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Eat and rest well in the Aichi Highlands – 愛知高原でよく食べて，よく休んで
After a detox holiday in the countryside here, Aichikogen-Okumikawa, you’ll return feeling refreshed and rejuvenated.
ここ，奥三河の愛知高原で休暇をすごせば，すばらしい休養となり，元気をもらえます。
Miyazakien Tea Garden and the Master , Atsushi UMEMURALocation map of Mikawa highlands in Aichi Prefecture in Japan
Must-eats in Aichikogen-Okumikawa – あいち高原/奥三河で見逃せない食
Symbolic rice and miso come together as one in gohei-mochi; remember to try the region’s signature ayu fish too.
glazed gohei-mochi
glazed gohei-mochi
In Japanese cuisine, rice is more than a meal staple. Cultivated in Japan for 2,000 years, the grain also has much financial, historical and cultural significance. In the past, rice was used as a currency (or as tax money for farmers). Today, Japan’s most important crop isn’t only eaten during meals; it is used in a myriad products, from sakes to vinegars.
It’s no wonder that there’s the Otaue Matsuri or “rice field planting festival”. Celebrated in spring to mark the start of a new year, this sees the Japanese praying for a successful harvest. In some versions of the festival, seeds are planted in fields while in others, the planting process is acted out. Then, when autumn arrives, harvest festivals are held to give thanks, too.
Japanese rice, a short translucent grain that turns sticky when cooked, is grown in the country’s valleys, terraces and fields, with terraced rice plantations being one of the rarer sights. The Yotsuya Senmaida fields in Aichi Prefecture is famous for having more than 1,000 “steps” and produces the grains for some of the region’s signature rice cakes or gohei-mochi.
If you do visit Aichikogen-Okumikawa, have this as your main meal or as a snack. Resembling a big lollipop, this rice cake is grilled on a skewer and glazed with sesame or miso paste, or even topped with crushed walnuts. One of the traditional shops serving this is Matsuya, which has been around since 1935 and sells
grilled ayu fish skewers
grilled ayu fish skewers
300 gohei-mochi every day on weekends. Owner Yachie Maruyama pounds the rice by hand, uses a secret recipe for her miso paste and grills the cakes over a charcoal fire.
Miso paste is another example of a Japanese diet staple. Once reserved for nobles and monks, miso, which has health benefits like preventing gastric disorders and lowering blood pressure, is made from fermented soybeans. It is now most commonly used in soups that are best paired with steaming hot Japanese rice for a simple yet comforting meal, or on gohei-mochi as a sweet, robust seasoning.
Besides miso-paste gohei-mochi, Aichikogen-Okumikawa is known for the freshwater ayu fish, which can be eaten at restaurants like Chiyohimeso. A skewer is pierced into the fish mouth and through its body before it is cooked over charcoal. Although ayu fish can be stewed in soya sauce and sugar, the locals like it best grilled in its own deliciously briny oils. We can’t agree more. –>
Meet the Game Changers ゲームチェンジャーに会う
Atsushi Umemura, Miyazakien 宮ザキ園 梅村篤志
This dapper 39-year-old looks nothing like a traditional tea farmer. Not surprising since Umemura, the sixth-generation owner of the Miyazakien tea house that has been around since 1820, wants to modernise the art of tea drinking .
How different is Miyazakien from other tea businesses in Japan? 宮ザキ園は日本国内の他の茶園とどのように違うのか。
We are unusual in how we see through the entire process, from processing the tea to selling the leaves wholesale and even serving tea on our premises. In 2006, we also became the first organic tea farm in Aichi Prefecture.
How do you attract new customers? どのように新しい顧客を開拓されていますか？
As a wholesaler, we usually supply our products to businesses elsewhere but I want people to come visit us directly instead. So, on the second level of our teahouse, we conduct experiential workshops like flower arrangement lessons.
How else are you modernising your tea business? その他に変えてきた点は？
As a wholesaler, we can’t really change the style of our tea products too much. So, we try and serve tea in different new ways. For example, we sell houjicha flavoured shaved ice. This attracts long queues of customers, and we can sell about 100 bowls in a day. But with the shaved ice, we serve tea too, so customers can taste it and be encouraged to purchase our tea leaves. We also experiment with different ways of drinking tea: serving green tea in teacups with ice chips or in a wine decanter-inspired bottle and in wine glasses.
Miyazakien ‘s black tea are made of native variety tea, which name is “Hongu”. The name comes from a mountain located near Miyazakien because it is said that the seed of the “Hongu” came from that mountain area. The leaves are carefully processed by hand into black tea. This video is about to kneading. A professional kneader, Mr. Y, has been doing this work quietly as if he was doing his Sadhana for almost 3 hours already.
Recently it has become very difficult to obtain the knitted mat with straw as you see laying on the floor, but it is indispensable for tea making by hand like this.
The tea leaves picked up for our “Wa Kocha”, the Japanese black tea, will be transformed into a form to be delivered to everyone through such a hand-working work and a sun drying process.
Yesterday,18th March, Miyazakien staff participated a tea processing and tasting experience event for children in the local park “Okazaki Wan Park” . 
