Exploring the Roots of a Food Culture Dating Back to the Edo Period

Tokyo is a city where diverse cuisines from all over the world gather and evolve.
It is also the birthplace of various ingredients, including traditional Edo vegetables.

The seasonal blessings born from Tokyo’s unique natural environment,
the passion, stories, and smiles of the producers,
and the chefs who weave Tokyo’s food culture with traditional techniques and innovative ideas.

A one-of-a-kind Gastronomic experience in Tokyo
will surely give you new insights into your daily life.

Tokyo Gastronomy Tourism
Enjoy the food nurtured by the climate, environment, customs, traditions, and history of the land, and experience the local culinary culture at the essence of this trip.
The time spent learning, understanding, and savoring will color your experience.

Exploring the Roots of a Food Culture Dating Back to the Edo Period

Tokyo has been rebuilt and evolved so many times that it might seem difficult to feel any traces of the Edo period (lasting for about 260 years from 1603). However, in reality, traces of Edo still remain prominently in the city. Among them, it is in the culinary domain where these traces can be felt particularly vividly. The origins of Tokyo’s food culture date back to the Edo period. And, Tokyo’s chefs and artisans have conveyed enduring traditions to the present day through recipes, techniques, and handiwork passed down from generation to generation since the Edo period.
This time, our team will guide you to four special locations to experience the origins of Tokyo’s food culture.

Participant （Left photo）

Ritsuko Tanaka
Actress / TV Personality
Born in Tokyo, Japan, she debuted as a model at the age of 12 and has had an active career as an actress and TV personality for many years. She is also a certified diving and yoga instructor. Additionally, she is actively involved in protecting the natural environment, including her work for a coral restoration project in Okinawa and community development activities. Her cheerful and friendly personality along with a lifestyle that values the outdoors, food, and community ties have made her highly relatable to people of all ages.

Facilitator （Right photo）

Mackey Makimoto
Author / Columnist
A self-proclaimed “Tabearukist” (eating around foodie), he eats out about 700 times a year, weaving culture and people together through food. He is a food culture evangelist whose work ranges from producing new dining districts to writing and public speaking. Director of the Foundation for Japanese Food Culture Forum and Vice Chairperson of the Japan Gastronomy Association. In addition to sharing information on culinary theory, food travelogues and profiles of individuals through various media, he is also involved in producing dining districts and restaurants, as well as the development of food products.

Itinerary

①Delighting in Bonito Flakes with Rice at “Katsuo Shokudo”

On this day, the two visited “Katsuo Shokudo” in Shibuya for breakfast. Inside this underground restaurant, the pleasant sound of fluffy katsuobushi (bonito flakes) being shaved echoes from owner Mai Nagamatsu’s shaving block.

At this restaurant, the highest grade of bonito flakes (honkarebushi) are shaved right in front of you. They serve set meals featuring bonito flakes with rice that come with such side dishes as miso soup using bonito dashi broth, bonito sashimi, and vegetables with bonito flakes. As it is located in Shibuya, it is well-known as a popular restaurant visited by many young patrons and people from other countries.

While waiting for their set meals, Mr. Mackey explained the history of bonito flakes. “Bonito flakes were first made in Kii (present-day Wakayama and southern Mie prefectures) but were later made as honkarebushi, which is a type of dried bonito that is coated with mold to enhance the maturation. In the middle of the Edo period, koikuchi (dark) soy sauce began to be produced in Shimosa Province (present-day Chiba Prefecture), and bonito broth became popular since bonito flakes and koikuchi soy sauce paired well together. Bonito flakes contain inosinic acid and soy sauce contains glutamic acid, and these make the flavor multilayered.”

Their set meals have come. “First, savor the aroma of the bonito flakes, then try eating one flake as is,” suggested Ms. Nagamatsu. The two of them took a bite of the heaping mound of bonito flakes on top of the rice.

“Wow! These are totally different from the bonito flakes I know. Amazing! They melt in my mouth!” Ms. Tanaka was very impressed. The bonito flakes placed on the rice are a combination of several varieties, including highly aromatic and deeply flavored ones. The restaurant recommend adding natural salt or soy sauce with rice malt to their liking, and finally eating it with raw egg over rice.

Ms. Nagamatsu opened this restaurant 8 years ago after having become active as a “bonito flake evangelist” 14 years ago to promote the appeal of bonito flakes.

