The trees were shedding their vibrant autumn leaves, and a chill in the morning and evening air hinted at the onset of winter in late November, when Papersky’s Tour de Nippon took place in Koka Shigaraki, Shiga Prefecture. This edition took us on a bike & food trip through the area alive with tradition and modernity. Join us as we explore the local history and culture through Koka’s unique culinary delights.
Day one started off cool and drizzly in the morning, but the skies cleared toward our meeting time when the participants started gathering at Kibukawa Station. This time, many came from within the Kansai region and brought their own bikes. Those renting had a fitting session with our official bike partner from this event, Kona Bicycles, whose stylish body colors and designs had the whole group fascinated. With helmets from our favorite Giro, and a technical team from Circles in Nagoya, we were ready to hit the road.
We set out following the road running parallel to the single-track railway and headed for the Koka Ninja House. Koka was formerly the home of one of two famous schools of spies and mercenaries, the other being the Iga Ninja, originating across the mountain in modern-day Mie Prefecture. And this house is the oldest extant real ninja residence. We got a taste of the ninja way learning about booby traps like revolving doors and trick windows, and drinking the Koka Ninja’s specialty medicinal herb tea.
On the way to our next destination, we noticed the streets were full of Tobidashi Boya signs. The nostalgic “jump-out boy” traffic safety mascot was originally created by Shiga Prefecture 50 years ago and went on to gain nationwide popularity. As we played a game of spotting the familiar 2D boy—there was even a Koka version “jump-out ninja”!—we soon arrived at the charming gallery and café Mamma Mia. The building was renovated from a wooden schoolhouse that sat in the satoyama border zone between the mountain foothills and flat land. We relished a peaceful moment admiring the idyllic rural landscape from the windows and enjoying drinks and a light, fluffy chiffon cake.
After the café, we pedaled up and down the hilly road and made our way to Tanaka Sake Brewery. Thanks to the underground water from the Suzuka Mountains and the rice grown with that water, the city of Koka is home to many sake breweries. Here, we lunched on dishes made with sake lees and koji malt, with all of us seated in a circle like a big family gathering. Then in turn, those of us who finished eating were given a guided tour of the brewery by the owner and master brewer Shigeya Tanaka. We resisted the temptation to start trying the different labels of sake right away and resumed our ride to the hilltop with a view of Koka’s tea plantation.
Just when all of us made it up the long gentle hill to the top, it was the golden hour of sunset, and the tea fields were glowing a breathtaking red. We rewarded ourselves for the arduous uphill ride with teacakes and a commemorative group photo, and put on a spurt to reach the day’s final destination before dark.
While gazing at the deep red evening sky, we zoomed down the hill back into the city and stopped at the home of Jiro Taniguchi, a producer of the 400-year-old Koka specialty Minakuchi kanpyo. Dried shavings of calabash gourd are commonly boiled, marinated, and used as an ingredient of rolled sushi. But as Mr. Taniguchi told us about the local history and kanpyo production, he served us an unexpected snack of uncoated deep-fried kanpyo. This was a first for us and a pleasant surprise. Delicious!
The sun had set and it was pitch dark by the time we reached our goal for day one, the Koka City community development and activity center maRoom. The delightful day wasn’t over just yet though. We smacked our lips over a sumptuous meal featuring the local food and packed in a traditional woodcraft bento box, made by Uosen, a Japanese restaurant in Shigaraki, and clinked cups of sake from Tanaka Sake Brewery, where we made the brewery tour, and Tsuchiyama tea and Asamiya tea from Koka City. Sharing the delicious food and drink seemed to blow away our fatigue.
The participants on only day one seemed reluctant to say good-bye and promised to join us again in another event. This edition of Tour de Nippon took place with support from Koka City as part of Koka Food Meet-Up 2023, organized by the Osaka-based creative unit Graf. The tour was designed for us to enjoy the unique food of Koka City. Read on to see what culinary delights we found on day two.
Day two was sunny and pleasant from the morning. The participants from day one took the Shigaraki Kohgen Railway to Chokushi Station and met up with the participants on only this day. We had dedicated day two to exploring Shigaraki, the home of Shigaraki ware pottery. Our first destination was Nota Shop, a studio and store that attracts visitors from near and far. The sophisticated interior invited all of us to shop for souvenirs.
After we had each chosen and bought our favorite items, we set out for the most challenging mountain route of this tour. In the beginning, we had the leisure of stopping to take pictures of the stunning autumn foliage. But that was until we hit the long uphill. We mashed on the pedals of our Kona Bicycles and climbed up slowly but steadily, cheering one another on until we finally reached the moutain pass. Mission accomplished! From here, it was an easy downhill ride to our goal. We raced down in one go, the wind rushing through our helmets.
As we entered the town of Shigaraki, the kiln chimneys came into view. Among the Shigaraki ware tanuki (raccoon dog) figures lining the streets, there was the odd emperor penguin too. And finally, we arrived at the shop and guesthouse Ogama, run by Meizan Ceramics Industry, recognizable by the enormous old climbing kiln. We parked our bikes and went through the doorway curtains to find a perfect dining table set up for us in front of that kiln. This was the goal we’d been waiting for—the main event of a special lunch party.
We savored a meal featuring local food from Koka City prepared by chef Darren Damonte from bistro Damontei, paired with tea by tea master and tea coordinator Mari Kawanishi. Dish after dish, the unique food that we found during our two-day tour was set on the table, and the one that drew out the loudest cheers of all was a whole homebred chicken covered with potter’s clay and baked in the kiln. The clay helped to lock the flavor in and make the meat so tender that we could shred it with our fingers.
This outdoor cooking party was made possible thanks to tremendous support from UPI. The Dalum‘s elegant cooking tools and Solo Stove’s high-combustion, smokeless fire pit were simply amazing. We took marshmallows flavored with Asamiya tea, toasted them over the Solo Stove, and sandwiched them in graham crackers together with Mr. Damonte’s handmade chocolate. Voila! We made our own s’mores. Once again, we sat around a big dining table and shared the delicious food we found during our travels. Full bellies, happy hearts, and our two-day cycling tour came to a close.
This edition of Tour de Nippon took us on a bike & food trip through Koka Shigaraki, where we found the magic of the local history and culture and the people living there now through the unique culinary delights. The next event is scheduled for Sat.–Sun., April 13–14, 2024, in Saitama. We look forward to seeing you soon!
＜Special Thanks＞
Koka City
graf
＜Tour de Nippon Supporters＞
KONA BICYCLES
Circles
SimWorks
UPI
GIRO
Icebreaker
le.cyc
POC
rig FOOTWEAR
