Day 78-81 Water Is Calling – Cycling Along Lake Biwa

Sep 3 • Blog, Honshu • 2871 Views • 4 Comments

Water does wonders. When I cycle out to the vast open space filled with water, whether that be a lake or the ocean, my eyes and mind open up and I somehow get more energy.

Though I would have loved to stay even longer in my favorite city, Kyoto, with my cycle clothing sponsor who kindly hosted me for nearly a week, it was time to set off to Hikone. From the beautiful ancient capital, I cycled toward and along the biggest lake of Japan, Lake Biwa. Several wind surfers were out enjoying the force of nature while I was fighting against it. Cycling too, is a bit like surfing when you get the back wind, but its useful direction is literally up in the air.

Cycling along many rice fields full of water, Hikone Castle was that day’s destination. The surrounding moat was quiet accompanied by an adorable family of swans with three fluffy ducklings. (Find the castle above the white wall and trees.)

Speaking of adorable, Japan has produced some internationally popular characters such as Hello Kitty. What you may or may not know is that there have recently been many new mascot characters to represent cities all over the country, and some have gotten more popular and famous than others. This Hikonyan is Hikone’s such popular mascot. That red hat is supposed to be a samurai lord’s helmet, on a cat. Surprisingly, he is adding value to the tourism to this castle, not to mention all the souvenir products. Which samurai lord would have guessed such a future?

Hikone is in Shiga Prefecture, and they’re known for Ohmi Beef, one of Japan’s majorly known beef as well as Kobe and Matsuzaka. Ohmi is an old name of this region. Ohmi beef cutlet for cycling protein, anyone?

From Hikone, I cycled through the town of Sekigahara towards Gifu, where its name is famous for the major historical Battle in 1600. (Battle of Sekigahara) It is a small town, but one thing caught my eyes, a cool black building of a tamari soy sauce company.

Did you know that there are different kinds of soy sauces, depending on its thickness, color and salt content? (I’m not talking about the health-concious “low sodium” product that’s available today.) Tamari shoyu (soy sauce) is thick, and was apparently the only kind available till the mid 1600′s. Its time-consuming production of 3 years was not meeting the high demand, and lead to the creation of koi-kuchi (dark color) and usu-kuchi (light color – saltier than the dark one despite its appearance) shoyu, that are commonly used in cooking today. Tamari soy sauce is often called, sashimi shoyu, and you guessed it, it goes well with sashimi!

In the city of Ogaki in Gifu Prefecture, another body of water was waiting. A pretty river with a red bridge as if time had stopped there in history. It must look spectacular when all these sakura trees are in full bloom with cherry blossoms.

One thing Japan has been blessed with is good water. Many natural springs and rivers create not only these beautiful scenery, but also are vital in rice farming and in every aspect of our lives. And not to forget, in making good sake too! Let’s talk about that sometime soon.

 

« Video: 3 Minute Trip to Kyoto, the Ancient Capital of Japan [Day 71-77] Day 178-179 Catching Up with Hokkaido »