"What it is, I know not. But with the gratitude, my tears fall," or "何事のおはしますかは知らねども かたじけなさに 涙こぼるる" by Saigyo Hoshi, 西行法師.
Where do you think this photo was taken?
The poem in the first line gives you a hint. I'm sure some people have already noticed.
To be honest, I like cats better than dogs, but this is perfect for this year since it's the year of dog, you know. My honey likes both cats and dogs, I think. Well, I'm still missing my cat Kuro, who passed away in January this year.
By the way, I hear some people in other countries think Japanese cuisine is only Sushi.
Well, it's not just Sushi.
Today, I'll write about Japanese local foods as I told you before. I like noodles, and I had local noodles everywhere I went, so I'll introduce mainly noodles. But, you know, Japanese food is not just noodles, either.
Before that, I wanna mention soccer. You know, Japan and Senegal played the other day, and ... the game was drawn.
Well, my hon may be happy since he has lived in Senegal though he's Japanese and was born in Japan.
By the way ... I'm really looking forward to seeing my friend, Tomoko. I mentioned Senegal in the previous blog post, too, and she's the one that has lived in Senegal, actually. I hope she's been doing well since the last time we contacted each other and comes back to Japan safely. I do.
Well, I took a trip to several places in Japan in these two or three years, and I had local dishes. 
First, Ise's local dish called "Ise Udon."
Ise is located in Mie Prefecture, and it has the Ise Grand Shrine, or Ise Jingu, 伊勢神宮. I think many people still remember that G7 Ise-Shima Summit was held in 2016 and the Prime Minister of Japan and G7 leaders including the previous President Obama visited Ise Jingu together.
While I was staying in Nagoya with my father, I visited Ise Jingu twice ... the frist day of the trip, it was a sunny day
, and the second day, it was a rainy day.
As I mentioned before, Naogya is located in Aichi Prefecture, not Mie Prefecture, which Ise Jingu is located in, but it only takes almost an hour and a half from Nagoya to Ise by bullet train. Nagoya itself has a famous Jingu, Atsuta Jingu. I wrote about it in "Hau'oli la Hanau Eggs 'n Things."
As it says, Ise Udon are "thick and soft flour noodles served in a sweet, soy-sauce based broth." 
I heard their Curry Ise Udon usually sells out soon, so I first had the curry one. I eat a lot and one Ise Udon wasn't just enough for me, so I ordered another one. It was Tempura Ise Udon, and I thought I prefered this one though both tasted great. It was raining when I had Ise Udon there, so they made me feel warm.
Oh, Curry Udon and Tempura one are not local noodles but are available all over Japan.
Generally speaking, Ise Udon is like this. Its basic one is very simple and not expensive in general.
I had this normal version at another eatery on the first day of the trip. There're lots of places offering Ise Udon around Ise, but I like Fukusuke, ふくすけ, the best so far. Their staff as well as their Ise Udon were really good.
So, Curry and Tempura Ise Udon Noodles are arranged versions, though nowadays many restaurants and eateries serving Ise Udon has these new types of Ise Udon as well.
Japanese people say "いただきます," or Itadakimasu, before eating.
Bowwow!
The dog isn't mine. I met him or her while I was waiting for my Udon to be served. I asked his or her owners to take some photos of us.
Yep, the first picture was also taken in Ise. It's said Saigyo Hoshi, a famous poet during Heian and Kamaura periods, read the poem when he visited Ise Jingu. You know what? He was also said to be a Buddhist priest. On the other hand, Ise Jingu is a Shinto shrine, not a Buddhist temple. Still, he read the poem like that. Isn't it amazing? No wonder lots of people from all over the world are visiting Ise Jingu.
Well, have you ever heard of "おかげ犬", Okage Inu, or "Thankful Dog"?
It's said that it was very popular among ordinary people to visit Ise Jingu during the Edo period, but it was also very difficult for most of them to go to Ise because it took not only much money but lots of days from Edo to Ise then. So, some people sent their dogs to Ise Jingu and waited till their dogs came back safely with Ise Jingu's charm. It's also said the owners put しめ縄, Shimenawa, and 御幣, Gohei, around the necks of dogs, so other people could easily see their dogs were Okage Inu. Also, when people happened to see Okage Inu, they gave foods to the dogs or took them to Ise, they say. Visits to Ise were called Okage Mairi, おかげ参り, at the time.
We can find a lot of Okage Inu goods like these at おみやげ屋, Omiyageya, in Okage Yokocho. Even though I prefer cats, I got Okage Dog items. They are cute.
Purple ones are for myself and green ones for my honey.
It's complicated, and I myself sometimes get confused, but Okage Yokocho,おかげ横丁, is locted in Oharai-Machi, おはらい町, which is located very close to Ise Jingu's Naiku, 内宮, or the Inner Shrine. We can say it's located in front of Naiku of Ise Jingu, I think. Okage Yokocho has their English website.
Oharai-Machi is also located very near Sarutahiko Shrine., or 猿田彦神社. I also visited the shrine two times while staying in Nagoya. I've mentioned it and added its photos in a blog post named "Remember 3.11," and I'll write about it sometime. It's not famous compared with Ise Jingu, but it's worth visiting. It enshrines the god of guidance, and they say the god guides worshipers in positive directions. I don't think I've already received divine favor, though. I mean, I'm not sure if my prayer has been heard or answered. I don't know what my calling is and what I should next. I don't think I would become a good chef or something. I still know for sure that my life purpose is changing the world as well as Japan for the better. 
Anyway ...
Oharai-Machi has these shops, too.