“What prompted me to start shaving bonito flakes was that I had admired the way my grandmother shaved them,” recalls Ms. Nagamatsu. “From there, I visited the areas where bonito flakes are produced, heard how the producers felt, and became actively involved with the sentiment that we need to keep this culture of bonito flakes alive since it is so cherished in Japan.” The way Ms. Nagamatsu adjusted the blade of the bonito shaver showed how she is a true master. Thanks to those who continue to preserve the culture of bonito flakes, we cannot help but be grateful that bonito flakes with rice, which was also loved by the common folk of Edo, has been passed down through the ages and can still be enjoyed today.

②Learning Chopstick Making from an Edo-style Woodwork Craftsman at “Mogami Kogei”

Chopsticks are an essential part of Japanese food culture. According to Mr. Mackey, chopsticks were introduced to Japan from China during the Asuka period (said to be the years 592-710) and then spread to the commoners over the next 400 to 500 years. During the Edo period, lacquered chopsticks were developed to conceal stains. And, with the spread of eating out at such locations as vendors, food stalls, and restaurants, the precursor to disposable chopsticks, known as “hikisakibashi,” also came into use.

The two visited “Mogami Kogei,” an Edo sashimono (Edo-style woodwork) workshop in Kuramae, Taito City to try their hand at making chopsticks.

Sashimono refers to wooden crafts made by fitting together wood blocks that feature interlocking joints without using nails. Mogami Kogei makes furniture, such as cabinets, tansu (chests of drawers), mirror stands, and a variety of interior accessories.

They spoke with the third-generation master and traditional craftsman Yutaka Mogami. According to Mr. Mogami, “Since sashimono originated within imperial court culture, Kyoto sashimono is decorated with elegant ornaments, whereas Edo sashimono was made for samurai families and merchants, leading to it becoming simple and robust. Revealing the beautiful wood grain is distinctive of Edo sashimono.”

For their chopstick-making experience, the two chose their favorite pieces of wood cut at chopstick length from among five or six different types, and then shaped them into chopsticks using a small hand plane. The two planed the chopsticks in a circular motion to taper the tips, but neither of them could match Mr. Mogami’s model. They struggled to handle the hand plane with stern expressions on their faces. After Mr. Mogami had made some minor adjustments, the two used sandpaper to smooth the surfaces and finished them with a coat of glaze.

Delighted, Ms. Tanaka said, “Lovely! Doing it ourselves really makes them that much more special. I’ll carry them around as my own chopsticks.”
After struggling with this unfamiliar work, Mr. Mackey said with great satisfaction, “I’m fortunate to have been able to see first hand the master craftsman’s spirit of meticulously using the hand plane to imbue them with beauty from top to bottom. I could sense the artisan spirit in how he made repairs to the hand plane while using it.”

③Learning How Edokko (Tokyo Natives) Eat Soba Noodles at “Muromachi Sunaba”

For lunch, the two came to Muromachi Sunaba, a long-established soba restaurant in Nihonbashi.While “Sunaba” has been the shop name of soba restaurants since the Edo period, its roots are actually in Osaka.

Takeshi Muramatsu, the fifth-generation owner of the restaurant, explained. “There was a noodle shop doing great business near a sand pit in Osaka that came to be called ‘Sunaba’ by its customers. Sunaba was then chosen as the shop name for a restaurant that opened in Edo. At the beginning, it served both soba and udon noodles, but soba then became more popular in Edo. In the Edo period, there were several soba restaurants named ‘Sunaba,’ and we were a franchise restaurant of one of them.”

Why did the people of Edo prefer soba noodles? As reasons to be considered, Mr. Muramatsu and Mr. Mackey noted that buckwheat was relatively easy to obtain, as most of the buckwheat production areas were located in eastern Japan. The addition of a binder (wheat flour) allowed soba dough to be kneaded, making soba taste smoother and easier to eat. Also, as many of the men in Edo were manual laborers, they preferred the high-quality dark soy sauce coming from the nearby towns of Noda and Choshi along with the salty taste of bonito broth. Mr. Mackey added, “Edo’s population was overwhelmingly single men. And since craftsmen and manual laborers were all busy and impatient, I think soba noodles, tempura, and sushi became popular by virtue of being enjoyed easily at food stalls as fast food. In those days, the use of open fire was forbidden inside restaurants to prevent fires, and this caused the number of food stalls to increase. However, to meet the demands of all of the impatient customers, food stalls also served pre-boiled soba noodles, deep-fried tempura, and hako-zushi (pressed sushi in large boxes) cut into bite sized pieces, which was the original form of nigiri-zushi, and so on.”

