Jinja and Shoga: Life in the Land of the Rising Sun

   We tried out a new taiyaki shop a few weekends back, but of course I'm only just now getting time to post about it. First off, if you're not familiar with taiyaki, it's basically a fish-shaped sort of cake with filling inside. The outer crust is made from pancake or waffle batter, and the filling is usually comprised of sweet red beans (adzuki), custard, chocolate, or cheese, etc. This shop's featured taiyaki is filled with sugary Japanese sweet potato paste. Delicious! They also have a green tea cream taiyaki, along with your usual custard and other varieties. It's a really cute little place, located on the road heading up to the Shizuoka prefectural art museum if you're interested in trying it. And if you do go, try to get there in the morning, when the taiyaki are still fresh off the griddle. Yum!