This past week I spent three days in Shiga Kogen, in Nagano prefecture.  It simply breathtaking up there in the mountains.  The clouds actually float below some of the peaks and it’s possible to see for miles with the clarity of the sunlight.  When skiing there, you can go up one lift and down the mountain; take another lift and go down a different side of the mountain and so on and so on.  You can go up and down and up and down for miles!

At the top of Yakote-yama, one of the bigger mountains, is the highest bakery in Japan, standing tall at 2300 meters high (7585 feet).  It’s absolutely adorable!  And the breads are fantastic.  I had a pretty simple roll, but Marc had a chocolate-filled bread.  We both had a bottle of Coca Cola.  I cannot recall when the last time was that either of us drank a Coke, but just seeing it there in the old-fashioned bottle, made us crave it.

The whole trip was fantastic, and we have David Green of Discover Japan to thank for it.  He is in his 27th consecutive year of planning trips – community ski trips – to Shiga Kogen.  He’s got it down to a science.  His clientele, like me, appreciate that all I have to do is show up – David will take care of everything else.

Here are a couple of more breathtaking photos of the bakery and the scenery.  Enjoy!!

The Sign for the Bakery!