Like I had written in part 2, this was my second time visiting Tokyo, but my first time visiting Sendai! I wanted to explore a new part of Japan and chose the Tohoku region in the north with Sendai as the base city to do things from.
We didn’t do much on August 4th. We basically hung around Tokyo, took a 1.5 hour Shinkansen (bullet train) to Sendai, and then relaxed in Sendai. Before leaving Tokyo, we had lunch at Kiji, an okonomiyaki place I found as a recommend (Bib Gourmand) in the Michelin Guide. Okonomiyaki is a savory Japanese pancake, and we ordered a beef tendon one, a pork kimchi one, and an omelette with yaki soba (fried noodles) inside. The beef tendon was the best okonomiyaki I’ve had so far!
For dinner in Sendai, we chose the city’s specialty: gyutan. It’s beef tongue, and Sendai is known as the original home of it in Japan. We went to Umami Tasuke, which is a small restaurant filled with locals, and the chefs were grilling right in front of us. Pretty legit if you ask me!
Before you say “ew” to beef tongue, remember that tongue is just another muscle, and when cooked properly, it tastes like any other cut, except with even more beef flavor. Not to mention, it uses more parts of the cow. Take a look! It’s not that weird looking, right?
The next day, August 5th, I got to visit a place that’s been high on my list: Zao Fox Village. We started by taking a short Shinkansen to the small and rural town of Shiroishi.
From there, we had to grab a taxi, since the Fox Village was in the mountains. Lately, the place has gotten a lot of attention online because of photos that show people close to a ton of foxes. I will say that it’s not what people expect, and fortunately, I read up on it ahead of time and had my expectations adjusted.
First of all, it’s not like Nara deer park or Arashiyama monkey park where there are wild animals roaming freely. Zao Fox Village is somewhat of a small zoo. When you first enter, you see a bunch of random animals caged or enclosed, like foxes, goats, rabbits, badgers, and capybaras. It makes you wonder, where is the area where a bunch of foxes are just running up to you???
That’s a separate area that is a large, fenced-in enclosure. This area is actually really spacious for the foxes, but it’s still enclosed. You can go in there though and walk among them! Since we were there in the morning, a lot of the foxes were just laying around sleeping.
Others, however, were waiting by the feeding area. To keep people safe, there is a raised deck where you can throw food (sold by the Fox Village) down to the foxes. The moment you get near it, the foxes around it are immediately interested, and a couple might even try to follow you onto the deck. (There’s a sliding door before you get on it.) They want your food!
Feeding area
Surprisingly, most were actually pretty patient. They’d just sit there and stare up at you until you threw something down. There were a few here and there that couldn’t wait and would try to climb up to you though =P
Oh, and if you ever wondered “what the fox says”, you can check out my Instagram video. I will warn you that foxes don’t sound as cute as they look.
I’m actually going to end the entry here and split August 5th into two entries because it starts going into the festival part. I have a lot to write about that! In the mean time, check out more cute photos of foxes 🙂
The omelette looks amazing! It would definitely fill me up compared to the American omelette XD. Beef tongue is so delicious; especially when it’s grilled properly! I love to order that whenever I’m at Korean BBQ XD. I suppose the concept is weird to people who are used to eating the cow’s belly and such.
The Zao Fox Village looks so cool!!! I love how there are animals just there in peace. Why can’t our foxes be like that? XD. I feel like all animals in Japan are so peaceful to humans because they treat them right and the ones in the US aren’t because people here makes them feel threatened? Seriously, this is cute! :3
Thanks for sharing :D.
That restaurant looks really traditional. The idea of a omelette with noodles sounds amazing.
Zao Fox Village sounds like such a cool experience. At least they have plenty of space to roam around. I don’t mind seeing animals in captivity, just as long as they have plenty of space. Also, those rabbits look so cute!
I asked my husband if he would like what you were eating in Japan and he said YES! But those foxes are adorable! ^^ I even heard there was a cat island somewhere in Japan. I’d love to visit there.
Those omelets look so good! I’d try something like that. Beef tongue, is pretty good. I’ve tried that before and I agree, it does have more of a beef flavor to it. I’ve not had that in a long time. The foxes are adorable, but they also look a bit creepy. My uncle was stationed in Japan for 7 years along with my aunt and cousin. They loved it there. This was years ago. Japan is a place I’d love to visit someday. 🙂 Thank you for sharing your trip adventures with us!
The food looks delicious, until I read it was a tongue. It’s probably not as bad as it sounds though haha.
Awww, all the bunnies look so adorable. The foxes also look really cute. It would be interesting to see so many together.
Yum, Nick and I were just watching a video on okonomiyaki! I really want to try some real okonomiyaki in Japan. We tried some grossly overpriced one in London and it was horrible… it tasted terrible! It was nothing special, really. I like the idea of soba being in it, though. Making me hungry just thinking about it! I think we will definitely visit the same one you visited, thanks for the recommendation 😉
The foxes look gorgeous, but their growl is funny. Your photos are beautiful, as always! 🙂
That omelette looks amazing. I’d love to try one. I’m not sure I could do tongue though, even though it actually looks pretty good!
The fox village seems like a great experience. It’s so cool that you get to see so many foxes together and also that you get to feed them. They definitely don’t sound too great though! I’ve accidentally left them playing while writing this and they sound like they’re screaming!
This post makes me want to visit Japan so badly!
The okonomiyaki looks good. I’m gonna say ew on the beef tongue, but I also don’t like beef. I tolerate it sometimes, but that’s eventually going to be cut from my diet. ?
The fox song was always weird to me. When I lived on the farm, I’d hear the coyotes and foxes all howling and hunting…and sometimes fighting with each other. The house was so paper thin; sometimes it sounded like they were right outside. ?
The ones in the video sound slightly different than the ones here, but it was still enough to raise bumps on my arms. ??
WHAT DOES THE FOX SAY LOL I remember seeing that video! They seem to sound like cats trying to hiss O_O and at times they growl like dogs. But they are so cute! I didn’t know they are tame enough to wander around with humans!
Also that photo of the bunny!!! I’m gonna make it to Japan someday just go to these animal villages!!
Those foxes are just so cute, or may I say kawaaiiii, since they are Japanese 😛
Weren’t they caged? How did you get your photo with them right next to you?
The food photos look amazing! I don’t eat beef and I cannot try it in most parts of India since it’s banned here, but I would love to try these dishes in other countries if i get a chance to do so! 😀
The foxes aren’t caged! They’re in a large area that’s surrounded by a fence. You are able to go into that area and walk among them 🙂
OMG I finally know what the fox say!!! That video was awesome. What a great place to visit!