Fushimi Specialties and Souvenirs: The Origins of Its Sake, Sweets, Kyoto Vegetables, and River Fish

The Appeal of Fushimi-Momoyama

When choosing souvenirs in Fushimi, sake and sweets made with sake lees are products connected to the sake brewing industry that continues today. Kanten (agar), which is used to set neri yokan, was also once manufactured in Fushimi. For each item, this article explains how its production process or ingredients came to be connected with the area.

Some products, such as “Fushimi togarashi,” carry a place name even though they are now grown over a wider area. In addition, Ogura Pond to the south was once a place for fishing, but it was turned into farmland through reclamation, a process of draining the pond’s water to create land. By distinguishing production that continues today, foods whose growing areas have expanded, and livelihoods of the past, you can trace the history of food in Fushimi in concrete terms. As a souvenir other than food, this article also covers Fushimi dolls, which are made using clay from Fukakusa.

Choose sake by sparkle, cloudiness, and storage method as well

Fushimi sake varies not only in the number of brands but also in production methods and product characteristics. For example, Tsuki no Katsura makes a nigori (cloudy) sake in which bubbles form through secondary fermentation in the bottle. The regional label “Fushimi sake” alone does not tell you whether a sake is clear or cloudy, whether it is sparkling, or at what temperature it should be stored. [23]

If you are choosing a gift for someone who drinks sake, you can narrow down the options by considering what sake they usually choose, whether it will be paired with a meal, and whether it can be kept refrigerated. Ginjo Shubo Aburacho on Otesuji has a counter where you can taste three kinds from ochoko cups and then make a purchase, and Fushimi Yumehyakushu also sells sake from multiple breweries. Comparing small amounts is helpful when it is hard to decide by brand name alone. [21, 7]

For those who want to learn about seimai buai (the rice polishing ratio, which indicates the proportion of each grain remaining after polishing) or how sparkling sake gets its bubbles, How Fushimi Sake Is Made explains the relationship between the terms on labels and the production process.

The rice used for sake also has a history of varieties being preserved and improved. The Kyoto sake rice “Iwai” fell out of production in 1974 because its tall stalks were unsuited to mechanization, but cultivation resumed using seeds that had been kept at a research institution. When the rice name appears on the label, you can compare not only the rice polishing ratio but also what the sake aimed to achieve with that variety. The story from seed preservation to the breeding of “Iwai No. 2” is introduced in Sake Brewing in Fushimi. [R2P003]

Sake manju made with seishu, and financiers made with sake lees

When the moromi (fermenting mash) of sake is pressed, it separates into liquid sake and solid sake lees (sake kasu). Sake and sake lees come from the same process, but as ingredients for sweets they are different things. Fushimi Yumehyakushu carries sake manju made with Fushimi seishu (refined sake) as well as sake lees financiers. [7, 29]

Besides giving sake itself, you can also choose sweets made with seishu or sake lees. Sweets differ depending on whether they use seishu or sake lees, and on what kind of dough or bean paste they are combined with. If the recipient avoids alcohol, please check the product labeling or ask at the shop whether alcohol is used.

Neri yokan is also tied to the history of kanten production in Fushimi

Kanten is a gelling ingredient made from seaweed, and it is used in neri yokan, in which bean paste is set firm. There are records of kanten being manufactured in Fushimi in the Edo period, and over the period through the Taisho era, neri yokan became a local specialty. The traditions about the origin of kanten and the founding histories of individual confectioners are not the same story. [13]

Kanten is no longer manufactured in Fushimi today. On the other hand, neri yokan made with kanten is still produced by confectioners in Fushimi. [13, 27]

The method of freezing and drying tokoroten, and how production spread to Tanba and Shinshu, are explained in Kanten and Its Connection to Fushimi.

Fushimi Surugaya Honten in Shimoaburakake-cho is a shop that branched off from the former Sohonke Surugaya in 1781 and opened at Fushimi Port as a waiting area for daimyo boarding boats. Its confectionery business was also connected with people waiting for boats and travelers passing through the port. Its special neri yokan uses white azuki beans from Bitchu, dainagon azuki beans from Tanba, wasanbon sugar from Awa, and kanten. Even though it is a Fushimi specialty, not all of its ingredients are produced in Fushimi; a single product is created through the work of a confectioner who processes ingredients from various regions. [DXP11]

With Fushimi togarashi peppers, not only the pods but also the leaves are eaten

Fushimi togarashi is a long, slender sweet pepper also known as “Fushimi amanaga.” It is thinner than Manganji togarashi and approximately 10–15 centimeters long. It is generally not very spicy, and it is now grown in various parts of Kyoto Prefecture. It is a variety that carries on the Fushimi place name, but when buying it, you can check the variety name and the origin labeling separately. [6]

The pods are grilled to bring out a toasty aroma, and they are also eaten simmered with jako (small dried fish) or stewed with chikuwa or konnyaku. It is a vegetable that can not only be used in small amounts to add color to a dish but also be made into a whole dish of simmered food. Thinking about how you will use it after buying makes it easier to choose the amount you need. [84]

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries’ introduction to local cuisine features “kigosho,” a dish that uses the young leaves. The leaves are simmered into tsukudani together with small pods, or boiled and then stir-simmered with soy sauce and sake. Fushimi togarashi leaves are commonly used, but leaves from other peppers are sometimes used as well. [6]

