Welcome back to my channel and the second episode of my tour through 5 Hietsuno UNESCO Festival city sites! With all the good food and famous places in Japan sometimes its hard to narrow down where you want to go, but for this series I decided to use festivals to help me find places that have really deep, rich culture. Last time we went to a place we all know and love, the Hida Takayama area but TODAY, for our second part of the series we are in…. I quizzed you guys!

I gave you a hint last time, I said that the city we are visiting today is a place you probably know from the famous movie “Your Name”… and not the Tokyo parts either! I mean the countryside, the festival, huge torii gates, trains going through the station… does this ring any bells? I quizzed you guys on YouTube and a lot of you said… “Itomori”. That’s actually not a real place in Japan but it is BASED on a real place in Japan and that is here!

Hida city in the middle, the smack-dab middle of Japan! So thanks to all the viewers who guessed, yep, you’re right, we’re in Hida! For the rest of you who said Itomori and the one person who said Aomori, stay tuned, don’t worry, you’ll get to know this place by the end of today!

So the main point, the festival! The Furukawa Festival has a lot of different elements to it but probably arguably the most famous part of it recently is the naked festival. Yep, you heard that right! So the goal today is to learn more about what the Furukawa Festival is all about, and while we’re doing it, learn more about the actual city here. To do this we have a special guide today! What can I see, you’re going to see a lot of this guy!

So a quick pit stop. I am here at a special spot that architecture lovers are going to love! Across Hida there are lots of places with really interesting, intricate ways of doing things like this: attaching wood and beams and pieces of the actual architecture without using nails or glue or anything like that.

Where we would think to use nails or something like that, its all about how the wood is carved. It’s really clever! … There’s also recreated scenes from popular movies and anime you may recognized. You may see a little buddy back there that you know.

So in many situations in Japan, if you’re out in a group or work situation there’s a word called “bureiko”. It sounds like “break”, and that’s pretty close to the meaning, It’s a time when you can let down all the usual rules, or at least some of them, and get closer to people you may not usually have the chance to talk to in more professional or formal settings. So one thing our guide was telling us is that during the festival, in everyone’s house there’s a set meal that everyone’s used to eating. The word for this, obviously you can call it a feast or “gochisou” in Japanese, but in Hida there is a special word: “gottsou”

Well, believe it or not, starting today, my channel now a mukbang channel! We’re going to eat all of this! Look at the size!!! Famous Hida-gyu steak, there’s roast beef, tempura, sashimi, vegetables, tempura vegetables… This is the sultan’s platter! I’m going in! The flavors are so good! I’ve been trying to sample across everything. There’s kimpira, one of my favorite side dishes, different pickles and foods. Different flavors and textures.. truly heaven! Mmm! Oh my gosh, I’m not even done yet and dessert is already here. Sherbert with fresh fruit comport at the bottom. What is this luxury!? If you haven’t learned it yet, there’s a word in Japanese you have to know – betsubara. It means “second stomach” but its your extra room, just for dessert!

If you come to Hida on the JR train you’ll come to the station Hida Furukawa. This spot right here, Furukawa town is kind of like little Kyoto inside of Hida city. One of the things that Hida is known for is its many natural herbs that you can grow. Like for teas, apothecary type stuff, but also you can use them as toppings in foods! I was walking and I actually found a miso sembei shop! Miso Sembei is one of the most famous souvenirs, a treat that you can bring home from Hida. At first I was like… miso!? Is this granola going to taste like miso? It’s a wheat cracker with so many different flavors and variations. Recently they’ve been making coffee, tea granola with chocolate and white chocolate. Around the festival time when there were even more people visiting the granola sembei became really popular! It doesn’t taste like miso though! It just tastes like really good granola and the toppings and seeds on top are made with local herbs that are found around in Hida. I really liked that it wasn’t too sweet. It has a light sweetness and they said its because its made with daikon sugar! I thought that was pretty interesting.

Now I’m at a local lunch spot, can you hear the locals hanging out around me? I did so much street food eating and I thought I should try some more of the local delicacies. Negi miso, seasoned potatoes beans that were made locally, of course the local mini eggplant… and then this one! This one has really caught my eye. I know it doesn’t look like it but its actually udon noodles and the flour is made with yomogi, a green medicinal herb that has a nice unique flavor. I want to try this one first… Also of course, we have miso soup and rice! Can’t have a traditional Japaense meal without the staples. Ooo… the flavor tastes like normal udon but maybe a little healthier? I feel like I’m cleaning the inside of my body. This is like a partyball of flavors. Onions and miso all deepfried together. This potato is so good it has like a … black sesame? Some kind of sweet flavor that’s really good!

Alright, we are down TWO festivals! I still have 3 more that we are going to check out. There’s nothing to do but to come back when they’re actually being held next. In the meantime, I really like the idea of using Festivals to learn more about the city. So, I’m on to my next spot! We’re heading deeper into the countryside and farther from anything I know! So stick around and I’ll see you in our next episode! Going across some deep parts of Japan. I’ll see you guys next time! Bye!