What's Taira no Kiyomori?

 Many Japanese people look forward to watching Taiga dramas (or “big river” drama), which are broadcasted by NHK. These annual dramas centre on historical figures who from a critical juncture of Japan’s history and often have a great influence on tourism to towns related to the characters or settings of the dramas themselves. It is very similar to the way many people visit Rome to travel to the settings of the movie “Roman Holiday.” The 2012 drama is about Taira no Kiyomori. He is closely connected with Hyogo-Kobe, a fact that stimulates local tourism greatly. So, who is he?

Who is Taira no Kiyomori?

 Taira-no-Kiyomori was a samurai warrior in medieval Japan (approximately 900 years ago). He was the first samurai in history to take a political place among Japan’s nobility, thereby establishing a samurai-dominated administrative government in Japan. He is often described as a villain or an anti-hero in a famous piece of Japanese classical literature, “the Tale of Heike.” After Kiyomori and his clan won a deadly battle against another samurai clan, all of Japan came under his rule and his family and the members of his clan kept all the important posts in the government to themselves. They placed too much confidence and pride in their own power and ability, and as time went by, they fell down from their proud existence of glory and elegance. However, Kiyomori was also an innovative harbour and urban planner with a good sense of economy and internationality. Kiyomori’s clan improved the old port in Kobe (“Owada-no-Tomari”) and its surrounding area as one of their bases. He dedicated his life to enriching the country by international trade; he prepared and improved the trade infrastructure of the old port and laid the foundations of full-scale international trade, including construction of an artificial island. He established a trade relationship with the Sung dynasty of China and put imported Chinese coins into public circulation, bringing about a money economy in Japan. He relocated the capital from Kyoto to Fukuhara, present-day Hyogo Ward in Kobe. Nonetheless, the new capital stayed just for less than half a year before being returned to Kyoto again due to various reasons.

 The frustration with the dictatorship of the Taira clan was growing among the nobility, temples, shrines and other samurai clans. Kiyomori died of a fever while his inveterate enemy, the Genji clan, rose up in arms supported by an anti-Taira clan movement. His ashes were buried in a temple in Kobe. Thus, Kobe has been closely connected to Kiyomori, and many sites in Hyogo Prefecture keep historical treasures left by Kiyomori and his clan.

The Great Buddha of Hyogo sitting at the temple where Kiyomori became a priest

 People pay a lot of attention to any city or town which provides the setting for any NHK Taiga drama. These locations come to be the central attractions of tourism in the area. Hyogo will take this opportunity to promote places of interest related to Taira-no-Kiyomori.

 Our next blog will introduce a new exhibition pavilion in Kobe which is connected to the NHK drama "Taira no Kiyomori." Don’t Miss it!

Useful links:

Hyogo Tourism Guide

http://www.hyogo-tourism.jp/english/column/2009_04_tid.html　(English)

http://www.hyogo-tourism.jp/english/hyogotsu/index.html　(English)

Taira no Kiyomori

http://www.hyogo-tourism.jp/aitaihyogo_2011/　(Japanese only) .

http://www.kiyomori-genpei.jp/　(Japanese only) 

http://feel-kobe.jp/genpei/nagare04.html　(Japanese only)

KOBE de Kiyomori

http://kobe-de-kiyomori.jp/　(Japanese only)

NHK Official Drama page

http://www9.nhk.or.jp/kiyomori/　（Japanese only）

Yoko (Hyogo Tourism Association)

A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2012 New Year’s Card from TID!

Oriental White Stork (Konotori)

All of us at the Hyogo Tourism Association would like to wish you a very Happy New Year!

We’ll do our very best to keep providing lots of interesting and useful information about Hyogo to people all over the world! We are looking forward to your continued support for our TID Blog, “Go! Go! Hyogo!,” as well as our website! This blog is updated every 10 days so make sure to check back regularly!

Wishing you a Happy New Year full of joy and happiness!

By the way, Taira no Kiyomori, one of the famous Japanese samurai, is the first blog theme of this year. What great historical feats did he accomplish? He and his clan left historical treasures not only in Kobe but many places in Hyogo Prefecture. Our next issue will start telling his saga, introducing many sites connected to him. Don’t miss it!

Soo (Hyogo Tourism Association)

Looking back on 2011…

 There are only a few days left of this year. How have you spent 2011?

 In March, Japan was stuck by a terrible and unprecedented disaster; the Great East Japan Earthquake. Japan has moved on to the recovery and reconstruction phase with a lot of help from foreign countries.

 Your visits to Japan will encourage a prompt recovery and reconstruction of from the devastation. So we look forward to your trip to Japan.

 We have also had a similar experience, in the form of the Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in 1995. We feel a deep sympathy for the people of Tohoku and will continue with our support for rebuilding the damaged areas.

 We are praying for a speedy and complete recovery for Tohoku.

 Well, we have written several series with various themes like gourmet, art, outdoor activities etc in our blog throughout this year. Did you enjoy our blog?

 We will continue to report on Japanese culture and sightseeing information in Hyogo so make sure to check back in 2012!

 We do hope you will let us know if you have any topics that you would like to read about. Please send your email to:

http://www.hyogo-tourism.jp/opinion/

 We wish you a Happy New Year!

 Don't miss our next issue!

Hana（Hyogo Tourism Association)

Sobameshi & Bokkake!

 This issue covers two more local delicacies, Sobameshi and Bokkake, from Nagata Ward, Kobe City.

 Sobameshi is said to have been started by female factory workers. They mixed cold rice in their lunch box with Chinese-style wheat noodles and locally-produced Worcester sauce on a hot iron plate (Teppan) at Okonomiyaki restaurants.