Japanese sweets called
The shop called "吉兆招福亭," Kicho Shofukutei, which is located in Okage Yokocho, has a lot of luchy cats' items. Cat lovers should stop by the store. This page from the website of Okage Yokocho explains both おみやげ屋 and 吉兆招福亭.
I got these goods at the store. Some cats look like Kuro, right?
The two cats in the right photo ... I gave the blue one to my darling. The lucky cats are for married couples so they've been happily married and can live happily ever after. Though my hon and I haven't gotten married yet, we'll do in the future.
And I'm going to give birth to a baby boy, maybe. Oh, I'm not pregnant, just in case. Haha.
Well, I've just learned American people say "gotten" while British say "got" when they use the verb "get" as the past participle.
I went to Ebiya in Oharai-Machi, too. It was my first time, and I really liked it.
I got these だし, or Dashi, as souvenirs. Dashi is Japanese soup stock or broth made from fish and so on.
I got this charm for myself. It's my favorite. It comes in three colors, and I chose this white one.
The sign in the right photo ... it's called "Seman Doman". I explained it in another blog post titled "Seimei."
Seimei Shrine in Kyoto is very familiar with Seman Doman for some reason. I found the same mark when I visited Kyoto again this year and I added the photo in the blog post "Rising Sun," in which I also introduced another Jingu especially famous among soccer players.
Strictly speaking, the five-pointed star is called "Seman" while the other one is "Doman," I guess. Five-pointed star is the crest of Seimei Shrine, you know.
Oh, I almost forgot to tell you.
赤福, Akafuku, or Akafuku Mochi in English, is also very famous as one of Ise's local foods, and I got it though I forgot to take photos. Actually, I got 赤福 at Nagoya Station, not Ise, haha. Well, that happens sometimes. Now Akafuku Mochi is available in other places as well, such as Kyoto and Osaka.
Second, Nagoya's "Kishimen."
"Kishimen" are flat udon noodles.
My father had the left combo while I had the right one. Though my dad doesn't like Kishimen itself, he seemed to like the left simple Kishimen and enjoyed it. We shared these noodles, so I tried that one, too, and it was really good.
I personally loved their Curry Kishimen and 天丼, or Tendon, too. Tempura is one of Japanese dishes, you know, and Tendon is a bowl of rice covered with Tempura.
You know what? We went to Kishimen Yoshida, which is located near the Nagoya Station. The store is famous for its Kishimen, and it's said a former prime minister of Japan, Junichiro Koizumi, has visited there. I wonder which Kishimen he had. He's the father of a popular Japanese politician, Shinjiro Koizumi. His son must be a dog person. Cats must have done something terrible to him, haha.
Joking aside ...
Atsuta Jingu, 熱田神宮, has an eatery offering Kishimen, and we had Kishimen there, too. Atsuta Jingu is located in Nagoya, you know, while Ise Jingu is located in Mie Prefecture. They both enshrine ancestors of Imperial family, you know.
Their Kishimen has two kinds of Dashi, or soup stock. The left one is 赤だし, or Red Dashi, while the right one is 白だし, White Dashi.
I forgot which was which, but maybe they said the red one was more popular than the white one. I tried both, since my dad doesn't like Kishimen in general, and I thought I prefered the other one to the popular one. Still, I like Kishimen Yoshida's Kishimen noodles the best. I can't deny it.
The eatery is located in the precinct of Jingu, 神宮, so that's why their boiled fish paste has the kanji 宮 on it.
I made a mistake. It seems the store's name is 宮きしめん, Miya Kishimen, and it includes the kanji character 宮, so that's why, I think.
Before taking a bullet train to Tokyo, we took a break in Mermaid Cafe at Nagoya Station. We both had their seasonal iced cherry blossom beverages, and they tasted great
My outfit that day was a cherry blossom parttern, too. Their seasonal Sakura beverage had a hot one as well, though I only tried the iced one. Well, Mermaid Cafe has a location in Daikanyama, Tokyo, too.
Nagoya is also famous for its cafes and breakfast combos. Japanese people call a breakfast combo "Morning Set" or just "Morning." My dad really wanted to go to cafes in Nagoya to have a breakfast combo, but we couldn't make it, actually.
At first, he wanted to go to a Komeda Coffee shop in Nagoya Station, and he insisted, but I told him that I didn't want to because Komeda Coffee has their locations all over Japan, so it's available not only in Nagoya but in other places. Later, I mean after I came back home, I found Komeda Coffee was born in Nagoya, so we should have tried their breakfast in their original place. Sorry about that.
We went to another coffee shop, which is famous for its breakfast combos, but there was a loooong line. It sure was a loooong one. I hear the cafe has always a long line like that.
So we gave up and went to Tully's Coffee nearby instead. I remember my dad didn't pronounce correctly the name of the cafe, Tully's Coffee, though, haha. English words and names are sometimes hard for older people to say, I think.
I usually have "Hot Sandwich Ham & Scramble Eggs" with "Hot Royal Milk Tea" when I order what we called morning set at Tully's Coffee. These two are a good combination. You should try it.
We also went to Eggs 'n Things together to have dinner while staying in Nagoya. As I said before, I'll write about their new grand and dinner menus sometime.
I hope Eggs 'n Things in Japan offers Hawaiian local noodles as their seasonal item someday.
... To tell you the truth, I thought I'd write about Osaka's and Kyoto's local noodles as well, but I don't have enough time today. Well, I promise I'll do that next month.
By the way, Tully's Coffee will be doing "Mt. Fuji Cafe - Tully's TO GO!! -" for a limited time; July 2 - August 19.
They're offering limited menus and items which are only available in areas around Mt. Fuji. Check it out. They're also selling a limited iced beverage that looks exactly like Mt. Fuji.
It's beautiful.