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Fish and Eat your Catch of Day at a Fresh Fishing Pond

This tour is bobber/float fishing off a wharf near the airport. The friendly staff helps bait your hook and the pools are replenished with fish like sea bass, rock fish and trout. It’s an interesting tour with a real local vibe.

Sumo Wrestling Museum Kehayaza

If you’ve ever wanted to see what you’d look like as a sumo wrestler, this is the place. Local sumo enthusiasts will announce your match, you can throw salt on an official size ring, and enjoy taking plenty of videos and pictures.

A Gastronomy Walk Through Katsuragisanroku Park, Umemoto Tofu shop, Katakami Soy Sauce

We enjoyed freshly-made tofu in a quaint countryside tofu shop. The soy milk nabe was really tasty. The shop owner greeted us warmly and we had a chance to peek through the window at her well-known tofu shop in action. After a short walk through town past Edo era buildings we had a lunch at Tegami cafe where we enjoyed seasonal local food and a cup of coffee. My favorite part of the tour was visiting a traditional soy sauce shop and learning how soy sauce is made. It’s fascinating to see the 100-year old barrels, this was followed by a soy sauce pairing with vegetables, beef, and grilled “mochi “ (pounded rice). Our tour had enough time to visit “one word one wish “ shrine.

Shōkadō

We enjoyed a traditional tea ceremony performed in a beautiful, serene traditional tea room by veterans who explained the movements and answered questions. The atmosphere was relaxed and we enjoyed matcha green tea and the wagashi traditional sweets before strolling through the beautiful moss and bamboo gardens and feeding the Japanese carp.

Asahikan (Nara) Japanese Inn

Asahikan is rustic mountain lodge which introduces regional cuisine like raw deer sashimi, wild boar hotpot, and barley rice porridge. The friendly owner makes rice using a wood burning stove called a “kamado” and showed us her kitchen.
The Taisho era glass windows were hand crafted and the building is a traditional inn with paper partitions between rooms, futons, karosene space heaters, and communal bathrooms, and sinks. It’s an authentic experience if you’d like to enjoy a stay in the Nara countryside.