The Maple Leaf Trail to Minoh Waterfall

As I begin to learn more about Osaka I'm starting to realise that there are plenty of relaxing places to visit surprisingly close to the hectic urban sprawl. Minoh waterfall in the north of the city provides an excellent example of such a place. For just 30 minutes of your time and 280 of your yen you can access Minoh on the Hankyu line from Umeda. Upon arrival a 2.8km walk awaits you that leads to a pretty impressive 40 metre high waterfall set in quite beautiful surroundings

After working in Senri-Chuo in the northern suburbs for the past month I’ve encountered a lot of students from neighbouring Minoh city and all have recommended a trip to the waterfall. Having combined this advice with a little bit of my own internet research I decided to follow up the recommendation last Sunday; the first day of golden week.

Golden week inevitably means that Osaka is even busier than usual with the cities businessmen taking up the opportunity to have a few uncharacteristic days off work to spend time with their families. Judging from the train journey to Minoh it also marks a busy period for Japanese trainspotters. Virtually every station from Umeda to Minoh was packed with middle aged men armed with cameras waiting for a glimpse of their favourite train. This was certainly not a sight I was expecting in Japan!

Deep fried maple leaves

Like many ‘cities’ in Japan, Minoh city isn’t really a city, it’s a small suburban town that thrives around the twin themes of the waterfall and its maple trees. For those in need of a snack for the walk up you can even combine the two by buying a pack of the local delicacy; deep fried maple leaves, to keep you energised. Personally the attraction of paying 700 yen for a bag of battered leaves is minimal so I made do with a packet of crisps.

The walk to the falls may only be 2.8km, but the uphill nature can be a little hard work, especially on a hot day. Thankfully the stunning scenery along the route makes it a little easier and if the walk does become a bit too much there are plenty of opportunities for refreshment on the way up too; together with several stalls selling drinks and snacks there is a butterfly museum and the beautiful Ryuanji Temple Benzaiten to keep you entertained. On Sunday there was even a rather talented woman playing a grand piano loaded on to the back of a truck!

The waterfall itself isn’t bad as waterfalls go, I’m no expert, but I enjoyed it. Equally rewarding was the scene around the waterfall with families picnicking around its foot, and dozens of children playing in the river. Even out here in the country there is no escaping the crowds though and after a taking a few pictures it was nice to get back on the path down and enjoy the relative tranquillity of the rainforest.

In Osaka peace and quiet doesn't really exist, not properly anyway, but Minoh does provide a nice release for those who fancy some fresh country air without having to spend a long time travelling. With a long hot summer ahead such spots will be invaluable.

http://www.world-of-waterfalls.com/minoo-minoh-falls-japan.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minoh,_Osaka

The brief visit of Sakura

Almost as quickly as it started, sakura season in Japan is over, and all that remain of Osaka’s beautiful cherry blossoms are the discarded petals that litter virtually every street of the city. The past two weeks have been my first sakura experience and having entered into the period slightly sceptical of the excitement with which ordinary Japanese approach it, I have emerged a fully-fledged convert.

Virtually every stretch of water in Osaka, along with myriad city streets are lined with cherry blossom trees, and for just a few short days each year they deliver a spectacular blast of pink to welcome in summer across the city. There can be little doubt that the few days in which the cherry blossoms flower represent a special time in Japan. The visual beauty of the flowering cherry blossoms is, however, just one half of the sakura experience. For the Japanese, sakura season is all about ‘ohanami’, which though loosely translated as ‘flower watching’, has developed today to mean something closer to ‘eating and drinking to excess amongst the cherry blossoms’.

Although there are countless spots across Kansai to enjoy Sakura I limited my excursions to within Osaka. Alas, my life as a professional tourist is over and I have a pesky job now which restricts my opportunities for travel. There are plenty of places to enjoy sakura around the city though, nowhere more so than Sakuranomiya which, as the name suggests, is home to a particularly large stretch of sakura trees. It also plays host to the annual Osaka regatta which, though not exactly Henley, provides a nice distraction for the hordes of people enjoying ohanami on the banks of the river.

