Gifu, Friday 11 April: Dinner at Kogane Hassho, to celebrate my dad's birthday. Appetizer of scallops with plum sauce, and a half bottle of chablis for the girls.
Bonito & uni! (The latter eaten wrapped in nori, with sea salt.)	Bite-sized sushi with sea bream, karasumi (salted mullet roe), sansho pepper leaf buds and gold leaves!
Saturday 12 April: Fire Festival at Tejikara Shrine.
Lanterns for the Gods are lit up by fireworks, sparks of fire fly in the air.	"Waterfall" of sparks behind trees.
Topless men carrying portable shrine under the "waterfall".	Falling sparks set off fireworks on the portable shrine.
	Left: a big explosion of fireworks. Click here to view highlights of the festival (MP4, 8 minutes, 6.3MB.)
Afterwards, Ichiro & Atsuko take us (myself, my sister Hiroko & her husband Tamotsu - also just arrived from London - and UsaKousa) to a nearby izakaya to relax and enjoy some good food, drinks and a chat.
Kushiage (deep-fried bits & pieces on skewers), grate-yourself wasabi.	A very interesting sake cooler/dispenser.
Yuba (tofu skins) prepared 4 different ways - creamy soft, creamy with sesame, sashimi, and crisply fried.	Very plump firefly squids (in season right now) and a little crab.
To Part 3