Four Flavors in Wakayama — A World of Taste
About 40 minutes by car from Kansai International Airport in Osaka, Wakayama Prefecture enjoys a mild climate all year round, so warm that tropical flowers bloom there in winter. From alleys lined with old wooden buildings to small seaside towns, we set out to explore four flavors that will never disappear.
Words Parc Jinmyoung
Photos Kim Yoonkyung
In collaboration with Wakayama Prefecture Tourism Bureau kr.visitwakayama.jp
Inpainter Global inpainterglobal.com
Where the Journey Begins — Wakayama City
Wakayama City is the largest city in the prefecture and its transportation hub. From Wakayama Station, trains make it easy to reach the prefecture’s main destinations, including Yuasa, Shirahama and Mount Koya. Step into the city center and you find modern buildings lined up in neat order. Canals run through the city, and houses and shops fit together as tightly as Tetris blocks. It is a scene much like that of any other city. Above the streets, though, the blue sky created by Wakayama’s mild climate is especially easy to see, thanks to height restrictions that keep downtown buildings low.
At the heart of the city stands Wakayama Castle, built in 1585. During the Edo period (1603–1868), the castle produced a distinguished shogun and was regarded as a strategic military stronghold. The Japanese garden within its grounds is so well preserved that the passing centuries hardly show. Daffodils begin to bloom there in late February, followed by cherry blossoms in March and peonies and azaleas in April, and hydrangeas overflow around mid-June. In autumn, the whole garden is said to be dyed in gold, yellow and red. Inside the garden is a tea house called Goshoan. Built in 1974, it offers a taste of Japan’s tea ceremony culture, in which tea is enjoyed in tranquility with respect for others.
A Pilgrimage Site for Ramen Fanatics
If you have come to Wakayama City, you must try Wakayama ramen. Also known as chuka soba (Chinese-style noodles), this ramen is distinguished by a rich broth in which pork bone stock blends with soy sauce made in Wakayama. The chashu (braised pork) on top, they say, must have just the right balance of fat and lean meat. The savory depth of the light glaze brushed on its surface is the finishing touch. The thickness of the noodles matters too, since they must soak up plenty of broth. Every ramen shop has its own character, so finding the bowl that suits your taste is part of the fun. There is one thing they all share: wherever you go, a plate of pressed mackerel sushi sits on the table. It is meant to settle your stomach before the ramen arrives.
Wakayama ramen became even more famous thanks to Ide Shoten. In 1998, the Japanese TV show ‘TV Champion’ brought together ramen masters from all over Japan for a cooking competition, and Ide Shoten’s Wakayama ramen took first place two years in a row (1998 and 1999). More than 20 years have passed since the victory, yet Ide Shoten still draws crowds and still keeps its flavor intact. The only thing that has changed is a larger parking lot for waiting customers; the shop still has just 14 seats, exactly as it did when it first opened 40 years ago. At 11 a.m., we knock on the door of Ide Shoten. In the kitchen, staff in ‘Soupman’ T-shirts bustle about. The owner, Ide Norio, appears wearing a Soupman T-shirt as well.
An Interview with Ide Norio, Owner of Ide Shoten
When did you start the business?
Ide Shoten began in 1953, when my mother sold ramen from a handcart. My father died when I was seven. My mother became the head of the household and raised us siblings by selling ramen. All of our family’s history is in Ide Shoten. The ‘Ide’ in the shop’s name comes from my mother’s family name (‘shoten’ means shop). When I took over the ramen shop, I changed my own name to Ide as well.
What made you decide to carry on the family business?
Until I was thirty, I did other work. When I was young and foolish, I was embarrassed by my mother selling ramen from a handcart. When I was pushing her cart from behind and ran into my classmates, I felt so ashamed and hated it. After I grew up, I remembered how devoted my mother had been to her family, and I wanted to carry on that spirit. Strangely, from that moment on, I started to enjoy cooking.
People line up for ramen even on weekdays. What do you think is the secret to its lasting popularity?
It is because this is the taste of Wakayama. I simply work hard at what I have always done to protect that flavor.
