OK, who’s idea was this?  The alarm was going off at 2.20.  IN THE MORNING!  We had received a call yesterday that we couldn’t go out on the firefly squid watching boat, as it had broken down.  This was the reason we came to this area.  But the museum was still going to open for us, but they still wanted us there early in the morning.  We didn’t know what we were in for, so wore some semi-warm clothes and brought a back pack with some more just in case.  It took us about 10 minutes to get to the museum.

We had an introduction to the firefly squids – their history, lifespan, ….I don’t know what else – I didn’t understand a word of it!  Then we went upstairs and saw a video, which was followed by a demonstration of what it is like when the nets are pulled in.  At the front of the room there was a small pool with a net, and a number of firefly squid in it.  A few of us grabbed a corner of the net, and with the lights out, on the count of three, we all pulled the net up.  Instantly the squid illuminated!  It was amazing to see!  Over time the illumination faded, but another pull of the net and up they lit again!

We went downstairs to an open pool which had a number of these firefly squid in it, and we were able to pick them up.  When Kaoru pulled one out of the water, it squirted a stream of water at her.  Another one gave her a little nip.  Some of these would lite up, even though it wasn’t dark in the room.  It was really quite pretty.  Then we did something that can only be done in Japan.  After seeing how cute these things are, we went to the front room and were served half a dozen, steamed and ready to eat!  Having eaten a number of them last night, I knew what to expect – however these were different.  The eyes were quite hard, but the guts were just as squishy when you bit in to the squid (I had to put that detail on for you squirmish readers!)

We went outside as a group and watched a boat come in from collecting firefly squid.  We then walked to the docks, and saw them unloading from the boat, sorting the squid from the other fish, washing them down and bucketing them for sale.  It was quite a lengthy process.  Eventually we got back to the museum’s front room – it was nearly 5.00, and the tour had started at 3.  We started walking back to the hotel, via a convenience store to get some breakfast.

On our way back we were deciding whether to keep going for the day, or have a bit of sleep first.  Sleep won in the end, so when we got back we crawled back in to bed for an hour or so.  It was 8.00 by the time we woke up, had a shower and were ready to get going again.  Our original plan was a brief stop in Toyama and then go to Nagano.  But when Kaoru woke up she thought further and we decided we would just spend the day in Toyama, and deal wtih Nagano another time.  We caught an 8.55 train to Toyama which was only a few stops away.

We put our backpacks in a locker which made the day much easier.  On the way to the lockers we saw a display of glass blowing, and could see a child doing it – so thought that could be an interesting activity for the day.  Then we went to the tourist information centre to help us plan our days activities.

First thing was the glass blowing.  We caught a bus about 30 minutes out of town, and had a 15 minute walk (luckily without our bags as it was quite warm) before finding the place.  We filled in some paperwork and then were taken to step 1 – picking the design and colours.  To do this we had to look at a number of samples, and draw a picture.  Not easy for somebody with the artistic talents I have!  Then it was in to the main room.

You could feel the heat as soon as you walked in to this massive room.  Very high ceilings, obviously to help keep it cooler down lower where the work is done.  They gave a safety brief (in Japanese, with Kaoru translating) and then Kaoru made her glass.  She stopped at various parts to explain what needed to be done, in preparation for when I had to do my one.  It started with pre-heating the blowing rod, then getting some glass on it, turning, rolling the pattern on, blowing, turning, blowing, stretching….

After Kaoru’s was in the kiln, it was my turn.  It was a very enjoyable activity.  It takes a while to set, so we couldn’t take them home with us (which was a good thing, as we didn’t want to carry them for the rest of the day).  They will post it out to Nishikasai in a week, but we will have left Japan by then, so we asked if it can be done sooner.  They said that’s OK.

We walked back to the bus stop and caught a bus back in to the city.  We got off somewhere different and started walking towards a black ramen noodle restaurant we had seen on the map.  This area is famous for black ramen – basically it’s very peppery and salty.  On the way we talked ourselves out of it though, and preferred the idea of some sushi!  So we found a nice little sushi restaurant which was empty, and had a seat.

The owner / sushi master was very friendly.  He and Kaoru talked about Tetsuya – he had been asked to go to Australia as a chef several years ago but decided he preferred the hills in the area he lived in.  After we had eaten he pulled out a bottle of sake and poured us both a drink.  It’s hard to describe the difference but it was unlike any other sake I had tried previously.  It had a “fizziness” to it (but not fizzy).

After paying we continued our walk around Toyama.  We went to a medicine making factory.  On the information guide it said you can try to make your own medicine, so thought it would be another fun activity.  After we had looked around, a bus turned up with a dozen old ladies – they had obviously planned a tour.  So we watched the master give them a brief on the equipment and how the pills were made.  In the end we were not given the opportunity to try ourselves.

We walked around Toyama some more, and made our way to the government building.  It was about 70m high, so gave us a great view of the city and the surrounding mountains.  Unfortunately it wasn’t like the tower in Shinjuku – there was no cafe at the top.  So as much as we would have loved to sit down and have a hot chocolate and enjoy the view, we made our way back to the station.

The next Shinkansen was 3.11.  So we got our tickets, grabbed our bags from the locker, bought a bottle of sake and went to the platform.  We were on the new E7 Kagayaki Shinkansen – the fastest in Japan.  I clocked it at 260km/hr using my speedo app on my phone!  We got to Tokyo about 5.30, and back to Nishikasai a bit after 6.00.  Okasan and Ottosan had already left for Nasu so we had the place to ourselves.  It was great to be home again!  We took socks and shoes off and had a beer to unwind.  Then it was out to Mos Burger for dinner, and Mister Donut for dessert, and back home for unpacking, a nice bath, watch some TV and off to bed.