{"id":3279,"date":"2012-09-04T22:57:49","date_gmt":"2012-09-04T21:57:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/insidejapanblog.com\/?p=3279"},"modified":"2020-01-29T15:31:38","modified_gmt":"2020-01-29T15:31:38","slug":"my-favourite-place-in-japan-nathaniel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/2012\/09\/04\/my-favourite-place-in-japan-nathaniel\/","title":{"rendered":"My favourite place in Japan &#8211; Nathaniel"},"content":{"rendered":"<h4>Like this post? Help us by sharing it!<\/h4><ul class=\"wpfai-list\"><li class=\"wpfai-list-item facebook\">\r\n      <a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.insidejapantours.com%2Fblog%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F3279&amp;t=\" title=\"Facebook\" class=\"wpfai-facebook wpfai-link wpfainw\">\r\n        <span class=\"fa-stack fa-lg\">\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-square fa-stack-2x\"><\/i>\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-facebook fa-stack-1x fa-inverse\"><\/i>\r\n        <\/span>\r\n      <\/a>\r\n    <\/li><li class=\"wpfai-list-item twitter\">\r\n      <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/share?text=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.insidejapantours.com%2Fblog%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F3279\" title=\"Twitter\" class=\"wpfai-twitter wpfai-link wpfainw\">\r\n        <span class=\"fa-stack fa-lg\">\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-square fa-stack-2x\"><\/i>\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-twitter fa-stack-1x fa-inverse\"><\/i>\r\n        <\/span>\r\n      <\/a>\r\n    <\/li><li class=\"wpfai-list-item pinterest\">\r\n      <a href=\"http:\/\/pinterest.com\/pin\/create\/button\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.insidejapantours.com%2Fblog%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F3279&amp;description=&amp;media=\" title=\"Pinterest\" class=\"wpfai-pinterest wpfai-link wpfainw\">\r\n        <span class=\"fa-stack fa-lg\">\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-square fa-stack-2x\"><\/i>\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-pinterest fa-stack-1x fa-inverse\"><\/i>\r\n        <\/span>\r\n      <\/a>\r\n    <\/li><li class=\"wpfai-list-item linkedin\">\r\n      <a href=\"http:\/\/linkedin.com\/shareArticle?mini=true&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.insidejapantours.com%2Fblog%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F3279&amp;title=\" title=\"Linked In\" class=\"wpfai-linkedin wpfai-link wpfainw\">\r\n        <span class=\"fa-stack fa-lg\">\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-square fa-stack-2x\"><\/i>\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-linkedin fa-stack-1x fa-inverse\"><\/i>\r\n        <\/span>\r\n      <\/a>\r\n    <\/li><li class=\"wpfai-list-item envelope\">\r\n      <a href=\"mailto:?subject=&amp;body=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.insidejapantours.com%2Fblog%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F3279%20-%20\" title=\"E-Mail\" class=\"wpfai-envelope wpfai-link wpfainw\">\r\n        <span class=\"fa-stack fa-lg\">\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-square fa-stack-2x\"><\/i>\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-envelope fa-stack-1x fa-inverse\"><\/i>\r\n        <\/span>\r\n      <\/a>\r\n    <\/li><li class=\"wpfai-list-item stumbleupon\">\r\n      <a href=\"http:\/\/www.stumbleupon.com\/submit?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.insidejapantours.com%2Fblog%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F3279\" title=\"Stumble Upon\" class=\"wpfai-stumbleupon wpfai-link wpfainw\">\r\n        <span class=\"fa-stack fa-lg\">\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-square fa-stack-2x\"><\/i>\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-stumbleupon fa-stack-1x fa-inverse\"><\/i>\r\n        <\/span>\r\n      <\/a>\r\n    <\/li><li class=\"wpfai-list-item reddit\">\r\n      <a href=\"http:\/\/www.reddit.com\/submit?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.insidejapantours.com%2Fblog%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F3279\" title=\"Reddit\" class=\"wpfai-reddit wpfai-link wpfainw\">\r\n        <span class=\"fa-stack fa-lg\">\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-square fa-stack-2x\"><\/i>\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-reddit fa-stack-1x fa-inverse\"><\/i>\r\n        <\/span>\r\n      <\/a>\r\n    <\/li><\/ul><p>One of our latest additions to the IJT crew is Nathaniel (Nate) Saito who is responsible for dealing with our friends from Australia and New Zealand. In the past, we have dealt direct with customers from the southern hemisphere, but we thought we would give them the opportunity to speak to someone more-a-less on their time zone. Nate is that man picking up calls to the Sydney number or dealing with emails to the IJT Australia email address and so I thought we should give him an opportunity to tell us about his favourite place in Japan.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Being asked to name my favorite place in Japan is always difficult. But then the other day it got a little bit easier. I was having dinner with my wife and a good friend of mine from Matsumoto<a title=\"Matsumoto\" href=\"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/japanese-destinations\/matsumoto\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">.<\/a>\u00a0 Through dinner, we kept talking about all the great things to see\/do\/eat (and drink) in and around Matsumoto. To be fair my friend mostly talked about the great places to drink and I mainly talked about all the great places to eat. That evening I came to realize how much I missed Matsumoto and how much I can\u2019t wait to take my wife there. Matsumoto is famous for Matsumoto Castle, one of the finest original castle\u2019s in Japan (above), for soba (buckwheat noodles), for the Saito Kinen Music Festival, and as a gateway to the Japan Alps.