Shizuoka Travel Guide: Top Food along the Old Tokaido Road

Shizuoka Travel Guide: Top Food along the Old Tokaido Road

Where is the best place to go for a day trip or short trip from Tokyo? That’s a question that I often get asked as a Tokyo local. And one of my answers is actually Shizuoka Prefecture. Why Shizoka, you may ask? Well, it’s not just because it sounds like my name, Shizuka, but it’s also because it’s very accessible from Tokyo being only about an hour and a half away by bullet train. And it has a lot of history and a really amazing food scene. All right. So, if I’m quite honest here, I’ve never had raw sakura ei. You got to try everything once. And this is going to be day one of our three-part series in Shizoka Prefecture. So, I’m going to be showing you a lot of really great places to see and things to do while you’re in Chisoka Prefecture. And the best thing about it is most of the food and experiences that I will be trying during this trip will be bookable on byfood.com. So, that makes it super easy for you guys when you come to visit. But before we go, don’t forget to subscribe for more Japan adventures like this one. And let’s go explore Shizoka Prefecture. Let’s go. So today I am exploring two post towns in Shizoka Prefecture, which are basically stops along the way down the Tokaido Road, which is a historic road that used to connect western Japan, such as Kyoto, the old capital, to Edeto, which is the modern-day Tokyo. So, this is a road that’s actually been used for centuries and it was such an important connecting road and that’s why there are a lot of businesses and restaurants and actually this is one part of the actual Tokaido road. It’s called the old Tokaido road and they’ve preserved basically the exact path that people used to travel down on foot, on horse. Even if you look around me right now, tons of really historic houses can be seen. There are some from the Edeto period design and some from the Taiisho era, which is the time in Japan where there was a little bit of influence from Western culture. Yeah, it’s just really cool to be on the actual road and see the remnants of history here today. [Music] First off today, I’m exploring an area in Shizoka Prefecture known as Kara. And this actually used to be a post town along the famous Tokaido Road. I’m going to be starting out by checking out this restaurant called Yamashi. And it’s a place that actually provides a cooking experience. So, I’m going to learn how to make some local foods here and also learn about local Shizoka Prefecture tea from the owner, who I hear is very friendly. So, I’m really excited to go inside and do a little bit of cooking. Let’s go. [Music] [Music] [Music] OBchech. Hi.ch. It’s a good Heights. How do you make So, you can see that the tea leaves have really expanded. And now I’m supposed to drink the tea from this little plate. [Music] Oh, wow. Wo. That’s such an interesting flavor. It has so much deep umami that it almost tastes salty. Like a slightly bitter green tea soup is the the flavor that I get. Really interesting. Huge impact. So, this is my first time to try a rice ball with tea leaves in it, and it is very shiza. The rice is really tasty. It’s really fluffy. And then the tea leaves are really interesting. It just gives a little bit of texture to it. It’s very good. Very simple, but I would say quite healthy. So basically the meaning is shizu for shuoka or shizuka and maya means in front of. That’s so clever. play on words cuz cha is tea in Japanese and she just changed the sa to cha or t. So clever. Oh my gosh. Amazing. squishy. Little by little, two little turns if they’ll and then we’ll mix it. Okay. Oh. So then it’ll look like this at the end. So we’ll just take one like scoop and put it in. There you go. So we’re making basically tempura with sakura ei tiny shrimp and tea leaves. Oh, is it ready? Oh, there we go. This is really fun. I love doing cooking experiences and cooking classes. Okay, so I have a couple that are just shrimp, but that’s okay. I think I didn’t balance it out. So, this is our finished chakura ei tempura. Oh, that looks so good. Now, let’s go over here and we’ll enjoy everything all together with a little beautiful meal. Very easy to do and I’m sure it’s going to be really tasty, too. And then it looks like we have a seafood bowl here which includes raw sakura and raw which is little white bait fish. This is great. So we can try our chakura ei tempura with matcha salt. So, let’s give it a try while the other while this is cooking. M. That’s really tasty. This one is really bite-sized, which makes it easy to eat, and you can really enjoy the flavor of this shrimp. Since you’re getting the entire shrimp, you get that extra shrimpy flavor that comes from the shell of the shrimp. So, if you like shrimp, you really get a lot of shrimp flavor and you get this crunch. And the other part that’s really crispy are the tea leaves. It’s a lot of flavor in one tiny bite. So, while we wait for this to cook, I think we can try our fresh seafood rice bowl. All right. So, if I’m quite honest here, I’ve never had raw sakura ei. You got to try everything once. Here we go. [Music] Oh. Oh, that’s not