We reached Nara after a long nighttime drive down the mountains of Wakayama. (Not recommended. Don’t be like us. It's far better to take three days - at least - for a road trip around Wakayama.) But we arrived!
If you’re after autumn sights, Nara is a safe place to visit. Because Mt Yoshino’s climate is cooler than the surrounding countryside, you’re bound to see some autumn leaves in Nara somewhere. In early autumn, Mt Yoshino is the place to be at for leaf-peeping. In late autumn, when the trees of Mt Yoshino are bare, the countryside should be awash with red leaves.
It was late autumn when we came, and the sights at Shoryaku-ji in the countryside was particular enjoyable. The vibrant autumn colours blew me away.
Shoryaku-ji is a temple known for being the birthplace of sake (!). The monks living here developed the historical Bodaimoto method to produce a lactic acid starter as part of the sake fermentation. Newer methods have since supplanted the bodaimoto method, but this was the site where it all began.
Today, the starter is still being made in the temple before being distributed to nearby sake breweries. In a small section of one of the temples, you may purchase such sake from a small booth. Bodaisen is known for its notes of sweetness and bright acidity. It can be a bit of an acquired taste as compared to modern clean-tasting sake, but back when Japanese cuisine was largely fermented and deeply salted, such strong and sweet sake paired well with the cuisine.
It’s worth to explore this area for a few hours for both the beautiful autumn views and a nod towards its sake-brewing contributions, which was recently acknowledged as one of UNESCO’s Intangible Heritage.
It’s worth to explore this area for a few hours for both the beautiful autumn views and a nod towards its sake-brewing contributions, which was recently acknowledged as one of UNESCO’s Intangible Heritage.
We also went to Mt Yoshino one morning. Visitors can choose to drive up the whole way, but where’s the fun in that? We parked at the base of the mountain and walked up the narrow streets winding upwards. Past the shophouses, past the shrines. Here and there, persimmons gleam in the morning light and traces of autumn red remain in the treetops, but it’s clear that the best of the autumn colours had already passed. The chill air up in the mountains that delays the sakura season in spring also hurries the autumn season along.
 |
| The trails are pink from the fallen red leaves grounded up by footfall. |
It got colder and colder the higher we walked. After 3 hours, despite our exertion and it being midday, the air had become much more chilly and we put our jackets back on. We didn’t much fancy taking another 3 hours to walk down, so we took the bus down. It was wonderful I wished there's a dedicated pedestrian sidewalk (we had to dodge vehicles going up and down the road as we walked).
We stayed at Ryokan Mikasa, which was one of the most lovely accommodations you can find. The service was impeccable as expected. The ryokan was fastidiously clean. The included-in-your-stay Kaiseki meals were so intricate, the kitchen’s owed a Michelin star. Even breakfast was an elaborate, multi-course affair.
.
The ryokan is also conveniently located at the base of Mount Wakakusa. As sunset approached, we made our way up. The parking lot is about 20 minutes’ drive, and takes you to the peak of Mount Wakakusa.
.
One restaurant that we really enjoyed ourselves was at Miwa Somen Nagashi. Their speciality is the ‘swimming noodles’, noodles that swirl around in a circuit around the table until we catch them up with a (clean) pair of chopsticks. Gimmicky? Maybe, but it was great fun and we probably ate more noodles than we otherwise would have. The texture of the noodles was wonderfully springy as well, and we bought more of their delightful noodles for back home.
There’s a spate of closed liquor stores from Wakayama to Nara, but we finally found one open in business at the parking lots near this lunch place. We bought umeshu and finally got my hands on kijoshu, a type of sake that incorporated brewed sake as part of its production. The added alcohol stymies further fermentation, leading to more residual sugar (and increased sweetness) in the final product. It was complex and sweet, similar to a sweet wine, but with a distinctive grain element.
We stopped by Sakura, a traditional sweets shop serving confectionery made with kuzu starch. We took our shoes off, sat down at a low table and awaited our desserts. They were interesting, and I particularly enjoyed the Kuzumochi (mochi version, drizzled with a dark sugar syrup and dipped in soybean flour).
 |
| Sakura: 2 Takamikadocho, Nara, 630-8336, Japan |
A box of kuzu-higashi on our way out (dried confectionery made from kuzu), and we were off.
