You can enjoy difference of the four seasons at Sansho House through changes of landscape and meals.
The snow finally melts away and landscape becomes filled with fresh greens till May. It is the most exciting time of the year for local people. Many visitors also come to taste the seasonal sansai cuisine (wild mountain vegetables). Different sansai pop up at their own time and they require different ways of cooking. Snow remove harshness from sansai and local people cook them in particular way to make them so delicious.
It gets hot and humid during the day. The gap brought by the high temperature and humidity during the daytime and the temperature difference in the morning and evening help produce delicious rice. Enjoy meals using summer vegetables such as tomatoes, aubergines, and cucumbers.
The harvest begins in mid-September in Matsunoyama as it enters into the busy farming season. Freshly harvested rice becomes ready around October. The soft aromas and sweetness distinctive to freshly harvested rice can only be tried during this time of the year. It is the most pleasant season as the temperature drops in the morning and evening while it is dry during the day. People gather vegetables before the snow starts to fall and cook them according to various preservation methods in order to stock food for the winter.
The first snow starts to fall in November if early, and certainly by mid-December every year. The heavy snowfall hits around Christmas time and it continues to pile up until the peak time around early February. It can accumulate as high as one meter over night which requires snow-removing work everyday. Roads are cleared away as a lifeline. It is an overwhelming world for those who are from outside of the region. You may wish to enjoy playing in the snow, skiing and snowboarding. Local people prepare miso and shoyu-no-mi, local distinctive seasonal ingredients during this coldest time of the year. Sansho House is known for Nabe (ingredients cooked in a pot for sharing), its signature meal for winter.
