Skip to main content
Entoten
FacebookInstagramPinterestYouTube

Menu

Skip to content
  • Blog
  • Shop
  • Artists
  • Places
  • Press
Sign In Search

Recent Posts

  • POP UP CRAFT SHOW at the Den on Laurel Street Dec. 3rd & 4th November 23, 2022
  • Frost Falls Approximately October 23th – November 6th October 23, 2022
  • Harmony with Food: Ceramics by Kojima Yosuke in Iga October 18, 2022
  • Cold Dew
    Approximately October 8th – 22nd
    October 8, 2022
  • Autumn Equinox
    Approximately September 23rd – October 7th
    September 21, 2022
August 2014
M T W T F S S
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031
« Jun   Sep »

Top Posts & Pages

  • The Flavor of the Earth: The Rustic Ceramics of Shigaraki
    The Flavor of the Earth: The Rustic Ceramics of Shigaraki
  • Hanafuda: Japanese Culture Dealt in a Deck of Cards
    Hanafuda: Japanese Culture Dealt in a Deck of Cards
  • Guide to Choosing Your Tea Whisk for Matcha
    Guide to Choosing Your Tea Whisk for Matcha
  • Takami Yasuhiro: Master Bamboo Basket Weaver
    Takami Yasuhiro: Master Bamboo Basket Weaver
  • Beyond the Object: Visiting Kawai Kanjiro’s House in Kyoto
    Beyond the Object: Visiting Kawai Kanjiro’s House in Kyoto

Categories

  • 72 Seasons Essays
  • Events, Workshops and Webinars
  • People
    • Naru (Inoue Naruhito)
    • Kojima Yosuke
    • Ayumi Horie
    • Bill Geisinger
    • Chieko (Calligraphy)
    • Floresta Fabrica
    • Hanako Nakazato
    • Harada Fumiko
    • Hashizume Reiko
    • Hashizume Yasuo
    • Horihata Ran
    • Hoshino Gen
    • Ikushima Harumi
    • Inoue Shigeru
    • Ishida Tami
    • Jarrod Dahl
    • Kazu Oba
    • Kenneth Pincus
    • Kikuchi Yuka
    • Kitamura Tokusai
    • Kobayashi Katsuhisa
    • Kubota Kenji
    • Kuriya Masakatsu
    • Maeda Mitsuru
    • Marshall Scheetz
    • Mike Martino
    • Mitch Iburg
    • Muranaka Yasuhiko
    • Nakaya Yoshitaka
    • Nitta Yoshiko
    • Ontayaki
    • Sakai Mika
    • Samuel Johnson
    • Sarah Nishiura
    • Saratetsu
    • Sasaki Shoko
    • Shumpei Yamaki
    • Style Of Japan
    • Takahashi Nami
    • Takami Yasuhiro
    • Tanimura Tango
    • Watanabe Ai
    • Yamada Yutaro
    • Yamauchi Takeshi
    • Yokotsuka Yutaka
  • Baskets
  • Ceramics
  • Design
  • Glass
  • Kintsugi
  • Metal
  • Textiles
  • Urushi
  • Wood
  • Mingei
  • Research
  • Food and Craft
  • Topics
  • Tea (Chado)
  • Travels
    • Arita
    • Bizen
    • Hagi
    • Karatsu
    • Kuroe
    • Kyoto
    • Matsumoto
    • Mino / Tajimi
    • Onta
    • Shigaraki
    • Shizuoka
    • Sonoma County
    • Tokoname
    • Vietnam

Been There, Eaten That: The Fun of Exploring Local Specialty Foods in Japan (and Sharing Them with Friends Back Home as Omiyage)

By:
Ai Kanazawa
August 4, 2014Topics

This summer, my high school Japanese nephew is in San Diego to attend an intensive English language program. On the day he landed jet-lagged but wide-eyed, he asked a question that would perplex most locals and non-Japanese in general: “is there any special foods from San Diego that I can take home as omiyage (the social obligation of bringing back small gifts from trips) for my friends?”

bontan
An Omiyage shop at Tanjoh-ji Temple in Chiba Prefecture selling locally grown shaddock fruits.

After getting over the initial puzzlement of wondering why someone would ask a question suggesting they were already thinking about going home before they even had a chance to put their luggage down, the question was actually very interesting and difficult to answer. In any case, my nephew was making a query that would be standard for anyone traveling in Japan.

In Japan, food is often associated with different regions and landmarks that people travel to. Of course, many other countries also have regional local specialty foods, but what is astounding is the sheer number and variety of these items in Japan. The Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has a list of Japan’s tasty secrets on its website that includes interesting (and sometimes dubious) list of local foods.

hiroshima
A man prepares okonomiyaki in Hiroshima, a local specialty dish. There are regional variants of this dish and the Hiroshima version uses plenty of cabbage and usually has a noodle topping.

Many famous Japanese shrines and temples have foods and confections associated with them, and Japanese people often bring them home as omiyage to share with friends and family.  This practice is said to have begun during the Edo period (1603-1867) when people could not afford to travel very often and visits to places like the Ise Grand Shrine was a once-in-a-lifetime event.

