KINKI
Aridagawa
Travel journal from Aridagawa, with 14 notes on the places I ate, the dishes I cooked and the sights: Aragijima Rice Terraces, Washigamine Cosmos Park, Arida mandarins and stone-walled terraces, Soy sauce of Yuasa.
Journeys: 2 · Notes: 14
Journeys
Autumn Flavors of Wakayama, Part 2
Chestnuts, saury and an autumn feast
I wanted to harvest autumn with my own hands, so I went chestnut picking.
Film published 2023.11.26
Autumn Flavors of Wakayama, Part 1
Sushi, Cosmos and Ramen
I woke up in a thatched-roof farmhouse built in the early Meiji era.
Film published 2023.11.19
01
Cook the local flavors once more
Dishes made in borrowed kitchens, and how each one connects to the land.
Aridagawa, Wakayama
Chestnut rice (kuri gohan)
My first chestnut rice, made with chestnuts I had picked myself.
From: Chestnuts, saury and an autumn feast
Aridagawa, Wakayama
Charcoal-grilled saury with sudachi
Sanma is written 秋刀魚, "autumn sword fish," but that spelling only spread from the Taisho era on; older texts wrote it 青串魚.
From: Chestnuts, saury and an autumn feast
Aridagawa, Wakayama
Wakayama bonito and mandarin carpaccio
In contrast to the lean first bonito of spring, the fish that head south from around September are called modori-gatsuo, returning bonito.
From: Chestnuts, saury and an autumn feast
Aridagawa, Wakayama
Foil-grilled mushrooms with butter
Mushrooms are another essential of the autumn table.
From: Chestnuts, saury and an autumn feast
Aridagawa, Wakayama
Mehari-zushi
A Wakayama specialty: a large rice ball wrapped in salt-pickled takana leaves.
From: Sushi, Cosmos and Ramen
Aridagawa, Wakayama
Umeboshi and red shiso rice ball
Wakayama grows more ume than any other prefecture in Japan: 58% of the national harvest in 2024 (64% the year before).
From: Sushi, Cosmos and Ramen
02
A little of each town’s story
Sights, specialties and how the towns came to be: small cultural notes beside each journey.
Aridagawa, Wakayama
Ryoma 1865, a non-alcoholic beer
What I drank on the veranda and at dinner was Ryoma 1865, a non-alcoholic beer from Nippon Beer Co.
From: Chestnuts, saury and an autumn feast
Aridagawa, Wakayama
Aragijima Rice Terraces
A fan-shaped terrace of rice paddies wrapped by a bend of the Arida River.
From: Sushi, Cosmos and Ramen
Aridagawa, Wakayama
Washigamine Cosmos Park
About a million cosmos bloom across the summit of Mt.
From: Sushi, Cosmos and Ramen
Aridagawa, Wakayama
Arida mandarins and stone-walled terraces
Wakayama produces more unshu mandarins than any other prefecture.
From: Sushi, Cosmos and Ramen
Aridagawa, Wakayama
Yura Wase, an extra-early mandarin
Discovered in 1985 in Yura, Wakayama, as a bud mutation of the Miyagawa Wase mandarin, and registered as a variety in 1995.
From: Sushi, Cosmos and Ramen
Aridagawa, Wakayama
Soy sauce of Yuasa
Yuasa, the town next to Aridagawa, is known as the birthplace of soy sauce brewing.
From: Sushi, Cosmos and Ramen
Aridagawa, Wakayama
Wakayama ramen and hayazushi
Locals call Wakayama ramen simply chuka soba; it is said to have begun at street stalls in the early Showa era.
From: Sushi, Cosmos and Ramen
03
Places we stopped along the way
What we ate and bought, with shop details checked against published listings.
Other places in Kinki
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Shimogamo Shrine (Kamomioya-jinja), Takase River, Gion Shinbashi and the banks of the Shirakawa
Journeys: 2 · Notes: 18
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Tamba City, Kingyoku hydrangea, Sobanchi
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Cape Shionomisaki, the southernmost point of Honshu, Kushimoto Marine Park (aquarium and underwater observatory), The coral of Kushimoto's sea
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Hachimanbori Canal, Old Hachiman Post Office, Hakuunkan
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Nachi Falls (Hiro Shrine), Kumano Nachi Taisha and the Yatagarasu, Katsuura Fishing Port Nigiwai Market and the Umi no Yu footbath
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The boathouses of Ineura, Aoshima Island, A boathouse open to visitors
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