In the middle of Japan

 The strawberry season has come! A lot of strawberries are displayed at all supermarkets, we are able to buy them without hesitation because of the reasonable prices. I made a Fraisier Cake (a sponge cake with strawberries), a seasonal specialty in my home. 😍

After fossil digging, we went to Oniiwa Park (Demon Rock Park) near Mizunami city. It is the scenic area of various large rocks and it has the cave which it is said that the demon lived in, that is the origin of the park name. And recently one cracked rock is said to resemble the cut rock by Tanjiro in “Demon Slayer (Kimetsu No Yaiba)”, the worldwide popular Manga, the park has several hiking trails. As we followed the hiking trail, found a very large, cracked rock. The crack is big, this picture is like Moses parting the sea. 😲 And we walked through the crack, there it is, the cut rock by Tanjiro! There are other unique rocks here. The rock is going to fall!😱  Don't worry, it's stood since long ago. It is called "Lucky Rock" (because it hasn't fallen yet), a deity is believed to reside. We enjoyed beautiful scenery of rocks!

 My kids and I went to Mizunami city in Gifu Prefecture about 1 hour drive on the express way from our hime on the public holiday (It was a working day for my husband, that was too bad…). Mizunami city is famous for fossils, many fossils have been found there.  Mizunami fossil museum holds fossil digging, my daughter’d always wanted to do it. At first, we went to the museum to know a lot more about fossils and applied for digging. Then, we moved to the River Toki where we dug fossils. We brought hummers, chisels and goggles from home as the museum guidance. We had dug for one and a half hours, but found only plant fossils or parts of shells. Actually, the kids wanted to find rare fossils such as whole shells or shark teeth. We had just cracked rocks… Fossil digging was the first time for us, though it was tough, but fun! I will post Oniiwa park (Demon rock park in the literal translation) near the city in the next blog!

 The Japan’s national broadcaster, NHK makes the annual year-long historical drama about one historical person’s life. And the next year’s person is Tokugawa Ieyasu, who was born and a feudal load in our city, Okazaki! He subjugated the whole nation and established the last feudal military government in Edo (Tokyo at present). His subjugation ended the long disturbances in the country, the government’d kept the peace without wars in 265 years from 1603 to 1868 of the era. The various cultures and arts flourished in the peaceful mood:  Kabuki, Ukiyo-e (woodblock print), Sushi, Tempura and Soba noodle, which is believed as traditional Japanese cultures at present. My daughter took part in a swimming tournament this day, my son and I went to the castle where Ieyasu was born. The area around the castle is Okazaki Park, the inside of the castle is the museum.  Okazaki Castle We stopped by the famous Udon noodle shop called “Taishouan” near the castle. We ordered the No.1 menu; “Morokoshi (c

Beetroots are not popular, rarely seen at supermarkets in Japan. I found them at a farmers' market and bought one. My husband and kids don’t like its odor and I added it to sponge batter and made a beetroot cake.  Whipped cream makes it better, they are happy to have it. 😄

Feb. 3rd was a day before the first day of spring in the traditional Japanese calendar, Japanese people call the day "Setsubun". We sow roasted soybeans in own houses and gardens to drive out evil spirits and welcome good luck, shouting "Oni wa Soto" and "Fuku wa Uchi", which means "demons out" and "fortune in". The special dish on that day is sushi rolls called "Ehomaki". Usually, sushi rolls are cut into bite-sized pieces, but "Ehomaki" is a whole sushi roll before cutting.   When you eat it, you need to face the lucky direction of the year that is believed to bring you good fortune.  And you have to eat it at one time without stopping and saying something, making wishes! I made 6 types of "Ehomaki", cucumber, cucumber with pickled plum, tuna, fermented soybean (Natto), Salad and Japanese barbecue (Yakiniku) with leaf lettuce. The rice is brown, because I added brown coconut sugar to it as seasoning. May