2023 NO.34
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A Virtual Journey through Japan
Edible Landscape
Across Japan, each local area boasts a unique cuisine shaped by the blessings of the nearby natural environment. The special seasonal processing of local ingredients creates some delectable landscape scenes.
①Yamagata
Edible chrysanthemums
Chrysanthemums are grown in Japan not only for decorative purposes, but also for eating. The purple variety of chrysanthemum from Yamagata Prefecture, called motte no hoka, is said to be especially delicious and aromatic. Boiled and then soaked, it has a delightful crispy texture. (Photo: photolibrary)
②Fukushima
Wind-frozen tofu
Shimi-dofu is a preserved food made by freezing, aging, and dehydrating tofu by binding it with straw and leaving it to dry in a cold wind. The strong cold winter winds in Fukushima Prefecture are ideal for making shimi-dofu. This dehydrated food can be rehydrated and used in simmered dishes or salads. (Photo in left: PIXTA; photo in right: Fukushima Prefecture Tourism and Product Exchange Association)
③Niigata
Snow-exposed peppers for kanzuri
Kanzuri, a spicy seasoning that, in small quantities, enhances the flavors of a dish, is a specialty of Niigata Prefecture. To make kanzuri, a combination of spicy red pepper, rice malt, yuzu citrus, and salt is fermented for over three years. Before the fermentation process, the salted red peppers are left exposed in the snow for a few days before mixing them with the other ingredients. This removes their acridity, softens their pungency, and gives them even fuller flavor. (Photo: Kanzuri Co., Ltd.)
④Yamanashi
Dried persimmons
Traditional rows of persimmons hung from house eaves are still a late autumn sight in the Enzan neighborhood of Koshu City in Yamanashi Prefecture. The persimmons are peeled, then smoked or heated to keep them from spoiling. Sweet and soft dried persimmons are ready in about 20 days. (Photo: PIXTA)
⑤Hyogo
Dried octopus
This traditional method of drying has been used by generations of fishermen in Akashi City, Hyogo Prefecture, an area of Japan famous for its octopus. The octopus is stretched taut with bamboo skewers thread through its head and legs and hung in the sun to dry for a full day and night. A dish of rice with dried octopus, called tako-meshi, is customary in early summer to pray for a large catch that year. (Photo: The Kobe Shimbun)
⑥Kochi
Single-line bonito fishing
Ipponzuri, a traditional pole-fishing method for catching bonito, has been practiced in the town of Nakatosa in Kochi Prefecture for over 400 years. Using a special hook designed to easily dislodge the catch, the fisherman flings the hooked bonito into the air, immediately releasing the fish and returning the pole to the water to catch the next. Ipponzuri damages the fish less than net fishing, for fish that tastes great at the table. (Photo: Nakatosa-cho)
⑦Saga
Ariake nori seaweed nets
Nori seaweed (pictured above right) is indispensable to Japanese dishes like sushi. Seaweed cultivation in the Ariake Sea off the western shore of Kyushu region takes advantage of the local sea’s abundant nutrients, which flow in on rivers large and small, as well as the six-meter difference between high and low tide. Winter evening views of rows of hibi nori nets stretched between poles are a classic Ariake Sea scene. (Photo: PIXTA)
⑧Miyazaki
Daikon yagura towers
In Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan’s most prominent producer of sun-dried daikon radish employs daikon yagura towers, a common sight in winter. The bamboo frames from which the daikon hang are some six meters tall and 50 to 100 meters across. After 10 days or so, the daikon lose their bitterness, become sweeter, and gain a deeper umami, after which they are processed into pickles and other products. (Photo: Tsuji Terufumi)
⑨Kagoshima
Black vinegar pots
Black vinegar has been produced by the same traditional method for some 200 years in Fukuyama Town, City of Kirishima in Kagoshima Prefecture, where rows of giant pots in tsubobatake fields still provide stunning views today. Each pot holds 54 liters of a mixture of brown rice, water, and koji mold, which is slowly aged for over a year. (Photo: Fukuyama Kurozu Co., Ltd., Kakuida)