Girls Trip in Okuizumo

Hello!
This is Nagisa, a Tomodachi guide in the San’in area.
“Tomodachi” means “friend”.
I enjoy showing people around my lovely hometown and spending a memorable time together!

Last weekend, I got a chance to make a friend with a beautiful lady from China, and we had a lovely Saturday in Okuizumo!
She has been living in Japan for 3 years now, and it was her first time to visit Shimane Prefecture.
She is very friendly and nice. I am really grateful to meet her!

This place is called Obara Dam.
This dam was chosen as the best landscape in Shimane in 2012.

It was a rainy day and you can actually see the cloudy sky in the picture.
To be honest with you, I like the San’in area more when it is raining or cloudy because for some reason, it calms me so much.

“San’in” literally means “the shade of the mountain”, and this area is said to have more rainy days than other area.
Whether it is raining or not, you can enjoy the beautiful scenery here in the San’in area!

We took a lot of pictures with high-performance cameras!

We went to Ooe-no-Sato to make rice balls with Mr. and Mrs. Wakuri. They are local residents of Okuizumo and producers of Nita rice, which is one of the specialties in Okuizumo.

Nita rice is famous for its natural sweetness of rice and chewy texture.
Nita rice was chosen as the only Special A level rice in western Japan.

Voila!

Look at the size of the rice balls!
We were very hungry by the time we finished making them and you can actually see how happy we were from our faces.

Can you see the crispy rice?
We call it “Okoge” and it is especially delicious!

We ate Nita rice balls with pickled veggies, which is, in my opinion, the best way to eat rice!
Please try it the next time you eat rice!

We loved the pickled veggies which Mrs. Wakuri made so much that she had to refill the plate!
Thank you so much!!

It was a very fun Saturday, girls!!
Thank you for coming to Okuizumo.

Please take care till we all meet again!