少人数制で楽しく身につく英会話教室・英会話スクールなら「アミックインターナショナル」

I arrived in Matsuyama in January 2019. Prior to my arrival, I had done some research about the city. Almost all the websites and articles I had found, did mention two must see landmarks: Dogo onsen and the Matsuyama castle. There were so many pictures as well as online travel guides for those two places.

Some time after my arrival, I decided to explore the city a bit. As the weather was quite cold, I started with Dogo onsen which was in the walking distance from where I live. So on a nice Monday morning, I put on my warm coat and wore my sneakers and started my first adventure in Matsuyama. First thing I saw on my way to Dogo onsen, was Dogo park which I found quite peaceful and beautiful. I remember I kept wondering how mesmerizing the park would look in spring.

Dogo Park

Finally, I got to the onsen and all the nice narrow streets around it. The streets were filled with different kinds of stores such as souvenir and sweet shops. I could see locals as well as travellers walking down the streets enjoying all kinds of snacks and sweets. I got to the Dogo onsen. The building’s traditional structure makes it distinct from its surroundings. So many people were posing for photos in front of the building. I enjoyed walking around the neighbourhood for about an hour and had a nice cup of coffee before I headed back home.

Dogo Onsen

Dogo Onsen

My first visit to Dogo was very nice and enjoyable. I really look forward to seeing the neighbourhood when cherry blossoms bloom and trees put their pretty green gowns on.

In about a week or so the Japanese cherry blossoms will be nearing full bloom and the landscape will be transformed into something a bit more enchanting for a brief period. Seeing these blossoms always signals a positive change and growth for me personally as well as a bit of excitement not only for the beauty of the flowers but also for the approaching warmth in the months to follow. I know there is usually a bittersweet association to the symbolism of these flowers in Japanese culture, but as an American I seem to only feel positively at their sight.

I don’t have any specific plans to enjoy hanami yet but I would really like to have a barbecue and enjoy the sights at night in a comfortable park with friends if possible. Do you have any special plans for hanami this year?

Joe

I had tried Mochi long before coming to Japan. First time I tried Mochi was in Bangkok in 2010. It was love at first sight or more like love at first taste. I remember how excited I was when trying to describe that amazing sweet to my sister.

“It’s round and soft and chewy! Smells like rice! There are so many flavors and fillings! It is so  cool.”

Since that day, I have been looking for “mochi” wherever I have travelled and I have been amazingly surprised by the diversity that different shops offer. So all through those years I had assumed that any round and chewy rice ball sweet was called mochi! And then I arrived in Japan and I went to the supermarket to try my first real Japanese mochi. I was standing there in awe for minutes and minutes, staring at all those rice balls in different colors and sizes. “Oops! Are these all mochi?” I wondered. I picked 5 or 6 different types and went back home. They all tasted great and different. Using online translator, I realized not all of them were called mochi! “What does this mean?” So I did some research and suddenly I thought “eureka! Found it!” Not all of them are mochi. I had mochi, daifuku and dango. 

Mochi is made from glutinous rice. It is round, chewy and white and definitely not sweet. It meant that all those colorful and sweet “mochi” I had all those years ago were not mochi really. They were dango or daifuku which are mochi with additive colors and sweeteners.

mochi

Then I also realized that dango and mochi are almost the same. While mochi is made from rice, dango is made from mochiko. Wondering how I can tell the difference, I found out that dango is usually made into small balls on a stick.

dango

Then there is daifuku which can be in different colors and has fillings like anko or strawberries. Yes! This is it! This is the one I fell in love with all those years ago. I feel so happy to have cleared this one mystery; however, there is more to come.

daifuku

I think everybody around me already knows how much I love sweets. So I keep getting recommendations especially from my very nice Japanese friends here about what to try next. So the journey goes on!