Today's video is.... Just relax and enjoy! May 27, 2023 Greetings from Nagano, Japan Here, I'm at Zenkoji Temple The temple was built in the 7th century and stores the first Buddhist statue brought to Japan when Buddhism was first introduced in the 6th century But the statue is hidden and can't be shown to us Instead, its copy is shown to the public every 7 years for 2 weeks The next chance for us to see the statue is 2028 In Zenkoji Temple, you can't miss its unique street foods The area's feature is "Oyaki" which is a local food of Nagano Prefecture Oyaki is flour dumplings wrapped around a filling of flavored vegetables What you must pick is "nozawana" oyaki Nozawana is a Japanese traditional leaf vegetable (a type of mustard leaf) The outside is a bit chewy and inside is savory You'll love it Hi Shiba Lady, when are you planning to take off that mask? (Just asking) Shiba? Shiba? Don't make me worried, Shiba 12:40PM Today, we are riding on a unique train from Nagano Station The train is a "restaurant" Serving meals and drinks like a real restaurant on the train! But the price was expensive, 15,800JPY/110.6USD in total Luxury lunch in Japan The name of the train is "Rokumon" It's a chartered train The train is operated by a small private company in the area, Shinano Railway The railway line mainly connects central Nagano and Karuizawa(resort town in the south-eastern part of Nagano) On Rokumon, we travel 74.4km/46.2mi from Nagano to Karuizawa for 2 hours and 12 mins It's a slow travel On the station platform, I found a completely unmanned convenience store They put complete faith in us 1:30PM Rokumon has arrived It's an old train which was used to be a commuter train but now renovated to the restaurant The train consists of 3 coaches only Colored in wine red and cool The attendant will guide you to your seat This is our seat Each compartment has two seats with table between them Oh, there is still overhead rack like usual train The aisle is really like in a Japanese traditional restaurant with Shoji(paper slide doors) What's even interesting is.. We can close these Shoji doors! Now the space has become a private room Cool Here is the menu of the course meal The meal has already been here Chopsticks Wet towel, coaster, table napkin They give us a free water bottle Mineral water from Japan's northern alps You are first served a welcome drink You can choose white wine or apple juice I chose white wine and it was great In the meantime, the train has departed at 1:36PM Expected to arrive at Karuizawa at 3:48PM The attendant will open the meal boxes so you have to wait till then Looks like we are ready to eat The boxes are filled with elaborate dishes The attendant explained to me every single dish but I couldn't understand well But most of the dishes are traditional cuisines in the surrounding areas of this railway line They were all enjoyable and scrumptious Chikuma River On the route, the attendant tells you the highlights from the window so you will not miss beautiful views We can enjoy the back view (at the other end of the train, front view) The driver room tell us how old this train is As you may have noticed, there is classical music playing in the cabin I hope these are all copyright free! The train makes some brief stops on the way At a certain station, you get hand-waved by station staff Heart-warming Looks like we can open up this window nice nice Every train should be like this The wind is strong so it might be better to close it Tranquil moments Nagano Prefecture is really filled with beautiful natures Rose garden Next, we've got miso soup and rice Miso soup Rice with something This miso soup comes with bamboo sprouts and markerel fish, a new type But good This something was "Fuki miso", a sweet miso paste with fuki(Japanese unique vegetable which has a bitter taste) It goes well with rice Some may not like fuki miso but I love it Ueda Castle Excuse me, trees? The castle was built in 1583 and ended its role in 1874 The castle was built in 1583 and ended its role in 1874.... Excuse me, apartment? Not a big scale but a beautiful looking castle Here at Ueda Station, there is a samurai We take a short break here and get to take pics with the samurai On the platform, there is a selling of the local product of the area "Misuzu Candy, 600JPY/4.2USD" Not all the coaches are "restaurant" but the others are like "cafe" with no meals included Instead, the price is way cheaper, only 2,690JPY/18.8USD on the same route This is playground for kids First time to see one on a train Moving cafe in the countryside Bye bye samurai As soon as we leave Ueda Station, we get to see the headquarter office building of Shinano Railway Here again, employees of the office come outside and wave hands to us! What a friendly company Dessert Matcha and wagashi(Japanese sweet) Not only employees but also locals in the area welcome us This feels like we are special guests haha Matcha is a kind of green tea but more rich and bitter So, matcha is usually served with a wagashi Wagashi are made from ingredients like rice flour, beans, and agar but they can be diverse Small portion but will make you satisfied After around 1 hour and a half, they give us a chance to walk outside Here is Komoro Station There is a garden right beside the station so we can walk freely there Only 15 mins though You can drink beer and stuff here Someone is playing accordion which gives a good atomosphere Nice nice 🪗 Oh no he stopped playing Already time to go back One more tea break This time, we've got roasted green tea with walnut snacks Read French for me Two types of walnut snack Pounded rice wafers with a sweet filling of walnut paste Walnut cookie Both were very good Ghibli vibe I don't know why but feels like it What you should not miss on this route is Mt. Asama which stands at 2568m/8425ft Asama is one of the prominent active volcanoes in Japan and has a very distinct shape which attracts many people Don't worry, there is a toilet on board The restroom is so roomy and clean The space does not look like on a train but a cafe..? There is a bar counter so you can come here and get drinks and snacks Hello Shinkansen Sadly, this ride is coming to an end Welcome to Karuizawa 3:48PM Thank you so much, Rokumon I have to say the staff were all freindly and nice The meals were expensive but the whole ride was worth over the price At Karuizawa Station, you are served a free apple juice or coffee And you can use the station lounge for free Good station with a retro feel Nagano Prefecture is famous for apple production This freshly-squeezed apple juice was one of the best apple juices I've ever had in my life I'm not lying I made a mistake I was supposed to visit Shiraito Waterfalls, the must-visit place in Karuizawa but I missed the last bus at 4:10PM while enjoying apple juice The apple juice was too good Anyway, streets in Karuizawa are a little bit like neighborhoods in the U.S. or Canada Wealthy people in Japan have second houses in Karuizawa as a summer resort The town's busiest area is Kyukaruizawa Ginza-dori where a lot of delicious street food stands line up what's that "Sausage Shop" "Japan's best sausage" This shop is quite famous in the town as a German style hand-made sausage Long sausage is sandwiched between hard baguette These foods should be delicious Contrary to the hard bread, the texture of the sausage is very soft And the spices add to the deliciousness I don't know if it's really the best sausage in Japan but can easily tell why it's famous in the town So good, 9/10 Thank you for watching and don't forget to leave a like and comment if you like the video Rock, Scissors, Paper 1 2 3 "Scissors" no no