Could you tell us how you make the ramen?
The broth is pork-based. We simmer pork bones and chicken bones over high heat for eight to ten hours, then add soy sauce. You pour the broth over thin noodles and top it with chashu, scallions and other garnishes, and it is done.
What does your daily routine look like?
For the past 40 years, except on Thursdays, our day off, I have come to work at 6 a.m. every day to prepare for business. My younger brother takes Thursdays off, so we made Thursday the shop’s day off as well, to spend time with him. I have tried to spend time with my family even amid a busy life, but I think it was not enough. Because I devoted all my time to ramen, I always feel sorry toward my family.
We hear you work together with your son. Is there anything you would like to tell him, as the one who will carry on Ide Shoten’s history?
I think he knows without my having to say it. As you can see, our menu has just one item: chuka soba. Protecting this flavor is the only thing we have to do, and it is the thing we do best. I have never thought about any other dish.
A Whole Town as a Museum — Yuasa
Yuasa is just 30 minutes from Wakayama Station by limited express train. Designated an ‘Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings’ in 2006, Yuasa-cho is the birthplace of Japanese soy sauce. Fewer than ten soy sauce breweries remain today, but the street that once thrived on soy sauce brewing has been preserved just as it was.
Yuasa is called the birthplace of soy sauce because it is where the monk who discovered it settled. In the 13th century, a monk learned how to brew kinzanji miso in Song China and brought the method home. Kinzanji miso is a fermented food made by adding koji and salt to grains such as soybeans, rice and barley, then pickling vegetables such as gourd, eggplant, ginger and perilla in the mixture and letting it mature. While making kinzanji miso, the monk tasted the liquid that seeped out, and that was soy sauce. After that, the whole town began brewing it. It is said that 120 years ago, there were as many as 92 breweries.
Old brown wooden buildings stretch endlessly along the alleys. On the outer walls of the buildings are displays of cooking utensils from a century ago, medical instruments once used in hospitals and antique eyeglasses, while lattice windows and square paper lanterns add to the old-time atmosphere. It feels like a living soy sauce museum.
The Secret of Handmade Soy Sauce, Fresh to the Last Drop
Walking the streets of Yuasa, I imagine people hurrying along a century ago, soy sauce loaded on their backs and heads. Those who remain in the village still carry on the work they have done for generations. Strolling down the street, I stop in front of Ota Kyusuke Ginsei (太田久助吟製), which has held its spot for six generations. It was originally a soy sauce brewery, but today it makes Kinzanji miso. In izakaya in big cities like Tokyo, Kinzanji miso appears on premium menus, often served as a snack spread on a whole-wheat cracker with cream cheese, its flavor nutty, tangy, and salty. When I ask the owner how it feels to watch the breweries around her disappear one by one, she answers, “It’s hard to find a successor, and as technology advances, it’s difficult to keep up with their output.” She runs the shop in place of her husband, who passed away during the pandemic. Fortunately, her son-in-law plans to carry on its history.
There is another brewery in the village where a son-in-law is taking over the family business. Kadocho (角長) is the only place in Yuasa that still makes handmade soy sauce the way its ancestors did more than 180 years ago. I duck my head slightly to pass through the low doorway, and the deep aroma of soy sauce greets me. Even today, when most soy sauce is mass-produced, Kadocho holds fast to brewing handmade soy sauce with no additives at all.
“I am a soy sauce maker.” Kano Makoto (加納誠), the sixth-generation head of Kadocho, introduces himself in halting Korean. He runs the brewery with his son and daughter, and he mostly stays in the shop, folding packaging and serving customers. His children, now far taller than he is, sometimes scold him, but inside the brewery his eyes glint with a seriousness and charisma second to none. Stepping into a storehouse said to have been in use since the Edo period, I find huge wooden barrels filled to the brim with black soy sauce that has been aging for more than four years. Because subtle changes in temperature and humidity determine the flavor, he says, they stir the contents of the barrels often with a long pole to maintain the taste. This method of production is surely Kadocho’s own treasure, something no machine can reproduce.
