Foraging and Shrining 山菜と神社

Today I went with my parents-in-law and nephew, Arata, for a drive into the mountains to pick Taranome, the fruit from a plant with the English name of Aralia elata. The plant is a long, thin stalk covered in thorns, and the fruit is very popular amongst Japanese, so you have to have really good timing to get any, because they are all picked as soon as they are big enough to eat. We managed to find quite a few, though, as Yuki's parents come almost every year to pick them, and her dad is very eager to get them, and willing to climb through vines and pricklies that I'm sure many others would not be. You pull the top off, and it's very delicious as tempura, lightly breaded and fried then eaten with salt.
On the way home we stopped at a local Shinto shrine that has been designated as a national treasure, Nishinajinmeigu, that had some very large trees, some still standing, and others which had died but the trunks of which were still being preserved. I've put together some clips from the day, no editing this time, though, so bear with the shaky camera and heavy breathing into the mic!