Michi-no-eki (roadside rest and shopping area) is the place to go to for the local specialties!

Where can you find the local specialties? You might think of souvenir shops but they usually have typical products that you can find anywhere across the country and if you’ve travelled around Japan a lot, you might find yourself thinking “I’ve seen this product elsewhere”. In that case, “Michi-no-eki (roadside rest and shopping area)” is the place you should go and check out.

“Michi-no-eki”, which is unique to Japan, is established by local governments and road administrators and is registered by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (Used to be called Ministry of Construction when this system was established). After the experimental establishment of Michi-no-eki in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Gifu Prefecture and Tochigi Prefecture in 1991, they built additional 103 Michi-no-eki across the country in 1993, which is the beginning of Michi-no-Eki culture. What is unique about Michi-no-eki is that the commercial facilities such as restaurants and shops there come with free rest facilities and big car parks that anyone can use even if you’re not using those commercial facilities, and they also have adjoining facilities unique to the local areas, which contribute to the revitalization of the local communities. They certainly have a lot of local specialties there as well.
For your information, the number of registered “Michi-no-eki” across Japan reached 1,134 as of November 17th, 2017.

“Michi-no-eki Narusawa (roadside rest and shopping area)” is the hotspot we recommend out of those Michi-no-eki in Fujikawaguchiko

You can find “Michi-no-eki Narusawa (roadside rest and shopping area)” along R 139, which is 15 minute drive away from Kawaguchiko I.C. It’s located in the center of Fuji Five Lakes and it’s a great location to have a look at Mt. Fuji as it has a resting room where you can enjoy a view of Mt. Fuji, an observation deck where you can overlook Aokigahara Jukai Forest and surrounding areas, and so on.

At their snack bar, they offer many different local dishes made with local ingredients. Amongst those dishes, there is this local dish called “Sendo Soba” that we want you to try. It’s a bowl of soba noodles (buckwheat noodles) in a hot soup with local ingredients and it has shredded daikon radish on top, which is what makes it a unique dish. The shredded daikon radish is crisp and it gives a nice crunchy texture to the dish. It also comes with spicy green chili miso paste and when you add some of it to the dish, it gives you a different spicy flavor. For dessert, you’ve got to try Michi-no-eki Narusawa’s original “Fujizakura soft serve ice cream” which has a similar flavor to cherries of Fujizakura (Fuji Cherry Blossoms).

Narusawa Village, where the Michi-no-eki is located, is well known for its rich nature and production of highland vegetables. If you have a look in the specialty hall “Bussankan” at “Michi-no-eki Narusawa”, it’s full of fresh local produce such as cabbage, Narusawa-na, and blueberries and other local products. These “cheap and super fresh vegetables” are also popular as souvenirs and it gets buzzing with tourists who are after those vegetables when the vegetables are in season. Since Yamanashi Prefecture is the home of Koshu grape, they also have wines from Yamanashi for souvenirs but we recommend this different wine, which would definitely make a unique souvenir, and it is “cabbage wine”.

This wine is made from highland cabbage from Narusawa Village and even in Yamanashi Prefecture where this wine is made, this rare wine cannot be found anywhere else but in this area. It’s popular for its unique flavor with a subtle aroma of cabbage.

Want to try the local traditional cuisine as well?

When it comes to the traditional cuisine of Yamanashi Prefecture, which is located at the foot of Mt. Fuji, you can say “Hoto” and “Yoshida Udon” are probably the top 2 dishes that typically come to people’s mind.

“Hoto” is one of Yamanashi Prefecture’s local specialty dishes. Just like “Udon”, a type of Japanese noodles, Hoto noodles are made with kneaded flour but what’s different from Udon is that they’re thick flat long noodles. “Hoto” is a home cooked dish that has those Hoto noodles stewed in a miso-based soup with seasonal vegetables including pumpkin.

“Yoshida Udon” is also flour related dish but “Hoto” is more of an ordinary home cooked dish with lots of vegetables. On the other hand, “Yoshida Udon” was apparently a dish you go out to eat or a celebration dish that used flour lavishly. What’s unique about it is the firm and chewy noodles, which is completely different to Hoto noodles that don’t have the chewiness. Another characteristic of Yoshida Udon is spicy seasoning called “Suridane”, which is made from spices such as red chili, sesame and Japanese pepper fried with oil, and each restaurant has its own Suridane so there are apparently a lot of people who hop around many different restaurants looking forward to tasting different Suridane.

”Tenkachaya Teahouse” is the place to go to if you’re after “Hoto”

No matter where you go in Yamanashi Prefecture, it’s not so hard to find a “Hoto” restaurant. But because there are so many places, the quality and flavors are all different from restaurant to restaurant. Depending on where you go, you might even get disappointed. It’s also a matter of individual preferences but we’d like to introduce “Tenkachaya Teahouse” with a history of more than 80 years. Osamu Dazai and Masuji Ibuse, famous fiction writers in the Japanese world of literary, also used to come here regularly.

Drink the blessings of Mt. Fuji

Here in Fujikawaguchiko, there are special drinks that you cannot taste anywhere else. One of them is “The World’s Best Fujizakura Heights Beer”. Yamanashi Prefecture’s craft beer won the gold medal in “World Beer Awards 2017”, which is an international beer competition held in England in 2017 and it was named the best in the world. The beer, which won the competition is this “Fujizakura Heights Beer Munchen Lager”. What’s special about this beer is that they use Mt. Fuji’s spring water called “Fujizakura Meisui”, which takes over a decade to flow through the mountain to spring out, and it is an authentic German style beer brewed with the techniques learned at the brewing school with a long history in Germany, the home of beers.

So where can you find that beer?

If you’re after “Fujizakura Heights Beer”, then head to the Fujizakura Heights Brewery. They have a restaurant called “Sylvans” at the brewery and they serve various kinds of craft beers including the “world’s best beer” and their food menu also has a wide variety such as bar snacks, pizza, pasta and so on. This is a restaurant where you can come and have a good time with your date or with the whole family.