Report in English
May, 19, 2017
Reported by Anna Naser
Matsuno Industrial Business Corp. – Glass Bead and Marble Factory, Minamimachi 1-20
The Matsuno factory sits on the bank of the Isuzu River in Minamimachi. It is the only marble factory in Japan and produces 300,000 marbles for aerosol cans and 150,000 marbles for Codd-necked soda bottles every day. The hulking, nondescript warehouse is visible from Route 10 but from speed by you would never guess that the building is full of luminous beads and marbles of all colors and sizes. Some 70 tons of marbles and 50 tons of beads are produces here each year. Matsuno beads are highly regarded outside of Japan and more than 90% are exported to countries around the world. Many end up in the Philippines, where they are used in an initiative to provide employment to women from low-income families; using Matsuno beads the women make beautiful jewelry and accessories (samples of which can be seen in the Matsuno offices).
Kofuku – Chinese Restaurant, Kadokawaozue
Kofuku is a small dumpling restaurant run by a Taiwanese couple. It is right in central Kadogawa, next to the local branch of Miyazaki Bank. Though the restaurant serves a variety of meat and noodle dishes, their specialty are dumplings. We sampled gyoza (Chinese dumplings) and xiaolongbao (small, soup-filled dumplings). The soup dumplings were particularly delicious—as soon as your teeth break the doughy exterior the soup’s salty-sweet flavor fills your mouth. But be careful—the soup inside can be very hot!
Kofuku is takeout only (there are a few stools in the waiting area but no tables) and the staff speak Japanese and Taiwanese. If you speak neither, don’t panic! The menu has many pictures so don’t worry about not being able to order.
Kokoronomori – Onsen and Hotel, Iorigawa 1942 (Adults, ¥500)
Kokoronomori (“heart of the forest” in Japanese) is Kadogawa’s onsen. Onsen is the Japanese term for hot spring; though there are many “wild” hot spring in Japan (especially in volcanically active areas), the term usually refers to large bath houses that may or may not be fed by natural hot springs. Kokoronomori has several bath options: in addition to the main bath there is a jet bath, an open-air bath, a medicated bath (medicinal plants are added to the water), a cold bath, and an electric bath are also available. Even if you are hesitant to get in a bath with an electric current flowing through it, a dip in the main bath and a trip to the sauna are the perfect way to relax after a long day.
Boat ride to Otojima and Birojima – Uninhabited islands in Kadogawa bay
There are two islands in Kadogawa—the biggest, Otojima, is located right in Kadogawa bay and the smaller Birojima is located behind it, about 6 kilometers from shore. After chartering a boat from Iorigawa port we set off on a tour of the bay. Easily visible form shore, Otojima is a familiar presence in town and is essentially a large park where you can picnic and play in the summer. From the boat we were able to see the largest of the seven sea caves that dot the coast—according to legend it was once used by pirates!
From the sea you can also see the numerous caves on Tomi Peninsula; one is positioned at the end of a sloping finger of land so that the whole thing looks like a turtle’s head and eye floating in the water. The caves range in size and accessibility (some require quite a scramble to get to) and several contain small shrines devoted to the primary concerns of a small fishing village—good catches and good harvests. From the boat you can see the torii gates (special gateways that mark the entrance to sacred spaces; they are often painted red) at the mouth of the caves nestled into the cliffs. They are not easy to get to and from the water you can really appreciate how special these places are, how a mini “pilgrimage” to one of these sacred spots would itself be a kind of ritual. They may be small and you may not actually visit them, but these tiny, remote shrines complement the larger and more famous ones elsewhere. A boat ride through the bay is a unique opportunity to see a different side of Japanese spirituality and the connection to nature.
After passing Otojima and edging out to the end of the peninsula you reach Birojima. It is much smaller than Otojima but is ecologically important as the largest nesting ground of Kanmuri Umisuzume (the Japanese Murrelet), small ocean-dwelling birds that spend most of the year at sea but return to Kadogawa every year to lay their eggs on the rocky cliffs of Birojima. The island is also a popular fishing spot—on any given day you will find dozens of fisherman out of the rocks.