The pilgrims to the Ise shrine brought back the famous Akafuku mochi as gifts to their friends and family, who often pitched in to fund their trips. Besides food, this travel culture also supported the development of local craft to be taken home to commemorate trips -just as Kathryn described in her blog post about Kokeshi.*

Matsutake
Kyoto is known for highly sought-after Matsutake mushrooms. Priced between $200~$1500, I would not buy them as omiyage, but would look for a restaurant to taste a sliver of this mushroom when it is in season.

Obviously, many of the recent local food concoctions in Japan are pure commercialism, but I still enjoy exploring local specialty foods when I travel in Japan. Kyodo ryori or local specialties is a tradition rooted in the history, climate, and farming of a local region. It is not unusual for people to travel to a region with the sole purpose of eating the kyodo ryori.  I have traveled to Shizuoka to eat its famous eel, and driven up to Nagano to savor the soba or buckwheat noodles that they are renowned for.

ozoni
This ozoni soup is Kanto style with rectangular grilled mochi rice cake in clear broth.
In Kansai region, the soup is white miso based with round boiled mochi.

On top of the regional differences, many foods are linked with seasons and rituals and are eaten at certain times of the year. Some examples include eating pumpkin on the day of the winter solstice and ozoni (soup with mochi rice cakes) on New Year’s Day. It is fascinating to learn the background of how these foods came to be eaten in certain regions, seasons, and rituals. I continue to be surprised to discover local foods that I have never heard about or dishes that are prepared differently in other regions.

isshomochi
The issho-mochi ritual. The word issho is a unit of Japanese measurement equal to about 4 pounds and a homonym to the word that means “lifetime”. In this ritual, a baby that turns one year old carries 4 pounds of a round rice cake to be blessed with lifelong health, food and harmony. The mochi is later split and shared with all of the family members.

So if you stumble upon a little yummy something in Japan that has a story and tradition linked to that particular area, then why not share it with friends and family back home as an omiyage? The challenge lies in the task of discovering true gems hidden among the more plentiful commercial junk. On a recent trip to Japan, I discovered a regional roasted tea made from tea stems that was quite delicious in Kanazawa city. I brought some back as omiyage and my American friends loved it. I refused, though, to buy the cookies shaped like Tokyo Tower or Godzilla.

yagenbori
A store clerk mixes a fresh batch of shichimi togarashi (seven flavor chili pepper) at Yagenbori† in Asakusa, Tokyo. A little fresh pack of shichimi is a perfect omiyage from this store with a 380 year old history.
(click photo to watch a man mix the Yagenbori chili pepper while chanting the origins and effects of these spices)

Returning to my nephew’s concern, I still don’t know what will be a perfect little omiyage from California for his teenage friends. Please send me suggestions at hello@entoten.com Your input will be greatly appreciated. But any omiyage needs to get past those cute but precision-nosed beagles that wander the luggage carousels at Narita Airport.

*There is an interesting graduate research essay published by Leah Watkins of the University of Otago on Japanese travel culture for those interested in the links between Japanese pilgrimage and their modern travel behavior.

†Yagenbori shop is located at Asakusa 1-28-3, Taito-ku, Tokyo

 

 

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
お土産文化 やげん堀 伊勢神宮 農林水産省 Japan 郷土料理 japanese food Ise shrine kyodo ryori omiyage shichimi yagenbori

2 responses on “Been There, Eaten That: The Fun of Exploring Local Specialty Foods in Japan (and Sharing Them with Friends Back Home as Omiyage)”

  1. Charissa - The Gifted Blog August 25, 2014 at 2:48 pm

    I am so enjoying your blog! I recently started working at Kobo in Seattle, and the aesthetics of your shops remind me of each other. I had this same conundrum when we visited friends in Tokyo. We were living in CA at the time and I found some state-themed gifts. I found my old blog post about them here: http://www.thegiftedblog.com/2010/04/american-gift-in-tokyo.html. It’s hard to go wrong with Trader Joe’s stuff, and I saw that Maptote has San Diego bags, too! Good luck…let us know what he chooses.

    Reply ↓
    1. Ai Kanazawa Post authorAugust 25, 2014 at 7:29 pm

      Hello Charissa!
      Thank you for visiting our blog and for your comment! I am so happy that you enjoyed reading it. We did go to Trader Joe’s where my nephew found a lot of cookies to share with his friends in his volleyball club. As you have mentioned in your blog, nuts and organic teas are expensive in Japan and the organic camomile tea was a big hit! For his closest friends, my nephew took home Milano double chocolate cookies, which he discovered in the dorm rooms in the English training camp with his Italian friends 🙂

      Reply ↓

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy & Security
  • Contact Us
  • ✉️ Newsletter Archive
  • About
  • えんとてんJapan

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Our Mailing Address is

Entoten LLC
c/o The Den on Laurel St.
205 Laurel St. Suite 104
San Diego CA 92101

E-mail: hello@entoten.com

Copyright © 2022 ENTOTEN LLC

Studio Kotokoto is now closed. Thank you for your support over the years!
You have been redirected to Entoten, an online blog and shop that was created by one of Studio Kotokoto’s founders.