Fanta Ume

Coca Cola Japan has released a new flavour of Fanta for spring called Fanta Ume. It is available only for a limited time. What is Ume? Ume is a Japanese plum (梅) that is associated with spring in Japan. The Ume Blossoms are very popular in early spring and you can read about them from my visit to Bairin Koen this March.

Most people might know ume from “umeboshi” which is a sour pickled plum or “umeshu” which is a sweet alcoholic drink made from plums.

I always love trying the new seasonal food and drinks in Japan, so just had to give this one a try. How does it taste? Fanta Ume is surprisingly very sweet and refreshing. I expected it to be a lot more sour, but it was very easy to drink. Fanta Ume is perfect for the warmer weather and I would definitely have this again, especially in summer to cool down. One of the better Fanta flavours I have tried recently. I would recommend giving Fanta Ume a try if you are in Japan this Spring/Summer.

You can pick up a 500ml bottle of Fanta Ume for 98 yen (USD$1) at the local supermarket or 150 yen (USD$1.50) at the convenience store.

Fanta Ume in Japan

Check out my video on YouTube for more on Fanta Ume https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INGQIzxQhtM

Matcha Green Tea KitKat

Just tried a new version of Matcha KitKat called オトナの甘さ Matcha KitKat. This is a new series of KitKat made for adults with a less sweet flavour. オトナの甘さ means Adult Sweetness. A KitKat geared towards adults! KitKat is really popular in Japan and they are always coming out with new seasonal varieties.

They also make great おみやげ (souvenirs) as each region has their own unique specialty flavour.

This flavour is Matcha which is a type of Japanese green tea where the tea leaf is ground into a fine powder. The Matcha is from Uji which is a region of Kyoto famous for their green tea.

How does it taste? Matcha KitKat tastes really good and the flavour is not too strong. It’s not as sweet as your regular KitKat but sweet enough and the Matcha flavour really hits you as an aftertaste with a slightly bitter note.

We picked up this KitKat for 50 yen ($USD$0.50) which contained three bars inside.

Matcha KitKat

Three of  these delicious bars in one pack

Close-up of the Matcha KitKat

Cormorant Fishing in Gifu

Cormorant Fishing or ukai in Japanese is a major summer attraction on the Nagara River in Gifu City, Gifu Prefecture, Japan. Ukai is a traditional fishing method that uses trained cormorants to catch river fish. The art has been practiced along the Nagara River in Gifu for more than 1300 years. It has a very long history in Japan and is mentioned in many ancient chronicles. The samurai warlord Oda Nobunaga took the ukai fisherman under his patronage and created the official position and title of usho (Cormorant Fishing Master). The Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu, enjoyed watching ukai when he visited Gifu City and also gave his patronage and protection to the art. He was so fond of the sweetfish he had it delivered to Edo Castle in modern day Tokyo. Today the fishing masters are the official fisherman of the emperor of Japan.

Picture depicting the Cormorant Fishing

Cormorant fishing takes place at night in the darkness. It begins with six long, wooden boats, each manned by a master fisherman and two boatmen, who propel the boat downstream with long wooden poles. The fishermen are dressed in traditional costume of straw skirt, sandals and black kimono. They use the flames of the kagari-bi (fire lanterns) which reflect of the surface of the river to attract the fish. The fishing masters usho use cormorants u to catch the fish as they come to the surface. The cormorants dive underwater to catch the fish by swallowing them whole. A special snare around the neck of the bird prevents them from eating the fish, which are kept in the cormorant’s throat and are retrieved later. The fish are ayu or sweetfish and are very tasty.

It is spectacular to watch and is made even more beautiful by having Mt Kinka and Gifu Castle as a background to the scene.

Cormorant Fishing Viewing Boat

The Usho Fishing Masters 

There are six Cormorant Fishing Masters on the Nagara River in Gifu City. The title and occupation are inherited and are passed down from generation to generation. Their lives are dedicated to cormorant fishing and the skills and techniques used are honed over many years. They lovingly care and raise their cormorants all year round and take great pride in them.

Bronze Statue of a Fishing Master

The Cormorants 

The cormorants are migratory birds and are captured in the wild and trained by the fishing masters to grow into fishing cormorants.

