The hospitality of Aichi’s culinary culture

		Yumiko Takami, a food coordinator residing in the city of Toyota, possesses a wealth of knowledge on Aichi’s local specialties.

This sampling of Aichi cuisine has introduced tenmusu, hitsumabushi, miso katsu, nikomi udon, kashiwa dishes, kishimen, hatcho miso, and the confectionery uiro. Perhaps, upon seeing this array, some people will be surprised by its variety and originality. Aichi Prefecture, an industrial and economic stronghold, is also actually a region renowned for being one of Japan’s leading gourmet centers.

Favorable natural and geographical conditions have been in place in Aichi from the very beginning. Rice cultivation has flourished on the Nobi Plain, a fertile area nurtured by the Ibi, Kiso, and Nagara Rivers. Abundant fish and seafood come from Ise and Mikawa Bays. Simply put, Aichi is a repository of food resources. Even today this prefecture boasts Japan’s largest output of cultured eel. Nagoya Cochin, a breed of chicken developed on the outskirts of Nagoya, is known nationwide as premium poultry. This abundance of food resources has given Aichi a varied cuisine. Along with this, the source of the originality of this region’s cuisine is linked to the exchanges of people and things between eastern and western Japan that have always flourished in this area, such as when it was a base for traffic along the Tokaido Road, a highway running from Edo (present-day Tokyo) to Kyoto.

Tenmusu is a fusion of two of Japan’s representative foods—onigiri (rice balls) and tempura—while hitsumabushi presents a totally novel way to eat eel. Miso katsu and nikomi udon are also culinary hybrids, with one combining miso and pork cutlet and the other putting together miso and noodles. If you focus on the elements of Aichi cuisine, they are extremely ordinary. The ways of arranging them, however, are surprising, even for Japanese from other parts of the country.

But a kind of unique rationalism can also be glimpsed therein. There is a spirit that strives to take good things that already exist and, by ingeniously arranging them, create something even better. This spirit is something that is linked to Aichi’s industrial and economic fortitude. “Much of Aichi cuisine actually has a high nutritional value,” says Yumiko Takami, a food coordinator who lives in Toyota, a city in north central Aichi Prefecture, and is knowledgeable about such subjects as local specialties in Aichi.

“This is presumably because the spirit of simplicity and fortitude that was a clan tradition for the household of the Owari Tokugawa, the lords of this domain during the Edo period, still lives on today. The mental climate of Aichi favors dispensing with showiness and pomp and instead pursuing real achievements, and this is reflected even in its culinary culture,” she observes.

The people of Aichi are often described as being austere, earnest, and rational. Even in the case of combinations of ingredients that at first glance seem surprising, it is said, a sensible explanation lies behind them. “For instance, hatcho miso is made by steaming soybeans,” Takami remarks. “Boiling is frequently used for ordinary miso, but the steaming process makes it possible to trap nutrients. Items such as nikomi udon can be termed sensible dishes that permit the efficient intake of foodstuffs with that kind of high nutritional value.”

In recent years the cuisine of Aichi has even begun to make inroads into Tokyo, and its popularity has been climbing. The novelty of Aichi specialties is a factor. Even more than that, though, the sensibility of this food, coupled with the current health craze, appeals to many people. Aichi cuisine has reached the point where it is making a name for itself nationwide.

Be that as it may, the extent of this cuisine’s local popularity in Aichi is something to see. The restaurants visited for this article were crowded with patrons day after day. Some were tourists, but most were local people, including male and female office workers and families. The people of Aichi know their cuisine is something special, as can be seen from the frequency with which they urge visitors to try out this locale’s specialties.

“There is definitely no effort spared with regard to things that diners don’t see, such as preparations, and careful cooking is a characteristic of Aichi’s culinary culture. Granted, there are many dishes that look plain. But wholehearted hospitality lies within Aichi cuisine. I would be delighted if your magazine’s readers would understand that by tasting some,” says Takami.

The 2005 World Exposition, Aichi, Japan, is slated to open in March 2005. If you take this opportunity to visit the prefecture, we hope you will be sure to try the cuisine. You should be able to sense the hospitality of the people of Aichi, we believe, in the warm flavor of their simple, unpretentious food.

Uiro, a Japanese confectionery representative of Aichi
Aoyagi Sohonke Co.

Tools from the days when uiro was made by hand are still carefully preserved.

Uiro is the Japanese confectionery of Aichi. With its delicate sweetness and chewy texture, uiro is addictive after being eaten just once. There are various theories about the history of uiro going back around 600 years. According to one theory, there was a man who came to Japan from China, where he had been appointed by the Chinese rulers to serve as a procurer of medicine, a post known in Japanese as reihoen uiron. Sweets made by his descendants in Japan reportedly came to be called uiro. While uiro is made in locations other than Aichi, including Kyoto and Odawara, the uiro of Aichi is famous throughout the country as Nagoya’s premier sweet.

Uiro is made from rice flour, wheat starch and, sugar. After these ingredients are combined and kneaded together, the dough is put into a mold and steamed. Although the ingredients are simple, the kneading process is quite difficult. It is said that the people who made uiro long ago had to spend 10 years mastering the technique.

Today, uiro is mass-produced at Aoyagi Sohonke’s Inuyama Plant and can be stored safely for a long time. Automated equipment injects uiro into film packaging at this facility in the city of Inuyama in northwestern Aichi Prefecture. This company, which began operating in 1879, is renowned for revolutionizing the uiro industry.

The company’s Inuyama Plant gives tours to groups of at least 15 people. Naturally, it is also possible to purchase uiro there. A visit to the plant will enable you to savor the depth of the history of uiro. (Aoyagi Uiro is also available at such locations as department stores in the city of Nagoya.)

Aoyagi Sohonke Co.
Location: 1-8 Aza Nakahiratsuka, Haguroshinden, Inuyama
Tel.: 0568-67-1271
Tours: Offered every day except Sundays and special holidays.
Reservations in advance required.