A Walk Through A Japanese Village.

Three and a half hours north of Tokyo, outside of the city of Kitakami, lies a tiny village off of route 107. This is Yanagawa.

Things I ate in Japan.

The yolks of eggs in Japan are the most wonderful shade of yellow.

The potatoes were cooked with anchovies. Salty and savory, mmm.

The white tube like things were chikuwa - fish cakes with cucumbers stuffed inside with a sauce consisting of mayonnaise and soy sauce. The other dishes were white rice, miso soup and a cold salad made of seaweed and carrots.

Aya's great aunt described them as "full bellied", referring to the fact they were pregnant. Aya decided to pass...

...but I went for it!

The top plate, hiyashi chaka, was one of my favorite Japanese dishes. It's a cold noodle dish with different toppings (cucumber, ham, egg, tomato) and a tare sauce, which I can only describe as a thicker and sweeter soy sauce.

Calpis is kind of like a watered down, tangy yogurt drink.

Chilled hot chocolate - not as good as the picture depicts. Too watery.

My first proper meal in Japan. I ordered it via a machine that printed out a ticket with your order, that you then handed to the chef to prepare.

Kimchi ramen and gyoza. The perfect meal after walking in the rain for hours.

Mitarashi dango, a Japanese mochi dumpling on a stick with a sweet and sticky soy sauce glaze. Mmm.

Octopus!

Aya was not a fan.

Soy cracker (these were so addictive!)

I was pretty much in heaven.

The best soft serve I have EVER had - green tea and vanilla.

Aya picked chocolate and banana swirl.

Multi tasking.

Mango soft serve.

Watermelon snocone at a street fair.

Karaage - Japanese fried chicken. I added curry powder to mine. So good!

Yakitori (various skewered meat), eggplant, cucumber and sashimi (under that pile of onions and lettuce). Japanese eggplant is far superior to the eggplant found in American grocery stores. They are much smaller and have a firmer texture and a more delicate flavor.

Tofu with fish flakes and green onion.

I'm not sure if this dish has a name, but it consisted of rice, egg, shredded carrots, mushroom, cooked eel and salmon eggs.

Sashimi.

A beef, noodle, egg, onion and tofu dish, cucumber and raw octopus salad and roasted eggplant with a plum sauce.

Takoyaki - breaded grilled octopus balls and yakisoba.

Chawanmushi - a savory custard type soup with chicken and shrimp at the bottom.

More sashimi.

A delicious soup with tofu, dumplings, carrot, cabbage, daikon, etc. I think the square speckled bits were a congealed lotus?

I wasn't much of a fan of green tea prior to my trip, but you kind of get addicted after drinking freshly brewed tea with every meal. And I mean, every meal.

Melon soda.

Bulgogi - the Korean method of grilling marinated meat.

I could have sat at our table flipping meat with my chopsticks for hours (as long as I had plenty of melon soda).