YAMAGATA, Sep. 29 – In Oe City, Yamagata Prefecture, there is an art craft called Momono-mi Kogeihin, made from peach seeds thrown away at local canned fruit plants. It’s one of the town and prefecture’s thank-you gifts for hometown tax programs. The local specialty items are produced at a local studio called Momono-mi Kobo (Peach Seeds Studio). According to Noriyasu Kamoda, the studio’s 70-year-old owner, the craft is one of a kind in Japan. The studio purchases peach seeds from a local canned fruit factory in Sagae City, Yamagata Prefecture, which makes canned peach from the fruits grown in Yamagata. The seeds are washed and dried for about eight years, … Continue reading →

Shohei Ohtani became the first major league player to achieve 50 homers and 50 steels in a season on September 19 local time or September 20 in Japan standard time, throwing farmers in his hometowns in Japan, Akita and Iwate Prefectures, into rapture. Naoto Ohtani is one of those celebrating the great accomplishment of the hometown hero. The 52-year-old farmer grows rice in Kuriyama Region, Noshiro City, Akita Prefecture, home of Shohei Ohtani’s great-grandfather. Last year, he began selling his Akita Komachi rice as “Ohtani Rice” at local farmers’ markets and on the online shopping site. Many purchasers are fans of the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar. Iwate Meijo Co., Ltd., … Continue reading →

OSAKA, Sept. 17 — As Harvest Moon, the full moon nearest the autumnal equinox, appeared on Sept. 17, production of tsukimi dango — rice dumplings that are traditionally displayed and eaten in Japan during the tsukimi moon-viewing festivals — is in full swing at Kouseido, a Japanese sweets shop in Osaka. During the moon-viewing festivals, which celebrate the rice harvesting season, the white, round dumplings are piled in a pyramid shape as an offering to the moon. The shop offers two types of dumplings — those shaped like rabbits and ones covered with anko sweet red bean paste, resembling a moon shrouded in clouds. In Japan, the dark outline visible … Continue reading →

SAITAMA/IBARAKI, Sept. 10 — How about “drinking” yakiimo baked sweet potatoes? Some restaurants and breweries have started offering the popular winter delicacy as drinks and liquors. Minamimachi Coffee, a café in Kawagoe, Saitama Prefecture, a major sweet potato producing region, offers Yakiimo Latte, made by baking Japan-grown sticky-type sweet potatoes and mixing them with milk. Sweet potatoes grown in Kawagoe are also used between November and March. The 600-yen drink is proving popular among tourists visiting the city famous for the traditional warehouse-lined streets. Kotaro Bussan, a café and farm produce shop in Hokota, Ibaraki Prefecture, is a pioneer of sweet potato drinks, selling Nomu Yakiimo (“baked sweet potato that … Continue reading →

OSAKA, Sep. 10 – A self-serve sake vending machine at an antenna shop for Toyama, Ishikawa, and Fukui Prefectures in Japan’s Hokuriku region, is attracting attention. The shop, Hokuriku+ (Hokuriku plus), is located in KITTE Osaka, a large-scale commercial complex that opened in July near the west exit of JR Osaka Station to attract the attention of consumers to the three prefectures in the northwestern part of the main island of Japan. The self-serve sake dispensers make sake tasting a lot easier, costing only 300 yen per 40-milliliter cup. It is part of the campaign to increase the number of visitors to the area around the recently extended part of … Continue reading →