Every meal at Saconue no kaeru was an event. Dishes streamed through the door in rapid succession: salads, tempura’d vegetables and herbs, soups, things stewed, pickled, fried, steamed, and jammed.

Rice for everyone

Devil's tongue, beans, peppers, potatoes, daikon radish, tomatoes, lettuce, burdock root, eggs ... the list goes on. Humans are meant to eat such variety at every meal.

We also made our own sushi rolls for lunch.

The controlled pandemonium of self-made sushi with 15 people.

We ended the day with a pizza party, joined by local high school students. This was an incredible opportunity for cultural exchange, entirely in Japanese. We baked the pizzas in an oven made from volcanic rock from near Mt. Aso, and laughed late into the night.

Homemade pizzas

Cultural exchange with high school students (seated).

Cultural exchange

Date of visit: May 20-22, 2012

Date of photos: May 21, 2012