Ken from What Japan Thinks joins us today as a special correspondent to report on his doughnut eating and cake tasting adventures at Kobe Sweets Festa 2009.  This is one event that I’m sorry I missed but there will be cake for everyone from May 1-6 in Kobe!  Tell us all about it Ken…

At Daimaru Motomachi in Kobe from the 1st to the 6th of May 2009 there will be a Sweets Festa held, with the theme for this year being doughnuts; not your common or garden mass-produced 100 yen efforts, but handmade by patisseries and baked rather than deep-fried. This year will be the Kobe Sweets Festa’s 22nd year, so to help publicize it one of the sponsors, the Kobe Shimbun newspaper, organized for the fourth year in succession a blogger tasting session and meet-up though its Kobe Sweets blog at Genius Cafe in Kobe, so I applied to participate and received and gratefully accepted an invitation on the promise of helping to promote the event to the English-speaking world.  (Note: Many of the links in this article are to Japanese language websites)

In attendance were about 20 bloggers from all over the Kansai area, all female except for the King of Noodles, who, in an act of male solidarity, I sat beside. There were also special guest television and radio announcers from NHK Kobe, Kansai Radio, and the local Sun Televison channel, and some celebrity food blogger whose name I didn’t quite catch whose current area of interest is cakes that go with wine, and also three television station camera crews, one radio reporter, one journalist, and the Kobe Sweets blog’s columnist.

After the inevitable welcoming speeches, the cakes finally appeared but sampling was delayed by a mad scrum disguised as a cake photography session, followed by a second mad scrum for the actual cakes.

I started off at the doughnut end of the table, and after swapping slices with the aforementioned King and Hankyu Railway’s virtual stationmaster I sampled all five kinds. Of particular note were the honey and apple doughnut from Fruit Tree Workshop Eucalyptus, glazed, but with a light glaze that didn’t overpower the taste, an excellent rich chocolate-covered baked doughnut from Cake House Tsumagari and a subtle mocha-flavoured ring from Reve de Chef.

Proceedings were then interrupted by a talk from Chef Tanaka from Patrie, the cake shop located within Hotel Piena (worth a stay if you’ve visiting Kobe), who described how he came up with his Milkish Jam, then how he was forced rather reluctantly by the market to jump on the fresh caramel bandwagon running though Japan, using his Milkish Jam as a base for that.

We got handed out a sample of his various caramel dishes – the small blobs in the photograph were straightforward caramel, plain and green tea, which was much nicer than it sounds. Next, was a toasted sandwich of the Milkish Jam, banana and cinnamon, which would have been nicer piping-hot and freshly-made. Finally was a new sweet he is developing, caramel tart. Into a small tartlet case he poured some caramel – one was mixed with chocolate, one topped with salt (that’s another big fad right now, salted sweets), and one with a couple of passion fruit seeds. The chocolate one actually reminded me of my Mum’s home baking of a three-layer sweet; a crisp base, caramel mid-section and a thin topping of chocolate, although the exact name of the sweet has temporarily escaped me!

With the doughnuts and caramel over, it was time to get stuck into the cakes! Foolishly, as I realized later, I started on a three types of cocoa (from France, Belgium and Venezuela) rich chocolate one from Hiro Inagawa Cake Factory that on its own would have been difficult to get down, but on top of a dozen doughnuts and caramels… An amazing taste, but the thick high-caffeine content was not going down so well!

Switching to the lighter slice from Fontainebleau, a delightful layered mix of blueberry pastry at the bottom, followed by custard, an exceptionally light and fluffy coconut-flavored foam, then a slab of white chocolate to top it off. The coconut didn’t work too well for me, but my stomach appreciated the lightness, as of course did my taste buds. I then finished on a rich vanilla custard pudding, and the coup-de-grace was delivered by another rich chocolate cream-filled chocolate shelled cake, of which I have very little memory! The remaining two untried samples, one mango and the other grapefruit-based (now I think about it, the two I wanted to eat the most), will have to wait until the official opening.

So, if you are in Kansai over Golden Week, be sure to visit Kobe and drop into Daimaru (English language website with access information) for the Kobe Sweets Festa 2009! There will be an exhibition of decorated cakes, free master classes every day from various chefs, over 30 kinds of doughnuts, 18 different cake shops, and one cafe selling over 100 types of cake! Choose two and a drink for just 1,000 yen.

Browse through Ken’s all of the images from the Kobe Sweets Festa 2009 on Flickr and be sure to head over to What Japan Thinks to, well, learn more about What Japan Thinks.  Thanks Ken!

Kyoto and Nara are home to many of the county’s historical and cultural treasures and were once home to Japan’s imperial family and capital city for over 1,000 years until until it moved to Tokyo in the late 1800’s.

