Adachi Museum of Art (足立美術館), Yasugi, Japan

This article was updated on 18 Sep 2021 to clarify the details on taking the train to Yasugi Station and the Adachi Art Museum.

The Adachi Museum of Art (足立美術館, Adachi Bijutsukan) should be on everyone's sightseeing list when visiting Japan. While it is an art museum, the real reason you should visit the museum is to see the 16.5 hectare (40.7 acre) garden. The garden has been voted the number one Japanese garden since 2003 by the Journal of Japanese Gardening. The museum's founder, local businessman Zenkō Adachi (1899-1990), believed "the garden is also a picture" and devoted himself to gardening until his death. As seen in the picture above, the inside of the museum was designed to frame the garden as a picture. While the views from inside the museum impressive, the views of the garden from outside of the building are spectacular (visitors are not allowed into the garden themselves). The views change with the four seasons, so one visit will only give you a glimpse of garden's possibilities. I've been fortunate to visit the garden twice, once in Dec 2009, and more recently on 14 Nov 2017. Please continue reading the rest of the article and to see more photographs.

Station Master Tama: The Cat That Saved A Railroad, Wakayama, Japan

Wakayama Electric Railway (和歌山電鐵, Wakayama Dentetsu) is a private railway line that operates just one 14.3 km (8.9 mile) train line, the Kishigawa Line (貴志川線, Kishigawa-sen), between Wakayama and Kishi stations [1]. In Japan, small and short railway lines are not profitable due to the dwindling population outside the cities, and many of these lines have closed. However, this small line is open and operates profitably today because of a cat. I took the Tamadensha train (aka "Cat Train") for a visit on 23 Oct 2018.

Please read the rest of the article to find out more about this unique railway and its now famous cat station master, and to see more photographs.

Kumano Nachi Taisha (熊野那智大社), Wakayama Prefecture, Japan

This will probably be the last posting for 2018. I wish you and your family a Happy New Year for 2019. The last post this year is for a unique Japanese shrine using the travel blog, rather than my previous end of the year posts in the food blog. I hope you have enjoyed both blogs, and if you have not already, please "Follow" and give the blogs a "Like" on Facebook (food: https://www.facebook.com/ducksoupeasy/, and travel: https://www.facebook.com/ducksoupeasytravel/). Thanks, and I will see you next year.

Kumano Nachi Taisha (熊野那智大社) is a Shinto shrine and part of the UNESCO-designated World Heritage Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range of Japan. [1] The shrine is one of three sacred shrines, known as the Kumano Sanzan (熊野三山) or the Three Grand Shrines of Kumano, located on the Kii peninsula in Wakayama Prefecture, south-east of Osaka. The other two sacred shrines are Kumano Hongu Taisha and Kumano Hayatama Taisha. The shrines are located on a sacred pilgrimage route known as the Kumano Kodō (熊野古道). While it is still possible to walk the original ancient Kumano Kodō, the sites are now accessible by more modern trains and buses. The most notable sight at the shrine is the three-storied pagoda located near the highest single-drop waterfall in Japan. I visited the shrine on 22 Oct 2018.

Gyukatsu Motomura Nishi-Shinjuku (牛かつ もと村 新宿店) Restaurant, Tokyo, Japan

I visited the Gyukatsu Motomura Nishi-Shinjuku (牛かつ もと村 新宿店) Restaurant in Tokyo, Japan on 2 Nov 2018. The specialty of the restaurant is beef tonkatsu, which is deep fried beef, rather than the usual pork tonkatsu found in Japan.

Please continue reading the rest of the article to find out more about my dinner at Gyukatsu Motomura Nishi-Shinjuku and to see more photographs.

Toyosu Market (豊洲市場, Toyosu Shijō): Tsukiji Market's (築地市場, Tsukiji Shijō) Replacement, Tokyo, Japan

The Markets

This article was updated on 16 Aug 2022 to include a link to an article about my visit to the Tsukiji tuna auction on 17 Feb 2005.

Tokyo's Tsukiji Market (築地市場, Tsukiji Shijō) is famous the world over. Primarily known for its early morning (5:30-6:30 AM) tuna auction, it is also Tokyo's supplier of seafood, as well as fruits and vegetables. Tsukiji Market actually consisted of two markets: the Inner and Outer. The Outer market has many restaurants and open stall retail shops selling fresh fish, produce, and all sorts of wares. The Inner market was the wholesale area for fish (and the famous tuna auction), produce, restaurants, and shops.

Tsukiji Inner Market is now closed, and the tuna auction and wholesale areas have all moved to modern, enclosed, temperature-controlled buildings at Toyosu Market (豊洲市場, Toyosu Shijō). Please continue reading the rest of the article to find out more about my visit to Toyosu Market, soon after it opened, on 04 Nov 2018.

Pizza California Tokoname (ピザ・カリフォルニア 常滑店), Tokoname, Japan

When I first saw this car, I did a double-take. While the color scheme and logo from a distance looked familiar, I had a moment of confusion because I was in Tokoname, Japan, which is near Nagoya's Chubu Centrair International Airport. As I got closer to figure out what I was seeing, I noticed the size of the car and the logo, which has an accurate facsimile of the California Highway Patrol (CHP) badge logo, minus the surrounding words found on the real patrol cars. From Wikipedia, it is a Kei car, K-car, or 軽自動車, which is the Japanese legal category for the smallest and most limited power, highway-legal motor vehicles, including passenger cars, micro-vans, and Kei trucks. 

Tonkatsu Dinner at Fujiki Ningyocho (富士喜 人形町 (富士㐂 (フジキ))) Restaurant, Tokyo, Japan

Update on Fujiki Ningyocho, Tokyo, Japan

So I was in Tokyo for a few days at the start of my current travels and went back to eat at Fujiki Ningyocho on 17 Oct, 2019. I wanted to eat the tomahawk tonkatsu that I described in my original post below again.

As with all things in life, the only constant is change. The ownership of the restaurant appears to have changed and while the restaurant still serves tonkatsu, there have been changes to the dish. The restaurant still serves the tomahawk tonkatsu, but it appears that the pork they use has changed from a premium to a more common breed. Do not get me wrong, the tonkatsu served was still good to eat, but it's not what it was before.

There are also English menus available for some of the seasonal dishes, whereas before, all the menus were in Japanese. The price has also dropped a few hundred yen and the weight of the tonkatsu has decreased too, which reinforces my belief that a more common pork breed is being used for the dish.

Also changed is the how the dish is served. No more knife and fork! The dish is presented already cut, like the regular version of tonkatsu served everywhere, obviating the need for a knife and fork needed to eat a whole boned pork rib steak. So you eat the dish with chopsticks.

The condiments have also changed. Whereas before the condiments were spicy, unique, and prepared on-site, the newer owners have opted to use more common (and likely not made on-site) accompaniments to the tonkatsu. Probably the most unfortunate change is the elimination of the yuzu-based condiment that you eat with the tonkatsu (see the original report below). Again, this was a store-made and unique addition to the normal version of the dish that you could not get anywhere else.

Would I still eat there again? If I had never had a tomahawk tonkatsu before, this is still the only place to get this dish and it is well prepared. I would certainly make a trip to this restaurant in that case. Having eaten both versions (the original and new), I would say that while the dish is still unique, it does not warrant another special trip. If I am in the neighborhood, I certainly would eat there again.