Part 2 : Autumn Leaf Viewing / 紅葉

Part two of this year's autumn leaf viewing (紅葉) is all about the Koishikawa Kōrakuen Gardens (小石川後楽園), here in Bunkyo City (文京区), about a 10 min bicycle ride from my home.

Kōrakuen is ranked as one of Tokyo's top autumn leaf viewing spots. The park was originally a residence built in the early 1600s by Tokugawa Yorifusa (徳川頼房), domain ruler of the Tokugawa clan division known as Mito (水戸). In the next generation, Kōrakuen was made into a permanent garden under domain ruler, Tokugawa Mitsukuni (徳川光圀), who was the subject of the long-running Japanese TV period drama, Mito Kōmon (水戸黄門).

Kōrakuen is somewhat atypical as Japanese Gardens go because it borrows heavily from Chinese landscaping styles, as is evident from the use of the many hills, and intricately-patterned stone walkways. Other aspects of the garden that make it unique, are the subtle recreations of far-away lands, both Japanese and Chinese; not that they're meant to be exact replicas, but that the feeling is captured in these re-created landscapes.

As time passed, the park grew to have special historical significance as it was very often used by the Tokugawa Shogunate and Mito clan as a gathering place, and for hosting meetings with many foreign dignitaries and domestic leaders alike. Today, the park boasts two official designations as both a Special Place of Scenic Beauty and Special Historic Site, one of the few spots in the country to have this double-distinction protected by the constitution under the Cultural Assets Preservation Act.

Koishikawa Kōrakuen Gardens is literally a living, breathing work of art with thousands of years of history. Being just a short walk from Tokyo Dome City, I highly recommend this spot to anyone who might be coming in to Tokyo for a visit!

There are lots more photos! Interested readers are welcome to visit the full photo album here.

Autumn Leaf Viewing / 紅葉

Yesterday was the perfect day for going out to view autumn leaves, which is called "kōyō" (紅葉) in japanese (literally, "red leaves" undoubtedly in appreciation of the bright red colour of japanese maple trees in autumn). Yesterday's sunny, crisp, autumn-chilled-yet-warm weather made for a perfect outing. Not feeling particularly adventurous, my wife and I took a five minute walk to the University of Tokyo (東京大学) campus where the Ginko trees are nearly at the peak of golden colour. I must admit that I'm a little bit envious that this beautiful scenery is a normal, everyday sight for my wife who is a staff member at the University.

Lots of other people were out with their cameras; some folks even packed a picnic. I'm particularly fond of leaves that still have a bit of green, thus displaying a lovely gradation of colour. For me, this is a graceful homage to the season itself, representing the time of transition between summer and winter on a single leaf.

Here's an orange tree I never noticed before!

Please enjoy the rest of the photos! There's a link at the bottom to the full album for anyone who'd like to have a look.

The link to the photo album is here.

[Photo of the Day] Snack Time! Milk Tea Ritz Bits Sandwiches #risingsun

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Birthday BEEEEEEF! / 誕生日のぎゅ〜〜う肉！

I don't usually like to write posts that celebrate my own day-to-day personal life events, but this time it seems worthwhile and is relevant to the subject matter of my blog, so please forgive me for this Happy-Birthday-to-me post. Yesterday was my birthday, and to celebrate, my wife took me out for an incredible, amazing dinner!

She took me to Kagurazaka Shōzantei (神楽坂 翔山亭), recently-opened in the neighborhood of Hongō (本郷), nearby our home. This new local dining spot is a restaurant that specializes in very high quality yaki-niku, meaning "grilled meat" (焼肉). As indicated on the red Noren , this restaurant buys their meat by purchasing the entire black-haired Japanese wagyu cow (黒毛和牛一頭買) which means they can get very special and select cuts of beef that most places cannot provide. This also keeps their costs lower, a savings which they happily pass along to their customers. Upon being seated at our table, which was in a very modern-japanese minimalist style room, we found a selection of three dipping sauces waiting for us, and we were greeted with complimentary champagne in honour of my birthday, which was a wonderful surprise and delightful way to start the evening.

After getting situated, we got right down to business by ordering a plate of beef tongue, selection of specialty beef cuts, a seasonal veggie plate, some pickles, and I ordered a glass of shōchū (焼酎) on the rocks. The first to arrive were the pickles which were as delicious as they were beautiful, and this wonderful beef tongue.

The vegetables and beef assortment came next and I could hardly believe my eyes when it came to the table! Take a look at this dramatic presentation-- this is absolutely gorgeous and extremely appetizing, is it not!? Honestly this is some of the best beef I have ever eaten in my life. The rich flavour, juiciness and melt-in-your-mouth tenderness were absolutely superb! From this plate, I think my favourite was the "Sasabara" (さだばら), which is outer rib meat from the area closest to the thigh of the cow. This was so incredibly tender and juicy that it was almost unbelievable.

After this selection of beef was consumed, we order a plate of "Horumon" (ホルモン) which in English is called chitterlings. This was definitely the highest quality horumon I've had up until now.

After achieving full meat intoxication we wanted to round off our meal with a bowl of Rei-men, which is very-mildly spicy chilled noodle soup (冷麺). The noodles were light but chewy, and this dish was both delicious and very refreshing after gorging on all that meat!

The restaurant space, the food and drink, and the special time with my wife-- one of the best birthday dinners ever!