KINKI
Omihachiman
Travel journal from Omihachiman, with 15 notes on the places I ate, the dishes I cooked and the sights: Hachimanbori Canal, Old Hachiman Post Office, Hakuunkan, Himure Hachimangu Shrine.
Journeys: 1 · Notes: 15
Journeys
01
Cook the local flavors once more
Dishes made in borrowed kitchens, and how each one connects to the land.
Omihachiman, Shiga
Funazushi ochazuke
Funazushi is a fermented sushi found throughout Shiga: crucian carp from Lake Biwa, salted and then layered with cooked rice in a tub to ferment for more than h…
From: A day in Omihachiman, where boats glide through town
Omihachiman, Shiga
Omi beef steak
Omi beef is Shiga's pride, Japan's first brand of beef and counted among the three great wagyu.
From: A day in Omihachiman, where boats glide through town
Omihachiman, Shiga
Chojifu with mustard dressing
Chojifu is Omihachiman's local wheat gluten, cut into squares.
From: A day in Omihachiman, where boats glide through town
02
A little of each town’s story
Sights, specialties and how the towns came to be: small cultural notes beside each journey.
Omihachiman, Shiga
Hachimanbori Canal
A 4,750-meter canal dug in 1585, when Toyotomi Hidetsugu, nephew of Hideyoshi, built his castle on Mt.
From: A day in Omihachiman, where boats glide through town
Omihachiman, Shiga
Old Hachiman Post Office
A two-story wooden Western-style building designed by William Merrell Vories and completed in 1921.
From: A day in Omihachiman, where boats glide through town
Omihachiman, Shiga
Hakuunkan
Built in 1877 as the Hachiman East School by Omi merchants to educate their children, in a Western-influenced style, with most of the cost covered by donations.
From: A day in Omihachiman, where boats glide through town
Omihachiman, Shiga
Himure Hachimangu Shrine
An ancient shrine long revered as the guardian of the Omi merchants.
From: A day in Omihachiman, where boats glide through town
Omihachiman, Shiga
Red konnyaku
A local ingredient that spread nationwide from Omihachiman.
From: A day in Omihachiman, where boats glide through town
Omihachiman, Shiga
Hinona pickles
Hinona is a slender turnip native to Hino, Shiga, purple-red at the top of the root and white below, with a flavor that carries both bitterness and bite.
From: A day in Omihachiman, where boats glide through town
Omihachiman, Shiga
Ryoma 1865
With dinner I opened Ryoma 1865 from Nippon Beer, an alcohol-free (0.00%) beer made only from malt, hops and carbonation.
From: A day in Omihachiman, where boats glide through town
03
Places we stopped along the way
What we ate and bought, with shop details checked against published listings.
Omihachiman, Shiga
Hatsuyuki Shokudo
A Showa-era diner.
From: A day in Omihachiman, where boats glide through town
Omihachiman, Shiga
Taneya Himure-no-ya
Taneya's confectionery beside Himure Hachimangu Shrine, in a Japanese-style house with a kamado stove and a sunken hearth.
From: A day in Omihachiman, where boats glide through town
Omihachiman, Shiga
La Collina Omihachiman
The Taneya group's confectionery complex, with grass-roofed buildings.
From: A day in Omihachiman, where boats glide through town
Omihachiman, Shiga
Omi Tsukemono Yamajo, Himure shop
The pickle maker's own shop on the approach to Himure Hachimangu Shrine.
From: A day in Omihachiman, where boats glide through town
Omihachiman, Shiga
Marutake Omi Nishikawa
An Omi beef shop founded in 1947, with a butcher's counter and a restaurant, selling beef raised on its own farm.
From: A day in Omihachiman, where boats glide through town
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