Around Matsumoto - Wasabi farming, noodle making and some dotty art
13th July 2019
A long weekend in July is the optimum time to take advantage of the cool mountains of Kamikochi. This year though the rainy season was a long one. Many weekends from June throughout July and into August were wet and miserable. With the forecast looking unencouraging we were determined to try so headed to Matsumoto as the starting point for our mountain adventure.
The forecast for the mountains though was determinedly disappointing with the most concerning point being the thunder and lightning. A mountain is not the best place to be during a storm especially when the Japanese have chains and metal ladders on the more difficult climbing routes. Regretfully we needed to come up with a plan B - at least for the time being.
As the morning was a sunny start we decided to head to Daio Wasabi farm in the rural Azumino City a half an hour train ride from Matsumoto. The farm had a wide range of wasabi products available not just your ordinary processed wasabi but the real stuff. They use the ice cold water running off the Nagano mountains and irrigate it into a network of small streams where the wasabi is grown.
After sampling some of the wasabi treats we headed back to explore some of the historical streets of Matsumoto following a vague food and drink tour .
The next day, still thwarted by the weather, we remained in Matsumoto and tried our hand at Soba making.
We were instructed by our very own soba master. We were shown the process and used the authentic soba making tools. I definitely got flashbacks to woodwork DT but managed to produce something soba like. They were then taken away and cooked for us. They were probably a little chunky compared to real soba noodles but tasted fine, its a bit hard to mess up when its essentially flour and water. The left over soba we had made, they deep fried and gave to us as a tasty crunchy snack.
The other sight on our rainy day list was The Matsumoto City Museum of Art. The artist Kusama Yayoi was brought up in Matsumoto so the city has an extensive collection of her work. Sculptural Flowers welcome visitors. The collection follows the artists’ development from childhood pieces through to an apartment covered in dots and the infinite reflections room. The work comes from a dark place conceptually but definitely brightens an otherwise gloomy day.