Today we went to Ikuta Park in Kawasaki. It’s a huge park surrounded by small woods of oak located in Tama Hills. As well as being a great place for a picnic there’s a Planetarium, Observatory, Art Gallery and a Japan Open-Air Folk House Museum.
After going for a brief walk around the place and checking out the park and museum, we went to have soba in one of the traditional homes. I felt like we were invited by elder ladies to eat noodles at their home as it felt so… homely.
This is a ‘Tanuki’ a local.. racoon dog thing. So cute.
Pile of shoes as we enter in the traditional folk house of Soba.
Look at how the building is put together inside. It’s crazy! And there was 3 levels, two of which we could go in and see a display of farm tools. First floor was a resting area and restaurant.
After lunch I had kinako mochi – one of my favourites. I ended up coming back again for more as well haha.
We walked back to the start of the park to enter the Open-Air Folk House Museum. This was an amazing display of real folk homes that had been brought in from many different areas of Japan. I don’t know how they were able to transport it and put it back together and trust that it’ll hold up as the people walk all around in it. What an amazing job of not only putting the homes together into one place but the scenery built around it as well.
Went to take a photo and this cheeky guy butted in..
James getting taught how to be a Taiko drummer by two men..
Trying to play drums like a duh brain..
Interestingly, the traditional homes always threw fires to not only keep things warm in winter but to also blacken the wood to seal it off from harsh conditions outside.
It is truly amazing what people did with beams of logs – in one piece across the entire structure. I don’t even know how they would have been able to carry it into place.
Haha again, another duh brain shot of me.
They also had an indigo dyeing work shop. If we had time I would’ve loved to have tried it! Looked like fun. The colour is very beautiful.. and to think it just comes from a plant!
Dad Joke #58239: Hustling the bees across the road hahaha! How cute!
Dad, my step mum Kay, James & I.
Waving goodbye off a unmoving train
After the park we went to have a little rest at my dad’s home. Here’s a photo of him that I liked.
Then…. we had ALL YOU CAN EAT SHABU SHABU. Oh so delicious, so satisfying. ‘Shabu Shabu’ is in reference to the quick swish swash of meat into the hot water to cook it within seconds. I love the ‘goma’ sesame sauce, and the ponzu yuzu sauce at this place was absolutely delicious as well. I’m salivating as I write this. After a great dinner with great company, James and I caught the train back to Tokyo and explored the supermarkets before heading back home.
Comments are closed.