Nanshin Tours

In order to help the newcomers get to know the lazy towns in the Nanshin area of Nagano, a local English guide club (Ina English Guide Club, IEGC for short) has organized multiple events since our arrival in August.

The first tour was the day after the Illuminations Festival at Oshiba Kogen. After the Illuminations Festival finished, we slept on-site in a "bungalow". Since it was October, it was just starting to get cold...and these cabins were not very insulated. I was able to keep my blanket for most of the night, but my neighbor took it away from me while we were sleeping.

*shakes fist in the air*

The Bungalow

Anyways, after a really chilly and uncomfortable night, the IEGC took us to visit a town in Shiojiri called Narai-juku. Narai-juku is a town nestled in the Kiso Valley, and it is known as being one of the stops along an old trade route (called the Nakasendo) from the Edo Period that stretches from modern-day Tokyo to Kyoto. This place is one of Japan's Nationally-designated Architectural Preservation Sites, so they've tried to keep it as close to how it was in the Edo Period.

They tried, but if you look carefully, there are traces of modern technology everywhere, effectively ruining the authenticity. The roads are paved (cars often travel through the town), they disguise fluorescent lightbulbs with traditional box lamps, and some of the non-shop buildings  definitely didn't look like they were from the Edo Period.

It was pretty, but a bit more touristy than I had expected. I made it a point to show this place to Ryan (as it was one of the only landmarks in the area), but most of it was closed that day. Bummer. :/ Anyways, after the IEGC tour of the area, we reunited for lunch, called it a day, and went back to our respective cities.

This man had a very bad case of Parkinson's, but he was still able to practice calligraphy! Inspiring.

The next tour was a mochi-making tour. I was super excited about this one because 1) mochi is delicious, 2) Ryan had done it before and told me about it, and 3) we could eat the mochi that we made! Woohoo!!!

This tour was the day after my trekking/McRefugee-ing through Nagano City, and I totally forgot to set my alarm when I got back to Komagane. Somehow, I managed to oversleep through the actual mochi-making part of the tour, but, thankfully, I was still invited to eat the mochi lunch that everyone else had made. Eating the delicious fruits of everyone else's labor...I probably should've felt worse about it, but the mochi was just too delicious! lol

I hope I get the opportunity to make mochi again when I'm in Aomori! ^^;;;

Left: Black Sesame Mochi, Top: Kinako Mochi, Right: Red Bean Mochi

Ozoni Soup (soup  with mochi in it)

Mochi with daikon

Well, that concludes this post on tours that I've been on. These tours have been interesting, but they often remind me of how uncool and sleepy my area is. :/ I really can't wait to get out of here and move to Aomori! >.<