Japan - From sunset flying to night walking in Future-Tsukuba, Ibaraki (Tsukubamirai)

 

Flower mountain - Hitachi Seaside Park, Ibaraki・4K HDR

 

Japanese Highway Food Challenge

Japanese Highway Service Areas or Rest Stops are quite amazing and in this episode we’ll look at one of them that has a food challenge! Tomobe SA in Ibaraki Prefecture has a restaurant that has taken the highest mountain in the area and turned it into a dish. Mount Tsukuba is 877 meters high, but as food, it looks steeper and more intimidating. 16 long cuts of grilled pork cutlets smothered in a savory sauce on a bed of shredded cabbage and rice weighing more than 1kg (2.2 lbs). It may not be as big as some food challenges like the 2.2kg (5 lbs) Monster Gyoza in failed to eat in 2014, but it is still an interesting dish. It costs 1700 Yen ($15) for the set with miso soup and some pickles.

What a Family-Owned Ryokan is Like (Traditional Japanese Inn & Hot Springs)

Japan is famous for it's ryokan's (traditional Japanese inn and hot springs). A large part of that is the omotenashi, or the hospitality, that you receive. We go to Northern Ibaraki to visit Toshimaya Tsukihama No Yu, a family-owned ryokan that's been in operation for 113 years and is being passed on to the sixth generation.

Making Hoshi-imo at a Japanese Sweet Potato Factory

We visit Namegata's Farmer's Village in Ibaraki to make dried sweet potatoes (hoshi-imo) in a school that was converted into a working sweet potato factory as well as a museum.

Japanese Drive-Thru Sushi & Ramen Experience

Japan is a country of convenience, and if you have a car, you'll find loads of restaurants outside the cities offering drive thru service. What's unique is more than the food - sushi, ramen, gyudon, fast food - it's the reason why Japanese go to a drive thru.

Mysterious Gooey Natto Fairy Mascot?! | Nebaru-kun ねばーる君