 You can enjoy the light taste and texture of the noodles, rice and the sauce only in Nagata where people are most enthusiastic about Konamon. Flour-based food, such as Takoyaki, Okonomiyaki, Udon noodles and Soba noodles, are collectively known as Konamon in the Kansai area.

 “Bokkake” is a dish using small cuts of hashed beef gristle and chopped konnyaku with sweet 'n'spicy sauce. Bokkake is used as a savory ingredient with a crunchy texture for curry, rice, Okonomiyaki and Udon noodles.

 You will see a large number of signs saying “Soba-meshi is served here!” or “Bokkake is served here!” around JR Shin Nagata Station.

Banner for "Sobameshi"

Sign reading Bokkake, Udon

Himeji Oden

For this latest issue, let me introduce Himeji-Oden, a taste of Himeji City which embraces Himeji Castle. Oden is one of Japan’s most popular winter dishes. It is a kind of stew which contains delicately cooked eggs, vegetables and meat boiled a soy sauce-based broth. Oden is so popular that you can easily buy it near the cashier of any convenience store in Japan. Soy sauce and grated ginger is set out with the dish. Oden gained a lot of popularity at the annual big gourmet competition, “B-1 Grand Prix,” in Japan!

I took the JR train from Sannomiya to Himeji for 40 minutes to enjoy the local Himeji flavour!

Near the station there are bustling shops and restaurants where Himeji Oden is available as it is the very taste of Himeji. I made a special choice of restaurant: “Nada-Giku” which has served Oden for 52 years.

The restaurant is located on the corner of a shopping arcade with many shops…

Nada-Giku

Nada-Giku looks like a typical Japanese-style pub, or Izakaya; shelves on the wall are lined with sake bottles and Japanese folk songs (Enka) are playing in the background. The pub has counter seats, so it is pretty convenient for solo diners. 

Inside the pub

One of the unique sales points of this pub is that real Japanese drums are used for the customers’ seats. Awesome, aren’t they?

Drum stools

Here the Himeji Oden comes! The fibrous meat, an egg, deep-fried tofu, konnyaku and Gobo-Ten (burdock packed in minced fish cake and fried) are skewered with a long stick. Steaming rice, miso soup and pickles also delight the palate.

Himeji Oden special

The harmony of grated raw ginger and the subtle flavor of soy sauce left me feeling refreshed. Add Japanese mustard as you like.

Fibrous meat, egg and deep-fried tofu

Nada-Giku offers two versions: “Black”(as above) and “White.” The “White” version uses a broth of sake lees as soup stock. Sounds mouth-watering!

Don’t miss the Himeji Oden on the way from the great Himeji Castle.

Shark (Hyogo Tourism Association)

【Local Gourmet Food】The B-1 Grand Prix in Himeji: A Local Gourmet Competition

 A local gourmet competition, “The 6^th B-1 Grand Prix” was held between the 12^th and 13^th of November in Himeji, Hyogo! This big food competition is held annually and groups from almost every prefecture in Japan bring their most prized B-class gourmet food to win the heart and stomach of the visitors, who vote for their favorite B-1 food of the event. This year, a record-breaking 515,000 visitors came to the event during the period and that shows just how much passion Japanese people have for trying delicious food, as well as how serious the 63 participants are about the #1 spot.

・     Official website for B-1 Grand Prix in Himeji : 　http://www.b1-himeji.jp/（Japanese）

*This event has already ended.

 The official guide book and coupon

【Local Gourmet Food】 Kakogawa Katsumeshi

Recently, local gourmet dishes are becoming very popular in Japan. These dishes are usually inexpensive, and use popular local ingredients. These local gourmet dishes are also usually easy to make, for example, noodles (like ramen and fried noodles), hamburgers, curry, bowl dishes and fried food. Many of the cities promote their local gourmet food to attract visitors from other parts of Japan.

Some of the Local Gourmet Food

For the next several blogs, we’re going to introduce some of the famous local gourmet dishes from Hyogo. So today, we’ll start with “katsumeshi.”

Have you ever heard of katsudon? Katsudon is tonkatsu, or pork cutlet, cooked in a soy sauce - based broth with egg placed on top of bowl of rice. Katsudon is popular throughout Japan, but katsumeshi is basically a western-style katsudon.

Katsumeshi (Link) 

（English）http://www.hyogo-tourism.jp/english/spot/87_katsumeshi.html

Katsumeshi

  What’s unique about Katsumeshi is that it uses a beef instead of pork. Instead of using broth and eggs, it uses demi-glace sauce, and also, you use chopsticks to eat katsumeshi instead of a spoon or fork.

  It’s a popular dish found in many magazines and pamphlets, but I’ve never had it before, so I finally got a chance to give it a try! 

Katsumeshi Sign

The restaurant I went to had two options; regular wagyu (Japanese beef) or supreme kuroge-wagyu (black-haired Japanese beef). So I decided to go with the supreme.The katsumeshi was covered with demi-glace sauce, and looked VERY delicious.

Katsumeshi at Lucky Shokudo

The katsumeshi here came with miso-soup, salad and fruit. During lunch time, it also comes with a free drink. It was \1350 (regular was \1100) so it may be a bit extravagant for lunch, but I was extremely satisfied.

  Depending on the restaurant, they also offer pork cutlet and deep-fried prawns.

  Kakogawa is located between Kobe and Himeji, so if you’re planning on visiting Himeji Castle, get off at Kakogawa and have Katsumeshi for lunch!

  Katsumeshi can be found at restaurants and cafes near Kakogawa train station.

Katsumeshi Map http://www.kako-navi.jp/katsu-meshi/map.html （Japanese）

  Our next blog is going to be on the B-1 Grand Prix, a very popular event that was held in Himeji between November 12 to 13^th. See you next time!

Hana（Hyogo Tourism Association)