Takigoshi  滝越

Good Evening Ontake-san!!
Today I visited a section of Otaki called Takigoshi 滝越, which is located about 10 kilometers from the village center at the back of a canyon that rolls out from Ontake-san's southwestern slope. This section was the hardest hit by a landslide caused by a large earthquake in 1984. A section of the hillside that had collapsed and carried a house away with it was pointed out to me, as was a statue that commemorates the site where a mother and her child were buried and killed.

My neighbor had invited me out to Takigoshi to visit a small park called Suikouen 水交園. The park is run by a man and his wife, both of whom are in their thirties and have lived in Otaki for a decade. Both were very fascinating to talk with. They live nearby the park in a minshuku 民宿, which is like a Japanese B&B, that was built about fifty years ago. The house is heated by a wood burning stove and they bath in a home-made tub that is also wood-burning--It's also open-air. . .fun in the winter I'm sure.

At Suikouen the couple sells homemade soba, which is buckwheat noodles served cold and dipped in a soy-sauce based broth, and also mountain vegetables served tempura-style. I forgot to take a photo of the soba. . .it was just too good, ate it all up. . .but here are photos of the tempura and some of the veggies they served us.

In addition to the great food, I was also treated to some great stories about the Takigoshi area and Otaki in general. I'll save those for later.

Comments

Anonymous said…
someday in my life I'll have homemade soba noodles in Japan. And then my life will be complete.

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