Manhole Cover in Gifu City featuring the famous Cormorants

Where to see Cormorant Fishing in Gifu City 

You can view the cormorant fishing free from the banks of the Nagara River east of the Nagarabashi bridge, or for a closer view, from one of the many viewing boats. The boats range in size from 15-50 passengers.

The Ukai season is from May 11 to October 15 and usually start from 7:30 pm. Boats depart nightly (except after flooding or on the night of the harvest moon) from the Nagarabashi bridge.

You can purchase tickets at the Cormorant Fishing Viewing Boat Office at 1-2 Minato-machi Gifu City.

For more information and fishing schedules, visit the tourist information office in Gifu station or the Cormorant Fishing Viewing Boat Office.

There are some spectacular fireworks to celebrate the opening of the Cormorant Fishing Season on May 11th.

Cormorant Fishing Viewing Boat Office

How to Get There 

From JR Gifu Station take a Gifu Bus heading towards the Nagara area and get off at the Nagarabashi bus stop. It takes around 15 minutes.


View Larger Map

Website: http://www.gifucvb.or.jp/en/01_sightseeing/01_01.html

MOS Burger Tempura Rice Burger

MOS Burger (モスバーガ) is a popular Japanese fast food chain that originated in Japan. MOS stands for Mountain Ocean Sun. MOS Burger is famous for their original burger, which is called the MOS Burger.

They are also famous for their unique burgers such as the MOS Rice Burger, which they have been serving now for many years. The rice burgers use a bun made of rice mixed with barley and millet.

Last month on April 23rd they launched their new Tempura Rice Burgers, which will be available for a limited time (until the end of October). These are more than your typical burger as the tempura is sandwiched between grilled rice which acts as the buns and hence the name “rice burger”.

The two new Tempura Rice Burgers are:

Ebi Shinjo ~ Fried Shrimp Dumpling Tempura Rice Burger 

The fried shrimp dumpling contains grated shrimp and onions, which are fried in tempura batter and then topped with a Japanese style sauce that contains oroshi (grated daikon), with added ao negi (green onions) on top. This is all sandwiched between two plates of grilled rice.

The Ebi Shinjo costs 350 yen (USD$3.60)

Ebi Shinjo Tempura Rice Burger

Kisetsu no Yasai Kakiage ~ Seasonal Mixed Vegetable Tempura Rice Burger 

The tempura in this burger contains various vegetables such as onions, edamame beans, and sweet corn. This is all fried together in crispy tempura batter and topped with an original wasabi and seaweed sauce. The tempura again is all sandwiched between two plates of grilled rice.

The Kisetsu no Yasai Kakiage costs 280 yen (USD$2.85)

Kisetsu no Yasai Kakiage Tempura Rice Burger

How Do They Taste?

We tried the two new rice burgers and give them both the thumbs up. The rice bun is very much like a yaki onigiri and the fillings were tasty and reminded us of Japanese dishes like Ten-don (tempura on rice) and Kakiage-don (mixed vegetable tempura on rice). We would definitely have these again.

Ebi Shinjo Tempura Rice Burger

Close up of the Ebi Shinjo. You can see the oroshi and ao negi

Kisetsu no Yasai Kakiage Tempura Rice Burger

Close up of the Kisetsu no Yasai Kakiage Tempura Rice Burger

Visit the MOS Burger website for more details

Golden Burger Week in Japan

The end of April through around May 6th is called “Golden Week” in Japan and is based around a period of Japanese national holidays. To celebrate this period, McDonald’s Japan has released a special series of burgers called “Golden Burger Week”.

The burgers are the BBQ Beef Burger and the BBQ Chicken Burger. They are only available for a limited time (April 26 – May 6), so hurry in if you want to give them a try.

BBQ Beef Burger

The BBQ Beef Burger contains fried onions, spicy barbeque sauce, egg, bacon, cheese and a beef patty.

BBQ Chicken Burger

The BBQ Chicken burger contains fried onions, yellow mustard mayonnaise sauce, spicy barbeque sauce, lettuce and a crispy chicken fillet.

Both burgers come in Golden Brown buns coated with sesame seeds.

We tried the BBQ Beef Burger and it was pretty good. Reminded me of the recent Texas Burger but on a smaller scale.

