---
title: Nagano's horse-meat culture
url: https://karigurashijourney.com/en/notes/naganos-horse-meat-culture/
lang: en
journey: https://karigurashijourney.com/en/episodes/nozawa/
---

# Nagano's horse-meat culture

A little of each town’s story　/　Nozawaonsen, Nagano

Eating horse meat in Nagano is said to have begun in the late Meiji era, when aging farm horses were put to the table, and took root mainly in the central and southern parts of the prefecture. Nagano is often named, after Kumamoto and Fukushima, as one of the prefectures where horse meat is most at home.

## This moment in the journey: A drink after the bath

Into a body warmed by the free-flowing spring, I poured, without a moment's pause, that other famous water: a lemon sour. The tavern was Hatoguruma, with a red lantern hanging out front. A hot-spring town truly is a paradise.

The starter was simmered mountain vegetables. The local specialty with a twist, nozawana shumai, is a dumpling coated in chopped nozawana instead of a wrapper, dipped in sauce and eaten in a bite. A small bowl of white soup came with green onion and chili. And in Nagano, with its horse-meat culture, the horse sashimi was superb.

Out on the street again, under the lamps, the night deepened over the hot-spring town.

![Slices of horse sashimi on a plate](https://karigurashijourney.com/img/nozawa/s72-1200.jpg)
- Sources: https://www.go-nagano.net/food-and-drink/id22158

Read this scene in the full journey: https://karigurashijourney.com/en/episodes/nozawa/