The two decided to make the most of this rare opportunity and learn the “iki” (cool and stylish) way of eating soda noodles. Mr. Muramatsu explains, “The people of Edo would never take their chopsticks away from their soba noodles as they dipped only the lower third of the noodles into the sauce before noisily slurping them up. The aroma of soba noodles is very faint, so their aroma fades away when dipped fully into the broth. Rather than mixing the wasabi and green onions into the dipping sauce, slurp up the noodles along with the surrounding air strongly enough to make a sound so that the aroma of the soba reaches your nose. After that, you can relish the flavor of the dipping sauce.”
Likewise, not mixing in the wasabi or green onions into the dipping sauce but rather saving them for the hot soba broth later in order to fully savor the aroma of the soba noodles was the traditional style of the people of Edo. Furthermore, if the soba noodles were too long, they would fold them in half before eating. And if someone wished to eat soba noodles with wasabi, they would do so by placing it lightly on top of the noodles.

“Wow, this smells amazing!”
The next dish brought was warm “hanamaki” soba. Opening the lid of the bowl, it had been garnished with so much “mominori” (crumbled dried seaweed) that the soda noodles couldn’t be seen. The scent of the sea and the rich aroma of soy sauce wafted through the air. The name “hanamaki” (scattered flowers) comes from the fact that seaweed is also referred to as “iso-no-hana” (flowers of the rocky shore). “Hanamaki” originated in the Edo period, and being able to partake in such a classic soba dish is another one of the charms of this historic restaurant. “Things that have endured over time without being weeded out have done it thanks to the support of the customers, and so as a long-established restaurant, we are expected to take on the role of imparting these old traditions. I would like to continue to pass on this culture of soba noodles into the future,” reflected Mr. Matsumura.
 

④Enjoying Tsukudani as Learned about at “Shinbashi Tamakiya”

Last but not least, they visited “Shinbashi Tamakiya,” a long-established shop founded in 1782 (late Edo period), which sells tsukudani (simmered seafood and seaweed) and nimame (simmered beans). A dazzling array of tsukudani, including ami (mysid shrimp), shredded kelp, scallops, tuna mixed with ginger, and more line the shop. Their secret sauce is continually replenished as it is used to cook each ingredient, thereby preserving this traditional taste since the Edo period.

According to shop manager Sawako Kamada, tsukudani has a long history, and its birth was associated with Ieyasu Tokugawa. “After the Honnoji Incident (1582), when Tokugawa Ieyasu fled from Settsu Province (located in present-day Osaka and Hyogo), his life was saved by the fish simmered in salt given to him by the people of a fishing village called Tsukuda Village. To return the favor, Ieyasu then arranged for the fishermen of Tsukuda Village to move to Edo, to tideland at the mouth of the Sumida River, and named the area Tsukuda Island. Eventually, small fish simmered in soy sauce were marketed as tsukudani. It is said to have been popular among the commoners of Edo because it was inexpensive, could be preserved, and served as a source of protein.”

Shinbashi Tamakiya proposes new ways of eating tsukudani in line with today’s food culture by also selling such products as “Ami Butter” and “Caramelized Shrimp Tsukudani and Nuts” to be enjoyed paired with wine. “In fact, just spreading some tsukudani on cream cheese also makes a great snack,” said Mr. Mackey Ms. Kamada also suggested, “You can use tsukudani as a substitute for seasoning by mixing it with salad or raw egg over rice.” “I didn’t know that. I had thought that tsukudani should be paired with white rice, but there are endless ways to enjoy it,” responded Ms. Tanaka.

There was also a workshop for making onigiri rice balls with tsukudani and furikake (rice seasoning) at the shop, which the two decided to participate in. A particularly memorable point was when a staff member explained the “difference between onigiri rice balls and omusubi rice balls.” “Japanese people have believed in the existence of ‘eight million kami’ (deities) since ancient times. Since white rice is the heart and soul Japanese cuisine, people wished to offer white rice to mountain deities and be connected with them. This gave birth to the word omusubi (meaning tied together), which is a triangular-shaped rice ball resembling the shape of a mountain. Onigiri, on the other hand, are usually oval or barrel-shaped, as typified by nigiri-zushi (*There are various theories on these word origins).

Ms. Tanaka, who had visited four locations guided by Mr. Mackey, shared her thoughts: “Thanks to the explanations by those at the restaurants and shop as well as Mr. Mackey, I was able to reaffirm not only the richness of Edo’s food culture but also the spirit and values cherished by Japanese people, such as not wasting ingredients, taking good care of one’s tools, and connecting food with the deities. I really hope that children and people from other countries can also learn about this.” It was a day of fully indulging in delicious foods passed down from the Edo period to the present, all while feeling how far Edo-period food culture has spread and how dynamic the city is.

（This article presents the implementation report of the project conducted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government during the 2025 fiscal year, aimed at promoting the appeal of gastronomic tourism in Tokyo）

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