treat, this is so that you can taste it and hopefully buy some from their gift shop too. This B & B served their ume (pickled apricot) and some ume candy. Both were delicious.

The dinner they served uses a lot of pickled apricots too. I won't go into a lot of detail, mainly because there was so much food and I don't remember all of it. I do remember that they used lots of local foods like Kumano beef, their pickled apricot, lots of seafood and local veggies.

We got to try the local beer called Nagisa beer. It was a dark pale ale. It was kind of fruity but very chilled, after a long trip and a long soak in the tub, it was delicious.

One thing you should know if you go as a couple to eat at a Japanese restaurant or eat at a ryokan (Japanese inn)/hotel in Japan. The woman's side of the table will always have the pot of rice and the tea pot. This is so you can "serve your man". I think if two women go, the rice and tea pot will be between them.

Anyway, I think this B & B is run by a couple. The guy that cooked our delicious dinner was also the front desk staff and his wife, took out our futon (Japanese bedding) as well as served our dinner.

And if you thought dinner was huge, breakfast was just as filling and delicious too.

We've stayed at B & B's in Hokkaido, but this one was a nice change of pace.

Godaikan
2500-99 Katada
Shirahama-cho, Nishimuro-gun
Phone: 0739.43.2296

shirahama

From Osaka it was about two and a half hours to Wakayama prefecture. The area we went to on Friday was called Shirahama, which means white beaches, it is popular during the summer for its white beaches and also for its hot springs.

As you approach Shirahama, you will pass through an area called Arida. This area is known for mikan (mandarin oranges).

I was excited to see terraced hillsides with endless rows of mikan trees just loaded and ready for harvest, as well as on the ground. It seemed like every piece of land had a mikan tree on it.

We arrived at Shirahama and the weather was quite windy and overcast, not very good for sightseeing, but since it was my first time here, so we hopped on a sightseeing bus and took their tour. I was disappointed to find out that most of this white sand is imported from New Zealand or Australia.

Our first stop was to a large plateau called Senjojiki. This plateau faces the Pacific Ocean and is said to look like several thousand tatami (straw) mats joined together.

Next was the Sandanbeki. A 50 meters high (165 feet), 2 kilometer (1.24 miles) stretch of rock. This cliff was created by erosion and is supposed to resemble a folding Japanese screen. There is an elevator to take you almost to the bottom of the cliff, but it was pricey and not included in our tour package.

Our next stop was a Glass bottom boat ride. On a windy day like it was, the sea was very choppy....Talk about....Blah! I really think they should have included the elevator ride at Sandanbeki in the tour package and thrown this part of the tour out!

Engetsu-to was named because it resembles a full moon. Many tour pamphlets show this islet with the sun setting within the round opening. Too bad the weather was so bad, it would have been an awesome sight. Still, I was amazed at how precise the ocean eroded this round circle in the middle of the islet.

Our last stop was Toretore Ichiba. This place is as big as Costco and filled with SEAFOOD! We were both feeling quite woozy from the boat ride but after seeing all this seafood, we were back to normal in no time.

They had kujira (whale) on special. Satoshi said that they serve whale for lunch at school, I think I would probably skip lunch that day. I've tasted it when I was studying in Japan and it is very fatty and oily...I know it is supposed to be a delicacy but ugh! no thank you.

Another delicacy in this area is maguro (tuna). There was tons of the stuff and really cheap too!

Besides mikan, Wakayama is also known for their ume (pickled plums). In an area called Minabe, you can see rows upon row of plum trees. At this market, you could buy a cup of pickled plum wine for just 400 yen...I wonder how big the cup was?

Stay tuned for more sights and eats...