Many visitors to Japan only manage to fit in a brief visit to the Kansai region on their itinerary and spend the majority of their time in Kanto (Tokyo/Yokohama area).  This is unfortunate as the region has a lot to offer visitors and is only 2.5 hours by shinkansen (bullet train) or a little over 1 hour in the air from Tokyo.

Our closer look at Kanto will be divided into three parts.  Part 1 will cover the prefectures of Shiga, Mie & Hyogo, Part 2 will examine Osaka and Wakayama and Kyoto and Nara will be explored in Part 3.

Mie Prefecture

Visit the Mikimoto Pearl Museum and see a demonstration of Ama Diving, an obsolete technique where women dove to collect the pearl filled oysters.

Take in the scenic beauty of the 48 watefalls of Akame (Map for Akame Shijyuhachitaki Water Falls)

Visit the Ise-jingu Shrine, one of Japan’s most revered shrines where the sun goddess Amaterasu O-mikami is enshrined.  Over seven million worshippers visit the shrine each year to take part in a variety of ceremonies that are held each month or visit one of the Ise-Jingu museums.  View the Ise-jingu anime to learn more about this shrine.

Make the pilgrimage along Kumano Kodo (pictured on the right), a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2004.  Explore some of the Kumano Kodo hiking trails and visit the three grand shrines of Kumano (Kumano Sanzan).

Learn more about Ninjitsu, at the  Ninja Iga-ryu Muesum in Iga.  Also in Iga, see the Ueno Tenjin Matsuri or Festival of the Gods each fall.  See the Iga Sightseeing Map and historical information for more things to do and see in Iga.

Visit the picturesque rice paddies of Maruyama-senmaida.

To learn about more things to do and see in Mie Prefcture visit Japan National Tourist Organizations’s Mie page or the Mie Tourism Guide.

Shiga Prefecture

Take a journey to Lake Biwa, the largest lake in Japan

Visit Shiga Kogen, the largest Ski resort in Japan and host of the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympic Giant Slalom.  Ski season runs from mid-to-late November and continues through the first week of May (Golden Week).  If skiing isn’t your thing, you can also play tennis, golf or explore Joshinetsu Kogen National Park.

Take the cable care or ropeway up Mt. Hiei to see the Buddhist monuments at Hiezan Enryakuji (pictured on the right).

Visit the ancient Seta-no-Karahashi in Osu City.  This bridge was strategic point for military purposes, transportation, and was frequently destroyed by war. The stunning view of the bridge at sunset has been memorialized by many Japanese artists and poets.

Visit Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park, home to one of Japan’s Six Ancient Kilns and one of the oldest pottery producing areas in Japan.

Consider following one of the model tours of Shiga, browse Japan National Tourist Organizations’s Shiga information or the Shiga Tourism Site for more things to do and see in Shiga Prefecture.

Hyogo Prefecture

Explore the capital city of Kobe – highlight include:

• Visit Kobe’s sake breweries
• Take in the beauty of the city’s gardens & parks
• Relax in Kobe’s onsen (hot springs)
• Download a Kobe map and sightseeing coupons.

Take time to visit Himeji Castle, built in 1931, a national treasure, and also on the UNESCO World Heritage list. Explore the areas parks, museums and other attractions on a sightseeing bus or rent a bike (scroll down for details).

Explore Takarazuka and take in The Takarazuka Review, a famous Japanese theatre production where all roles are played by women.

Relax and take in the sights around Arima Onsen or Kinosaki Hot Spring.

Visit Awaji-shima, the largest island in the Seto Inland Sea and the third largest in Japan.

Browse Japan National Tourist Organizations’s Hyogo information or the Hyogo International Tourism Guide to learn about more things to do and see in Hyogo prefecture.

Odd Facts & Trivia

The Ise-jingu Shrine in Mie Prefecture has been rebuilt every 20 years for over 1,000 years in a ceremony called Shikinen Sengu.  In October, 2013 the shrine will be reconstructed for the 62nd time.

The Akashi Kaikyo Ohashi (Akashi Strait Grand Bridge) is the world’s longest suspension bridge,  at 3,910 meters and connects Awaji-shima Island with Kobe

Articles in the Japan: A Closer Look series:

• Japan: A Closer Look at Hokkaido
• Japan: A Closer Look at Tohoku – Part 1 & Part 2
• Japan: A Closer Look at Chubu – Part 1, Part 2 & Part 3
• Japan: A Closer Look at Kanto – Part 1 & Part 2
• Japan: A Closer Look at Kanto – Kanagawa
• Japan: A Closer Look at Kanto – Tokyo Practicalities
• Japan: A Closer Look at Kanto – Tokyo – Part 1 & Part 2
• Japan: A Closer Look At Tokyo:Lesser Known Facts And Figures

Image Credit:  Flickr, IMG0026, 文殊桜 (Illuminated Hieizan Enryakuji) & Carbonated Hot Spring (Arima Onsen)