This time I went to Kohama City, Fukui Prefecture to explore the mackerel culture, Kohama is destined to be related to food, and I want to explore the story behind food, the story of people and food will be interesting.
I spent a dreamy day in Kohama, and only one day, I was a little fascinated by this place, and it has been more than two weeks since I returned to China, and the street scene of Kohama is still in front of me. From Kohama to Kyoto, there is an 80-kilometer road from Kohama to Kyoto called "Mackerel Street", and after returning home, I checked some information about "Mackerel Street" and became more and more interested in it.
I'd love to plan a trip for myself, starting from Kohama, the starting point of mackerel street, staying in Takashima City, Shiga Prefecture, passing through Kuta and Hanabi Mountain Passes in Sakyo-ku, Kyoto City, and finally arriving at Demachi Shopping Street in Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto City, passing through many historical sites and beautiful mountain roads. Just like the previous "Wakasa Bearers" who transport mackerel and other seafood, walk through this 80-kilometer-long "Mackerel Street".
The Wakasa Kodo Cultural Heritage Group , Which connects the sea with the capital , "Otokoku Wakasa and Mackerel Street" has been recognized as the No. 1 Japanese Heritage Site by the Agency for Cultural Affairs of Japan.
The so-called Oku-kuni refers to a special place where food was offered to the Emperor's clan in ancient times. After the Middle Ages, it also developed as a treasure trove of seafood and a center for trading.
Kohama is not only a fishing village but also a connection point between sea traffic and land traffic. Artifacts from all over Japan and Chinese mainland were gathered in Kohama and transported to Kyoto, the capital of Japan at the time, through the "Mackerel Street". Along the street, you can also feel the atmosphere of the past, the ritual activities that have been inherited, and the traditional culture brought by the people's travels.
Located on the sea side of the Sea of Japan in the middle of the Japanese archipelago, Kohama is a historical and cultural city with deep roots in the mainland, the Korean Peninsula, and Kyoto, and more than 130 temples. Tracing back to history, Wakasa Kohama is a seafood stronghold because Wakasa Bay, where warm and cold currents meet, has been a treasure trove of seafood since ancient times.
After the Nara period, the Wakasa area, which was rich in seafood production, was enshrined by the imperial family as a food called "Mitsuki", and played an important role as a "imperial food country".
After entering the Heian period, it became a major place for maritime transportation, and from the mainland and the Korean Peninsula across the sea to various parts of Japan, a large number of cultural products flowed into Ohama, connecting Kohama with the capital (Kyoto). Seafood was sent to Kyoto through the "Mackerel Street", and the latest culture from Kyoto brought prosperity to Kohama.
↑MingtongJi Temple Triple Pagoda & Haga-ji Temple Eleven-sided statue of Kannon Bodhisattva
Kohama City preserves a large number of Heian period Buddha statues and kamakura-era temples, so it is called "a treasure trove of cultural properties". Wakasa, including Kohama, has preserved many Buddha statues called the "Eleven-Sided Kannon Statue". This indicates that Kohama had a close relationship with the Tantric faith of the Heian nobles called tendai or Shingon, which shows that Kohama had a deep connection with Kyoto.
In 1408, at the beginning of the Muromachi period, the "Minami Man Ship", which was a gift to General Ashikaga Yoshiman and carried rare animals such as elephants and ostriches, sailed into Kohama, which had developed as a trading base.
From the Sengoku period to the Edo period, the lords of Kohama changed repeatedly, and in the tokugawa third shogun Iemitsu period, from the time when the shogunate's old Naka Sakai Tadakatsu came to power until the end of the shogunate, Kohama, under the administration of the Sakai family, prospered as the core area of Wakasa.
↑Photographed around 1955, a lead carriage travels along the streets of Kumagawa to Kyoto
In addition to food raw materials, Wakasa also produces high-quality salt and vinegar, which was very valuable in ancient Japan. Since then, Kohama has become one of the suppliers of seafood in Nara and Kyoto, and among the many fish species, there is a fish that is suitable for all ages, and is loved by both nobles and commoners, which is mackerel, which Chinese called mackerel. The laborers who transport goods between Kohama and Kyoto are called "Wakasa bearers", and they carry 10 pieces of cargo (37.5 kg) each time. Kohama still retains the historic district, but the prosperity and glory of the past have passed away, leaving many, many stories.
The starting point of the Mackerel Road
Ground map: The starting point of the mackerel mackerel highway Wakasa Obama Izumi-cho, (idumi town, chinese text as a deadness). Is this the original land of 这应该烤鲤鱼吧?
The street where the Mackerel Street Museum is located is the starting point of the "Mackerel Street", the archive inside is unattended, for people to visit, the area is only a few square meters, the six of us can not turn around when we go in, the museum displays a lot of old photos and paintings to record the hardships of the narrow bearers.
Towards evening, most of the shops on the street were closed, and only a few fish shops were still open.
In front of many houses in Kohamasando Town, there are such small red dolls, which are not small people, but small monkeys trapped in hands and feet, called くくり apes in Japanese, Chinese translated as "shu ape". The Japanese pronunciation of ape is SARU, which is the same pronunciation as the verb de-る (meaning away, removed). There are many such prayer dolls in Yasaka Gungshen Hall in Higashiyama, Kyoto, and not only red, but also in various colors.
Hanging the bouquet of apes has the good expectation of praying for peace, eliminating disasters and difficulties, consummating the family, and forging good relations. The limbs of the monkey represent human greed and desire, which means that people must first bind their greed and desire and drive away the distractions in their hearts before they can concentrate on realizing their wishes.
The Oshi kuni Wakasa Food Culture Center is right by the sea, and when we walk into the bunka, we see the last moment of sunset and sunset.
This is a museum that can actually feel the "food culture" related to Kohama through exhibitions and experiences. A kitchen studio is set up in the museum to experience the use of wakasa's fresh ingredients to make dishes, cooking training and etiquette training to improve the understanding of food, and cultivate hospitality; on the second floor, you can experience traditional craftsmanship; on the third floor, a hot spring bath facility for improving health is set up based on the concept of medical and food homology, and the hot spring is open until 24:00.
The "Mackerel Street" is about 80 kilometers in terms of the current distance. Today, it takes more than an hour to drive, and you can imagine how difficult it was to walk on the path of the mountain by people carrying baskets. One theory is that the time required for this distance is exactly the time it takes to add a little salt to the mackerel caught on the seashore in Kohama and then transport it to Kyoto overnight, and it is the time it takes to arrive with the best taste, hence the name Mackerel Street. Mackerel Street is the way to transport seafood from Wakasa to Kyoto. Not only mackerel, but also various seafood caught in Wakasa Kohama were sent to Kyoto via this route. Mackerel Streets is also a road that connects with today's food culture.
A variety of mackerel dishes are on display in the pavilion
The ability to taste seafood that has been washed by the warm and cold currents of the Sea of Japan and has a delicious meat is also a unique charm of Kohama. Some foodies will come to Kohama in the right season to taste snow crabs, Wakasa oysters, Wakasa flounder, Wakasa pufferfish, small snapper marinated in bamboo leaves, and of course, mackerel
Let's play a game and roll the dice in a live-action version of the Mackerel Road to see who brings the mackerel to Kyoto first.
A typical tourist photo was taken when I left
It was already dark when I walked out of the cultural center, and I was a little reluctant to walk on the quiet street, and I didn't want to leave here so soon.
Kohama, I will come back again.