Nihon Chomiryo Tabi
Start with these 3
The ria coastline of Sanriku on one side, the Kitakami highlands inland on the other. Sea and mountain are close, but steep passes lie between them. Salt boiled down over firewood in Noda Village was loaded onto the backs of oxen and carried inland. That route is called the salt road.
The shoyu (soy sauce) brewery in Rikuzentakata lost its buildings in the Great East Japan Earthquake. It could restart brewing only because the microbes in its moromi (the fermenting mash) survived, having been entrusted to a research institute beforehand. It is known as a case of a local flavor carried forward by human hands.
- Salt boiled over wood fires, and the salt road that ran inland
- Moromi microbes carried through the disaster
The background to Iwate's seasonings
Iwate runs long from north to south, and the inland and coastal areas came together differently. Inland, in Hanamaki and Ichinoseki, the brewing of shoyu and noodle broths has continued from early on. The coastal belt around Rikuzentakata and toward Kesennuma has a food culture tied to the Sanriku sea.
Salt is also a product of this prefecture. In Noda Village, Kunohe County, the method of boiling down seawater in cauldrons over wood fires has been carried on. There was once a salt road along which salt was loaded onto oxen and taken inland, and the relationship held: salt taken from the coast supported the brewing done inland.
The moromi that survived the tsunami
Yagisawa Shoten in Rikuzentakata is a brewery founded in 1807. In the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011, the tsunami swept away the brewery along with kioke (wooden barrels) of Kesen cedar that had been in use for 150 years. All that remained were the outer walls of the factory.
But before the disaster, moromi had been entrusted to the fisheries technology center in Kamaishi for research on its microorganisms. Digging through the rubble, they found that moromi sitting on top of a single locker that had not fallen over. Because the brewery's resident microbes were still alive, the flavor of the brewery could be raised again. The shoyu that came out of this is called Kiseki no Hishio, the shoyu of the miracle. Rikuzentakata now pursues its recovery under the banner of a town of fermentation.
Local dishes and their seasonings
- Wanko Soba (わんこそば)
- A way of eating handed down in Ichinoseki and Hanamaki. Because you go through bowl after bowl, the broth is adjusted so it is not too strong and does not tire the palate. This is one reason the brewing of noodle broths developed in Iwate.
- Hittsumi (ひっつみ)
- A home dish in which dough kneaded from wheat flour is torn by hand and simmered in a shoyu-based broth. The flavor comes only from the stock of the ingredients and the shoyu, so the quality of the shoyu shows through directly.
Makers in Iwate
- Yagisawa ShotenFounded in 1807
A shoyu brewery in Rikuzentakata. Having lost its brewery to the disaster, it revived its flavor from the moromi it had entrusted elsewhere. Alongside shoyu, they also make miso and noodle broths. - Sasacho JozoFounded in 1906
A maker in Hanamaki. They brew noodle broths and shoyu using groundwater from Mt. Hayachine. - Noda Shio
In Noda Village, Kunohe County, they make salt by direct boiling over wood-fired kilns. They continue the old method of reducing seawater over firewood.
Nearby prefectures
