green tea sushi and japanese beef
are well-known japanese culinary exports
and are available at many japanese
restaurants in the world
and of course nothing means having the
dish at its source and that's where
uji and otsu two cities close to kyoto
known for these specialties come in
my name is rayna ong staff writer for
japanguy.com
and in this video we'll be going on an
overnight trip to get an introduction to
sushi
wagyu and tea in kyoto and around
on day one we start our journey in kyoto
and make our way to a sacred mountain
northeast of the city
we end the day on the other side of the
mountain in otsu where we'll learn about
sushi and japanese beef
on day 2 we head to uji and spend the
day learning about green tea before
heading home
so follow along as we go on an overnight
trip around kyoto for sushi
wagyu and tea
day one
[Music]
our trip begins in kyoto station from
where we make our way to mount here
a sacred mountain in north east kyoto
we'll take the cable car and ropeway all
the way up to the mountain
and from there go on a short hike before
descending to otsu
on the other side of the mountain in
otsu we visit a sushi shop
a sake shop and end the day with a
beautiful japanese beef dinner
there are a few ways to travel between
kyoto and otsu and traveling via liaison
is an excellent
way to include a major sightseeing
attraction to your itinerary which is
what i'm doing
[Music]
mount here is the sacred mountain on
which endakuji temple is located
endakiji temple is made up of three main
areas
yokawa in the north saito in the west
and todo in the east i'm at saitona and
i'm going to take a look around here
first
then hike to todo the hike should take
me around 30 to 40 minutes at a
leisurely pace
at its peak there were thousands of
sub-temples spread out on the mountain
however most buildings were destroyed
during the period of warring states in
the late 16th century
the temple was rebuilt in the early 17th
century
and many of the buildings that can be
seen today dates back to them
the main temple buildings are mostly
located in the todo and saito areas
and a pleasant trail connects the two
areas
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the temple was founded over 1200 years
ago and was where many influential monks
who later went on to establish various
buddhist sects
studied
after visiting the vast indiaki temple i
make my way down to the other side of
the mountain
and on towards otsu along the shore of
lake biwa
japan's largest lake this is where my
culinary dive into sushi and wagyu is
about to begin
i start my adventure in otsu with a
visit
to sakamotoya a well-established
producer funazashi
the forerunner of sushi as we know it
today finazeshi has a history of over
2000 years and it is a dish in which
fresh pregnant carp caught in the spring
is first cured in salt
then fermented and rice through the
summer
[Music]
i'm here now at sakamoto yeah to learn
more about funazashi which is said to be
the forerunner of sushi
this fish has been fermented in rice for
about a year the entire fish
from the head to the tail is soft enough
to eat on its own
and i'm gonna give it a try
[Music]
this is actually really good it's a
slight tangy flavor
and it's really smooth and the flavors
just blend together really well in your
mouth
yeah it's good
[Music]
next i'm headed to hirai shoten the
local sake shop in brewery which is on
the way to my accommodation
there are a number of local sake
breweries in otsu and this one has a
nice selection of them
a short 10 minute walk from the sake
shop is biwako hotel
my accommodation for the night the
luxurious hotel has rooms that overlook
lake biwa when in otsu oshiga
one should not miss having omigiu the
local japanese beef
which is one of the top wagyu brands in
japan the intricate marbling on the beef
combined with the method of preparation
are often the biggest
influences on how well the flavor of the
beef is brought
out i'm here at the teppanyaki
restaurant in my hotel for tonight and
i'm going to have the local beef omigiu
which is a japanese beef for dinner in a
tapenaki style restaurant
dinas sit in front of a hot steel grill
and the chef cooks their meal in front
of them on the grill
i went for an omigu course at the
restaurant
and it was such a treat and an
outstanding way to end the day
this looks so good and i'm gonna get
right into it
[Music]
the meat just melts in your mouth it's
so good
[Music]
day two
we continue our journey taking the train
from otsu to uji
where we'll spend the day learning about
tea before heading home
tea has been grown in ujji since the
14th century
and over time udt became one of the most
well-known tea brands in japan
a number of tea varieties are grown in
uji and today
there are many tea shops that sell ugt
and places where visitors can experience
tea
a visit to uji is not complete without
sampling tea
or a tea product
[Music]
or participating in a tea service
today my goal enugi is to immerse myself
in as much of the tea culture as
possible
and i start my day in ujji with a walk
down the main shopping street as i make
my way to my first
tea related activity a ceramics class
pottery plays an important role in the
tea culture and can be seen in the
exquisite tea bowls that are used in the
tea ceremony
i'm here at asahiaki a local ceramics
studio and gallery in uji for my pottery
class
follow me
[Music]
i'm gonna give this a go and i hope i
don't send clay flying everywhere
[Music]
my work of art will be trimmed glazed
and fired before being posted to me
this process typically takes a couple of
months which makes for a nice delayed
souvenir
from there i headed to takumino yakata
my last
spot for the day to relax and enjoy some
tea
grown the traditional way in which the
tea brushes are not trimmed to a uniform
size using machines
and are allowed to be bushy uji tea
leaves are usually picked by hand
and processed into yokuro and matcha
matcha powder is frothed up with hot
water and served in a large tea bowl
while the yokuro tea leaves can be
steeped with room temperature water
and is drunk out of tiny tea cups
[Music]
smells like seaweed just gonna take a
little sip
the lower the temperature of the water
used to steep yokura leaves
the more flavorful and richer the first
infusion of the tea is
almost like drinking a tea broth the
leaves of the yokuro tea
are usually eaten after drinking it so
i'm gonna try it as it is now
and after that add some ponzu a bit of
salt
and then try it again
kind of tastes like vegetables like
steamed vegetables
[Music]
and that was our overnight trip learning
more about sushi
wagyu and tea around kyoto thanks for
joining
me i hope this video has been enjoyable
and perhaps even inspires
some ideas should you decide to plan an
overnight trip in japan
for more information about this trip or
to watch another video
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