Deep Japan: This is a Side of Nara You Have Never Seen!

Book a spot at Kitsune TODAY: https://bit.ly/4aGi0aG

In this episode, Shizuka discovers a quiet side of Nara! With the tourism booming and touristic places becoming overcrowded, sometimes you just want to be alone and enjoy a moment of zen! Well these places in Nara give you just that!

The trip starts by a visit to a quaint little town Oji, famous for its cute mascot Yukimaru. Here you can visit a Daruma temple to learn of its meaning and even paint your own little daruma. The temple has a beautiful garden where one can enjoy freshly whisked matcha while looking at the zen garden.

Shizuka then finds a local hidden gem: Oji ramen! The owner has been making ramen for 40 years and he crafts a bowl of ramen that’s truly remarkable!

Back in Nara’s old town, Shizuka wanders through its alleyways to find a stylish restaurant Kitsune, where you can try some of the most delectable sukiyaki, featuring local wagyu beef..

Enjoy the moment of peace, away from the crowds in Nara!

FEATURED FOODS
Matcha
Monaka
Oji Ramen
Sukiyaki

LOCATION
Kitsune
https://bit.ly/4aGi0aG

Daruma-ji Temple
2 Chome-1-40 Honmachi, Oji, Kitakatsuragi District, Nara 636-0012, Japan
https://maps.app.goo.gl/EymwAzrsdsT1utGf7

Oji Ramen
Japan, 〒636-0002 Nara, Kitakatsuragi District, Oji, 2 Chome−6−1 まさご Building 1F
https://maps.app.goo.gl/ttCQkFZvxZ7XiJVP9

TIMELINE
0:00
0:43 Oji Town
1:54 Daruma Temple
3:51 Making of Daruma Doll
5:21 Matcha at a Zen Garden
7:14 Oji Ramen
10:06 Nara Old Town
10:56 Sukiyaki Course Dinner
15:58 Outro

