A crappy day touring beats a good day at work!

Today's adventure takes us to some of Okazaki's tourist spots around Okazaki Park. I took the train to Naka Okazaki Station, which is two stations away from Okazaki Station, which in turn is about 25 minutes from my dorm.

First up is Hatcho Miso. Actually, there are two separate companies that make miso in this area. This is dark miso. The name Hatcho means "Eight Blocks" because these factories were eight blocks away from the castle.

The factory I visited was the first one I found, Maruya. They've been making miso since 1337, so I think they have it down by now.

Miso is fermented soybean paste, which is high in protein and gives food that delicious umami flavor. Hatcho miso has been linked to reduced cancer rates as well, and was sent to Fukushima after the nuclear accident there.

Here are vats where miso is aged. The stones on the top press the miso to extract water and some of the salt used to make it. Stones stacked that way are used so the pressure is even and they won't fall off or tip the vat over in case of earthquake.

Here you can see more of the facilities, along with the delightful weather. Yes, that's snow.

Here is the other factory.

I was given a small packet of miso as part of the tour, but I also bought a bigger one. I like miso, in soup and sauces.

If you have not tried miso yet, I recommend that you do. Don't eat it straight though. Find a miso soup or sauce recipe. But be careful to add it at the end, since the flavor can be destroyed by excess heat.  Also, there are different kinds of miso; white miso is milder than the darker varieties, if you want to start cautiously.

Here are some recipes to get you started.  (Slideshow warning) I have tried none of these, but they look really good!

After the miso factory tour, I headed for Okazaki Castle. Okazaki Castle's claim to fame is that Tokugawa Ieyasu was born here. He was the final unifier of Japan, after Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi. He started the Tokugawa Shogunate, which ruled Japan from 1603 and 1867. If you remember Clavell's "Shogun" (the book and/or miniseries), the character Toranaga was loosely based on the real Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Japan is and is not a pedestrian-friendly place. Here is an example of pedestrian-friendliness. To cross this intersection of two busy streets near the castle, pedestrians go up stairs at any of the four corners, then walk around an elevated circle to their chosen corner and descend.

There is a flat surface on the stairs so that cyclists can walk their bikes across the intersection, too!

Like most castles in Japan, Okazaki castle is a reconstruction. Many castles were demolished after the Meiji Restoration as Japan raced to modernize and westernize in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Castles were seen as reminders of Japan's previous backwardness. Others were damaged or destroyed in WWII.

Here is the main gate.

Near the gate is a phone booth, suitably designed to fit in!

A clock.

Here's a random flower on the grounds.  It was cold, windy, and alternately raining and snowing, but it's still closer to spring in Okazaki than it is in Oshkosh.

Here's the actual castle.  It's not the biggest castle in Japan, but it's still very good looking.

The grounds are larger than just the castle. There is also a museum with lots of relics from the castle and it's occupants.  

No photography was allowed inside the castle or museum, so I can't show you the arrowheads I saw that actually had flower designs punched out of them. So these were warriors with a soft side that appreciated fine art and craftsmanship.

If you come in the near future, adult admission for both the castle and museum is ￥510.

I hope to come back when my Japanese ability allows me to read more. There are bits of English in both the castle and museum, but I'm sure being able to read all the signs would have made for a richer experience. I say that with the full realization that since this is Japan, the onus is on me to be able to read the signage in Japanese.

On the train ride back, I was struck by an announcement that was actually in a male voice (or the usual voice actor had a really bad cold that day!). I've never heard a pre-recorded, "The train is coming. Please stay behind the yellow line" announcement in a male voice before!

Overall, I had an enjoyable day despite the weather. I want to learn about Japanese history in more depth, so this was a great visit for me.