The Harmony of Flavors and Crafts in Yamanouchi

While its resident number is small, the historical legacy, cultural importance, and culinary impact are not. What's even more special is how interwoven everything is. From the bamboo baskets that hold the soba noodles to the craftsmanship shared between the area's fruits farmers, soba makers and bamboo weavers, everything in Yamanouchi has its place and purpose.

Yamanouchicho is aiming for sustainability through “symbiosis between nature and human society,” and has registered Shigakogen as the center of “Unesco Biosphere Reserve ''.

It was registered in 1980, and is the most historic one in Japan. In the areas of the Joshin’etsu-kogen National Park that are especially protected, old-growth forests and alpine plants are preserved, making it an important place to maintain biodiversity.

From early summer to late autumn, it is popular among children and adults alike to come to Shigakogen and enjoy trekking. In the winter, many skiers come to the area to enjoy one of the largest ski resorts in Japan, as well as to enjoy the powder snow on the tall mountains with 2000 meters of elevation. The snow on the mountains melt and filter through the ground, and enriches the land as mineral rich water. The fruits grown with these waters are very rich and can only be grown here.

First, let's look at the local cuisine in this area.

Sugakawa soba is a type of soba to the Yamanouchi area. While maybe not so well outside of Japan, it's so iconic to Nagano that it's been recognized as an intangible folk cultural property. Most of soba styles combine buckwheat and regular wheat flour, or sometimes just buckwheat, however, Sugakawa soba is a combination of buckwheat and a plant called oyamabokuchi (also known as synurus pungens).

The leaf of the oyamabokuchi plant is incredibly fibrous. When you tear a piece of oyamabokuchi, you can see the strings of the fiber binding the leaf together; in a Sugakawa soba mixture, this leaf plays a similar role connecting their buckwheat flour, which is otherwise prone to tearing. Shigeko Kitazawa, a local Sugakawa soba maker runs workshops in her atelier Hachinoko, nestled in the snow-capped mountains of Yamanouchi.

Kitazawa was born in Tokyo, but following a fateful trip to the Nagano mountains, her life changed. "When I was 27, I first visited Nagano on a ski trip with friends," she explains. "During the trip, I met my husband and decided to move here." The fresh mountain air, clear water, and active lifestyle has treated Shigeko well, as she can complete the arduous physical task of producing soba from scratch at record speed.

Making a bowl of Sugakawa soba isn't easy! The flour has to be grounded into a fine powder, then mixed with oyamabokuchi fibres and water until it transforms from a thick paste to doughy double-fisted sized ball. The dough must then be kneaded and rolled until it's a few millimeters thin. After that, it's cut into noodles ready to cook. "From grinding the flour to cooking the noodles, it takes me about 30 minutes to create a bowl of soba," says Shigeko.

The oyamabokuchi plant fibres are the key element to create Sugakawa soba’s almost al-dente texture. Before it’s ready to add, there’s a lot of work that goes into collecting the fibres from the plant. The oyamabokuchi leaves are first dried, then the thicker veins taken out of the plant leaves.

After that, the leaf material is massaged and massaged until the fibres become exposed. These almost cotton-like fibres are then added to the buckwheat powder to make the noodle mixture.

"I've been making Sugakawa soba for about 35 years now" explains Shigeko as she artfully scooped the doughy nobs of hayasoba paste into the boiling pot of water. Hayasoba is a soba style local to Nagano, it's more like a soba-dumpling. In Japanese, its name refers to the fact that it's quick and easy to make. Hayasoba is essentially just scoops of soba dough - in this case, buckwheat and daikon (Japanese radish) - boiled in hot water, served in a shallow pool of savory soup, similar to soba dipping soup (known as sobatsuyu) and topped with wasabi and green onion (negi). With its gnocchi-like texture, it's a simple and hearty homestyle dish cooked with love by Shigeko and perfect for staying warm during the long winter season.

Bamboo crafts are not just significant within the nation’s art movements but also woven into the fabric of everyday life in Japan. Take, for example, the zaru soba baskets on which our Nagano noodles are served.

In Japan, bamboo’s flexible but tough and environmentally sustainable qualities have made it a popular foundation material for agricultural tools, fishing tools, and tea utensils for hundreds of years now. Through the tireless work of passionate local craftsmen like Hisao Tanaka of the Bamboo Craft Promotion Society, Yamanouchi has remained a key destination for those wanting to purchase expertly made bamboo crafts, or learn more about the technique.

