Wakasa Obama: How Nature Supports Japanese Food Culture

 What spreads in front of you is the quiet, endless blue ocean. Once you take a look at the breathtakingly beautiful ocean, it becomes clear why high quality fish can be caught abundantly. It’s the only large-scale ria coast on the side of Japan Sea, which has retained nostalgic cityscape and beautiful Japanese landscape surrounded by nature that has been protected by the hands of the local residents. Various fisheries are still operated at the 17 small fishing ports that are dotted along the coast, each adapting to its own specific environment.

Wakasa Obama has long been known as the “land of divine offerings” that has transported abundance of ingredients such as salt and seafood, and supported the food culture of the capital, and has constantly donated food to the Imperial Court since the Asuka and Nara periods. Even after the era of their status as the divine land, various seafood landed in the Wakasa Bay have been nationally prized as “products of Wakasa” and “delicacy of Wakasa.”

Wakasa Obama’s specialty product: the Wakasa flounder

Since the Edo period, the Wakasa flounder has been widely known as a local specialty of Wakasa Obama. This is also indicated in the writings from the Edo period such as “The Picture Book of Local Specialties from the Japanese Mountains & Sea” and “Kefukigusa,” which illustrate how people fished and processed their food back in the day. The Wakasa flounder, which is landed by trawl fishing, is referred to by the locals as “sweet flounder.” As the name suggests, it is elegantly sweet, highly aromatic, and its white flesh is finely grained and light in color. It’s still a popular winter local specialty of Wakasa Obama to this day, and is a gem that is presented to the imperial family every early December.

The “Mackerel Highway”: an interchanging pathway that delivers food and culture

Since the ancient times, there were many roads that delivered food in abundance from Wakasa Obama to Kyoto. It’s only recently that these began to be collectively referred to as the “Mackerel Highway.” These roads are known to have transported not only food, but also various supplies, people and culture, and began to be called the “Mackerel Highway,” as lots of mackerels began to be landed and transported especially starting in the late 18th century.

They spanned about 72 km. In an era without cars, railways or refrigerated transportation technology like nowadays, the ancestors developed their own wisdom and technology to prevent the rotting of seafood that was landed in Wakasa Bay in the morning. After thoroughly salting the mackerels, vendors walked 24 hours and arrived in Kyoto the following morning, at which point the mackerel flesh became sufficiently salted. The nicely season mackerels led to the development of a cultural food item representing Japan called “mackerel sushi,” which was said to be indispensable on a sunny day in Kyoto.

We’re intrigued to find out how the mackerels, which have been prized as the “delicacy of Wakasa,” taste like.

Rosanjin Kitaoji, who has been active in the fields of writing, engravings, paintings and pottery from Taisho to Showa era, and is also known as a gourmet, said in his book, "If you’re going to talk about mackerels, you can’t do so unless you’ve tasted the Wakasa mackerels caught during spring and autumn, “ and highly praised it for being a delicacy.

If you ever get a chance to walk the “Mackerel Highway,” you’ll get to “feel” its history that spans 1500 years of usage for transportation purposes, and the works of local residents who protect and convey their tradition. The Mackerel Highway consists of various routes, including the Tango Highway that connected Kiyama (which prospered as a port town in the Middle Ages) to Wakasa Highway, as well as Toba Valley which connected Tagarasunoura (which has long prospered with charter boats and fisheries) to Wakasa Highway. These all served to transport goods from foreign countries, and seafood from the Wakasa Bay and Mikatago Lake to the capital via the Kumagawa route.

In various Wakasa regions such as Tagarasu, processing methods such as “heshiko” (fish pickled in rice-bran paste) which was developed to store abundant supplies of seafood such as mackerel for long-term consumption, as well as “narezushi” (sushi fermented with fish and vegetables) which is said to be the prototype of Japanese sushi, have been developed during the highway history, and still characterize their unique food culture to this day.

Beautiful water of the mountains, oceans & land

Their beautiful water is another element that’s essential in discussing the food culture of Wakasa Obama. Groundwater rich in minerals is formed thanks to the abundant forests in the mountains, and accounts for about 20% of freshwater entering the Wakasa Bay, which promotes the abundance of sea life there.

Obama City holds three certifications as one of the top 100 sites of quality water. Among them, there’s a famous spring water spot in the city called “Unjosui” in the Ichibancho area, which is said to be abundant in groundwater to the extent where each household has its own excavated well. This water from Mt. Hyakurigadake is said to flow through the underground water vein for 100 years. It results in a refreshingly smooth and delicious water that’s not salty at all despite flowing out from a location right near the ocean. It’s preciously regarded by the local residents who regularly visit the site to collect this famous water.

In such way, Wakasa Obama became the largest base that connected the oceanic channels from the big continent, with the land trails leading to the capital, and has gone through its own unique evolutionary transformation through the highway history that began long ago, which brought about a proliferation of ports, castle towns and post stations, as well as festivals, entertainment and Buddhist cultures that widely spread from the highways to the surrounding agricultural and fishing villages. Obama holds hundreds of folklore events that are unseen in other regions, and serves delicate and unique traditional foods that are passed down from generation to generation. This is also a representation of their pious life in being grateful for being nurtured and protected by Mother Nature.