'Would you like an egg with your soba?" Jun Obara asks as he conjures an egg from his fur-lined jacket. Without waiting for a response, he cracks open the white shell and carefully mixes its contents into the steaming bowl of noodles.
We're sitting in a small restaurant located in Tsumago, a village in Nagano Prefecture that once served as a post town along the Nakasendo trail, the Edo Period (1603-1868) route between Edo (modern-day Tokyo) and Kyoto. Obara, an eccentric local fashion designer grew up in this "mountain village" and now owns a clothing store selling zany garments, all bearing his name.
The soba shop is one of a series of small commercial enterprises that line the main thoroughfare in Tsumago, catering for the slow stream of tourists walking the Nakasendo, now a hiking trail. Tiny souvenir shops, inns and sake outlets are housed in picturesque two-story wooden structures. They all blend seamlessly with the region's mountainous backdrop.