Asuke Revisited

We took off to Asuke on what promised to be a beautiful, sunny, warm day. Once again the promise of sakura was in the air. The drive was fabulous because the mountains were just barely tinged with a hint of pink. Asuke itself was in ready for action. The entire entrance was filled with vendors, all trying to sell you various handmade crafts, some exquisite and others that were…well…interesting.
Even though we have been there a number of times, we still discovered new things. They have a wonderful restaurant in the back of the traditional village – and it’s all Tofu!!! I was thrilled. It was truly delightful. We tried out a number of different things on the menu and were delighted with all of them.

Visiting Japan

This has been quite a week, taking Mom around to all of our favorite places here in Japan. We began with a trip to Nagoya Castle where the Sakura blossoms are attempting to bloom. The entire country is on edge just waiting for the day to come. Every place is set up, waiting for the blooms and all of the crowds that will follow.
Nagoya Castle was quiet still…a few blossoms to ooh and ah about but the promise is there. This particular weekend they had a number of programs already in place. Numerous groups were playing for the, admittedly, small crowds. We did get to see a ninja presentation that was very entertaining, even though it was all done in Japanese. They were quite good and very funny.