At the beginning of June, the still lush wheat fields turn golden and the harvest is about to begin. It is the largest producer of wheat Otofuke in Japan. In the field after harvesting, barley culm rolls (which become beds for cows) are ready. The harvested wheat is transformed into delicious bread and udon noodles. There are many delicious bakeries and cake shops in Tokachi. The price is also very reasonable, with bread in the 100 yen range and cake in the 200 yen range. When you see the crops that are actually grown in this way, you develop a sense of gratitude for what you eat.

Udon noodles in Yamadaya.

On the final day of our trip we were a bit tired but still wanted to see a few things and just casually enjoy our time. We ended up going to Marugame Castle as our first destination. It was really cool as it's one of the 12 castles in Japan that still has an original castle keep. The castle itself isn't very large, but the area surrounding it is. From the bottom of the castle the keep is quite small so it's hard to get a good photo of it, but we got a photo of it with one of the turrets along the moat wall which was cool. We reserved a rickshaw ride the previous night as well so when we got to the castle we did a little exploring and then we went on a guided tour around the lower area of the castle. The rickshaw guide was a really nice guy and quite funny as well. Apparently he was a comedian but he enjoyed doing this job as well. He told us a bunch of different things about the castle and it's construction while also telling some jokes occasionally. After the rickshaw tour we climbed our way up to the top of the castle and there were saw really amazing views waiting for us at the top. You could see the entire city almost. We also entered the castle keep, but it was relatively small. It was still nice to see the architecture on the inside but the stairs were a bit scary. They were incredibly steep and I was holding the handrails the entire time going up or down them. After checking out the castle we were pretty hungry and so we decided to get some lunch. Being Kagawa is the udon prefecture we went to an udon specialty restaurant. I haven't been to many udon restaurants so it was kind of a new experience for me. They had it set up kind of like a cafeteria and you go through and choose what you want and other toppings to go with your udon. I didn't see the trays for the extra toppings so I just ended up putting the karaage on top of my udon lol. I got niku udon and it tasted really good. The karaage was a nice touch as well. Not the usual tempura most people get but it went surprisingly well with the soup. After eating we headed towards Nakazu Banshoen, a garden with art exhibits as well. Before getting there we decided to stop by a Lupin-themed cafe though. It was a really tiny shop but we were able to cool off for a bit and relax which was nice since we were walking quite a bit. The garden was quite large and had a lot of different points of interest within it. The stepping stones were fun to cross and the row of torii gates was pretty cool as well. You can definitely take some nice photos with them. And that concludes our trip to Takamatsu! Overall it was a really fun trip and I definitely recommend it to anyone who hasn't been to Shikoku or Kagawa before. We didn't even get to do everything we were looking at but we still had a blast!

Was nice weather over the weekend so I did a little exploring. Found this nice little temple near the Sumida River called Hozoin Temple (寳蔵院) in Arakawa. I wasn't sure where exactly I was allowed to go inside the temple, and I didn't have much time anyways, so I just took a peak through the gates and snapped a photo. It was a really quaint place and apparently it has some landscape paintings and itabi tablets. From what I saw, it looked like there was a garden across the ground. Maybe a rock garden or something of the sort, I wasn't able to get a good look at it though. The area around the temple was the hunting grounds of the Tokugawa Shogunate as well it seems. Pretty amazing to imagine there was enough greenery in the area to hunt in the past. Also managed to stop by a nice udon/soba restaurant for lunch. It was called Sunaba (砂場) I believe. I ordered the kamo (duck) nanban udon and it tasted great. Haven't had duck in a while, but it's always a treat. The lady taking orders was really nice as well. Overall a great place!

Went to Hanaya Yohei, a restaurant near Oku Station and ordered the Miso-Nikomi Udon. It tasted pretty good and cost less than ¥1000 yen. I'd like to go back as the atmosphere of the restaurant was quite nice and it seemed like there was a lot of different menu items to try. I'd walked past the restaurant so many times in the past, and just never had the opportunity to go in until now. Overall it was a pretty good place and even though it seemed like there was a lot of people we got seated instantly which was nice.

Location: Udon restaurant in Takamatsu City, Kagawa Prefecture. Sanuki udon with anmochi. Especially in the eastern part of Kagawa Prefecture, there is a custom of eating white miso zoni with bean cake on New Year's Day. You can also enjoy Sanuki udon with anmochi as a New Year's udon.

Tried a new tsuyu again lol. A spicy flavor this time. It’s not as spicy as it looks actually, just the right level of spicy. The tsuyu was 赤から apparently from Nagoya. Goes great with udon too. Tasted really good

Japanese dining table. It's hard to go out to eat in Coronavirus pandemic, so I'm immersed in the feeling of eating out with my own food. Bukkake udon noodles today. Since it's my home, I can do as many toppings as I want.

Yuba udon of "Arashiyama Sakura Mochi Rice". The topping of the autumn leaves was perfect for this season.

The so-called Musashino udon. Udon has been eaten since ancient times in the Musashino Plateau area that stretches from the Tama area in northwestern Tokyo to the western part of Saitama Prefecture. The texture is strong and lumpy.

Japan's best udon noodle town 🥢 Shikoku's "Udon Prefecture", Kagawa Prefecture is full of ❗️ sightseeing spots other than Udon In this video, we will ♪😃 introduce not only the local gourmet "Sanuki udon", but also popular tourist spots such as "Shodoshima", which is famous as a movie location, "Chichibugahama Beach" of the Salar de Uyuni in Japan, "Drifting Post Office" where letters of unknown address are collected introduced on TV and media, and remote islands full of art spots and nature. Tonight, online GoTo travel 🌈✈️ to Kagawa prefecture full of charm

At Hankyu Sanbangai's "Udon Rabbit Noodles", "Bukkake with everything" is 960 yen. It's full of volume!

Mimiu's udon hot ball was the best 🤤 with udon ❤️ noodles and soup stock.

Located in Nagahama City, Shiga Prefecture, the popular restaurant "Momishiya" that serves udon and local Kokuni cuisine "Benimomiji" "Benimomiji".

"Tempura bukkake" of "Kirakuan" in Nara City, Nara Prefecture.

When it comes to Shikoku, it's Sanuki udon! I went to Kagawa prefecture to eat Sanuki udon. When driving around Kagawa Prefecture, you can really see only udon restaurants. This time I went to the Yamada house in Yaguri. It appears in Hiroshi Oizumi's representative work "How about Wednesday" and is an udon restaurant that is said to be a sacred place. I ordered bukkake udon (350 yen), but the authentic Sanuki udon and thin transparent soup stock are the best 😃. When visiting Sanuki udon in Kagawa, it is convenient to go by car or rental car.