Enjoy Takachiho beef at Takachihogyu Restaurant Nagomi

7 November 2024

Located in the center of Takachiho town, a few minutes drive away from Takachiho Gorge, Takachihogyu Restaurant Nagomi is a good place to have lunch after enjoying the morning out at the scenic gorge. Takachihogyu Restaurant Nagomi serves Takachiho beef, one of the most famous brands of “wagyu” beef.

Takachiho beef is produced from Japanese black cattle and is a specialty of the region. The cows are raised in a pastoral landscape with the greatest care. In summer, they breathe pure air and eat fresh grass, then return to their farm for the winter. Living in such ideal living conditions without any stress, the animals produce beef of the highest quality, known for its marbling and tenderness. Takachiho beef is strictly defined as Japanese “Wagyu” beef that is A4 range quality or higher from cows born and raised within select districts of the Takachiho area. In comparison, the most highly rated wagyu beef, Kobe beef, is rated 5.

Nagomi Restaurant is located within the Takachiho Gamadase Market. There is free parking at the market square. We arrived at the popular restaurant at 11 am, which was right after they opened. The restaurant is opened for lunch from 11:00 to 14:30 and closed on Wednesday. There are two large statues of black cows in front of the restaurant, so it was easy to find the restaurant.

Outside Nagomi restaurant are two statues of famous Takachiho cattle.Spacious and airy interior.

The service is in Japanese only, but they have English menus. Its lunch menu offers several different options for Takachiho beef steak at affordable prices. We could can choose our favorite cuts of steak and increase the amount in 50 grams increments.

Lunch menu at the Nagomi restaurant.

Both of us chose the 200g loin steak set that came with rice (free refills), small bowl, pickles, salad, miso soup and one drink.

Takachiho beef steak set lunch.

The steak was served rare while still searing on a hot plate. A small hot iron stone was provided and we were to cut and cook the beef to our preferred doneness.

Look at the marbling on the steak!

A tablet PC on the table provides information and instructions in English on how to best enjoy our steak.

    

Grilling the pieces on the hot stone to medium rare.

Three different steak sauces were provided. They are yuzu and pepper sauces, soy sauce based sauce and even a bit of minced wasabi mixed in soy sauce.

  
The high-quality fat of the beef melts in the mouth and was simply delicious. We tried the three sauces and all were good.

It was good that we came early as the restaurant fills up fast.  

After a satisfying lunch, we went to a grocery shop next door to browse at some local produce.  A good souvenir to buy was Takachiho beef curry that is packaged and just required reheating to enjoy with steamed rice.

Continue Reading »

Morning at Takachiho Gorge

7 November 2024

Once I saw photos of Takachiho Gorge (高千穂峡), I knew that I must include this place into my Kyushu road trip itinerary. The gorge has one of the most spectacular waterfalls I have seen and the photographer in me dream of shooting similar photos to those I had seen.

Manai Falls cascading into Takachiho Gorge.

Takachiho Gorge was formed over 100,000 years ago after eruptions from nearby volcano Mount Aso. The sudden cooling of the pyroclastic flow led to dramatic columnar formations and sheer cliffs that rise above the Gokase River. The gorge’s 80 to 100 meter-high basalt cliffs line a chasm that just 3 meters wide at its narrowest point. A 17-meter waterfall cascades into the river at the end of the gorge. Coupled with lush greenery over the emerald green river, the scenery is truly magical and must see to believe. The waterfall named Manai Falls is one of Japan’s top 100 waterfalls.

The best time for photos at the gorge is in the late morning and some of the best views are from a rental boat in the gorge itself. Hence, I booked a stay near the gorge and also pre-booked a boat rental at an online site prior to our trip. The tickets for the boat rental are sold only 14 days in advance so book early to avoid disappointment.

THEY GET SOLD OUT FAST!

The boat rental is for 30 minutes and we had to row the boat ourselves. The cost per rental is not cheap at 5,100 yen per boat that can take up to 3 persons. I figured that this would probably be the once and only opportunity for me to visit this place, so why not?

I managed to book a boat rental for 10.30 AM, which was perfect for my plan. I read that some tickets may be available for sale on the day itself but there would usually be a long queue.

Getting to Takachiho Gorge

We stayed overnight at Hana Iwato Ryokan located in Iwato and not in Takachiho area as the hotels near to the gorge are pricey. It took us only 25 minutes to get to Takachiho from Iwato. On the way, we stopped along the scenic highway 7 to shoot some photos of the Tochimata Rice Terraces. 

