When we went to a lovely little town called Morimachi, we visit an old shrine called Okuni Jinja. This shrine is popular by visitors who believe that this shrine has the power to grant people’s wishes for love, health, and good luck.  The God of this shrine is known to be kind and warm, who saved a white rabbit who was being punished for deception. I heard that the rabbit was so grateful for the help that he in return provided advice on obtaining love of the princess the God was seeking. How lovely!

Right by the shrine, rather, right before you get to the shrine, there is a little shopping mall where you can buy some souvenirs and get some food and snacks. Since we arrived around lunch time, we decided to have lunch first.

We actually heard that it is a big shopping mall, but in reality, it was not big at all… It did have basic shops like gift shops, sweet shops, and eatery. They had cute little outdoor seating space for resting and having some snacks.

Towards the back was their small eatery. They only had one “restaurant” here, all the others are selling snacks over the counter. They had a vending machine with name of dishes and prices. Next to that, they had photos of the menu. What you need to do is to make your selection, put the money in the vending machine and press the item you want, and then you get a voucher for that item.

Then, bring your voucher to the restaurant right next to it to the left of the vending machine. We walked into a nice air-conditioned room, thank goodness! It was a really, REALLY hot day…

The inside is not large, but a good space for a restaurant located in a remote area. There is a counter and you can see the kitchen behind it. We gave our vouchers to the staffs working in the kitchen, and we sat down and waited. They had a water & ice dispenser on the counter, where you can get ice-cold water for free. Thank you! This is a self-service eatery, which we were perfectly fine with.

Their washing station at the corner of the room was the cutest I have ever seen! Just look at this! Beautiful old-fashion design, with bamboo and stone. Makes want to wash your hands even if you have already washed your hands…

Few minutes later, our food was ready. The first one up was Tonkotsu Ramen (600 yen). It came in a nice sized bowl. It didn’t have much broth, which we were ok with, since broth is not very healthy, too much sodium in most cases. It came with perfectly cooked soft-boiled egg, which was great. The char-shu pork was tasty although it was kind of thin. The pickled ginger added great flavor, and cucumber added nice crispy texture. Overall, it was a good bowl of ramen.

The second item was Zaru-Eight (600 yen). It is a cold noodle, made with eight grains. It is much healthier, and contains lots of nutrition. More common dish, zaru-soba, usually comes with cold soba noodle, but this one does not use soba flour. The noodle was very good, nice firm texture and tasty. The dipping sauce was good too, a perfect dish on a hot day.

The last one was Neba Neba Eight Grain Ramen. The word “neba neba” refers to a slimy texture, like cooked okra. There are a few ingredients in Japan with similar texture, like Japanese mountain yam, nameko mushroom, and moroheya, also known as Jew’s marrow. Dish noodle dish all of the above, with an egg and dried seaweed.

It is recommended to eat these types of ingredients with slimy texture during the Summertime when your body is exhausted. The exhaustion can add stress to stomach, causing indigestion and/or loss of digestion. These slimy texture will help with indigestion, therefore, making you feel better and get your energy back.

All of the dishes were pretty good. No frills, cooked by local ladies, which kind of made it more home-cooked feel to it. They were all good quality, tasty and we were all happy with our food. And the price, they were really cheap! After the lunch, we look around the gift shops. They had some really cute stuffs.

Inside one of the gift shops with AC, they had a good selection of cookies, teas, candies, etc.. I found one item in particular very interesting. They had super adorable packages that contained two green tea bags from Shizuoka. Each package had a message and cute design on it. They make perfect gifts for anyone who enjoys green tea.

Then, we walked over to the Okuni Shrine. It was so calm, peaceful, and beautiful. One quick tip: Make sure NOT to walk in the middle when you are walking on a shrine path. That is where the God(s) walk, so the rest of us should walk on the sides of the path. You don’t to block the path of Gods, you never when the God is coming to listen to your wishes and prayers.

After spending some really nice, tranquil time at the shrine and its surroundings, we headed back out. We decided to stop at the shopping mall before we leave, for some sweet snacks, of course. Again, it was a really hot day, so we decided to get Kakigori, which is a Japanese shaved ice. They had some unique local flavors that we haven’t seen before, so we got excited to try them out!

We sat outside this time, as there was no other choice anyways. Most of the outdoor seating was shaded, so it was not too bad. It was fun to see people come and go as well.

We got Jinrou-Kaki Kakigori (500 yen), Yuzu Kakigori (500 yen), and Hōjicha Kakigori (400 yen). We had kakigori from two different places in Shizuoka (you can read about it here: http://www.foodlovergirl.com/omuraen/ ), and I must say, they do a really great job with Kakigori!

Jinrou-Kaki, also known as Jiro-Kaki is a special persimmon that grows here in Morimachi. A man named Jinrou Matsumoto planted the very first persimmon baby tree of this kind in Morimachi back around 1844 – 1847. The tree grew and started to bear fruits. Ever since, this particular persimmons grown from the original tree is called Jiro-kaki. The original tree still exist, and we visited the tree! The tree is still bearing fruits, and lots of it. How awesome!

Back to food. Jinrou-Kaki was amazing. The persimmon is known for its meaty-ness and sweetness, perfect for cooking, especially any type of desserts. They also have Jiro-Kaki wines, which we purchased of course. The syrup on the shaved ice was more like preserve, not some kind of “syrup with added flavor” stuff. This is the real deal, made with real Jiro-Kaki. It was really tasty and yes, sweet. We could taste the fruits with every bite, which was amazing.

 

Yuzu Kakigori is made with local yuzu, and this one was great too. It was sweet but yet refreshing, and we could see the bits and pieces of yuzu everywhere. Again, it is not some kind of syrup with added flavor, but they make the syrup with real fruits in them. I love the flavor of yuzu, and you can taste it with every bite with his one too. Very high quality, pure bliss.

On their menu, it is indicated that Hōjicha Kakigori is becoming very popular there. So, I had to try it to see the reason why. After the first bite, I understood. My goodness it was awesome! It was sweet and had deep and strong flavor of Hōjicha. Very refreshing without any kind of bitter aftertaste. It was super delicious!

 

It was a lovely visit to the shrine, and we got fun trying out some local flavors. Everyone was really nice here, friendly and helpful. I feel like this tranquil place is a hidden gem… If you are going to Shizuoka and in need of some peaceful relaxation, I recommend a visit to this shrine. And while you are there, make sure to get some food and or snacks!

 

Kotomachi Yokocho – 3956-1 Ichimiya, Morimachi, Shuchi-gun Shizuoka Japan

ことまち横丁 – 静岡県周智郡森町一宮3956-1