The BBQ Beef Burgers costs 340 yen (USD$3.50) for just the burger, or 640 yen (USD$6.50) for a Medium Set.

The BBQ Chicken Burger costs 330 yen (USD$3.40) for just the burger, or 630 yen (USD$6.40) for a Medium Set.

Note: Prices may vary depending on the region in Japan

McDonald’s Japan also has a special campaign going, where if you purchase a Large value set you can get a FREE French Fries Holder. It is made to fit any cup holder, so you can use it in your car or on your bike.

McDonald’s Japan Website

Check out some of the other McDonald's Burger that have been available in Japan recently.

• TeriTama Burger
• Texas Burger

Hello Kitty Donuts at Mister Donut

Mister Donut is a popular donut chain in Japan that is famous for their Pon de ring donut line. Mister Donut is often called Misudo (ミスド) for short in Japanese, and is popular from young to old.

This month (April) they released some Hello Kitty donuts, which are just so cute and pretty tasty to boot. The packaging is typical Japan and is very simple and effective. The donuts fit inside a package with Hello Kitty eyes, whiskers and outline. You can see the donut inside and the pink white chocolate ribbon.

The donuts I tried where the French Style Orange Cream, the Green Apple Old Fashioned, the Pon-De Strawberry, Green Apple Whipped Cream Center and the Strawberry Cupcake Pop. All the donuts come with the cute pink chocolate bow (trade mark of Hello Kitty).

French Style Orange Cream (157 yen about USD$1.60) 

The French Style donut has long been a favourite of mine for its light and fluffy texture. This one has a white chocolate coating and is filled with orange cream. The orange cream filling is very strong and I couldn’t eat too many of these. The pink ribbon white chocolate is very nice and super sweet.

Green Apple Old Fashioned (157 yen about USD$1.60)

Not as strong as the orange cream above and really does taste and smell of green apples. This one is topped with a green apple chocolate coating, An unusual flavour for Mister Donut, but very nice at the same time.

Pon De Strawberry (157 yen about USD$1.60) 

The Pon De is one of the most popular donuts at Mister Donut and this one has a nice chewy texture that reminds me of Japanese mochi. It has a strawberry chocolate coating with pieces of dried strawberry, and strawberry cream filling. The strawberry cream filling is nice and is not too over-powering.

Green Apple Whipped Cream Center (157 yen about USD$1.60) 

A simple one that is very tasty with a white chocolate coating and filled with green apple whipped cream. It has the same taste and smell of the Green Apple Old Fashioned above.

Strawberry Cupcake Pop (136 yen about USD$1.38) 

This is an unusual one for Mister Donuts and their first foray into the Cupcake Pop market. It is also very good and just like a cupcake only on a stick. We tried the strawberry chocolate coating one and it also comes in orange and green apple flavours.

The series is only available for April, so will soon finish. Hurry up while you still have the chance!

Mister Donut Japan Website

Cherry Blossoms at Sunomata Castle

Sunomata Castle, also known as Ichiya-jo is a Japanese castle located in Ogaki in Gifu Prefecture. The castle is a replica of the famous original, which according to legend is said to have been built in one night. “Ichiya” literally means “one night” and hence the name “One Night Castle”. The original was constructed by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, one of the generals of the famous warlord Oda Nobunaga during the build-up to the siege of Gifu Castle in 1566.

Main Bridge to Sunomata Castle

The successful construction of the castle lead to Nobunaga defeating the garrisons within Gifu and becoming the lord of the Mino Domain.

The present construction of Sunomata Castle is nothing like the original built by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, which consisted of a wooden walled fortress with lookout towers. The current castle tower is a reconstruction and serves as a local history museum, highlighting the history of the castle, and conflict between Nobunaga and the Saito Clan.

Sunomata Castle

Sunomata Castle is situated on the banks of the Sai River and Nagara River, and is one of the best spots in Gifu for hanami or cherry blossom viewing. The area has around 1000 cherry trees with the area around the castle illuminated at night making it very spectacular. The cherry blossoms are best from late March to early April.

Sunomata Sakura Matsuri

Sunomata Sakura

Sunomata Cherry Blossom Road

The Beautiful Cherry Blossoms

Food Vendors Under the Cherry Blossoms

Sakura and Festival Food

Information