Beautiful scenery of rice fields and farms on our way to Takachiho from Iwato.

There are three car parks around the gorge. The Oshioi Parking Lot nearest the boat rental area (location here) is the most expensive at 500 yen/day and they usually get filled first. The next car park, Araragi Parking Lot, is about 30 minutes walk away (location here) and cost 300 yen/day. There is also a free car park, Ohashi Parking Lot, that is up on the top of the gorge (location here) that may be suitable for those who don’t mind a bit of up hill walk back to their car.

We arrived at the gorge at about 9.15 AM and were directed by road marshals to the Oshioi Parking Lot. This parking lot is located at the south end of the gorge, where the boat rental station is located.

We found out that the boat ride had been cancelled for the day due to high water level. Actually we knew a day in advance that this would probably happen from the ryokan’s proprietress but we had some hope that the situation may change.

Sign at the boat rental station dashing all hopes.

Boats idling on the calm waters.

Hopes dashed, we did the next best thing which was to view and photograph the gorge from the paved path that runs along the edge of the gorge.

We went to the bridge where the best view of Manai Falls could be seen from above. Here, Manai Falls forms a nice arch cascading into the blue-green river that cuts through the canyon.

The bridge is narrow and we had to be wary of cars coming through. In fact, we drove over this bridge on our way to the car park.

Manai Falls as viewed from the bridge.

We stopped by the Onokoro Pond that had beautiful koi and also the rare sturgeon. There are a few nice Ogon, Tancho and Showa amongst the grey Chagoi.

Admiring the koi in Onokoro Pond.

Led by a chagoi, the group of Koi swam towards me, hoping for food.

This sturgeon is over a meter in length.

There is also a miniature shrine on a small island in the middle of this crystal clear pond. Once a year in spring for the Takachiho Shrine Festival, an omikoshi (portable shrine) is purified by circling the pond three times.

Signboard explaining the shrine in the middle of the pond.

The small shrine on a small island in the middle of Onokoro Pond.

There is a viewing point along the walkway by the edge of the gorge where we could see the water from the falls cascading straight down to the river.

The little viewing deck on the pathway next to the gorge.

This wooden observation deck is another great place to shoot photos of Manai Falls and interesting rock formations.

Mandatory selfies at Takachiho Gorge.

Shooting photos from the observation deck.

Many photos at Takachiho Gorge featured Manai Falls shot at this angle.

This is the narrow bridge where I took the first few photos at Takachiho Gorge.

Taking many photos along the walkway next to the gorge.

We had a very relaxing walk along the edge of the gorge, snapping many photos. This included the waterfall, river, volcanic rock formations.

Clear blue sky over the gorge.

The morning light was not too harsh, allowing some good landscape photos to be taken.

Columnar basalt rocks form when lava cools and contracts, causing the ground to crack into geometric columns.

I saw an opportunity to shoot three bridges, juxtaposed nicely in a single picture. 

Three bridges in one photo at Takachiho Gorge.

Two bridges with arch support. The stone Shinbashi Bridge vs the metal Takachiho Ohashi Bridge.

We ended our walk at the stone arched Shinbashi Bridge seen above. This narrow bridge is next to the Araragi Parking Lot and we could see cars waiting to cross this bridge to get to the car park.

From this narrow bridge, we could see the river flowing rapidly along the narrow gorge. We had to keep an eye out for cars crossing this bridge while we took photos from the bridge.

View of the rapids at the northern end of the gorge.

If we crossed the bridge and continued along the path, it would lead uphill to the Takachiho Shrine. We had taken about an hour to get to this point, including many stops for photos.

We walked back the way we came from. This provided opportunities to enjoy the gorge again and more photos!

Another photo from the observation deck. This time, the leaves were highlighted in bright colours by the sunlight.

We ended our visit to Takachiho Gorge with lunch at the Nagomi restaurant located in Takachiho town. This restaurant serves the finest Takachiho beef raised in the great outdoors.

Continue Reading »

Our stay at Hana Iwato Ryokan and viewing the Tochimata Rice Terraces

6 and 7 November 2024

After visiting the Amano-iwato Shrine and Amano-yasukawara, we checked into Hana Iwato Ryokan, a small traditional Japanese inn located near to the shrines. 

