Highlight

• Experience local cuisine with locals at a 200-year-old tea house of the Nakasendo.
• Ideally located for hikers on the Nakasendo (40 minutes walk from Nakatsugawa Juku and 10 minutes walk from Ochiai Juku.
• Your host is a friendly, fun-loving fan of The Beatles, who loves welcoming foreign visitors.
• Guests can enjoy a tour of the tea house’s Japanese garden, with its suikinkutsu, a musical device of Japanese gardens used before tea ceremonies.

Story

The Nakasendo is a 534km long ancient road that connected Kyoto and Tokyo (formerly known as Edo) during the Edo period. Along the road, there were 69 post towns. In the area widely known abroad as the Kiso Valley, hiking between the post towns of Nakatsugawa Juku, Ochiai Juku, Magome Juku and Tsumago Juku have, in recent times, become particularly popular.

Echizenya is an ancient teahouse on the Nakasendo. On foot, it is located about 40 minutes from Nakatsugawa Juku and about 10 minutes from Ochiai Juku. Dating back around 200 years, Echizenya was used during the Edo period as a tateba teahouse (an official teahouse used as a place to rest and exchange goods). The shop didn’t make it and for 150 years it was closed. However, recently the shop has been renovated and reopened.

It has a Japanese garden with a suikinkutsu, a musical feature of some Japanese gardens which rings as water drops down on it.
In ancient times, Echizenya’s specialty dish was sanmon-mochi, mochi covered in black sugar syrup. Black sugar was very rare during the Edo period and, at that time, the snack sold very well and became extremely popular. Three local women including the proprietress herself, Megumi Tsukada, have brought back sanmon-mochi from the dead, finding clues about the snack from ancient texts.

This cooking experience takes place at Echizenya. You will make hoba-sushi, a local dish beloved in the city of Nakatsugawa. Flavored sushi rice with various toppings is wrapped in a hoba (the leaf of a Japanese magnolia tree known as a ho-no-ki). The leaf not only keeps the food fresh, but the flavor of the leaf infuses with the ingredients inside making a delicious lunch for farmers or people working outside. Toppings include items such as salmon, shiitake, egg, pickled ginger, tofu, and more. Vegan options are available. For dessert, you can enjoy sanmon-mochi which is included in the experience.

The cheerful and hospitable proprietress, Megumi Tsukada loves welcoming foreign visitors into her shop and is a die-hard fan of The Beatles. Come and join this community-based activity and make and eat local food as you take a break on the Nakasendo.

Price Per Person

2,500JPY / 4-12 people
3,000JPY / 2-3 people

Included in the fee

• Tour of the premises (including Japanese garden)
• Experience fee
• Hoba-sushi (2 per person)
• Sanmon-mochi (3 per person)
• Japanese pickles
• Japanese tea
  ＊Vegan option available (please request when making the reservation)
  ＊Hoba-sushi will be made with local ingredients as much as possible.
  ＊Private rooms are available (please inquire about this when making your reservation)

Not included in the fee

• Transportation to/from the venue
• Guide/interpreter (if further English assistance is required it must be arranged separately)
• Insurance
  ＊The host of this experience happily communicates in slightly broken English

Allergies

Please inquire in advance about allergies/dietary requirements

Event Duration

1 hours

Age / Height:

16 yrs and above

Program Availability

May – September

Participants

2 – 12 people