Mountain vegetables were something I never really thought about before coming to Japan.

But after living here for a while, I started noticing them everywhere.

At Michi no Eki roadside stations.

In countryside restaurants.

At local markets.

And after participating in a mountain vegetable picking workshop in Hirugano Kogen, something changed.

I cannot unsee what I saw.

Now, when I eat a simple bowl of soba in the countryside, I do not only notice the soba anymore.

I notice the mountain vegetables served with it.

The bitterness.

The texture.

The season.

The connection to the mountains around me.

The soba somehow tastes richer because of it.

It is no longer just plain soba.