Interview with Kano Makoto, Head of Kadocho
When did the business begin?
It was founded in 1841, and we are now in the sixth generation. My father-in-law, the fifth generation, has retired, and I, his son-in-law, have taken over the company. My son also works with us to carry on the family business.
What made you decide to continue the family business?
I am from Osaka, and my wife was born and raised here. When we married 45 years ago, Osaka had many places that sold soy sauce but no breweries, so I found my in-laws’ work fascinating. The fact that they kept to a brewing method from more than 180 years ago, unchanged, was special too. As I came and went from my wife’s family home, it began to seem natural to carry on the family tradition.
Please tell us how soy sauce is made in the traditional way.
We mix boiled soybeans and roasted wheat at a 1:1 ratio. After adding koji and salt and going through the brewing process, once the mixture has fully fermented, we put it in containers, seal them with cloth, and press it. The secret of Kadocho’s soy sauce is the microorganisms living in the 180-year-old brewery building. The old yeast clinging to the wood grain here and there is the sign of good soy sauce.
Is there a reason you hold on to the old ways?
Because Yuasa is the birthplace of Japanese soy sauce. Perhaps it is that sense of mission that has kept us making soy sauce until now. We also make products the times demand, such as gluten-free soy sauce and soy sauce powder.
Whose idea was that?
My son’s. We hold a firm corporate philosophy that we must begin with soy sauce and end with soy sauce. As long as we don’t undermine that philosophy, I think it’s fine to try various changes that suit the times. I believe that is how the soy sauce brewery and this region can develop sustainably.
A Marvelous Pacific Sunset in Shirahama
Shirahama is a town famous for its seaside hot springs, coastal scenery, and sunsets. If you want to see the sunset, head to the rocky island of Engetsu-to (円月島). A sea cave has been carved through the middle of the rock in a perfect circle, which is why it is called “Engetsu” (円月, full moon), and people gather here to catch the spectacle of the sun dropping through the opening. The fierce waves of the sea around Shirahama have created not only this rocky island but also Senjojiki (千畳敷), a rock shelf named for its resemblance to a thousand tatami mats laid side by side, and Sandanbeki (三段壁), a columnar-jointed cliff face formed as the surf crashed against the rock. From Wakayama Station, it takes 1 hour 30 minutes to reach Shirahama on the JR Kuroshio limited express.
Before the Cherry Blossoms, There Were Plum Blossoms
About 30 minutes by car north of Shirahama lies a small city called Tanabe (田辺市). Wakayama Prefecture is Japan’s largest plum-producing region, and Tanabe yields the most plums of all. Tanabe’s plum trees begin to bud as early as the end of January, and that is when the locals start their blossom viewing. They can easily be mistaken for cherry blossoms, but you can tell them apart by the shape of the petals: cherry petals are heart-shaped, while plum petals are rounder.
If you want to see the trees in full bloom, head to Minabe Bairin (南部梅林, Minabe Plum Grove). Some 80,000 plum trees densely cover an entire gentle mountain slope. A plum blossom festival is held here every year, and as the blooming season has gradually moved earlier, this year it ran from January 28 to March 5.
People in this region have farmed plums for 400 years. At the time, a policy exempted people from taxes if they planted trees on the mountains, and plums turned out to be well suited to Wakayama’s environment. Plum trees planted on the sloping hills receive sunlight evenly and thrive, and the salty wind blowing in from the nearby sea makes the fruit even more delicious. Many people born and raised in Tanabe work in the plum industry built through the wisdom and efforts of their ancestors. In 2015, the entire town was designated a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS) by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Hamada (濱田) is the only plum specialist in Tanabe that covers everything from cultivation to production, processing, and product development. Hamada’s general manager, Inose Yosuke (井瀬 陽介), is also from here. I set out with Inose to tour Hamada’s plum groves. We pass a car that the company’s president uses as a favorite napping spot after finishing the morning’s farm work, and a forest of ubamegashi (ウバメガシ, a type of oak) trees, the raw material for binchotan (備長炭, traditional Japanese charcoal). After winding up the mountain for about 30 minutes, a well-balanced plum-growing hillside comes into view. Hamada’s orchard covers around 24 hectares, roughly the size of 18 standard baseball fields. How have they managed such a vast plum plantation over the centuries?
