Udon Shop Wataru

Fill your belly before visiting Naruto German House!

Takako Sakamoto May 10, 2014 - 2 min read

<p>Kitsune Udon (deep-fried bean curd and Japanese noodles). The size of Kitsune is very big here in Tokushima!</p>

<p>Crossing the Shikoku Saburo Bridge over the Yoshino River, on the way from Tokushima to Bando, where you can visit the Naruto German House and Bando POW Camp Site. This bridge, fairly new, was constructed in 1998.</p>

<p>Entrance of noodle restaurant Wataru</p>

<p>Inside the restaurant 'Wataru'. As the counter is spacious, an old man in a wheelchair was having lunch without any problems when we were there</p>

<p>Menu of the restaurant. Besides noodles, set dishes and sushi, etc. are available</p>

<p>Omusubi Bento (rice ball lunch box). Before the strenuous excursion, you need to eat as much as this!</p>

<p>Corridor leading to raised-floor seats</p>

<p>Many Otani Pottery dishes lined up on the shelves</p>

<p>Waiting area near the entrance. Hanging scroll says, 'Arigato - Thank you'</p>

<p>Food display. Watch out, they are fake!</p>

<p>Signage of the restaurant, 'Wataru'</p>

<p>Noodle restaurant 'Wataru', seen from parking lot</p>

The main purpose of a trip I made to Tokushima this Golden Week holiday was to visit the Bando POW Camp Site in the Naruto area, which is famous because of a Japanese movie, 'Bart no Gakuen' (literally, 'Music paradise of bearded men'). We drove from the hotel we were staying at in Tokushima city, crossed the newly built Shikoku Saburo bridge, which connects Tokushima city with Naruto, and before visiting the site stopped for lunch at a Japanese noodle restaurant 'Wataru'.

When I saw a big Kitsune (deep-fried bean curd) on Udon (white noodles), I thought, 'I'm home!'. The size of Kitsune in Tokushima is really big. As there aren't many places to eat around the Bando Camp, probably this could be one of a few places to eat anything before you commence on to the tough excursion!

Takako Sakamoto @takako.sakamoto

I was born in and grew up in Tokushima prefecture, and have lived in many places since then: Nishinomiya, Kyoto, Nara, Mie, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, Fukuoka and Fukui. I am currently living in Yokohama City. All the places I lived, all the places I visited, I have loved dearly. The histor...