Gujo

Today I had the pleasure of going to this neat little town with big thanks to the people at my uni club as they were kind enough to drive one and a half hour here, Gujo-Hachiban.

What was the purpose?

To eat MEGA sized portions!!

Just kidding

Gujo is famous for 2.5 things, 1. beautiful place to see autumn leaves (kouyou), 2. Making of extremely realistic (plastic) sample foods (like the ones above), and 2.5. Being close to Gero, a place famous for its hot springs.

Unlike many sightseeing places, where you have to walk 30mins to see one attraction then another 40 to see the next and so on, the entire town is full of splendid views, interesting buildings and shops, beautiful walkways and bridges.


This was the view I got as soon as I got out of the car:

It was pretty darn cold, 9°C

So we went in here for some warmth. No it really isn't a deserted town, I just took the photo at a wrong (right?) time!

It was sort of like a restaurant, souvenir shop, sample food display all merged into one.

Didn't drive all the way here to enjoy some heating, (or did we?) so we went sightseeing for real this time! 

The first thing I thought when I walked down these streets was 

'This is the real Japan'. 

There's none of that 24-hour convenient stores, massive advertising billboards, AKB48 gibberish (just kidding, but no! seriously there isn't any!)

Moving on...

we went into this shop...

MASSIVE GLASS OF BOOZE!! 

Too bad it's fake, like the rest of these, but they look pretty darn real!!

This store sells almost any sample food imaginable.

These stuff cost more than the real thing! But wait...

SEAFOOD?!

I'd use that money on a couple of real ones instead thanks!

How can sample food be SO TEMPTING?!

I would eat all of them if I was hungry enough

Then we went around the back, and see where the magic happens...

I would PAY to work here, this place is friggin' amazing!!

More awesomesauce sightseeing!!

Didn't think I would keep the castle tradition going (after Nagoya Castle and Gifu Castle), but hey, I ain't complaining! 

Gujo-Hachiman Castle!

It was getting dark (and cold) so we went to the final destination and snap some pics before heading back.