In this corner of Japan, the artform is called Sugakawa Takezaiku (Sugakawa bamboo work) and it’s an integral part of Nagano’s creative culture and history. “This business has been in my family for 330 years now,” Hisao explains, as he guides us through an impromptu basket weaving class. Back in the day, many of the houses in the area used to make this type of stuff, but now we’re the only local business keeping the tradition alive.”

"When I'm making a piece," Hisao explains, "I think about the smile on the customers' faces when they receive it. That's the main goal to make them happy." Through his Hisao's bamboo crafts, you feel a sense of indescribable warmth and passion not emulated by mass-produced items.

It’s incredibly durable but can be equally as flexible, which makes it the perfect material for the intricate creations. One particularly eye-catching creation we spot in his workshop is the bamboo coffee filter, which combines traditional art with a more contemporary need. When asked about how he comes up with ideas, Hisao says a matter of factly, “I just sometimes travel throughout Japan to see what other makers are doing for inspiration.” He’s a man who likes to draw inspiration from the outside world, but through his workshops also likes to invite others into his universe, so next time you’re in Yamanouchi, why not pop by and say hello?

Outside of the bamboo workshop, we find a parallel level of craftsmanship behind the cultivation of the area's famous apples. Nagano prefecture as a whole is known for producing some of the best fruits on Honshu (Japan's main island). If Nagano produces the best apples in the area, then farm run by Akio Sasaki is the cream of the crop. Akio's farm, which sits on a south-facing mountain slope looking over the rolling fields of Yamanouchi, produces around 20,000 apples per year; the four main types are San Fuji, Shinano Sweet, Akibae, and Shinano Gold.

"Most of the apples we produce here aren't really for daily consumption," Akio explains, "they're a little too expensive for that." Akio's farm apples are carefully cultivated throughout the year to ensure they're at their most perfect; healthy shiny red skin, light and crisp in texture, and heavy with juice.

Akio hails from a long line of apple farmers, his parents also cultivated the iconic Nagano apples here in Yamanouchi and his grandparents before that. If you were to trace the family lineage of this farm, you’d have to go back “14 generations”. While the northern prefecture of Aomori is also known as apple farming destination, Akio claims the mountains of Nagano are arguably home to the best apple growing conditions in the country. “The ideal position for growing apples is 400 - 500 meters above sea level,” he explains, “on the south-facing side of the mountain, so the apple trees get plenty of premium sunlight.”

“A lot of elements come together to create the perfect apple-growing conditions” Akio says, “but essentially good water, good soil, good sun, that’s what makes a good apple.” “Nagano’s melted snow is full of nutrients and minerals, which feeds the tree,” he says. At the same time, Nagano is a prefecture with four very distinct seasons; this fluctuation in temperature between warm and cold is perfect for apple production.

Talking to Akio, it’s clear he’s a blunt guy that appreciates a joke or two, there’s a level of passion and seriousness that comes out when he talks about the landscape of his home town. Yamanouchi has treated his family so well, and as a result, Akio hasbeen producing the best apples in the area. While the profits his farm makes are impressive, Akio cares about something more less fleeting than cash and profits, “location is so valuable,” he responds when questioned about the economics of his trade, “so much more valuable than money.”

Yamanouchi may not be the most well-known destination outside of Japan, but some of its residents are global celebrities. In Jigokudani Yaen-Koen, tucked in the valley of the Yokoyu River, is where you’ll meet the furry onsen dwelling residents of Jigokudani, A.K.A. Snow Monkey Park .

The origins of this bath is a pretty funny story. Decades ago, a business owner set up a ryokan here in the snow-dusted onsen dotted valley, as part of its design, the owner built an outdoor bath to take advantage of the natural hot spring water. Before too long, human guests were forced to share the bath with the cheeky locals. To steer the monkeys away from the ryokan bath, the people in the area built a special, monkey only tub.

If you visit, you’ll be able to spot them all year round. During spring is the best time to see monkey babies as their mothers take them down to the onsen to bathe and shake off their post-winter chill.

From apple farming and onsen building, to basket weaving and soba making, Yamanouchi is a town where everything is connected through craftsmanship and a passion for the land.