Experience living cultural treasures such as traditional grains and fresh fruit by harvesting them by hand or learn how to pound buckwheat for soba.
Animal husbandry is flourishing in the soil of Towada volcano. There is plenty of meat that is essential for bara-yaki, such as ‘Towada Shorthorn Beef’ which uses recycling-based agriculture, and is low in fat and has a lot of umami. There is also the ‘Oirase Garlic Pork’, which feeds on garlic, that has the largest in production in Japan.
Towada volcano, which started its activity about 200,000 years ago, erupted repeatedly and became a caldera, and because of its high altitude, there were no inflowing rivers and a highly transparent Lake Towada was created.
The Oirase Stream is home to about 300 different kinds of moss. You can enjoy a ‘moss walk’ with a loupe in hand.
Wappa-meshi—rice is seasonal vegetables, and other ingredients steamed together in a wooden container. To this day, sake brewing continues in the traditional manner that was developed during the Edo period. As you try each local dish, enjoy how the flavors of the surrounding nature are brought to life.
Aizuwakamatsu’s old samurai residences evoke an image of a bygone warrior era, and the agrarian scenery of rice paddies against the background of Mount Bandai and the Iide Mountains captures the essence of Aizu’s landscape. Tsurugajo Castle, a symbol of the city, provides a wide view of the changing beauty of the seasons in Aizu Basin and the old castle town.
The foods eaten in Aizuwakamatsu follow the seasons: asparagus in spring, tomatoes in summer, rice and sake in autumn, and Aizu Jidori free-range chicken in winter.
The edamame of Odate is known for its high nutritional value, which comes from the manure of the Hinan Jidori that is used for fertilizer. Another local delicacy of Odate is tonburi, the dried seed of the summer cypress, which is also sometimes called “field caviar” because of its texture.
The dadacha-mame is considered Japan’s best-tasting edamame (immature green soybeans) due to its unique aroma, sweet flavor, and full umami.
The dadacha-mame is considered Japan’s best-tasting edamame (immature green soybeans) due to its unique aroma, sweet flavor, and full umami. The Atsumi turnip is another local favorite, grown in swidden fields made with fire-fallow farming techniques. Local food culture is marked by miso soup with seasonal ingredients, premium local rice, and full-bodied sake, all of which are deeply imbued with the flavors of the region.
