Hello everyone! I’m Moeha, and I’m currently doing an internship at WaWo Japan Travel. I’ll be joining the team full-time starting this June.
In partnership with Minamiboso City, Chiba, we worked on a project titled “Minamiboso gastronomy experience program to witness the essence of Japanese food culture”, where we created a tour of the city focused on gastronomy to introduce its local food culture, which is rich in seafood.
We held four tours, consisting of a day trip and a two-day tour in December and January. There were fifty participants in total with different backgrounds from various countries such as Asia, Europe, and the U.S., and they gave us feedback to further enhance the tour. To everyone who participated, thank you so much!
<One -day tour>
Knife ceremony at Takabe Shirine
Learn about the wildlife inhabiting the area
Fermentation cooking class
For the one-day tour, participants were specially invited to watch a “Shijo knife ceremony,” which has been held since the Heian period (794-1185) at Takabe Shrine, the only shrine in Japan dedicated to the god of cuisine. Participants also visited Yamana House, a facility that houses a traditional farmhouse that has been standing for over 300 years since the Edo period (1603-1867) and operates “Satoyama Renovation” project, where they renovate fields and forests that have long been fallow. They walked through the forested hillside, accompanied by local hunters, learning about the wildlife inhabiting the area and the measures farmers took to address wildlife damage. Later, they were treated to “Gibier” cuisine, sustainably utilizing the harvested wildlife. Participants expressed their fascination, stating, “The culture of Gibier is an integral part of rural life in Japan but is not widely known; it was very interesting” and “It made me deeply contemplate the relationship between humans and wildlife, which become food out of human convenience”. At Yamana House, participants also enjoyed a fermentation cooking class where they learned about the reasons behind the popularity of fermented foods in Japan and the fermentation process itself. They had the opportunity to make miso and yuzu pepper and they thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
<Two-day tour>
Fillet a famous horse mackerel
Strawberry Pot, a cafe run by an “Ama”, a traditional woman fisherman who dives underwater to catch fish
Jiroemu, a farmhouse that has been passed down since the Edo period
The two-day tour was based on the activities enjoyed on the one-day tour, but participants were able to take on the challenge of fileting a famous horse mackerel, known as “Aji” in Japanese, into three pieces. Furthermore, they visited Strawberry Pot, a cafe run by an “Ama”, a traditional woman fisherman who dives underwater to catch fish, where they learned about the Ama culture of Minamibooso. They thoroughly enjoyed unique experiences distinctive to Minamiboso, which is surrounded by the sea. Moreover, participants visited Jiroemu, a farmhouse that has been passed down since the Edo period, where the chef served participants dishes made from pesticide-free vegetables locally grown in Minamiboso. They were able to experience locally sourced ingredients while feeling the historical ambiance of the building and its interior.
Throughout the tour, participants expressed that they were able to deepen their knowledge of local cuisine and culture by engaging in various activities and interacting with local residents. One of the participants commented “By experiencing various types of local dishes and hearing their stories while interacting with local people, I was able to enhance my understanding of both cuisine and culture”. This feedback highlighted the tour’s ability to convey the culinary charm of Minamiboso through a diverse range of experiences.