Located at its head, the Onomichi U2 facility has twenty-eight rooms for lodgers, on-site bike rentals, shops, and restaurants featuring hand-selected local ingredients. Visitors seeking a more aquatic experience can book rooms on the “guntû,” a nineteen-room cruise ship that circles the Seto Inland Sea. Passengers can dine on Inland Sea specialties and participate in cultural excursions, like purchasing fish under the guidance of local experts.
Sometimes referred to as a porridge, zosui is a rice soup that is typically made with vegetables, meat and other ingredients. In Nishi-Awa, zosui is made with buckwheat seeds instead of rice. This innovation is said to have come from samurai defeated in the Genpei War who fled to Nishi-Awa and longed for Kyoto and the meals with rice they’d left behind.
A specialty of the area is dekomawashi, a skewer of potato, konnyaku, and hard-pressed tofu that is roasted in the fireplace. Foods made from wild game are also common. As part of your trip to Nishi-Awa, sit at the hearth of a charming traditional home and enjoy local foods over a friendly chat with locals, an experience nourishing for both the body and the mind.
Ochiai, Sarukai, and Nishinosho are among the Nishi-Awa villages that climb up the mountainsides. Renowned Japanologist Alex Kerr describes how this area was considered special, not unlike a Shangri-La, even hundreds of years ago.
Speak with local mountain villagers and learn how they live in harmony with nature. Stay in a farmhouse or other traditional home to experience local customs and foods firsthand. Take in the surrounding nature with a trek through sacred Mount Tsurugi.
Since early times, Sanuki udon has been a staple food for local households. Sanuki Udon is characterized by the firmness of its noodle, and there are various varieties including shippoku udon and uchikomi udon, which are made with seasonal vegetables and meat. A particularly sumptuous take on Sanuki udon is olive beef udon, which brings together the excellence of beef from olive-fed cattle and a premium local wheat called Sanuki no Yume.
Two relatively recent innovations in the grand traditions of Sanuki cuisine are olive yellowtail. Look also for Sanuki San Fruit, locally branded fruits that have been cultivated for sweetness. One other Kagawa dish incorporating seasonal ingredients that must be mentioned is kankan-zushi, sushi made with spring Spanish mackerel caught in the Setouchi area.
Many visitors are drawn to Shikoku to walk the pilgrimage route, which provides time for serious reflection and contemplation. The many attractions of Sanuki are also great additions to your social media feed and will leave your followers astounded.
There are many fun activities to enjoy in the Sanuki area, including making Sanuki udon noodles.
In Yawatahama, the trawling fishery (offshore seine fishing) began in 1918, and the production of fish meat paste products made from a wide variety of fish has been developed. “Jakoten”, which uses so-called “small fish” such as firefly-fish, is famous, and is used as an ingredient in citizen’s soul food “Yawatahama Champon”. The umami that spreads with the crunchy texture is a unique specialty.