I chose to stay overnight at Iwato mainly because we had planned to visit the famous Takachiho Gorge, located about 11 km away. Accommodations near the gorge are scarce and extremely overpriced. A fancy modern hotel room without meals at Takachiho cost about the same as a stay at Hana Iwato Ryokan with half board included.

We had parked our car at the free public car park outside the Amanoiwato East Main Shrine. From there, it was only 50 metres walk to the entrance of the ryokan. The ryokan was not very conspicuous from the road.

Entrance to Hana Iwato Ryokan.

Once inside, we were welcomed by the proprietress who speaks good English. She said the ryokan has their own private parking behind but it was alright for me to leave our car at the public car park at the shrine if we are leaving early in the morning, before the tour buses arrive.

Lobby of the ryokan with the traditional kettle over a mocked-up hearth.

Check in process was fast. She explained the facilities to us and also confirm the timings for our meals.

We were assigned a corner room on the second floor. Our room faces the road but there was little or no traffic noise in the evening. The Japanese style room came with Western style beds, an en-suite toilet and shower over a bath tub.

Although the ryokan has private hot baths, the water is heated tap water, not natural hot spring water. We decided to just use the hot shower in our room.

Corridor on the second floor. Our room was right at the end on the left.

“Hana” means flowers in Japanese and the ryokan is decorated with fresh flowers all over.

Dinner was served in a large dining hall. Beside us, we saw two other couples at the dining hall. Since this is a small ryokan, we had good personalised service.

A menu in Japanese describing the multi-course Kaiseki dinner was placed on the table. The proprietress gave us another menu printed in English since she knew we are not local. The English menu was simple and not detailed. I used Google Translate to get better understanding of what was served from the Japanese menu.

Description of the courses in our kaiseki dinner in Japanese.

The ryokan serves local Takachiho cuisine using ingredients that are locally produced and locally sourced. 

This was laid out on the table when we were seated. Sweet potato gratin, sweet and spicy baked potatoes, dried daikon strips in vinegar as appetisers.

Oku-hinata salmon carpaccio and vinegared vegetable salad.

One of the dishes is 'Nishime', a classic Japanese dish of simmered root vegetables. 

Takachiho tea soba that we cooked on the table-top stove.

Miyazaki branded pork that was steamed on the table. Came with dipping sauce.

Beef Stroganoff made with Takachiho beef and served with black-rice French bread.

Steamed black rice. The rice used is Hinohikari branded rice from Takachiho.Okuhinata salmon miso soup.

There is also simple fruit dessert at the end of the courses.

Overall the kaiseki dinner was not as elaborate as those we had in the more fancy ryokans at Yufuin and Kurokawa Onsen but was still delicious and value for money.

After a good night sleep, we were served a homemade Japanese-style breakfast that uses as few pre-made products as possible.  Once again, a Japanese menu was provided and I used Google Translate to decipher it. In essence, the breakfast is rice, rice porridge, salad, miso soup and side dishes that included ingredients such as grilled yamame trout coated with honey, raw eggs (which we left untouched), purple flower beans, seaweed with shiitake mushrooms, local tofu, boiled butterbur and stir fired melon with miso.

Japanese style breakfast at Hana Iwato Ryokan.

Buckwheat flakes with milk and coffee.

Overall, I was glad we stayed at Iwato and especially at the Hana Iwato Ryokan.

From Iwato, we drove to Takachiho via Highway 7. This highway offers scenic views of farmlands and rice fields on our left side. This is one bonus of staying at Iwato instead of Takachiho.

We made a stop at a viewpoint to snap photos of the landscape with the Tochimata rice terraces, farms and mountains beyond.

    Beautiful rural landscape with terraced farms.

Farmers harvesting and packing cabbages.

Photographing the photographer at work.

Morning mist and some smoke over the valley.

Tochimata terrace rice fields.

 

We also saw a railway bridge with a metal grid-like structure. This is the bridge where the Takachiho Amaterasu Railway sightseeing train would make a stop for passengers to view Takachiho’s beautiful terraced rice fields and also the gorge from above. This bridge is also Japan’s highest railway bridge, 105 meters above the ground.

Fields with the red and white Takachiho Amaterasu Railway Bridge in the back.

I enjoyed snapping photos of rural Japan along my road trip. I think staying at Iwato was a good decision, giving me the opportunity to drive this scenic route to Takachiho.

I looked forward to more scenic views and photo opportunities at the gorgeous Takachiho Gorge, our actual destination.

Next post: Morning at Takachiho Gorge.

Continue Reading »