Okazaki ze (Castle in Okazaki city, Aichi prefecture)

The castle Okazaki was built in 1542 by military regent from Tokugawa family. Tokugawa Ieyashu was born in this castle and became the 1st shogun, which succeeded in uniting other military regents. He became controlling them and created the shogun state (Tokugawa bakufu).
Recently a well-known international exhibition "Love and nature" took place in Aichi prefecture, not far from the castle.

Chawatake (tea field). Sizuoka prefecture

After the World War II the number of tea plantations increased dramatically in Japan. Most of its number is placed in prefecture Sizuoka, where almost half the total tea quantity is cultivated. Japanese stocking is different by the following. The bushes grow close to each other by long rows with plain oval top.
Totally in Japan people bring in 120 thousand tons annually. Leaves are collected manually or by using special automatic scissors.
There are a great variety of tea kinds in Japan, depending on the harvest time and the way of processing. The most famous are hozicha, gemmaicha (tea with rice), macha (in tea ceremonies), sencha, bancha and others.

The main local dish in Aichi, where aviculture is developed, is kashiwa ryori (chicken). People use mamemiso (red miso, made of soybeans) here quite often for preparing dishes. Misokatsu is one of the most famous dishes with akamiso. There are some local dishes in Aichi like kisimen, tenmusu etc.

Fish and shrimps, katsuo, azi (jack mackerel) and other products are usually used for making local dishes in prefecture Sizuoka, which is situated in Suruga Bay. Unagi (eel) from lake Hamanako also gains popularity.

Sizuoka takes 1st place in Japan by producing green tea. Mie prefecture, which is washed by the Pacific Ocean, is known with the testiest beef in Japan. This beef is called matsuzaka-gyu and it is soaked in beer to give softness. Here people also hook very expensive royal shrimps ise-ebi.

People hook fresh-water fish in rivers of Gifu prefecture, e.g. ayu (sweetfish), koi (carp). Prefecture is famous due to its dishes made of mountainous herbs.

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