The Kamo no Shirabe Cafe in Takashima
The Face of Freedom working for pleasure, not just a paycheck -- Copyright 2008 Jeffrey Eric Francis Friedl
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 52 mm — 1/80 sec, f/3.5, ISO 800 — map & image datanearby photos
The Face of Freedom
working for pleasure, not just a paycheck

We decided to have a relaxing day, and took drive north an hour and a half to a middle-of-nowhere cafe that Fumie had read about on someone else's blog. It turns out that it's run by a guy who used to be some kinds of architectural-plastics engineer in Osaka, and left it all behind to follow his passion for, oddly enough, stone kilns. That translated into a cafe with fresh pizza on the menu.

The place is called kamo no shirabe (かものしらべ), which means either “melody of the ducks”, or “sounds of the river”, depending on whether the kamo in the name is the word for “duck” or a reference to the kamo river (“Duck river”) that flows by the place. (There's also a kamo river in Kyoto, so perhaps it's a common name?).

In either case, there was good food in a very pleasant atmosphere.

Looking In from the terrace, which we didn't use because a light rain was falling -- Copyright 2008 Jeffrey Eric Francis Friedl
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 52 mm — 1/100 sec, f/2.8, ISO 320 — map & image datanearby photos
Looking In
from the terrace, which we didn't use because a light rain was falling
outside terrace Where We Would Have Liked To Sit -- Copyright 2008 Jeffrey Eric Francis Friedl
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 17 mm — 1/320 sec, f/5, ISO 800 — map & image datanearby photos
outside terrace
Where We Would Have Liked To Sit

It's in a place called Takashima City in Shiga Prefecture (an hour and a half north of Kyoto, Japan), but they must be on the far-flung outskirts because there's no City in evidence anywhere around here. There are map links under each photo (all of essentially the same place, of course).

Pizzas Arrive -- Copyright 2008 Jeffrey Eric Francis Friedl
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — 1/90 sec, f/2.8, ISO 500 — map & image datanearby photos
Pizzas Arrive

We each got a $15 “pizza set”, a triplet consisting of a personal pizza, a drink, and a small salad. It was most excellent.

Cutting His Own Pizza -- Copyright 2008 Jeffrey Eric Francis Friedl
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 34 mm — 1/100 sec, f/2.8, ISO 500 — map & image datanearby photos
Cutting His Own Pizza
Salad with carrots, cucumber, tomato, black beans, sesame, and a fairly heady vinaigrette -- Copyright 2008 Jeffrey Eric Francis Friedl
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 48 mm — 1/60 sec, f/2.8, ISO 640 — map & image datanearby photos
Salad
with carrots, cucumber, tomato, black beans, sesame, and a fairly heady vinaigrette

After stuffing myself on my pizza and most of Anthony's, I went out for a short stroll with the camera. Here's the restaurant from the rear, from across the little river that flows by.

Copyright 2008 Jeffrey Eric Francis Friedl
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 28 mm — 1/90 sec, f/8, ISO 400 — map & image datanearby photos

And the view looking the other way – the one you see from the restaurant – is of terraced rice paddies, mountains, and on a drizzly day like today, mist...

Copyright 2008 Jeffrey Eric Francis Friedl
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 17 mm — 1/200 sec, f/8, ISO 400 — map & image datanearby photos

I love the looks of terraces of rice paddies cut into the mountains, such as these and these.

It's then that I met the proprietor, who was happy to show me the wood-burning stone kiln that he made himself, in which our pizzas had been cooked...

Stoking the Fire of his pizza kiln -- Copyright 2008 Jeffrey Eric Francis Friedl
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 17 mm — 1/20 sec, f/5.6, ISO 640 — map & image datanearby photos
Stoking the Fire
of his pizza kiln
Hot Stuff -- Copyright 2008 Jeffrey Eric Francis Friedl
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 23 mm — 1/20 sec, f/2.8, ISO 640 — map & image datanearby photos
Hot Stuff

I like a cup of hot coffee to settle the tummy after a big meal, so I ordered one, then watched him prepare it. He was chatting with Fumie as he did, which yielded the big smile in this post's lead photo, but eventually it was time to get down to business of fine coffee...

Serious about his Work -- Copyright 2008 Jeffrey Eric Francis Friedl
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/80 sec, f/2.2, ISO 800 — map & image datanearby photos
Serious about his Work
Fetching a Cup -- Copyright 2008 Jeffrey Eric Francis Friedl
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/60 sec, f/2.2, ISO 800 — map & image datanearby photos
Fetching a Cup
My Trying To Be Artsy -- Copyright 2008 Jeffrey Eric Francis Friedl
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/80 sec, f/2.2, ISO 800 — map & image datanearby photos
My Trying To Be Artsy

Meanwhile, Anthony played with the heavy stone mill they used to grind the coffee beans...

Copyright 2008 Jeffrey Eric Francis Friedl
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/90 sec, f/2.2, ISO 800 — map & image datanearby photos
Coffee Mill -- Copyright 2008 Jeffrey Eric Francis Friedl
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/125 sec, f/1.4, ISO 800 — map & image datanearby photos
Coffee Mill

The guy and his wife do a lot themselves. He made the kilns, and the furniture, for example. (Check out the heavy wooden tables in the 2nd photo, for example.) They grow most of the vegetables they use in their cooking, right next to the restaurant. Here's a shot of the sign out front, with the restaurant in the background on one side, and the garden on the other....

Kamo no Shirabe -- Copyright 2008 Jeffrey Eric Francis Friedl
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 22 mm — 1/250 sec, f/6.3, ISO 800 — map & image datanearby photos
Kamo no Shirabe

All 2 comments so far, oldest first...

Wonderful blog! I found your blog from Sean McCormick’s blog and was really interested in the panning timelapse script you made. I submitted a question on that post, but was hoping I could get some help regarding the running of the script; I’ve followed your instructions and Sean’s too, to no avail.

I enjoy your photographs and thank you for sharing your knowledge!

Todd

— comment by Todd on June 29th, 2008 at 2:34am JST (15 years, 9 months ago) comment permalink

Great restaurant!

— comment by Anne on September 10th, 2012 at 3:58am JST (11 years, 6 months ago) comment permalink
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