The mountainous Kiso region has a unique culinary tradition that includes a dish called "Sunki-zuke," using the leaves of red turnips.

Where it is made

Kiso Area

Main ingredients

Red Turnip

"Gohei-mochi" is made by skewering half-pounded Uruchi rice(short-grain rice), dipping it in miso or soy sauce-based sauce, and baking it.

Where it is made

Kiso Area, Ina Area, Kamiina Area, Shimoina Area

Main ingredients

Short-grain rice, Miso, Walnuts

"Oyaki" is a local dish representing Shinshu, made by mixing flour such as wheat and buckwheat flour with water or hot water, kneading it, wrapping seasonal ingredients such as sweet red bean paste…

Where it is made

Hokushin Area, Chushin Area (All of Nagano Prefecture)

Main ingredients

All-purpose flour, Round eggplant, Miso

Among them, 'Nozawana-zuke' is one of the two representative pickles in the prefecture and an essential ingredient during the winter in Shinshu.

Where it is made

All of Nagano Prefecture (Nozawa onsen village)

Main ingredients

Nozawana, Salt, Shochu

Hooba maki is a traditional festive rice cake in the Kiso region.

Where it is made

Kiso Area

Main ingredients

Rice flour, Wheat flour, Magnolia leaves, Igusa (=Japanese mugwort), Red beans

Saku City, located in the eastern part of the prefecture, is situated near the border with Gunma Prefecture and is blessed with clean water sources suitable for cultivating freshwater fish such as…

Where it is made

Saku Area

Main ingredients

Crucian carp, Soy sauce, Sugar

"Sasazushi" is a regional dish passed down in the city of Iiyama and the Joetsu region of Niigata Prefecture.

Where it is made

Iiyama City (Hokushin Area)

Main ingredients

Rice, Glutinous rice, Bamboo leaves

In the northern regions, February 15th is a day known as Nehan-e, commemorating the death of Buddha, and there is a custom to make "yashouma" and offer it on the Buddhist altar.

Where it is made

Hokushin Area, Chushin Area

Main ingredients

Rice flour, Katakuriko(=potato starch), Aonori (seaweed), Sesame seeds, Black soybeans

The Ina Valley in the southern part of Nagano Prefecture has a long-standing culture of eating insects, including locusts, bee larvae, cicadas, and grasshoppers.

Where it is made

All of Nagano Prefecture

Main ingredients

Locust

Imo-Namasu" is a local dish using potatoes in the Iiyama City area. In Japan, "Namasu" is a dish made by dressing ingredients with vinegar, and is used as a New Year's osechi dish.

Where it is made

Hokushin area (Iiyama City)

Main ingredients

Potatoes

Koikoku," a traditional soup in Saku City, is made by boldly cutting the fish into cylindrical slices and simmering them in miso paste, and is an indispensable New Year's dish in the Saku area.

Where it is made

Saku City

Main ingredients

Carp, miso, rice

Because Nagano Prefecture is far from the sea, marine products were processed in the area where they were landed and transported via the "salt road.

Where it is made

Hoku-shin and Nan-shin areas (throughout the prefecture)

Main ingredients

Squid, cucumber, wakame seaweed, vinegar

Soba is a typical local cuisine, so much so that Nagano Prefecture is known for its "Shinshu soba" (buckwheat noodles).

Where it is made

All over the prefecture

Main ingredients

buckwheat flour

"Konetsuke" is said to have been eaten by Yukimura Sanada, a feudal warlord, to fill his stomach before going into battle.

Where it is made

Hoku-shin area, To-shin area

Main ingredients

Rice, wheat flour, green perilla

Takenoko jiru(Bamboo shoot soup) is a miso soup that uses Nemagari bamboo. It is a regional dish eaten in the Hokushin Region and Niigata Prefecture's Joetsu region.