Interview with Inose Yosuke, General Manager of Hamada
For 400 years you simply grew plums like any other farm. Why did you move into processing in earnest?
About 40 years ago, processed plum foods, such as plums flavored with salt or perilla leaves, became popular. As demand grew, we developed into a company. Today Hamada offers a wide range of products, from plum wine to pickled plums, plum tomato pasta sauce, and plum jam.
Why do ume plums grow so well in this town?
Because they grow on mountain slopes close to the sea. Above all, I think we owe a great deal to the ubame oak forests. In Wakayama, ubame oak, the source of binchotan charcoal, grows well. It has been a rule in our town since long ago not to plant only plum trees across an entire mountain. Only when diverse species such as ubame oak and Japanese oak grow together can you prevent landslides and the degradation of the mountain and give honeybees a place of refuge. Because we haven’t broken down the natural ecosystem, we’re able to keep up sustainable plum farming.
What makes Hamada’s plums special?
Plum trees grow thick with leaves and branches. They need to be pruned constantly, and how you cut determines the quality of the fruit. A plum isn’t picked; it’s only properly ripe once it falls on its own. Since we can’t know the exact date it will fall, we have to check every single day once the trees bear fruit. At Hamada, we collect the plums that fell that very day and turn them into products right away, so they’re bound to be fresh and delicious.
After tending plum trees for so long, you must have felt the effects of climate change.
The harvest is definitely different every year. In the past the yield was stable, but now it varies widely. Higher temperatures and frequent heavy rains are the most serious problems. Our job is to keep up the quality of our plums while responding to climate change.
What are your plans for the future?
We’re developing carbonated plum wine, as well as products made with mandarins, lemons, and yuzu grown in the Wakayama area. Our goal is to preserve the wisdom of our ancestors while welcoming a new era.
Kumano, the Spiritual Home of the Japanese
Kumano is home to a rich natural heritage. Since ancient times, the Japanese have regarded it as a place where nature and the human spiritual world meet. Among Kumano’s sacred sites, three—Kumano Hongu Taisha, Kumano Hayatama Taisha, and Kumano Nachi Taisha—are known as the Kumano Sanzan. Each can be reached from Wakayama Station by train and bus. To get to Hongu Taisha, you ride the train for 1 hour 15 minutes to Kii-Tanabe Station, then travel two more hours by bus. Hayatama Taisha takes 3 hours 20 minutes by train, and for Nachi Taisha you get off at Kii-Katsuura Station, a three-hour train ride, and transfer to a bus for about 30 more minutes.
The pilgrimage route that leads to these three shrines is called the Kumano Kodo, and the section inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site stretches over 300 kilometers. As you walk the Kumano Kodo, you’ll often spot emblems carved with a three-legged crow. You can be glad to meet the crow on this path, because along the Kumano Kodo this bird, called Yatagarasu, is regarded as a guide for worshippers. In fact, in Japan the Yatagarasu is also an animal that symbolizes victory (it is even drawn on the uniforms of Japan’s national football team).
Of the three shrines, Kumano Nachi Taisha sits 500 meters above sea level on Mount Nachi, and at Hiro Shrine, its auxiliary shrine, Nachi no Otaki, Japan’s tallest single-drop waterfall, is worshipped as a natural deity. The scene is famous for its orange-painted pagoda, colored to drive away evil spirits, set against the 133-meter waterfall.
A Seaside Town That Connects Place and People Through Tuna
Head south from Kumano Nachi Taisha and you’ll arrive at the small port town of Nachikatsuura. The simple scene of an outdoor foot bath and little shops along one side of the harbor warms the heart. The town is home to Hotel Urashima, well known for its “cave hot spring,” where you can soak in a cave carved out by waves rolling in from the Pacific.
