Travel: Japan 2014 Day 5 // Ogimachi in Shirakawa-Go // Eat: Irori // Stay: Nodaniya

We left Ainokura in the morning after breakfast. It rained. Again. Noriko-san - one of the hosts of Yomoshiro - kindly took us to the bus stop so we didn't get drenched in rain.
Breakfast was simple japanese style with some mountain vegetables and scrambled egg.



From the same bus stop we alighted at yesterday, we took the World Heritage Shuttle Kaetsuno Bus to Shirakawa-Go, where we will be staying the night at Ogimachi village.
















The gassho houses in Shirakawa-Go are larger than the ones at Gokayama. They are no less impressive though, in fact Ogimachi has more gassho houses than Ainokura. Though I have to say, they have their own different charming points.
Ainokura is fairly more quiet and much more subtle and very down-to-earth. I got the impression that Ogimachi is definitely more 'developed' in tourist sense point of view. However, it is still an amazing experience visiting the museums and the open houses available in Ogimachi to take a sneak peek on how life used to be in this mountain village.

manhole in Ogimachi

Their waterways and streams at various parts of the village are so clean - you can see trouts and carps swimming in them. No wonder the carp sashimi from last night tasted very clean, I guess the waterways in these parts of the mountain are very serene and undisturbed by humans' waste or by-products.









And of course we ate our way through the village...

Shirakawa sake ice cream

Green Tea Soft Serve Ice Cream, Goheimochi, Mitarashi Dango, Hida Beef stick and Hida Beef Croquette

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Lunch was at Irori, and it was fairly packed during lunch time.






Yes, they have English menu :)







We ordered Tororo (Grated Yam) Zarusoba (JPY 864), Some Sansai Moriawase - a medley of mountain vegetables (JPY 564), and Hida Beef in Miso (JPY 864).

The grated yam added some sweetness to the dish somewhat, and the mountain vegetables are also good. However what shone through was the hida beef. Very buttery and melted in the mouth - perfectly and simply seasoned with the miso paste - grilled on top of the small fire.









There are quite a few eateries at the village - it took us a while to decide which one to attend. At Ainokura, there are only two - hence we could tried both of them. But as much as gluttons we are, it would be impossible to try all of the eateries in Ogimachi.
Irori was quite a good experience though.

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The rest of the pictures from Ogimachi at Shirakawa-Go...







The museums and open houses give insight on the inner architecture and space of the houses. We also got to try their doburoku, and this one is pretty special as they don't sell their home-made unrefined sake outside their village.

workshop making sandals...

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Tonight we are staying at Nodaniya. Rate we were quoted is JPY 9300 per person (total JPY 18600 per night) and includes dinner and breakfast.
Gorgeous house with tranquil carp pond just outside our room :)

Nodaniya doesn't have internet or wi-fi for guests though. BUT!! My pocket wi-fi has reception here. Yay!!



 

In-house yukata for Nodaniya:

refreshment as soon as we arrived

Dinner was at the communal dining room, around the hearth.



They also served grilled iwana (the fish grilled over the hearth's charcoal fire), however the one served at Yomoshiro in Ainokura was a much better version, where you could eat the fish from head to toe. Yomoshiro cooked their fish for over two hours over the charcoal fire, and it made the fish so crispy and soft to the bone that we did not need to pick the bones off the meat anymore (everything could be easily digested). The one served here was still tough, and taste-wise more disappointing too.





But!! The Hida Beef!! I am so happy with my protein intake today :) Again, seasoning is minimal, but with beef this good, you hardly have to add anything.





To close off my blog post for today, night shot of some gassho houses in Ogimachi... .