The ministry notes that the Yoshu Fushi of 1684 contains a record of pepper cultivation in Yamashiro Province. The scope of this record is Yamashiro Province, and it does not describe specific fields in Fushimi or the present-day variety. When buying fresh produce, you can check both the variety name and the origin labeling. [6]

The former Ogura Pond yielded river fish and became farmland after reclamation

Ogura Pond, which once spread out to the south of Fushimi, was a shallow pond where water from the rivers flowing out of the Kyoto Basin collected. Kyoto Prefecture’s description of its landforms records that fish such as carp, crucian carp, and moroko lived there. Besides bringing in fish from the sea to eat, people also obtained food from the ponds and rivers close at hand. [56]

The building of embankments around the pond dates back to the time of Hideyoshi, but that alone did not make the water surface disappear. The 16th-century works that shifted the flow of the Uji River toward Fushimi and developed the port and highways, the modern works that separated the pond from the river, and the reclamation that turned the pond bed into farmland differ in both period and purpose. [90]

That environment changed further with modern river works and reclamation. After the pond was cut off from the Uji River, its water quality deteriorated, and a national reclamation project was carried out from 1933 to 1941. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries explains that 634 hectares of farmland were created from the pond where fishing had been practiced. A water surface for catching fish became land for growing crops. [55, 56]

For shopping today, Funashin Sano Shoten on the Nayamachi Shopping Street is introduced as a shop that handles live river fish and house-made processed river fish products. Fish that you take home to cook and processed products that can be served at the table are used differently, so you can choose while asking at the shop how to handle them. This article distinguishes between the history of fishing in the former Ogura Pond and where current products are sourced. The shopping guide introduces current shops, and the article on water and flood control explains how the pond and rivers changed. [42]

You can check the location using Funashin Sano Shoten’s shop information and its location on Google Maps. If you also want to choose sake and sweets, one route is to head south from Otesuji through Nayamachi and Aburakake-dori to the sake brewery district.

Old photographs of Okamedani daikon are records of farming at the time

A photograph of Higashi-Kuhoji-cho in Fukakusa Okamedani from around Showa 4 shows the daikon harvest with tea fields in the background. Another shows a competitive exhibition of Okamedani daikon. Together they show that daikon and tea were grown on the hillsides, and that exhibitions evaluating the harvested crops were also held. They are records of farming that differed in both terrain and production conditions from the pond and reclaimed land to the south.

A photograph of Okamedani Higashi-Kuhoji-cho from around 1955 records people heading home on a power tiller after finishing work in the tea fields and vegetable fields. A photograph from May 1909 taken near Mt. Inari shows people digging bamboo shoots. Not only the peaches on the castle site and daikon but also tea, vegetables, and bamboo groves created work at different times. These are records of the hills of Fukakusa and Okamedani, and they do not mean that the same fields or bamboo groves remain in front of present-day Fushimi-Momoyama Station. [R2P010, R2P011]

Fukakusa Okamedani is a separate area from Otesuji and the sake brewery district of Minamihama-cho. Photographs from that time show that, in addition to river fish and sake, crops that supported the local diet were also grown in the hillside fields. To find sake and sweets you can buy today, please see the guide to shops on Otesuji, Nayamachi, Ryoma-dori, and the surrounding area.

There are also Fushimi dolls, born from the clay of Fukakusa

Souvenirs other than food also reflect the relationship between Fushimi’s land and its manufacturing techniques. Fushimi dolls, made in Fukakusa, are clay dolls made from clay found in front of the gates of Inari Taisha. A female mold is taken from an original model, and the form is reproduced using the mold, so the same subject can be made again and again. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes them as materials that influenced clay dolls in many regions, such as the Tsutsumi dolls of Sendai and the Sagara dolls of Yonezawa. In addition to the water for sake and the crops in the fields, the clay of the hills also supported local products. The area in front of the gates of Fushimi Inari is a separate destination from the area around Otesuji. [DXP12]

References

• Tsuki no Katsura: Nigori Sake
• Ginjo Shubo Aburacho: Official Website
• Fushimi Tourism Association: Fushimi Yumehyakushu
• Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries: Delicious Sake Comes from Delicious Rice
• Kyoto Kanko Navi: Kanten Hassho no Chi (Birthplace of Kanten)
• City of Kyoto: Company Profile, Fushimi Surugaya
• Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries: Kigosho
• Kyoto Prefecture Red Data Book 2015: Ogura Pond
• The Ogura Pond Reclaimed Land, Supporting Prosperous Lives

• Nayamachi Shopping Street Promotion Association: Shop List

• City of Kyoto: Fushimi Togarashi Simmered with Bonito Flakes (Okaka-ni)

• Nayamachi Shopping Street: Funashin Sano Shoten

• Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Yodo River Office: History of the Misu Lock

• DXP11: Kyoto City Tourism Association: Fushimi Surugaya Honten
• DXP12: Agency for Cultural Affairs: Kyoto Folk Doll Collection
• R2P003: Fushimi Joyukai: Kyoto Sake Rice Iwai and Kyo no Kagayaki
• R2P010: Fukakusa Archives: Digging Bamboo Shoots on Mt. Inari
• R2P011: Fukakusa Archives: Heading Home after Work in the Fields

Featured image: Cafe & Sweets Parade Kyoto.