Today, I've come to the Yamanashi Prefecture
to see the koyo, or autumn foliage (autumn leaves).
As you can see behind me,
are beautiful orange and red leaves.
The scenery is absolutely gorgeous.
So I'm going to share some of that with you today.
and the nice thing about this place
is that there's nobody here.
It's a three-day weekend, and as you can see,
I've got this whole place to myself.
So I just wanted to get out here
and show you guys the beautiful Japanese koyo.
Isn't this just beautiful??
The fiery reds, burnt oranges, and golden yellows.
It's like nature's celebration
marking the end of the harvest season.
It is such a drastic change in landscape
from the cherry blossoms in the spring time.
This is exactly why seasons play
such an important role in Japanese culture,
and why you need to come enjoy
each and every one of them.
The kanji for koyo is writtten
ko is red (deep crimson red).
It's another kanji for red.
and yo is leaf.
So it's red leaves.
and you can also read it momiji.
Momiji is Japanese maple.
So the really red leaves you see,
Those are momiji.
and I think when you go to Kyoto,
you'll see a lot of that.
Depending on the area you're in
you're going to see a completely different
type of Autumn foliage (differe colors).
a different type of koyo.
But I think this is really beautiful
because you get to experience
all of the different colors
as opposed to seeing it all just red.
which is probably amazing as well,
so I do hope to make it out to Kyoto sometime
to see the koyo over there.
We're going to be driving around,
so I'll show you guys some amazing sites.
I'm also going to have lunch up in the mountain.
We're going to go eat hoto,
which is a local Yamanashi dish.
It's kind of like udon noodles,
but the soup is miso soup,
lots of vegetables.
so you'll get to see me eating some of that!
Enjoy the autumn foliage, it is so amazing!
Just a little language memo.
While cherry blossom watching is called hanami,
fall foliage watching is called momijigari,
which literally translates to maple picking.
This term dates back to the Heian Period
when momiji watching became a popular activity
for the royal class
and they would pick up the leaves for closer viewing.
Okay, here you are. Thank you for waiting.
Thank you!
Be careful, it's hot.
Ready?
Oh, that looks so good!
nametake, iwatake, murasaki-shimeji, usuzumi
There are 4 kinds of mushurroms in this.
take-shimeji. I guess there's five.
Awsome! It looks delicious!
OMG, this was so good!
Anyway, let me tell you a few things about this
delicious Yamanashi dish.
Hoto is similar to udon.
They're both made from kneading flour and water,
but with hoto, there's no salt added into the dough.
What salt does, is that it creates a chemical reaction
that tightens the glucose structure in the dough.
What does that mean?
It means that it results in a firm chewiness in the noodles,
which we call "koshi" in Japanese.
So hoto, other than being much thicker than udon,
is also a lot softer.
There's no "koshi."
It's more like thick dumpling skin than udon.
By the way, "koshi" is usually a good thing in noodles,
so why did they decide to leave the salt out of the hoto dough?
Well, Yamanashi is completely inland
and didn't have access to saltwater.
hence, no salt!
Also, since the area is very mountainous,
they had very few rice fields,
and relied on different types of grains for their carbs.
As for the name,
there are various theories on where it comes from,
but one theory is that it comes from this word
hoto, meaning a treasured family sword,
passed down from one generation to the next.
Why would a noodle dish be named after a sword?
Well, they say that Takeda Shingen,
a powerful feudal ruler of the Kai Province,
which is now Yamanashi Prefecture,
used to cut up the thick hoto noodles (and the ingredients) with his hoto,
his family sword.
This really warms me up.
Oh, this is great!
So full!
It was really good!
I'm all warmed up now!
This place was awesome! Look at this!
I hope that this video gave you a feel for what
fall is like in Japan,
but you really have to come yourself
and experience it with all of your five sense
to really understanding how amazing it is.
Oh, by the way.
what are the fall leaves like in your country?
Let me know in the comments!
I hope you guys enjoyed this,
and I will see you guys again soon!
See you soon!