Yet another PAD-inspired adventure, episode 4 this time is Takaoka!

PAD has always brought me to random places in Japan, like last few times with the limited-time PAD pop-up store that happened not once, but twice to empty my wallet. Not to mention how there were the PAD fan-artist conventions that happened twice a year in Tokyo, which of course further damaged wallet-chan…

This trip happened simply because I wanted a break from work to explore Takaoka city, and to see if I can find all the foods. Let’s see how well I did!

Takaoka City Collab in PAD

I assume we’re all familiar with the cards from this now-permanent collab, which has the following tasty cards. I’m a seafood fan so I wanted all of them!

	Velvet shrimp, or shiro ebi (white shrimp). Amazing as sashimi or deep-fried on rice!
	Amberjack, specifically cold amberjack, is really the highlight of the region in winter.
	Amitaka (and also Kanon and Cecil) are the official mascot (Twitter) based off the Great Buddha of Takaoka at the heart of Takaoka city. It’s also the third largest Buddha in Japan.
	Himi udon, a supposedly famous udon noodles in the area. (I will explain the “supposedly” later)
	Firefly squid, popular attraction by the Toyama bay in late March to May.

Apparently YamaP is also from Takaoka City (Source: Fandom), which makes sense why the collab happened!

My mission of this trip was to see how many of them I can actually find/consume. This was a trip I went in late September, let’s see how I did!

Takaoka City, in real life

Takaoka is located in northern part of central Japan, and easily accessible from Tokyo and Osaka by either train or buses. Both Himi and Toyama are pretty close by, within 1 hour of transit by train. The cities all surround Toyama bay, where all the amazing seafood are from!

Since I went to an onsen (hot springs) nearby, I actually didn’t spend enough time in Takaoka. With that said, there aren’t much in the city except for the Buddha, nice scenary, and Doraemon.

Why Doraemon? Takaoka is the hometown of the creator of Doraemon (Fujiko F. Fujio); there’s even a functional mailbox made of copper of Doraemon!

In the heart of the city is the Great Buddha of Takaoka, which is impossible to miss! Supposedly there was a monthly morning market but it was cancelled that day… There are no signs of Amitaka, Kanon, or Cecil in the area. In fact, I didn’t see anything of them during my stay.

While we didn’t have a lot time in the city, we did spend most of the on sushi, since we’re by the sea! Since it wasn’t the season for cold amberjack, we went with regular amberjack from Himi port – Still amazing! It was really fresh and I would go back for more…

Himi, I want my udon.

As an udon lover, I really was craving for Himi udon. On the next day I traveled from Takaoka to Himi by train, which required some planning since the trains aren’t frequent. The view was spectacular as the train travels (a bit too close) to the coastal line!

It’s no surprise that Himi is a pretty rural (and somewhat dead) city. Outside of the station with the nicer sign, it’s a city that had its glory in probably 1980s. The busiest area of town was the one popular ramen shop…

Even before I step out from the station, I already see amberjack (yellowtail) – From the manhole cover with three amberjacks to seats at the station, everything makes me hungry. Unfortunately I wasn’t there in the right season to taste the king of Toyama bay, maybe next time.

What came as a surprise was that the city is where the artist of Ninja Hattori , Fujiko A. Fujio, originated from. From the train arriving Himi to all the signs, this ninja appears everywhere. Sometimes you see Shishimaru and Monster Kid too, since they’re by the same author.

Now for Himi udon. I was actually unable to find a lot of shops with Himi udon. I did find one eventually at a seafood restaurant, with Himi udon served cold, with soy sauce as dipping sauce.

Admittedly it wasn’t as mind-blowing as I expected, as the restaurant did not specialize in it. The noodle texture was a bit more firm than the usual chewy udon noodles, which is up my alley (I prefer harder noodles). The seafood miso soup was definitely my favorite – it had a lot of seafood and a fish head!

At least I got more food checked off the list!

Side note: We did buy some Himi udon as souvenir to try at home, along with their newest creation – Himi pasta. The pasta tasted much better than the udon, I gotta say!

Amazing Toyama.

Next day it’s the final destination – Toyama! I traveled along the coast and (finally) was back in city life!

Himi udon was good, but it wasn’t enough for me. We headed to the popular udon restaurant Itosho and it definitely is one of my top 3 udon of all times.

I craved for coffee and cake. Pika and Tama both enjoyed it with me. :3

And then we had more food because why not. Double cheese burger for snack (???), then it’s velvet shrimp rice bowl (shiro-ebi don)! It’s perfect with a bit of soy sauce on the shrimp and rice, and would’ve been even more amazing if I weren’t so full…

But yes, another PAD card, check!

I also had a bit of Toyama’s potato chips (kombu flavored) and a Masuzushi (vinegared trout sashimi on top of vinegared rice, in the form of onigiri here). Both amazing but I definitely gained some weight here…

Final thoughts

Well that’s the trip of food. Aside from Ninja Hattori’s, there weren’t any PAD goods or references in the area. It was a really fun trip as that was my husband and my first trip together, as a married couple. It’s certainly not the places I’d suggest going for a first or second trip to Japan, but for those comfortable with trains in Japan, Toyama is worth a visit for sure.

I’d certainly come back for seafood, and for that cold amberjack and firefly squid I missed. Of the three cities, Toyama is my personal favorite (that udon was too good). Though next time I’d try the Tate-Kurobe alpine route to walk and burn off some of that weight gain…

Next write-up will be on Gunma and another PAD convention, with actual PAD loots!