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if you want to travel like a local I
have the perfect day trip for you as you
can see I am back in Neta hanging out
with the deer but today I’m going to be
exploring the outskirts of Neta
prefecture where you can enjoy Japanese
history and delicious local foods
without all of the tourists that you
would normally be surrounded by in
central Neta and Kyoto area before we go
don’t forget to subscribe for more
amazing Japan Adventures let’s go
explore nuta off the beaten path let’s
go oh that’s a lot of deer
[Music]
poop OG station is just a short 20
minute train ride from NADA station so
it’s a very easy way to get out of the
busy area into somewhere a little bit
more quiet and I have the perfect quiet
relaxing and traditional way to start
the morning so I’ll see you guys over
there
I am here now at the dumi temple in ogi
city which may have been founded as
early as the year
6113 and this is known for also being
the burial site of the town’s mascot
which is named yukim Madu and it’s a
white dog that belonged to a prince
named Prince shotoku so I can’t wait to
go inside and learn a little bit more
about that and try a really traditional
local activity here at this Temple so
follow me inside and let’s go see what
it’s all
about
[Music]
[Music]
for
he then we’ll
pray this Temple is also known for their
beautiful artwork painted on their paper
doors this is the depiction of the
DaRuMa he’s basically the origin of what
these Duma dolls were modeled after and
Duma is said to have been a real person
who fell in this very location and the
prince Shoku happened to cross him and
showed him compassion and kindness and
then it was Prince shotoku’s dog who
said that he would protect the duma’s
grave when he passed away
[Music]
here
hi
for
[Music]
let’s start with the
[Music]
eyes oh okay M it’s a little it’s a
little lopsided but I think it’s okay so
basically you can pick whatever stamps
you want and it’ll turn out very cute
and easy like this let’s see how it
turns
[Music]
out I think I
finished I chose to draw some paw prints
on it to represent Yuki
m
okay so now that I have a little bit of
time after finishing my Koro DaRuMa I’d
like to enjoy the garden so I’m going to
enjoy some matcha green tea let’s go sit
[Music]
outside all right this is a very special
experience getting to sit in the garden
and enjoy some matcha green tea this is
Yamato matcha which is the little local
Famous tea from Nana prefecture and I’m
going to enjoy a Japanese Suite called
Mona which is kind of like a soft wafer
filled with red bean
paste M so creamy I love a freshly
whisked matcha the bitterness goes away
if you whisk it just right let’s try our
tea with the Japanese sweets I love that
it looks like a little Duma this is the
original design of what a Dharma doll
should look
like M that’s good it’s filled with red
bean paste this is really the perfect
Japanese Zen experience to enjoy MAA
green tea in a real Buddhist garden and
this green tea is actually served by the
yukimaru Chaya which means yukimaru tea
house and it’s right over there and it’s
owned by imay who showed me around the
temple today so if you guys have a
chance please make sure to go check that
place out they have great green tea they
also have both traditional Japanese and
modern desserts
there after a very relaxing morning it
is now time for me to find some lunch
and OG city is actually starting to be
known as a Ramen City due to an
initiative in 2018 to refurbish old
empty shops and lend them out to
aspiring Ramen Shop owners and one ramen
shop that has a very long history in
this area is right here and it’s called
o Len and it’s started out as a food
stand right near ogi station so I want
to go inside their restaurant that they
have now and see what their famous Ramen
tastes
like let’s go inside o it looks really
[Music]
good all right I’m going to order what I
hear is their most famous Ramen which is
of course the old G man I hear that
what’s quite popular about it is you can
add as much garlic as you
[Music]
want
what a great story he’s been doing Ramen
as his business for over 43 years I’m
going to start by putting some garlic in
there cuz I love garlic um and I’m going
to add a little bit of spice because I
do like spicy food a lot okay I’m going
to mix in the spice and the
garlic ooh that looks good oh hold on I
got to start with the soup first that’s
what the rule is here you
go
oh that is really good oh my goodness
it’s a soy sauce based broth very
flavorful it’s very garlicky and it’s
got a little kick of spice to it it’s
let’s put the noodles in and some
crunchy
hux M I love the crunch that the huai
the Chinese cabbage gives the noodles
are really fresh and chewy this is a
really good Umami Rich soy sauce ramen
let’s try a bite of the homemade chachew
pork
m
M very tasty there’s a lot of flavor in
there too it’s a little bit on the
firmer side but it also has these pieces
of Juicy
fattiness this was a really delicious
meal I cleaned up the whole Bowl very
good if you guys want something a little
bit local off the beaten path this is a
great place to hit
up after a wonderful quiet little escape
to the town of ogi I am now back in
central NADA City in a really quiet
little side street that has these
wonderful traditional buildings and I’m
going to be trying out a restaurant
that’s right here and it’s called kitset
which means Fox and they also have this
which we featured in another video
actually and this is called the Su dama
and these are hung in front of sake
breweries and it’s also a sign that a
restaurant serves Japanese sake so let’s
go inside and check it out come
on
beautiful restaurant I’m in right now
I’m going to be trying something called
Sukiyaki which is a very traditional
Japanese dish that’s been around since
the Magi period this particular
restaurant has a little bit of a unique
twist to it so I’m really excited to see
what it’s going to be
like
[Music]
each of these dishes look so incredible
I’m going to start with the Spanish
mackerel
[Music]
sashimi
M that is fantastic it is a rainbow of
different flavors the fish is so tender
you get a really subtle hint of
smokiness from the seared skin on the
edge and then it’s accented by the
tsachi citris and the slightly sharp
also very fragrant and spring-like daon
on the side this one is the kitset fried
[Music]
oysters
m
wow that is so good honestly this is the
lightest crispiest Cy fry super super
light and satisfying Crunch and the
oyster so tender and creamy you wouldn’t
even really realize this is an oyster
it’s really
[Music]
creamy
[Music]
also she mentioned that the egg it
supposed to have a little bit more of a
mild flavor she said a lot of people who
don’t like it do enjoy this
one
m
m m that is so good the beef is so
incredible tender and as she mentioned
it’s a little bit less heavily fatty
compared to a Kobe beef the egg is also
creamy and delicious that I think if you
don’t try it you’re really missing out
after we have one tasting of the beef
next is time for the veggies all right
let’s start with the enoi
[Music]
mushrooms M the texture is so
interesting and what’s really great
about these mushrooms is they absorb the
flavor of the Sou sweet soup let’s try
the tofu as well looks
amazing M I love a good deep fried tofu
so it’s absorbed also this really sweet
and delicious Savory
flavor wow it’s is so so I also want to
enjoy a little bit of Japanese sake
because as you saw outside there was a
Sugi
I’m going to try a sip of this Kazi and
it’s actually a Nar sake so let’s give
this a
taste oh wait a minute wow that is so
good it’s very smooth very easy to drink
and it has this wonderful Koji like
fragrance all right let’s try now the
second serving of beef
Sukiyaki M you can feel the spice I’m
impressed by how remarkably different it
tastes from the previous
bite oh I love that the addition of the
tooto yam which I already love but it
has a really lovely creamy taste
personally I think I love this dish the
[Music]
most it is now time for our last Savory
dish we often would call this a
shim
that is actually really cold and
refreshing that you can really taste the
Yuzu Citrus and they’re so light even if
you’re super full from your meal you can
easily down this it’s so
good this dessert is also so beautiful
let’s try the ICE
Mona mhm really good so as I mentioned
to you it still has this kind of
Styrofoam like texture I always say it
like that it sounds super negative but
this one has a little bit more of a chew
to it because of the rice flour it also
has this really wonderful ice cream on
the inside I’d say you can taste that
sweetness from the condensed milk and a
little bit of the fragrance of the Saka
[Music]
soup what an incredible dinner
everything was so amazing and if you
guys want to try it too you can actually
book this very same course on our
website and the links are down below in
the description and the reason why this
is really good is because it can be
really difficult to book a restaurant in
a foreign country in a language that
you’re not familiar with where they
might not also be able to understand you
so if it’s on our website everything’s
in English and the prices are all
upfront so that’s definitely the easy
way to go so if you would like to try
this make sure to check the links down
below and you can also choose from two
other course menus as well if you guys
enjoyed this video please make sure to
give us a like and comment down below if
you guys also enjoy traveling off the
beaten path and we’ll see you guys very
soon in another video bye
[Music]
guys