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

流传地区

Kiso Area

主要食材

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.

流传地区

Kiso Area, Ina Area, Kamiina Area, Shimoina Area

主要食材

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…

流传地区

Hokushin Area, Chushin Area (All of Nagano Prefecture)

主要食材

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.

流传地区

All of Nagano Prefecture (Nozawa onsen village)

主要食材

Nozawana, Salt, Shochu

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

流传地区

Kiso Area

主要食材

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…

流传地区

Saku Area

主要食材

Crucian carp, Soy sauce, Sugar

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

流传地区

Iiyama City (Hokushin Area)

主要食材

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.

流传地区

Hokushin Area, Chushin Area

主要食材

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.

流传地区

All of Nagano Prefecture

主要食材

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.

流传地区

Hokushin area (Iiyama City)

主要食材

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.

流传地区

Saku City

主要食材

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.

流传地区

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

主要食材

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).

流传地区

All over the prefecture

主要食材

buckwheat flour

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

流传地区

Hoku-shin area, To-shin area

主要食材

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.

流传地区

Hokushin Region

主要食材

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…

流传地区

Suwa Region

主要食材

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…

流传地区

Hokushin region

主要食材

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.

流传地区

Suwa area, Kamiina area

主要食材

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.

流传地区

Hokushin Region

主要食材

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.

流传地区

Hokushin and Chushin areas

主要食材

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.

流传地区

Hokushin area

主要食材

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.

流传地区

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

主要食材

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.

流传地区

Toshin Area, Kamiina Area

主要食材

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.

流传地区

All of Nagano Prefecture

主要食材

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.

流传地区

Hokushin Area, Chushin Area

主要食材

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).

流传地区

Toshin Area

主要食材

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.

流传地区

Hokushin Area, Toushin Area

主要食材

Green soybeans

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

流传地区

Hokushin Area

主要食材

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.

流传地区

Matsumoto Area

主要食材

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