Eat your way through Daigo!
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We went to Daigo Town (http://www.town.daigo.ibaraki.jp/
), about 50 km north of Mito, on a mission. Halloween was coming and we needed some pumpkins to carve out faces from. But things didn't go exactly as planned. We ended on going on a great gourmet trip!
Like most places in Ibaraki, Daigo (pop. 22,781) is famous for a number of food products: tea, kon'yaku (jelly made from starch of devil's tongue), yuba (dried bean curd), shamo (game fowl), soba (buckwheat noodles), wasabi (horseradish paste), apples, and for some reason, cheesecake. It turns out that pumpkins fit in there somewhere too.
Every year in late September there is a festival that celebrates HUGE pumpkins (some up to 400 kg) and we managed to get our hands on some of the leftovers.
This story turns out to be less about the pumpkins and more about the other place we ended up because of the pumpkins.
Takami-en
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The pumpkin-picking place was called "Takami-en", a tea farm on the outskirts of Daigo. The owner of this farm is one of the organizers of the pumpkin festival.
After stuffing about 200 kg worth of orange goodness into the back of the station wagon we were lucky enough to try some of their tea.
They have been growing "sencha" tea leaves here for over 20 years and even turn some of them into English style tea which is very rare in Japan. I can tell you now that it tastes pretty good.
Now, the most interesting thing I discovered while I was drinking their tea and eating cakes with the owners, was that anyone can actually become a part owner of their farm!
For only 8000 yen a year, you are given the right to 3.3 square metres of the crop. You can put a name plate next to your trees and in when it comes time to pick the crop in May and July, you are invited to come along to help. Then your tea is packaged up and sent to you. What a great souvenir to take home. After you have drunk all your tea, you are given a 20% discount on any more your buy from them.
The 3.3 square meters corresponds roughly to 600 grams of tea. Normally 100 grams of their tea sells for around 1500 yen so if you like tea, and would like to take part in the process, it's a pretty good deal.
For more details:
Takami-en1421 Saki, Daigo Town, Kuji-gun
Phone: 02957-2-1191
Fax: 02957-2-2501
Yamizo Onsen
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Next stop on the journey was something that I had heard about and couldn't believe so I needed to see it for myself. Funnily enough, the other day at work I ran into the manager of said place and when we said we were off to collect pumpkins in Daigo he said we should drop by.
I am sure that everyone knows what an onsen is; you know, a hot spring. You get all naked with people you don't know and after washing yourself down on a little plastic stool, you plunge your body into scorching hot natural spring water.
So this is normal enough in Japan, but what makes Yamizo different is the fact that they put whole apples in the onsen along with the naked bodies!
Why apples?, I am sure you ask. As I wrote earlier, Daigo is famous for apples among other things. About 20 years ago someone came up with the idea of using left over apples from the surrounding farms to make the onsen water sweet and delicious. Since then it has been a hit. Each day over 100 new apples are placed into each of the men's and women's baths.
Yamizo is the only onsen in Daigo that does this. In fact apples are not the only speciality of this onsen. Apple season is from the start of September to the end of January. From February to April the water is filled with the aroma of hinoki (Japanese cypress) by placing special logs in the water. May and June are set aside for shobu (Siberian iris), and July and August return to hinoki again.
For more information:
Yamizo Leisure Center524－2 Yada, Daigo Town, Kuji-gun
Phone: 02957-2-1511
Fax: 02957-2-1514
Entry fee:
- Junior high school and above
- 10 a.m.–4 p.m.
- ¥800
- 4 p.m.–8 p.m.
- ¥500
- Elementary school and above
- 10 a.m.–4 p.m.
- ¥500
- 4 p.m.–8 p.m.
- ¥400
Daigo Oyaki School
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The final stop was an unplanned detour thanks to the recommendations of the owner of the onsen.
Another of Daigo's specialties is called "oyaki." It is a kind of cake which can be roughly compared with niku-man (pork buns).
At the Oyaki School you are able to learn how to make these oyaki, but this is not the only reason it is called a school. The building where it is housed was actually a real school house up until 1997. It must have been built about 100 years ago!
There are about 10 varieties of oyaki which are produced on the premises. Pumpkin (not the big ones that we collected though), apple (not the ones from the onsen), vegetable, azuki bean, cheese, mushroom, etc. While we were there they were in the midst of cooking up a batch of 2200 pumpkin ones for the local school lunches.
The oyaki class goes for appromiately 45 mins and you get to make 5 or 6 or your own to take home and share. It costs 800 yen for adults and 500 yen for children. There is a discount for groups but you must book in advance. You can buy individual Oyaki for around 130 yen depending on the flavor.
Soba-making classes are also available at the school. These take 1 hour and cost 2600 yen for up to 4 people. Add 600 yen if you want it cooked on the spot to eat then and there. Take note that soba classes are not available until December as the soba wheat will not be finished growing until then.
The Oyaki School is very into sustainable living and all of the ingredients used are grown on the premises.
For more information:
Daigo Oyaki School2469 Daiji Makinochi, Daigo Town, Kuji-gun
Phone: 02957-8-0500
Fax: 02957-8-0509
Other attractions in the area
Our trip to Daigo was too short and there are many more things to see apart from just eating. If you get the chance, try some of the places and events below.
- Fukuroda Falls
- Onsen
- Mountains
- Rivers
- Historical landmarks
- Festivals
- Special food products
- Sake and beer
- Autumn leaves
How to get to Daigo
How to get there by public transport:
- From the Tsukuba area: Take the new Tsukuba Express to Moriya Station and change onto the bus that is bound for Hitachi-Daigo station
- From Tōkyō: Take a bus directly from Tōkyō or Shinjuku stations. Get off at Hitachi-Daigo station
- From the Jōban area: Take a Jōban line train from Ueno. Change to the Suigun line train at Mito. Get off at Hitachi-Daigo station.
How to get there by car:
- From the Tōhoku Expressway, exit at Nishinasuno Interchange. From there it is a 1.5 hour drive via Odawara and Kurobane to Daigo
- From the Jōban Expressway, exit at Naka Interchange. From there it is a 50 minute drive along Highway 118.
Getting around Daigo
Being far up in the inaka (country) it is hard to get anywhere without a car, but Daigo does have local buses that service all the places we visted above. They run every hour or so.
On top of that, there is a free bus that visits 10 of Daigo's top attractions which you can get on and off as you please. It leaves from Hitachi-Daigo station at 9:02, 10:57. 12:57 and 15:03 and does a round trip of all of the attractions giving you two hours or so at each place before you need to get back on the bus. It also leaves from Fukuroda station.