In the north of the city Bampaku-koen provides another great ohanami spot in the grounds of the expo 70 commemoration park. The park is surrounded with sakura and is overlooked by ‘The Tower of the Sun’; an enormous statue that formed part of the World Exhibition in 1970. Thanks to the size of the park and its abundant sakura it is the ideal location for ohanami, and the various parties taking place under the cherry blossoms are particularly impressive here. When the Japanese do picnics they do them properly! There are full size BBQs, tables and chairs and incredible food offerings, as well as vast quantities of sake and beer!

For now though sakura season is over for another year, I just hope the tradition of BBQs by the river continues for the rest of the summer!

Botan Nabe

Although still a relatively new arrival in Japan I’m in the privileged position of living with my Japanese girlfriend, as a result I get to try things that other new arrivals may not get the chance to do. A good example of this was a recent trip into the mountains organised by my girlfriend’s grandmother to experience Botan Nabe.

Botan Nabe, though rare in the more populous regions of Japan, is a well-known dish throughout the mountain regions that surround Osaka and Kyoto. In its simplest terms Botan Nabe can be described as a soup or stew comprising delicious wild boar along with mountain vegetables. The meat itself – dark in colour and rich in flavour – is cut thinly, in much the same way as ham, before being arranged on a plate in the shape of the petals of the peony flower, known in Japan as the Botan flower, hence the name Botan Nabe (Nabe meaning pot).

Though more and more places now offer the dish, particularly within Kansai, like the majority of Japanese cuisine there is a long tradition attached to the dish and the best examples are to be found at the places that have been producing it the longest. One such establishment is Iwaya (link in Japanese) located on the outskirts of Hyogo in an area called Tamba-Sasayama. This family run business has been producing Botan Nabe to great acclaim for more than 40 years, demonstrating that a combination of home grown, award winning rice and vegetables, together with excellent quality boar, can lead to continued success.

The restaurant is a thatched wooden structure that acts as a portal to a bygone era. With room to hold about 50 people, reservations are essential even on a weekday afternoon. The ‘tables’ comprise a small coal fire surrounded with cushions, with a huge steel pot full of hot soup suspended from the ceiling hanging over the fire. Each table is provided with an immaculately presented plate of meat along with a large bowl of mountain potatoes, Chinese cabbage, spring onions, mushrooms, tofu, and home-made konnyaku. Diners are then invited to place the items into the soup thus creating the stew.

On a cold winters day there really is nothing more warming, or filling! The soup is delicious and the rich flavours of the boar are complemented perfectly with the blander flavours of the vegetables and tofu. Each table is also provided with a small bottle of Japanese spices that give an almost citrus flavour to the stew, its perfect.

Just as warming as the stew itself is the sake on offer, which it soon becomes clear plays an equally important role to the boar. Served warm, in a small pottery jug, it completes the dining experience. Slightly less enjoyable, however, is Doburoku, a completely different type of sake that is served cold and lumpy. I’m told it is a local delicacy, though I’m not so sure!

For those left with any room in their stomachs after finishing all the meat and vegetables, a bowl of rice and an egg are brought out. The egg is poached in the remaining soup and served with the rice to complete the feast. And that is exactly what this meal is, a feast.

It is well known that Japan does food well, indeed Osaka is a foodies dream with something to suit quite literally every taste. What the city doesn't have though is the tranquillity of the countryside, indeed regardless of how good a restaurants food is, there are times when what one wishes for most is some peace and quiet. So for those who've had enough of the hustle and bustle of the city, yet still want to experience the finest food available it's comforting to know that somewhere like Iwaya exists. It might be a bit expensive, and it may be difficult to get to, but rest assured, it's completely worth it.

From Osaka, use the Fykuchiyama line (JR) to Sasayamaguchi (1110 JPY). Those with reservations can make use of the restaurant bus service that will take you the short distance up the mountain to the restaurant.

Botan Nabe must be booked in advance for a minimum of two people (5250 JPY each)

Open: October – March