Have you heard of a place called Hiruzen? I think I hear you saying “What is Hiruzen?” I have been introducing it these days on my website, Hiruzen is a place in Okayama prefecture. It is located very close to Tottori prefecture. Hiruzen area is part of Daisen-Iki national park, which is located over Southern Tottori prefecture and Northern Okayama prefecture, and has Mt. Daisen, the tallest mountain in Chugoku region. The national park has two main areas – Daisen and Hiruzen area. Because of the popularity of Mt. Daisen, Hiruzen area is not as popular as Daisen area. But it is definitely worth coming. In this post, I will show you the of enjoying Hiruzen area!
1. Enjoy foods
Restaurant Torattoria Qenaru
This restaurant is almost all made of wood. Inside everywhere you see, there are woods, woods and woods. But they don’t cut trees on mountains for them. They recycle the woods. Some of them were supposed to be used for Tokyo 2020 Olympic Game. But because of COVID they had to downsize it, some woods would not be used anymore. This restaurant took them home and reused them for their interior. Their foods are also good. They use vegetables that mainly made by the local farmers. It is fresh, cheap and delicious.
Cafe Mountain Mountain
This cafe is a jersey milk specialty cafe. Hiruzen is known for jersey milk, so the cafe serves pudding, pancakes, french toast and so on using jersey milk there. To use fresh jersey milk for them, their factory is located very close to the farms. They milk jerseys and soon bring the milk to the factory within 2 days. That is how it is so fresh. They make all those sweets by hand, not using machines. Whipped cream is not too sweat but still really tasty.
2. Visit artistic building
Museum Greenable Hiruzen
Right across the amusement park “Joyfull Kogen Center”, there is an artistic building called ”Kaze no ha” or a leaf of wind. A famous architect named Kengo Kuma designed it. He designed the stadium for Tokyo 2020 Olympic Game too. The building was first build in Tokyo then moved to Hiruzen later. The architecture lets the wind and sunshine through the building. It is magically beautiful inside. There is a museum next to Kaze no ha. They have merchandise and sometimes hold a exhibition.
3. Look up at beautiful night sky
Night sky in Hiruzen is really amazing. There are few city lights, it is really dark out at night. Also there are few buildings too. Without any distractions you can see beautiful star patterns really clearly anywhere in Hiruzen. What is more, Hiruzen area is located 500 meters above sea level, so it is closer to the sky. Watching night sky with star patterns in Hiruzen must be fun. Be careful of your steps when you walk out at night.
