Oirase Gorge and Lake Towada with Mimi and Herb

On their first full day in Misawa, Hazel and I whisked my grandparents away to the Oirase Gorge and Lake Towada, with a stop off at the Oirase Brewery for lunch. The fall colors were stunning, and although it was incredibly windy by the lake, I was very glad to have made the trip one last time before we depart Japan.

 Kumoi No Taki waterfall...

Rice Harvest

Here in rural Japan, we are surrounded by rice fields. The various plots go from bright green to bright yellow at different times, creating a vibrant patchwork quilt-like landscape for us to drive by every day. Now that it's time for harvest, the farmers dry their crop, and the rich greens and yellows are replaced by armies of gathered grains, beautiful in their own right.

Kawayo Green Farm

We had cool, sunny weather on Saturday, and finally made it to Kawayo Green Farm in Misawa. In addition to the farm land, there is an on-site restaurant that appeared to have a French influence, a youth hostel, and some sort of golf/croquet course. Based on their brochure and website (in Japanese), this farm serves as a venue for weddings and events and they appear to offer all sorts of programs for school groups. I've also seen their dairy products for sale in the local grocery stores. We were a bit confused about where we could and could not go, but as soon as we realized that the "do not enter" signs were probably just there for car traffic, we set out exploring.

We finished off our visit at the gift shop for farm fresh ice cream (vanilla and, accidentally, lemon; the containers were only labeled in Japanese), and hope to be back at some point to try out the restaurant. 

Takko Town Beef & Garlic Festival

This weekend, we checked another must-do activity in this area of Japan off the list as our time here comes to an end. We drove about 1.5 hours to the Beef and Garlic Festival in Takko Town, referred to on one sign, as the "garlic capital of Japan." A little bit like the Japanese/garlic version of the Zwiebelmarkt (Onion Market) back in Griesheim, Germany- also a small town creating an event around a random crop. The walk down from our parking area to the festival grounds was beautiful.

For a little more than $20 (ticket purchased in advance), we got a box of beef, garlic, carrots, peppers, onions, and special sauce to cook ourselves on outdoor grills. The beef and onions were outstanding. In addition to the grilled food, we dined on yakisoba, chocolate-dipped banana kabobs, and ice cream. They had carnival activities for kids as well as vendors selling typical festival food, fruits and vegetables, and garlic themed gifts. Hazel was entertained by a couple carnival rides and a few costumed creatures- A reindeer? A garlic head/samurai character? Who knows what they were, but she would not stop following them around. Although we didn't get a picture, the "Garlic Queen" from a random town in California was also at the event.