Explore Shizuoka's gastronomy with the "Shizuoka Food Map" that showcases Shizuoka's food culture

Welcome to the big picture world packed with the deliciousness of Shizuoka.
This facade looks like it's "Search for ●●." However, what we are looking for is seasonal flavors from all over Shizuoka, traditional wisdom, and forms of food that will connect to the future.

"These are sakura shrimp from Suruga Bay."
"The girl depicted here is Princess Kaguya from the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter."
"Fujippy's kite is flying too!"

This artwork, in which such voices can be heard, is explained from a unique perspective by Director Sato of the Museum of Global Environmental History, who supervised the project.
So, come and travel through the "Shizuoka Food Map" and see, learn, and taste.

This artwork was created as the facade decorating the entrance to "GEO KITCHEN SHIZUOKA," which will be exhibited at the Osaka-Kansai Expo for three days only, from June 2025th (Friday) to 6th (Sunday) 6, and will allow visitors to experience the charm of Shizuoka's food and nature.
The theme of the Shizuoka Prefecture booth was "Nature and Food," and visitors were treated to dishes made with the bountiful ingredients nurtured by the prefecture's magnificent natural environment.

Illustrations that appear on the facade

Wasabi and pickled wasabi

In the mountains of Shizuoka, wasabi is grown using pure spring water. In Amagi in Izu and Utougi in the depths of Abe, it is still cultivated using the traditional "tatamiishi" method. Wasabi has a pungent spiciness with a natural sweetness and aroma. You can't get the deliciousness of real wasabi from a tube. This taste is the product of Shizuoka's nature and the wisdom of the people. Wasabi leaves are used to make wasabi pickles using sake lees, a by-product of sake, another of Shizuoka's great pride.

Salted bonito

This processed bonito food has been made only in Nishiizu on the Izu Peninsula. It has a tradition dating back to the Edo period. It is a preserved food made by removing the guts of bonito caught by line fishing every year in late autumn and packing it with salt, and is mainly served during the New Year holidays. Shizuoka Prefecture has a variety of bonito food cultures, including this one.

tea girl

Tea leaf production in Shizuoka Prefecture began in the Kamakura period, but in the Meiji period, it exploded as samurai who had given up business reclaimed tea fields and exports began from Shimizu Port. Tea leaves are picked from the new buds several times a year and processed. In the past, these women worked in costumes like this and were called tea girls.

By the way

Tokoroten is a gel-like food made by boiling and dissolving tengusa seaweed harvested in the southern part of the Izu Peninsula, then cooling it under running water and solidifying it. When eating, it is made into strings by passing a tool called a "tentsuki," which is a coarse mesh that is fitted into one opening of a wooden frame. The way it is eaten varies depending on the region; throughout the Kinki region, it is sweetened with brown sugar syrup, but in other areas it is eaten with sanbai vinegar. Agar is made by freeze-drying and refining this.

Suruga Gamecock

Suruga Shamo is a special local chicken raised in Shizuoka Prefecture. Raised in an environment where the chickens can move around energetically, the meat has a firm texture and a strong umami flavor. One of its characteristics is that it is fed special feed mixed with Shizuoka tea. The ingredients in the tea promote health and deepen the flavor of the meat. This local chicken is full of nature, human wisdom, and the essence of Shizuoka.

Tonbi is the master of grated yam

A children's song handed down in some parts of Shizuoka describes how to make delicious tororo soup. In Jippensha Ikku's "Tokaido Chu Hizakurige," the protagonists Yaji and Kita get caught up in a fight between the husband and wife owner of a teahouse. In a comedy-like scene, they end up not being able to eat after all the tororo soup is spilled on them. Ikku, a local who knows how to make it deliciously, says that even his master, Tombi, would fail if he made it that way. The slightest amount of pressure and speed can affect the taste of this soup, so it's best to make it with the feeling of drawing an arc in the sky, "Pee~Tororo."

Slash-and-burn farming

In the slash-and-burn agriculture practiced in the Kita-En and Oku-Shizu areas such as Misakubo and Ikawa, buckwheat, millet, foxtail millet, finger millet, etc. were cultivated. Slash-and-burn agriculture was discontinued for a while, but in Ikawa, it is being revived through the efforts of local people. Slash-and-burn agriculture has recently been attracting attention as an environmentally friendly farming method, in which the ash created by burning the vegetation that grew there is used as fertilizer.

Yubeshi

The yuzu mochi that remains in Kita-En even today is a high-protein preserved food made by stuffing miso paste, sesame seeds, walnuts, etc. into a yuzu kettle (a hollowed-out piece of ripe yuzu fruit), steaming it, and then drying it. It was highly valued by travelers deep in the mountains and as combat food on the battlefield. Note that this yuzu mochi is different from another type of yuzu mochi, a sweet rice cake snack flavored with yuzu.

Ascetic practitioners

Shugendo was established in various places after the Nara period, but Izu is one of the oldest places, and it is said that it later developed as Shugendo around Mount Fuji. Recent research has revealed that there was a pilgrimage around the Izu Peninsula, and there are hopes that the full picture of this pilgrimage will be revealed and revived.

Rainbow trout

At the western foot of Mt. Fuji, the precipitation that falls on the mountain springs up everywhere. In Fujinomiya City and other areas, rainbow trout farming is thriving, taking advantage of this clean and abundant water, and the production volume accounts for one-quarter of the national production volume. Trout farming was started as a prefectural project in the 4s, and efforts were made to improve varieties, but it was later transferred to the private sector, and several businesses have been working to create production areas.

Yaji and Kita

He is the protagonist of Jippensha Ikku's "Tokaido Chu Hizakurige" published in the early 19th century, and travels amusingly around the Tokaido from Edo to Osaka. He appears in several places on the map, so try to find him.

eel

Eels are migratory fish that spawn off the coast of the Pacific Ocean and, as they grow, move closer to land and swim up rivers. However, today, most eels are farmed, and in Shizuoka, the major production areas are around Lake Hamana and Yoshida Town at the mouth of the Oi River. Due to their ecology, eels require large amounts of high-quality freshwater to fatten, which is why these production areas were formed. There are also many eel restaurants from Mishima City to Shimizu Town, and these restaurants apparently raise eels for a while in spring water from Mt. Fuji, allowing them to spit out mud.

Yotsumizo persimmon

Shizuoka Prefecture is also a major producer of fruit. Due to its warm climate, the production of citrus fruits, which are related to mandarin oranges, is particularly thriving, but it is also known as a producer of persimmons, a deciduous fruit. Morimachi is home to the original trees of the "Jiro persimmon," a variety of sweet persimmon with angular fruit. The "Yotsumizo persimmon," an astringent persimmon with four grooves in the fruit, is said to have originated in the southeastern foothills of Mount Aitaka.