bad. Um, what’s really interesting is since it’s raw, I thought it would be really soft. It’s actually still kind of crunchy. And I think it’s because of the like the shell of the shrimp, which is tender, but there’s some crunch to it. And the soy sauce really balances well. I’d say even if you thought it was a little overwhelming to look at at first, the flavor is very nice. So, I would recommend to give it a try. The hot pot is really bubbling. I think we need to pay attention to this right now. Let’s try the special fisherman’s hot pot called okii agari. Like fresh from the sea basically. This is a local specialty that they hope to continue for another hundred years. So, I’m really excited to see how it tastes. M. That is so nice. Oh my gosh. It really warms you up. This little tiny thing is incredibly hot. It’s perfect for like a cold morning. Perfect warming soup with like a kind of a soy sauce flavor soup base, which is a little bit sweet. Kind of like a sukiyaki base. I I love it. It’s just you don’t even need that many shrimp to add a little bit of shrimp flavor. Wonderful. This is all so tasty. I’m still working on my meal, but I want to let you know that after all of this cooking and eating is done, there’s still another part of the experience. So, you actually get to learn how to make matcha from Shizoka Prefecture, and she will teach you how to do it the true Japanese way. I know that matcha is trending worldwide, and a lot of people make their own match at home. But, it’s really cool to learn how it’s actually done traditionally in Japan. So, if you like matcha, you might as well learn the Japanese way to do it. But, I need to wrap up here today. I have more of Shizoka Prefecture to explore. Definitely, definitely recommend this experience. My host is the loveliest person ever. She’s super welcoming to everybody. So, if you’re interested, the link to book it will be in the description or on the screen somewhere here. So, make sure to book that. But we still have more to come after this. I will have a little bit of tea and then I’m going to see you guys at my next activity for the day. So, look forward to that. See you guys over there. Here we are. I am now at my second post town in Shizoka Prefecture. And this one is known as Mari Kojuku. And the actual Tokaido road is right here. It goes across this bridge and then down this hill. And the reason why we’re here today is actually to try one more historic food in Chisoka Prefecture that’s particularly famous at this post town. And we’re going to this restaurant right here. This is a restaurant called Choia. And they’re famous for a food known as torojiru. And this is basically a dish that is ground yam. You grind it up until it gets all gooey and you put it over rice. This food was historic enough that it was actually featured in a lot of old poems from back in the Edeto period and even Ukio wood block prints from back in the day. And another thing about this restaurant that’s really amazing is that it’s actually the oldest company in all of Shizoka Prefecture. This restaurant first opened in the year 1596, if you can believe it, and it still features this traditional thatched roof. So cool. All right, let’s go inside and experience the history of this post town. and some delicious food. Oh, hello. Hello. Wow, this is beautiful. Nice to meet you. Thank you. Welcome, Georgia. My name is Hei, 14th generation. That’s amazing. Nice to meet you. So, this building is really, really stunning. It You can really feel the history here. Look at the roof. Hi, thank you. Oh, it’s a little museum. Yeah. really enjoy for guest history. This tea house is here. It used to be a tea house. Mhm. This is really interesting. Thank you for showing me all of this history. Yeah, let’s to I like it. Let’s do it. Let’s to Wow, beautiful room. Very traditional tatami room. I’m very excited for this. This first step is created while the skin on by moving up and down. Oh, so this is the wild yam. Okay. Up and down. Oo, wow. It’s such a unique texture. Interesting. I can smell it. It smells really good. That’s the last of it. Look how sticky it is. It’s like a batter or like a dough. Enjoy your taste. What? Okay. I’ve never had like a chunk of torono. M. It’s crunchy and it also has an interesting like slippery aftertaste. I really like to grated yam. So, this is perfect for me. So, now I’m going to try to grasp all of the too and pick it up with chopsticks. Oh, wo. It’s so sticky. Look. Oh my gosh. It’s like moji. For all the kids out there who make slime, you’re going to love this. It’s bouncy mortar and pestle but traditional style. Yes. Yes. This is a sunshow tree. All right, let’s see if I can do it. Here we go. Oh, let’s grade it down even more. [Music] Oh, it is kind of shiny. Look at this. It sticks. It’s so bouncy. So, we’re going to use these seasonings and the egg. Okay. Start with egg. We mix it. Let’s get closer. Okay. So, we have a little bit of egg. Not the whole egg. Interesting. And mix together. Yes. Okay. Here we go. Let’s mix it up. Look how airy it’s gotten in. It’s almost like a ball of air. [Music] So this is the tuna broth like this. Mixing it all together. The color is changing. Wow. That’s so that kind of answers something I was wondering about cuz I I know about grated yam but I didn’t know about toroju which I guess involves mixing miso soup into it and that is the part of the judu. Miso shidu is to jiru. It’s the same word. Wow. Very cool. Okay. So we’ll mix it as she adds the miso soup. Okay. Slowly slowly. I feel like a witch. Maybe. Okay. Is it okay? Oh, that looks really good. Oh my goodness. Is this good? This is good. Okay, that looks great. Here you are. Rice. Rice. Thank you. Oh, that looks so great. It has barley in the rice. Mugi mug. Is this traditional style? Yes. 70% white rice and 30% mug. Half size rice put here. Okay. I put here to on top. Yes. Swimming tool. Oh, so most swimming. Yes. So it’ll it’s like a pool. