Welcome to Yamanashi Prefecture, everyone! This is my second time here.
Let me get you guys back up to speed.
HI guys! Welcome to the bottom of Bodaitei.
Which is 287 steps to enlightenment.
This is actually really steep.
Our first stop is a mountain called Minobu-san.
The stairs are separated into what's called, the O-Daimoku.
which is basically, the prayer that's chanted in Buddhism.
There's a very spiritual element to the huge staircase that we're climbing here
that's really rooted in the cultural history of Buddhism.
We gotta get to the top to find out more!
We made it to the top, as you can see from the sweat.
We made it to Kuonji, one of the most famous temples in the Nichi-ren sect of Buddhism.
There's a beautiful pagoda back there, the bell, and the temple itself,
the grounds here are really beautiful.
During the Fall the trees are lit up with bright red leaves, and during the Spring they're full of cherry blossoms.
So there's a famous cherry blossom tree outside of the temple that usually only blooms in the Spring.
But actually there are a few blossoms right now
I heard it's because a typhoon knocked all the leaves off the tree
that makes the tree think that now it's winter
and then there was a suddenly really warm day
which makes the tree think that Spring is here.
So it's blooming, even though it's the middle of the Fall
It's funny how the tree tells itself when it 'thinks' Spring is here
so now the famous tree outside of the Temple is starting to bloom
because of the typhoon and sudden heatwave.
It's interesting!
Yuba time!
I got it!
So we made it Kakurinbo, which is actually the temple lodgings.
You can have a traditional lunch, using plant-based foods.
There are two special ingredients from the region that are featured as well.
The sesame and fried yuba underneath gives it a really deep, smokey flavor.
It almost tastes like bacon! I was not expecting that.
It reminds me of bacon flavor!
It's natto !
NATTO?!
Natto?! This is not natto. This is not-to.
If every natto tasted like this I'd be a natto fiend!
After you eat you can try on special wedding Kimono.
Our next stop is Kofu City, the capital of Yamanashi Prefecture.
From Kofu Station you can walk to famous spots in Japanese history
to regional food hubs and a castle!
OK, we're checking out a castle now!
This is actually one of the longest stone castles.
You can see the line where the original stones were and the new stones start.
So now we're checking out this miso-making workshop.
We're going to see how miso is made traditionally in the Kofu area.
The building is a really interesting shape. It looks like Mt. Fuji!
This is Koji!
The rice we use is a little different from the kind you eat everyday.
The darkest one is fermented for 3 years.
When we give you a tour of the factory you'll see
we still use real wood barrels in our product.
So! We're here in the winery, the final tour!
Tasting one of Yamanashi's most famous flavors: its local wine.
Yamanashi is the next Prefecture on the left side of Tokyo.
It's a popular destination for day trips because you can get here in just two hours by bus or train from Shinjuku.
Bringing you to its rich food scene,
cultural history, access to Mt. Fuji
and the world-loved Koshu wine.
I'll leave a link below to all the tours I tried.
I'm curious: which of these activities would you try?
Let me know what caught your eye in a comment below.
you