Morioka

A day in Morioka, which the New York Times counted second on its "52 places to go" list in 2023, after London, to everyone's great confusion.

Elli's parents went off for a day trip elsewhere while we had a rest and enjoyed our main reason for wanting to be in Morioka: the Wanko Soba challenge. In it, an enthusiastic waitress cheers you on while depositing small bowls of soba noodles in front of you and the task is to eat as many as you can without stopping for a rest.

We heard that making it to 100 means you are a real man. Elli managed 100. Chris managed 90. We'll say no more.

Beyond that, it turns out Morioka is a beautifully green city with some immensely lovely rivers and parks, which Elli enjoyed at Saturday's parkrun (Japan's most northerly parkrun!)Læs mere