{"id":68,"date":"2015-04-10T16:03:46","date_gmt":"2015-04-10T07:03:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.akarenga-h.jp\/en\/?page_id=68"},"modified":"2015-05-20T13:53:41","modified_gmt":"2015-05-20T04:53:41","slug":"c-01","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.akarenga-h.jp\/en\/hokkaido\/culture\/c-01\/","title":{"rendered":"Traditional Food of Hokkaido"},"content":{"rendered":"

Surrounded by the ocean, and encompassing vast areas of land, Hokkaido boasts thriving fishery and agricultural activities leveraging these natural resources. Through wisdom to enjoy the taste of local products and willingness to spend long and severe winter, Hokkaido\u2019s unique food culture has been created. After the Meiji era, people who migrated from various parts of Japan to Hokkaido brought along the specific tastes of their hometowns, and some of these have taken root in Hokkaido while gradually changing their forms.<\/p>\n

\u203bWith regard to the traditional food of the Ainu culture, please refer to Ainu culture: Traditional livelihood \u2015 Food \/ Clothing \/ Housing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Cuisine eaten on celebrative occasions in Matsumae<\/h2>\n

\"Nenju

Nenju Gyoji-cho<\/i> (annual event book) in which annual events were written on a daily basis (in the early Meiji era) (Hokkaido Museum collection)<\/p><\/div>In the Edo period, rice could not be produced at Matsumae, a castle town of the Matsumae clan, and people\u2019s dietary habits mostly depended on foodstuffs obtained through trade with the main island of Japan.
\nNenju Gyoji-cho<\/i> (annual event book) written in the early Meiji era by the Kondo family, chief retainers of the Matsumae clan, describes how rice, soup, cooked food served in a pot, cooked food served in a bowl with a lid, food served on a plate, salted salmon, other salted fish, namasu<\/i> (a dish of raw fish and vegetables seasoned with vinegar), nishin-zuke<\/i> (pickled herring and vegetables) and fish sushi were served on New Year’s Eve, and salted salmon, nishin-zuke<\/i> and izushi<\/i> (fermented pressed sushi) were typically served as plate dishes.<\/p>\n

The typical dishes relished on New Year’s Eve and the New Year’s Holidays in the southern parts of Hokkaido and the areas along the Sea of Japan coast include nishime<\/i> (food simmered in soy broth), kujira-jiru<\/i> (whale blubber soup), salted salmon, namasu<\/i> (dish of raw fish and vegetables seasoned in vinegar), chawanmushi<\/i> (steamed egg hotchpotch), seasoned herring roe and slices of raw fish.<\/p>\n

\"Kujira-jiru\"

Kujira-jiru<\/i> (whale blubber soup) loaded with vegetables, one of the essential dishes of the New Year\u2019s feast
\n(Photo courtesy of Matsumae Town Tourism Promotion Council)
<\/p><\/div>\n

Kujira-jiru<\/i>, a dish of simmered salted whale fat, tofu<\/i> (soybean curd), konnyaku<\/i> (gelatin-like food made from konjac root), niyo<\/i> (a kind of Japanese parsley, also called ezo-nyu<\/i>), radish, shiitake mushrooms, warabi<\/i> (bracken) and potatoes in soy soup, is said to have been made in a big pot and served for the first three days of the new year.<\/p>\n

The whale blubber soup, which has been passed down to fishing villages in Japan, is consumed in the southern and northern parts of Hokkaido along the Sea of Japan coast. Whales are also called \u201cEbisu,\u201d a symbol of a good catch, in fishing villages where it is believed that they drive shoals of herring to the shore. That is why people have developed a habit of eating whale soup during New Year’s Holidays, hoping for a bountiful catch.<\/p>\n

\n
A theme park where the streets of Matsumae in the Edo period have been re-created<\/div>\n

Residences of the Matsumae clan<\/h4>\n

\"Matsumae\"Re-created residences of the flourishing days of the Matsumae clan consist of 14 buildings including samurai residences, lodging houses for herring fishermen and kaisen donya<\/i> (wholesaler in port), as well as a dining hall that offers herring soba (buckwheat noodles) and sampei-jiru<\/i> set meals.<\/p>\n