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/mountainsabovematsumoto.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-3285\" title=\"MountainsAboveMatsumoto\" src=\"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/mountainsabovematsumoto.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/mountainsabovematsumoto.jpg 2304w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/mountainsabovematsumoto-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/mountainsabovematsumoto-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/mountainsabovematsumoto-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/mountainsabovematsumoto-720x480.jpg 720w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/mountainsabovematsumoto-1440x960.jpg 1440w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/mountainsabovematsumoto-390x260.jpg 390w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/mountainsabovematsumoto-780x520.jpg 780w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/mountainsabovematsumoto-900x600.jpg 900w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>But for me what makes Matsumoto such a great place is the food, the people and the location. Some of my favorite restaurants in Japan can all be found in Matsumoto. The great thing about these places is that they are all on side streets, small, and the amazing food is cooked and served to you by the owner. My favorite would have to be Agareya.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/agareya.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-3281\" title=\"Agareya\" src=\"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/agareya.jpg?w=199\" alt=\"\" width=\"199\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/agareya.jpg 1060w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/agareya-199x300.jpg 199w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/agareya-680x1024.jpg 680w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/agareya-720x1084.jpg 720w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/agareya-390x587.jpg 390w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/agareya-780x1174.jpg 780w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/agareya-900x1355.jpg 900w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 199px) 100vw, 199px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>It is on the first floor of an old, beautiful building and only has two tables and a long counter. Its specialty is fresh vegetables, chicken, nabe and nihonshu which is the perfect combination. They serve more parts of the chicken than I knew existed. The first time I went, the waitress not only drew me a picture of a chicken but also used her only body to explain where each part was located!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/agareya-chicken.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-3282\" title=\"Chicken\" src=\"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/agareya-chicken.jpg?w=225\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/agareya-chicken.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/agareya-chicken-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/agareya-chicken-720x960.jpg 720w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/agareya-chicken-390x520.jpg 390w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nWalking around Matsumoto is great, but to really appreciate what makes the area so special you need to get away from the downtown. Even if you don\u2019t have a car you can easily visit a wasabi farm north of town (beautiful and delicious all at once) or get away to Kamikochi.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/wasabi.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-3289\" title=\"Wasabi\" src=\"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/wasabi.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/wasabi.jpg 2304w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/wasabi-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/wasabi-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/wasabi-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/wasabi-720x480.jpg 720w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/wasabi-1440x960.jpg 1440w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/wasabi-390x260.jpg 390w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/wasabi-780x520.jpg 780w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/wasabi-900x600.jpg 900w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>But if you have access to a car then you are in really in luck. The number of places to go hiking in the area is uncountable with each trail offering amazing views.<\/p>\n<p>If you have the time and you\u2019re looking for a bite to eat you can head into the mountains in Azumino. The drive itself with take your breath away but once in the mountains the variety of restaurants is quite surprising.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/kamikochi-hike1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-3291\" title=\"Kamikochi mountains\" src=\"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/kamikochi-hike1.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/kamikochi-hike1.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/kamikochi-hike1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/kamikochi-hike1-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/kamikochi-hike1-1200x900.