Asahi – Chinese Restaurant
Asahi is another Chinese restaurant run by Taiwanese expats. The food is Taiwanese style and this is definitely the place to go if you are interested in exploring Chinese cuisine. The food here is slightly different than the usual Japanese Chinese food (which itself is completely different than American Chinese food), so come with an open mind and give it a try! Specialties include fried entrails, century eggs with tofu, Japanese tiger prawns cooked in black pepper, and sautéed squid and chicken. The staff all speak Japanese.
May, 20, 2017
Iorigawa Port
We arrived bright and early for the daily fish auction in Iorigawa. Boats were unloading at the dock into front of the auction hall and forklifts were delivering a steady stream of fish to the auction floor where they were weighed, labeled, and arranged on ice in shallow blue trays. Outside, fisherman who had already unloaded were hosing out their nets and putting their boats in order.
As auction time drew near the warehouse filled up with rows and rows of fish. Buyers milled around, examining the catch and chatting with friends. Though anyone can come to the auction and bid on fish, most of the buyers there were from fish shops, restaurants or grocery stores. This could have been their second auction of the morning—the Kadogawa Port auction is about an hour earlier than the one in Iorigawa so that buyers can attend both. Though everyone was hurrying to get the fish laid out in time the atmosphere was pretty relaxed and there seemed to be a lot of laughter, especially as more and more buyers arrived.
The auction proceeds in chronological order down the aisles of fish. Buyers write their bids on slips of paper and hand them to the auction manager who announces the winning bid. The paper with the buyer’s name and is put on the fish so that when it’s time to pack up everyone knows who bought what. That day there was a lot of katsuo (skipjack tuna), as well as hamo (daggertooth pike conger), squid, shrimp, and smaller fish such as sardines.
We watched the auction for about fifteen minutes before heading into the Iorigawa Fisherman’s Cooperative building next door for a special treat—fresh katsuo sashimi! The head of the cooperative expertly removed the head, fins, tail, and skin before slicing the meat into bitesize strips. There was a lot of blood and guts but watching him gracefully take apart the fish with a giant knife was hypnotizing. Because the fish was so fresh there was no smell at all—only melt-in-your-mouth goodness. We attacked the giant platter of fresh sashimi with our chopsticks and soy sauce. It was delicious!
May, 20, 2017
Mt. Tomi Observation Deck
After leaving the ceramics studio we continued up the road to the top of the mountain. Tomiyama—Mt. Tomi—is one of a series of mountains that forms a peninsula between Kadogawa and Nobeoka. From the top you get an unobstructed view of Nobeoka to the north, Hyuga to the south, and Kadogawa far below you to the west. It is a lovely spot to watch the sun rise over the ocean or set behind the mountains. It is also a good place to watch the annual Kadogawa fireworks display in September.
Yanagimochi Making
We rounded out our visit to Kadogawa with a little craft project—yanagimochi making! Yanagimochi is a special New Year’s decoration made by sticking colored pieces of mochi onto willow branches, or yanagi. In Kadogawa the decoration is usually made around January 7th, displayed in the entrance of one’s home for a week, and then eaten off the tree on January 15th, the traditional end of the New Year’s holiday. This is similar to another New Year’s mochi tradition in which two mochi cakes topped with a tangerine are set out in the home and then eaten on January 15th. This kagami mochi is usually broken up into pieces and added to sweet red bean soup (zenzai), but the yanagimochi is generally eaten as is—stale and one week old!