The town is also famous for its large tuna fishing port. Every morning at 7 a.m., you can watch the tuna auction at Katsuura Fishing Port. At Nigiwai Market, right beside the harbor, you’ll find everything about locally caught tuna, from fresh tuna to processed foods. As you step into the market, a huge tuna model, built to commemorate the largest tuna ever caught in town, commands your attention.
At the far end of the market is Yamasa Wakiguchi Suisan (maguro-yamasa.com). Celebrating its 130th anniversary this year, Yamasa Wakiguchi Suisan is a tuna processing company selected by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry as one of the 300 Healthy and Productive Small and Medium Enterprises. Because the stickiness and firmness of tuna meat vary with the size of the fish, the way it is cut varies too. That is where its value as a product is decided, so specialized skill is required. So that tuna caught at Katsuura Port can be enjoyed across Japan, Yamasa Wakiguchi Suisan has independently developed its own methods for identifying good tuna and for packaging and processing it. In fact, every product the company makes is cut by hand, piece by piece, by craftsmen who know tuna’s characteristics inside out.
Wakiguchi Kotaro, president of Yamasa Wakiguchi Suisan, who has devoted his whole life to tuna, still breaks down tuna himself and works hard on product development. When he joined the company 30 years ago, it had only six employees, including a cousin of his father’s. Today it has grown into a proper company with about 50 people. “At a high-end restaurant in Tokyo, they sell our local tuna at a premium,” he says, setting a piece of tuna on a plate and flipping it over. Good-quality tuna sticks to the plate like rice cake. “We call this tuna ‘mochi maguro’ (rice cake tuna).” Pride in his region and his company can be felt right down to the fingertips holding the plate.
Interview with Wakiguchi Kotaro, President of Yamasa Wakiguchi Suisan
What led you into the tuna business?
Since long ago, people here have made their living by catching and selling fish. My family has also worked in the fishing trade in this town for generations, since 130 years ago. I am carrying on Yamasa Wakiguchi Suisan, the tuna specialist company my father began in earnest 60 years ago.
We’ve heard that Katsuura Port catches tuna in a different way.
Usually, huge nets are cast along the routes tuna take to spawn or find prey, catching whole schools at once. Red-fleshed fish, tuna included, die quickly once caught in a net because they can’t breathe. Many young tuna that have only just been born are caught as well. For a long time, Katsuura Port has refused to handle net-caught tuna because their value as a product is lower. Instead, we caught tuna by longline fishing.
It’s a method in which many hooks are attached at regular intervals along a long fishing line to catch seafood all at once. Tuna caught this way are worth far more than tuna that die in a net, unable to breathe, with blood pooling in the flesh, and young tuna can be released. It is a traditional method unique to Katsuura Port, treating tuna’s lives with care and respect until the very last moment.
How has the town changed as the climate crisis has worsened?
To catch tuna, boats used to have to go out about 300 kilometers from the port. As water temperatures rise, the fishing spots are gradually moving north toward Hokkaido. The tuna catch has also fallen by nearly half compared with 30 years ago.
How has the company responded to these changes?
The days when we handled nothing but fresh tuna are a thing of the past. (Laughs) We developed a special freezing technology that lets people eat frozen tuna as if it were fresh. By freezing without breaking down the cell membranes, it lets you enjoy fresh tuna anytime, anywhere. Most of the finest tuna caught in this region goes to big cities such as Tokyo and Osaka. It was a shame that people couldn’t taste good tuna right here, where it’s caught. We’ve opened a shop at Nigiwai Market by the harbor, so I hope people will experience the freshest tuna on the spot.
What business philosophy do you stress to your son, who will carry on after you?
I hope we become the company in Japan that treats tuna with the most care. All my life, I’ve held tuna and people most dear. That is the corporate spirit handed down from my father, the founder. If we treat tuna with care, the company and this region will be able to develop sustainably.
What do you hope visitors will experience in this region?
This region is famous for its delicious water, and the scenery where water meets land is beautiful too. I hope people will soak in the hot springs, enjoy good food, and experience for themselves how fresh and good the ingredients grown in a place like this are.