Where it is made

Hokushin Region

Main ingredients

Bamboo shoots, mackerel, onion, tofu, eggs, and miso

The Suwa region’s kanten (agar agar) producing industry developed due to the area’s low temperatures and stable weather, which allowed for longer production seasons than other areas, and the opening…

Where it is made

Suwa Region

Main ingredients

Kanten (agar agar), somen noodles, food coloring

The recipes for garlic chive senbei or usuyaki also differ slightly between households, with many variations; like mixing in miso with the flour and vegetables when frying, or eating with a miso or…

Where it is made

Hokushin region

Main ingredients

Garlic chives, wheat flour, miso

“Notamochi” is a local dish eaten in the Suwa and Kamiina regions. The “nota” in “notamochi” is made by boiling edamame beans, grinding them with a mortar and pestle, and adding sugar and salt.

Where it is made

Suwa area, Kamiina area

Main ingredients

Mochi rice, Non-glutinous rice, Edamame (soybeans)

“Yatara” is a mixture of finely chopped vegetables and pickles, similar to a “furikake” (sprinkles) of summer vegetables.

Where it is made

Hokushin Region

Main ingredients

Cucumber, eggplant, myoga ginger, green pepper, and miso-pickled radish

The name "Ego" comes from boiled and kneaded seaweed called "egogusa," and it is a regional cuisine passed down throughout Niigata Prefecture.

Where it is made

Hokushin and Chushin areas

Main ingredients

Egogusa (Seaweed)

“Oshibori Udon” is a local dish that originated from the Sakaki area in Hanishina County. It is made by grating spicy daikon radish and squeezing out its juice.

Where it is made

Hokushin area

Main ingredients

Udon noodles, Radish, Miso, Green onion, Dried bonito flakes

“Gudakusan miso soup” is a soup with lots of ingredients such as seasonal vegetables, meat, and fish.

Where it is made

The entire prefecture (especially around Nagano City and Matsumoto City)

Main ingredients

Seasonal ingredients (Examples of winter ingredients: Wheat flour, Potatoes, Radish, Carrots, Burdock, Chikuwa, and Green onions)

In Japan, as part of the preparations to welcome Toshigami (the deity of the New Year), there is a tradition of preparing a special feast called "Toshikoshi" on New Year's Eve.

Where it is made

Toshin Area, Kamiina Area

Main ingredients

Salmon, Sake lees

"Frozen Daikon Radish" is one of the preserved foods made by utilizing the cold of winter. It involves exposing daikon radishes to the cold outdoor air to dry them.

Where it is made

All of Nagano Prefecture

Main ingredients

Daikon Radish, Gutted Herring, Kombu(=kelp), Warabi (=bracken fern), Carrot, Konjac (=yam cake), Chikuwa (fish cake), Satsuma Age (fried fish cake)

"Shoyu Mame" or "Soy Sauce Beans" is a fermented food traditional to the northern and central Shinshu region.

Where it is made

Hokushin Area, Chushin Area

Main ingredients

Soy sauce, soybean koji( Malt), rice koji (Malt).

"Hangoroshi" refers to "botamochi" or "ohagi" in Nagano Prefecture, and it indicates the state of mochi rice that is pounded until it becomes semi-crushed with a surikogi (pestle).

Where it is made

Toshin Area

Main ingredients

Glutinous rice, Short-grain rice, Azuki beans (Red beans), Kinako (Roasted soybean flour)

"Hitashi Mame" is a regional dish eaten not only in the northern and eastern Shinano regions of Nagano Prefecture but also in Niigata Prefecture and the Tohoku region.

Where it is made

Hokushin Area, Toushin Area

Main ingredients

Green soybeans

The region known as Kinasa, also called the "Valley Capital," has a long-standing food culture of drying and preserving vegetables.

Where it is made

Hokushin Area

Main ingredients

Pumpkin

Matsumoto City, situated in the almost exact center of Nagano Prefecture, offers views of the Northern Alps to the west and the Utsukushi-gahara Plateau to the east.

Where it is made

Matsumoto Area

Main ingredients

All-purpose flour, Azuki (=Red beans), Goma (=Sesame seeds), Kinako (=Roasted soybean flour)