Product Summary (Registration No.150)

Registration No.150 水口かんぴょう

Registered name (Transcription) : 水口かんぴょう（Minakuchi Kanpyo）
Reference information : Minakuchi Kanpyo

Category of product

Class 5 : Processed agricultural product（Kanpyo)

Production Area

Minakuchi-cho in Koka City, Shiga Prefecture

Registered Group

JA Kouka

Characteristics

It is characterized by becoming soft and absorbing much taste when it is cooked. The producing area has been famous for the production of "kanpyo" since the Edo period. It is an essential ingredient and used in abundance for "Ugawa zushi", a local dish eaten during spring festivals, etc., and has been handed down through generations as a local ingredient, anchored in the food culture of the region.

Link with the Production Area

It is produced by using bottle gourds of local varieties in Minakuchi-cho, Koka City, Shiga Prefecture, implementing traditional methods such as sun-drying the strips without using a warm air dryer. With a history of production extending over 400 years, a scenery of its output during the period is visible in Utagawa Hiroshige's work from the series "The Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido: Minakuchi" (around 1833).