Nikko is a popular day trip from Tokyo, and it makes an excellent break from the crowding and rushing of the city. The weather was crisp on the day we visited, and the sun sifted brightly through tall evergreens, making gilded temples glitter and photography difficult.

Nikko's culinary specialty is yuba, or fresh tofu skin. Yuba is the layer that forms on top of reducing soy milk, and can be eaten "raw" or wrapped into tight coils and cooked with sauce. Tofu skin can also be dried, fried, used to wrap dumplings, or to masquerade as meat, but in Nikko, it seemed most popular either fresh or in sticks as a ramen topping.

While I've seen yuba in its rolled (or otherwise compressed) form used in vegetarian cuisine in the US, I don't think I've ever before had it fresh. It has a mild, sweet soy flavor, and a silky but tenacious texture. Rolled and cooked, it becomes firmer and spongier, and takes on the flavor of any seasonings while retaining a pleasant proteiny sweetness. The bite and flavor are surprisingly robust and satisfying for something whose nearest neighbor is pudding skin.

Getting to Nikko using your Japan Rail pass involves a transfer at Utsonomiya, which, as all its tourist literature proudly proclaims, is known for its gyoza. This, and the handy gyoza map available at the tourist desk at the train station, make it an easy place to stop for dinner after Nikko has rolled down the shutters. Or, you could simply grab a styrofoam box of frozen gyoza from any shop in the station between trains. We opted to let someone else cook the gyoza, although to be honest, I probably could have done a better job at that than the restaurant we picked - the exterior was burnt in some spots and still cool in others. The fillings, on the other hand, were pretty awesome: shiso, green onion, chili, garlic,and even cheese. If we had had more time or energy, a gyoza tour, with a few dumplings here and a few there, would have been a delightful way to fill up.