Mochi is a sticky rice cake made by pounding freshly boiled mochi rice (mochigome) with wooden mallets so that the rice breaks down and becomes one sticky, gelatinous mass. Typically mochi is formed into small, round cakes and sometimes filled with anko (sweet bean paste), but that day our mochi was destined for our willow branches, not our stomachs. The mochi was divided into three groups—one was left plain, one was dyed red, and the last was dyed green (sometimes yellow mochi is also used). Breaking off pea-sized pieces, we wrapped the mochi around the twigs on our branches. It is hard to get an even distribution of the three colors and you have to be careful not to make your mochi pieces too big lest the branches become too heavy and sag.
Luckily there was some mochi left over so we all got to snack on fresh mochi cakes and cold tea as we admired our handiwork. There are so many uses for mochi in Japanese cuisine (in soup, in curry, as a dessert) but fresh, still warm mochi is always a treat.
Iorigawa Udon Truck
After our surprise sashimi breakfast we headed around the back of the auction warehouse for our planned morning snack: udon at the Iorigawa udon truck! Every day (except Sundays) the udon truck comes to Iorigawa port to feed fisherman and fish buyers alike. A bowl of soup is only ¥300 and you can choose from soba (buckwheat noodles) or udon (wheat noodles). We all had the udon: the noodles were silky and thin and drowned in a light brown broth of soy sauce, dashi, and mirin. There are no chairs or tables so we sat or stood in the shade of the building, happily slurping our noodles. Oishii!
Iorigawayaki – Ceramic Studio
Halfway up Mt. Tomi is a small ceramics studio tucked into the steep hillside. The artist, Mr. Wada, lives and works there, making a variety of dishes, cups, vases and decorative items. Hundreds of items are available for sale, all of them glazed in deep earth tones that the artist makes himself. Mr. Wada was trained in Kyoto but returned to Kadogawa to make ceramicware from local clays in the Iorigawa neighborhood, hence the name.
Mr. Wada led us down the path behind his studio-house and we soon came upon the immense kiln built into the hillside. He runs the wood kiln two or three times a year, each time for about three days. The temperature inside the kiln reaches over 1,250°C! The kiln is about 8 meters long, and built in a series of steps so that the fire burning at the base can effectively heat the entire interior space. Each “step” is a little stone room with an opening in the side (for easy loading) and a domed roof. Stacks of wood surround the kiln, in preparation for the next firing.
If you exit through the back of the kiln building you are greeted by the sound of a small stream running off into the surrounding forest. Though the ceramics studio is not far from the farms and houses in the valley below, it feels much more remote because of the dense forest.
Grilled Oysters at Shunsen Kadogawa – 旬鮮かどがわ
May is Iwagaki (rock oyster) season in Kadogawa so we headed for Shunsenkura, a combination restaurant and local products store right on Route 10 on the north side of town. We bought a packages of oysters in the store and then headed around to the back were a covered porch with picnic tables and grills overlooks the harbor. The staff will help you cook the oysters, and you can order other food items from the menu (rice bowls, sashimi, shaved ice). We had grilled vegetables, onigiri, and seafood cooked in a white wine sauce in addition to our iwagaki. The oysters cook fast and should be eaten hot off the grill—so hot that you have to wear gloves to handle the shells! Use a knife to cut out the meat out of the shell, drizzle on a little hebesu juice (a local citrus fruit, similar to a lime) and enjoy!
Mizunagasuisan Factory - 水永水産
After observing (and eating) the fresh fish at the morning auction we headed to Mizunagasuisan to learn about the fish drying process. The factory and store are located on Route 10 just south of the Isuzu River—stop in to pick up a variety of local products such as vegetables, frozen foods, snacks, and, of course, dried fish.
Mizunagasuisan processes many kinds of fish, but on the day of our visit they were drying mackerel. Workers were transferring fresh fish from large bins to the conveyer belt—five or six fish were skewered through the head with a rod and the rods were then slipped onto the belt which took them through a washing station. On the other side they were collected, dipped once more in water, and then hung on wooden drying frames that could be stacked six deep. The towers of fish are then wheeled into the drying room where they sit in front of large fans for about 48 hours, after which they are packaged and ready for market.
