At the beginning of the New Year, we will introduce local souvenirs from Shizuoka Prefecture, the land of Fuji. Fuji, the best view of Suruga Bay in Japan, Izu hot springs, and famous gourmet foods such as Hamamatsu Gyoza and Eel, Shizuoka is a fun place to visit no matter how many times you visit. Finally, on January 10, national travel support will begin. Those who use the Tokaido Shinkansen or the Tomei Expressway may want to take a break from their trip and visit a souvenir store.
Yamadaichi “Abegawa Mochi
Since the Edo period (1603-1868), this local confectionary has been loved by many travelers as a specialty of the Tokaido Highway. More than 400 years ago, the owner of a teahouse offered freshly pounded rice cake covered with soybean flour and sugar that resembled gold sand from the upper reaches of the Abe River to Tokugawa Ieyasu. Ieyasu, who liked the taste, named it “Abegawa-mochi.
The first company to revive such an anecdote-rich mochi in the Abegawa region after World War II was Shizuoka City-based Yamadaichi. The mochi is handmade every morning using contract-grown glutinous rice from Saga Prefecture, with a unique preparation method that allows the mochi to have a texture more similar to that of fresh mochi. The individually packaged, bite-size packages, designed by the founder to allow Japanese people, who tend to be reserved, to enjoy them without hesitation, contain two types of mochi: kinako (soybean flour) with a rich flavor and koshi-an (sweet red bean paste) with a refined sweetness.
Abegawa-mochi also appears in “Tokaido Chu Hizakurige,” a story about the journey from Edo to Ise, and the wrapping paper of the box is designed by “Kitahachi,” one of the main characters in the story.
© Source travel watch