report of nagato city fieldtrip

8/8/2019 ReporT of Nagato City Fieldtrip

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NAGATO CITY TRIP REPORT

Taufiq (10-8705-601-88)

Master Degree Course

Faculty of Civil and Environment Engineering

YAMAGUCHI UNIVERSITY

2010

I. OVERVIEW


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Nagato(Nagato-shi)is a citylocatedin Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. As of2003,the cityhas

anestimated population of23,356 andthedensityof153.25 persons per km. Thetotal area is 152.40

km whilethe citywasfounded on March 31, 1954. Nagato consists offivesmaller townsthat were

absorbed over the pastseveral years. Thetowns are Fukuwa, Senzaki, Yuya, Heki, and Misumi. Nagatoalso encompasses Omijima islands andthetownship ofKayoi.

Picture 1. Nagato CityMap (Source: Wikipedia)

II. IMPRESSIVE EXPERIENCE

Theinternational students ofYamaguchi Universitywere given animpressiveexperiencedthat

organized byYamaguchi Prefecture Toursim Departmentto visit Nagato Cityin November 20th, 2010.

As one ofthenewinternational student ofYamaguchi University, ofcourse,this momentis goingto

be mywonderful experiencethat I have beendonesince I arrived at Japantwo months ago.

As I knew, Nagato cityis locatedinthenorthern area in Yamaguchi Prefecture andendowed with

natures ofsea and mountains. There are Omijima Island with thetowering cliffandstrange rocks onthe bluesea, Yumoto hotspring and Tawarayama hotspring which known astherapeutic bathsfrom a

longtime ago that locatedinthe mountain area. In Senzaki where Misuzu Kaneko, a poet ofchildren's

song was born and grown up,you cansee her sensitivityinthe'Misuzu Kaneko Museum'in restored

condition ofher house and onthe'Misuzu Kaneko'street.

Herewith, I would liketo share myownexperiences whilevisitedthe Nagato City:


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a.TaineijiTemple

Thefirststop onthetrip was Taineiji Temple which builtin 1410 bythedeputymilitarygovernor

Hiratada Washinozu. Honestly,thisis myfirstexperienceto visit a templein Yamaguchi Prefecture and

I reallyexcitedfor this moment. When I wasin Indonesia, I was wonderingto visitsuch placethat has

important rolein Japan ancient history. After that, one ofmydreams comestrue becauseitis one of

the most wonderful temples ofthe Soto sect ofBuddhism.

The beautyofTaineiji Templeis completed bythe appearance of

Momiji. Red leaves ofmomijitree attract manyvisitors who come

to enjoybeautyofthe artinnorthen ofYamaguchi Prefecture. A

friendlyBuddhist gave a briefguidance,even hespeak Japanese

butthe best part ofa trip to the area isthe opportunityto take

advantage oftheservices offered byEnglish speakingtour guide

ofYamaguchi Prefecture Tourism Department.

Visitors also takeninto thetemple bythe guide whilespeakingis

notnecessaryinside,so thatvisitors canfullyappreciatethe

meaning ofthe artists whileviewingthe paintings,the letters and

sketchesthat created longtime ago. With his kindness, I wastaught howto do a meditationthat has an

importantthingfor human being lifenowadays.


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b.Soba Making

Next, myguide and I traveledto the Soba Restaurantthat located only15 minutesfrom Taineiji

Temple. In here, all visitors weretaught howto make Soba noodles which arenative Japanesenoodles

that made ofbuckwheatflour (soba-ko) and wheatflour (komugi-ko). I thinkthisis mysecondimpressiveexperienced atthesameday, becausethe Yamaguchi Prefecture Tourism Department once

again canstimulate all the participantsto practiceit.

All participants caneasilyunderstand aboutthe guidance ofsoba noodles making. Thedetailed

descriptions ofthesoba making process are:

1ststep (Mixing the flour):mixingtheflour with water into a dough,is consideredthe mostimportant

anddifficult part ofmakingsoba noodles.

2ndstep (Rolling the dough):thedough isthen rolledinto a thinsquare byrepeatedlyrollingit around a

wooden rollingstick.

3rdstep (Cutting the dough): finally,thedough isfolded and cutinto thenoodles.


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In my opinion, I can do easily what the sensei told me, otherwise, making soba is not as easy

as you see. It is need special handy touch and long experienced by the expert one, so the soba

noodles can be deserved to the customers.

Thenoodles arethen boiled and cooleddown

with cold water, beforeserved with a soya based

dippingsauce (tsuyu), wasabi, andnoriseaweed.

The water usedto boil thenoodles (soba-yu)is

often addedto the remainingtsuyu anddrunken

attheend ofthe meal. Theyare roughlyasthick

asspaghetti, and preparedinvarious hot and cold

dishes

c.Chikuwa Making

Thenextdestination wasthe chikuwa producing place which isstill in Nagato Cityabout 20 minutes

from the previous place. Walkinginsidethe placeyou canfindshopkeepers who servedsome

customersthat wantto buya chikuwa product. I think all the participantsfoundthesame wayas

interested as me aboutthe last activity. We weretaught howto make chikuwa bya briefexplanation of

anexperienced guide.

Chikuwa (is a Fish paste(fish sausage),

the meat ofminced baked and wrapped around

a bamboo stick, or steamedfoods. Onefish jelly

products. Pull outtheskewer andinto a cylinder,

with itsname becauseit resemblesthe cut

bamboo.


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Although theimage ofNagato to manyJapaneseis inlandsea scenery, Nagato has much moreto

offer to anyonesuch as:food, hotspring, park,festival, historical temple, memorial museum.

Eventhough Nagato Cityhassomethingto offersvisitorsduring anyseason,for those who wantto

enjoywinter in Japan andthe wonders ofSakura Country, I invitedyou to come andexperience

Nagato

report of nagato city fieldtrip

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