A wedding sweet long handed down in western Kagawa. These light little puffs of rice, dyed in soft pastel colors, were given out as auspicious wedding favors. Today they are sold as souvenirs and even sprinkled over soft-serve ice cream.
Sources: pref.kagawa.lg.jp my-kagawa.jp
This moment in the journey
Home again: oiri and awamori coffee
Down the lane between the old houses, and I'm home. Lamplight glowed in the house of latticed doors and paper screens.
I tipped the oiri, light little grains in pretty pastel colors, into a glass dish, and brewed awamori coffee, a souvenir from a trip to Okinawa a while ago. On Awashima, awamori coffee and pale wedding sweets. How refined.
On the stone steps beyond the veranda, a cat was napping in the greenery.
Watch this scene on YouTube4:02
More notes from this journey
Tadotsu, Kagawa
Shippoku udon
A winter dish found throughout Kagawa.
From: Drawn by the sea breeze and the cats to Sanagi Island
Tadotsu, Kagawa
Sanagi Island
One of the Shiwaku Islands, off the coast of Tadotsu.
From: Drawn by the sea breeze and the cats to Sanagi Island
Tadotsu, Kagawa
Maki Hachiman Shrine
A Hachiman shrine on the shore of Awashima.
From: Drawn by the sea breeze and the cats to Sanagi Island
Tadotsu, Kagawa
Awashima
An island of the Shiwaku group, about 15 minutes by boat from Suda port in Mitoyo.
From: Drawn by the sea breeze and the cats to Sanagi Island
Tadotsu, Kagawa
Kissa Nekonoshima
A café attached to a guesthouse in the former Sanagi Elementary School, a wooden schoolhouse built in 1954.
From: Drawn by the sea breeze and the cats to Sanagi Island
Tadotsu, Kagawa
Takeuchi Shoten
The island's only shop, about three minutes' walk from Awashima port, selling food, daily goods, drinks, ice cream and souvenirs.
From: Drawn by the sea breeze and the cats to Sanagi Island
More notes from Chugoku & Shikoku
Onomichi, Hiroshima
Onomichi-yaki
Onomichi's okonomiyaki is called Onomichi-yaki.
From: Onomichi ramen and homemade okonomiyaki
Onomichi, Hiroshima
Octopus rice (tako-meshi)
A regional dish of Hiroshima handed down in Mihara, Onomichi and Fukuyama.
From: Through the Cat Alley to our house in Onomichi
Mitoyo, Kagawa
Niku mosso
A beef version of mossou-meshi, a traditional dish of Mitoyo.
From: A great camphor tree and a garden in the sky: island life in the Seto Inland Sea
Matsuyama, Ehime
Mackerel sandwich with Setouchi lemon
Breakfast in a fishing village on the Seto Inland Sea, made with the region's Setouchi lemon and eaten on the beach in front of the inn.
From: Shimanami Kaido: sea-bream rice and a salty breeze
Matsuyama, Ehime
Jako-ten, prawns and Ehime wagyu on a charcoal grill
Jako-ten is a deep-fried fish-paste cake from the Nanyo region of southern Ehime.
From: Shimanami Kaido: sea-bream rice and a salty breeze
Matsuyama, Ehime
Tai-meshi, sashimi-bowl style
Ehime has two kinds of tai-meshi.
From: Shimanami Kaido: sea-bream rice and a salty breeze