Izushi

Izushi is a grid of a castle town in the hills of northern Hyogo with the ruins of its castle on the slope above, a preserved district of merchant houses, and a wooden clock tower, Shinkoro, that has kept time since 1871 and is the town's emblem. Eirakukan, a kabuki theatre of 1901, survives with its revolving stage, trapdoors and under-stage machinery, all hand-operated, and can be visited including the basement where the mechanisms are. The food is the reason many people come: Izushi sara soba, buckwheat noodles served cold on small white dishes, five to a portion, with the condiments - egg, grated yam, spring onion, wasabi - added progressively as you work through them; some shops give a certificate to anyone who gets through a set number of dishes. Around fifty soba restaurants operate in a town of this size.

What to look for

• Sara soba - noodles on five small dishes at a time, eaten until you stop.
• Eirakukan - a 1901 kabuki theatre with hand-worked stage machinery below.
• Shinkoro - a wooden clock tower keeping time since 1871.
• Fifty soba shops - a very high concentration for a town this size.

When to go

April to November. Half a day. Lunchtime, for obvious reasons.

Things to know

Buses from Toyooka are infrequent. Soba shops queue at lunch and many close by mid-afternoon. The castle is ruins and a reconstructed gate only. Winter is snowy and quiet.

Nearby

Kinosaki Onsen is north; Takeda Castle is south.