Takumi no sato:

Naeba, Gunma prefecture. Our family made a quick trip here last weekend. We didn't go to the part of Gunma with the erupting volcano! (Asamayama) But we went to my favourite art and craft village where you can sample traditional crafts and enjoy some of the local harvest at the market. At this time of year the rice is harvested, sweet potatoes (satsuma imo), chestnuts (kuri) and pumpkins (kabocha) are in full supply, and nashi, grapes and apples are starting to come into season. Minori no aki is indeed the bountiful autumn. Our earlier visit to Takumi no sato in August saw the stalls full of summer produce like nasu (eggplant), piman (small green capsicums,) peaches and watermelon. It is always such a contrast to the bustle of Tokyo life to head off into the mountains. The traffic was horrendous to get there, a 2 hour traffic jam before we had even left Tokyo...hard to imagine when the tranquility of the inaka seems so all pervasive.