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/kamikochi-hike1-720x540.jpg 720w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/kamikochi-hike1-1440x1080.jpg 1440w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/kamikochi-hike1-390x293.jpg 390w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/kamikochi-hike1-780x585.jpg 780w, https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/kamikochi-hike1-900x675.jpg 900w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>But don\u2019t worry about your waistline because Matsumoto is great for hiking and running! For first timers to Japan, Matsumoto is great for a night or two. If you are on your second or third trip and aren\u2019t afraid to drive in the mountains, then Matsumoto is a great place to spend a week or more!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>There you have it -Matsumoto. The castle is impressive and the mountains stunning.\u00a0 It&#8217;s good to know that Nate is an outdoor man&#8230;and that he loves his food. Although miles away from Tokyo in terms of ambience, the alpine town is relatively easy to reach from Tokyo. A direct train from the beating heart of Shinjuku will get you to Matsumoto in under 2h30. You have got to love Japanese trains!<\/p>\n<h4>Like this post? Help us by sharing it!<\/h4><ul class=\"wpfai-list\"><li class=\"wpfai-list-item facebook\">\r\n      <a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.insidejapantours.com%2Fblog%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F3279&amp;t=\" title=\"Facebook\" class=\"wpfai-facebook wpfai-link wpfainw\">\r\n        <span class=\"fa-stack fa-lg\">\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-square fa-stack-2x\"><\/i>\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-facebook fa-stack-1x fa-inverse\"><\/i>\r\n        <\/span>\r\n      <\/a>\r\n    <\/li><li class=\"wpfai-list-item twitter\">\r\n      <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/share?text=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.insidejapantours.com%2Fblog%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F3279\" title=\"Twitter\" class=\"wpfai-twitter wpfai-link wpfainw\">\r\n        <span class=\"fa-stack fa-lg\">\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-square fa-stack-2x\"><\/i>\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-twitter fa-stack-1x fa-inverse\"><\/i>\r\n        <\/span>\r\n      <\/a>\r\n    <\/li><li class=\"wpfai-list-item pinterest\">\r\n      <a href=\"http:\/\/pinterest.com\/pin\/create\/button\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.insidejapantours.com%2Fblog%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F3279&amp;description=&amp;media=\" title=\"Pinterest\" class=\"wpfai-pinterest wpfai-link wpfainw\">\r\n        <span class=\"fa-stack fa-lg\">\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-square fa-stack-2x\"><\/i>\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-pinterest fa-stack-1x fa-inverse\"><\/i>\r\n        <\/span>\r\n      <\/a>\r\n    <\/li><li class=\"wpfai-list-item linkedin\">\r\n      <a href=\"http:\/\/linkedin.com\/shareArticle?mini=true&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.insidejapantours.com%2Fblog%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F3279&amp;title=\" title=\"Linked In\" class=\"wpfai-linkedin wpfai-link wpfainw\">\r\n        <span class=\"fa-stack fa-lg\">\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-square fa-stack-2x\"><\/i>\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-linkedin fa-stack-1x fa-inverse\"><\/i>\r\n        <\/span>\r\n      <\/a>\r\n    <\/li><li class=\"wpfai-list-item envelope\">\r\n      <a href=\"mailto:?subject=&amp;body=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.insidejapantours.com%2Fblog%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F3279%20-%20\" title=\"E-Mail\" class=\"wpfai-envelope wpfai-link wpfainw\">\r\n        <span class=\"fa-stack fa-lg\">\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-square fa-stack-2x\"><\/i>\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-envelope fa-stack-1x fa-inverse\"><\/i>\r\n        <\/span>\r\n      <\/a>\r\n    <\/li><li class=\"wpfai-list-item stumbleupon\">\r\n      <a href=\"http:\/\/www.stumbleupon.com\/submit?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.insidejapantours.com%2Fblog%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F3279\" title=\"Stumble Upon\" class=\"wpfai-stumbleupon wpfai-link wpfainw\">\r\n        <span class=\"fa-stack fa-lg\">\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-square fa-stack-2x\"><\/i>\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-stumbleupon fa-stack-1x fa-inverse\"><\/i>\r\n        <\/span>\r\n      <\/a>\r\n    <\/li><li class=\"wpfai-list-item reddit\">\r\n      <a href=\"http:\/\/www.reddit.com\/submit?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.insidejapantours.com%2Fblog%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F3279\" title=\"Reddit\" class=\"wpfai-reddit wpfai-link wpfainw\">\r\n        <span class=\"fa-stack fa-lg\">\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-square fa-stack-2x\"><\/i>\r\n          <i class=\"fa fa-reddit fa-stack-1x fa-inverse\"><\/i>\r\n        <\/span>\r\n      <\/a>\r\n    <\/li><\/ul>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Like this post? Help us by sharing it! One of our latest additions to the IJT crew is Nathaniel (Nate) Saito who is responsible for dealing with our friends from Australia and New Zealand. In the past, we have dealt direct with customers from the southern hemisphere, but we thought we would give them the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2360],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-travellers-tales-from-japan"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3279"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3279\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25506,"href":"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3279\/revisions\/25506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insidejapantours.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}