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Let’s see how it goes. We’ll have the rice swimming in the tool. Oh my gosh, that looks so good. Oh my gosh, it’s so gooey. It’s so drippy. Okay, here we go. Third scoop. Swimming. And it is looks so good. Okay, so now we have the dinner set. It looks so good. Thank you. This is f we call ao tofu and wild. So good. I’ve never had that before. And this is baby of really. We just looked it up and apparently before bulb you have bulb lit and that’s what these are like a tulip bulb but smaller. Hey, thank you. This is a beautiful dinner set. Like soba make sound. Oh, you can slurp. Yes. Yes. Yes. Slurp. Really? Okay. I’ve never slurped rice with to yam. So, I’m going to try it. When in Japan, as they say, do as the Japanese do. Okay, let’s give it a try. That is so tasty. Wow. The flavor is fantastic. Personally, I also love the texture. This gooey texture for me is so delicious. This is totally my gem. It’s gooey. It’s delicious. And it has so much umami flavor. You can taste the miso soup. So, it tastes like a delicious soup. And then these little bits of like rice and barley inside. So good. I love it. M. Oh, I got it. Okay. If there’s a little bit less, it’s easier to slurp. You guys have to give this a try. So, now I’m going to try the deep fried toro. And they’ve wrapped a seaweed on it. It’s firm and pillowy. I’m going to dip it in the soy sauce. Let’s give it a try. M. M. That is so interesting. The texture is really unlike anything that I’ve had before. The exterior is so crisp. The interior is gooey. It’s kind of like chewy and gooey. And the uh soy sauce adds a little bit of salty flavor. And the seaweed compliments that really nicely. Really unique flavor though. You just have to try it to to know. This stuff is all for the modernday luxury, but you can imagine that back in the day they enjoyed their toodo rice with some green tea like this. You have to have green tea in Shizoka. So, next I’m really curious to try the um wild yam bulble blitz because that’s not something I’ve ever eaten before. [Music] You know what? The texture is a lot like a chickpea and the seasoning is really tasty. It’s a little bit sour. Um, sweet and sour. [Music] Oo, that’s great. So, you can probably only try this here. This has been such an enjoyable meal so far. I love Toto more than maybe the average person. I This is just a food that I really love. I would love to recommend everybody try it. Why not try everything at least once? You might enjoy it. The flavor is just really exceptional. Thank you so much for teaching me and for cooking this delicious meal for me. This is amazing. Thank you. So, if any of you are looking for a unique experience in Shizoka Prefecture that is definitely not touristy. This is something that Japanese people are wanting to do and food that Japanese locals are wanting to try because of the history here. And just so you know, it also comes with a dessert. There’s ice cream. But this is where I’m going to wrap up for today. If any of you guys are interested in trying either of the experiences I tried today, the links will be down in the description below. And I think on the screen there will be a QR code you can scan. So yeah, please give it a try. I had an amazing time. So let me know in the comments what you guys thought was the most interesting today if you’ve ever visited Shizoka Prefecture and which one you would particularly like to try. And if you enjoyed this video, please give us a like. Don’t forget to subscribe and we’ll see you guys in another video. Next time we’re doing more in Chisoka Prefecture, so look forward to that. See you guys next time. Bye-bye. Bye. If you enjoyed this adventure, click the photos on the left for more fun Japan videos, and click the one on the right to book the restaurant we featured today. Bye. [Music]

Japan byFood and Shizuka are exploring Shizuoka prefecture – a top pick for a day trip from Tokyo! And it’s not just because people often confuse it with Shizuka’s name! Just a short ride from Tokyo, Shizuoka boasts a vibrant gastronomy scene filled with traditional dishes and unique regional specialties.
In Part 1 of our Shizuoka Gastronomy Series, Shizuka visits two historic post towns along the old Tokaido Road to explore the flavors and traditions that define the region. Stay tuned for two more Shizuoka episodes!

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