On Monday, I went for a drive and visited a Wasabi farm at Amagi-goe, Showa-no-Mori-Center, in Izu Peninsula. Izu's my favorite place to drive and Amagi-goe is one of my favorite places where I always enjoy a wasabi soba dish.
I think this animation below could be their Wasabi-kun mascot. It's cute.
If you don't know what wasabi soba looks like, it looks like this yummy bowl below. Green onions, okra and tororo (grated raw yams such as yamaimo Japanese mountain potato) with soba noodles. In my case, I had a warm dish. And, of course the wasabi is there on the right still in one piece. Happy me! It's fresh and soo wasabi spicy. Yum!
One close up photo. Here we go.
The wasabi must be shaved first and then put in the soup.
This is the menu. As you can see they have different dishes but not too many, which is good in my opinion.
Then, after the meal, visitors can shop for some pottery, wooden goods, or foods here.
These masks were interesting. Hand-made from hard paper, a bit too small to use them on face but interesting. The green mask creature was kind of scary, I thought. I liked it the most but haven't bought it.
Maybe, it's a creeper.
These were magnets.
Magnets, as well.
The Amagi-goe is a bus station. No train comes here.
Drinkable natural mountain water. So yummy. No wonder all the wasabi is so happily growing here.
This is a map of this area.
And, this is a hiking map.
Very simple, just a few buildings. That's it.
This is one of the gift shops here.
Very popular wasabi ice cream. It's really good! As the season changes the ice cream is of a different flavor but the wasabi is always an option to add to it. This time they had grape and vanilla flavors.
Another gift shop.
Looking at the restaurant from the park side.
The colors were beautiful. Autumn is here,.. still mostly green though.
Wasabi farm. Wasabi is growing in natural mountain water. It needs a lot of fresh, clean, cold water. Wasabi is root vegetable rich in potassium and vitamin C.
Walls here everywhere were covered with moss. So pretty.
An Interesting Note about this area, which is located in Izu:
Izu Peninsula is the only part of Japan located on the Philippine Sea Plate in Honshu. This part was originally a group of volcanic islands and submarine volcanoes in the South Seas.
These islands and volcanoes drifted by the northward notion of the Philippine Sea Plate and collided with Honshu island (the main island of Japan) about 600,000 years ago to form a peninsula.
Even now, volcanic activity and crustal movements continue here. As a result, various "Treasures" of nature such as abundant hot springs, spring water and natural scenery are enjoyed by the people living here.
It was nice to see you Amagi-goe Wasabi Farm!
To everyone who read this far, thank you and I appreciate it!
Have a great day!
