In September 2023, I stopped by on my way back from Kumihama. This place is also part of the Kumihama Minato Yuuyuu series where I stayed the night before, and I had received a guide and a coupon. Inside the store, there were various fresh seasonal vegetables and fruits lined up. However, since there were roadside direct sales stands selling fresh pears along the way to this store, and I had already bought some pears there, I passed on buying here. There were also good deals on large bags. I bought some snacks to munch on in the car, as well as some chili peppers and garlic to use at home. I also received a coupon for roasted green tea and black bean tea bags, which I enjoyed at the hotel.

I took advantage of the declining trend of COVID-19 and went on a trip last weekend following the itinerary of my home → Genbudo Cave → Kinosaki Onsen → Izushi → home, for a 1 night, 2 day trip. After visiting "Genbudo Cave," I extended my trip to the vicinity of the Sea of Japan. I decided to have lunch at a roadside station called "Michi-no-Eki Kumihama." They sell local produce and fish there, as well as have a restaurant. I arrived a little after 1 pm, and the restaurant seemed to have calmed down after the lunch rush. The menu featured a variety of seafood dishes. I was torn between ordering the "Seafood Bowl" or the "Shrimp Fry Set," but ended up choosing the shrimp fry. The dish arrived after a short wait, and it was more substantial than I had expected. The rice in the bottom left corner was a full bowl. In addition to the main shrimp fry dish, the set included simmered dish, salad, pickles, and miso soup. I started by eating the main shrimp fry dish. I squeezed lemon over it and generously added tartar sauce from a separate dish. The shrimp was plump and delicious. The taste was so good that I felt like I could eat as much rice as I wanted. The simmered dish was also lightly seasoned and quite tasty. Before I knew it, I had finished the meal. It was delicious.

I stopped by the restroom and also visited the store. There are plenty of vegetables and souvenirs from Tango. I bought some Inobotan Curry and Shika Momiji Curry from Kyotango City. The Gariya Umya Cucumber is very delicious and crunchy, making it irresistible. The Gariya Karya Cucumber is a spicy version of the Gariya Umya Cucumber, so if you like spicy food, you'll love it. It's quite spicy, so be prepared with some drinks. I will definitely try the curry again.

I drove from Tango to Tango Peninsula. Starting from Kinosaki, I went around Tango Peninsula towards Ine, Amanohashidate, and Maizuru. Along the way, I found a roadside station on the right side of the road! I decided to stop by. What I realized while driving in the Tango area this time is that there are plenty of fruits around here. And they are really cheap. Especially, the watermelon that looked a little bad was cheap, so I bought two, but honestly, I regret not buying more. By the way, what I bought here was: - Watermelon that looked a little bad (700 yen) - Unripe melon (still not sweet, but a good deal for a big fruit) - Okawakame (an interesting vegetable) Among other things, I also bought local milk, Hirayam Milk, which is used in various places.

On the second day of the Tango Peninsula, we first visited Kumihama Sankai-kan. The entrance had a prominent display of melons. I didn't know that Kumihama is known for melons! They are grown on sandy soil, resulting in beautifully patterned melons. Normally, I don't eat melons as I usually end up regretting it with cheap, watery and tasteless ones. But this time, I decided to splurge on a melon for ¥1800. There were also red-fleshed melons available, but I chose a green one. My partner opted for salted squid for ¥440, similar to the delicious salted squid we had for breakfast at the inn. The shop had a variety of agricultural products, souvenirs, processed seafood, and more. The melon needs a week to ripen, as indicated by the eat-by date sticker. It's hard to tell when it's ripe, but the instructions say to refrigerate it a few hours before eating to avoid losing sweetness. When we cut it open, it was perfect - juicy and delicious right to the rind. It was a great purchase, and I look forward to enjoying it again in the future. Highly recommended!

The morning after staying at a relaxing inn, I visited this shop to find souvenirs. It seems that chirashi sushi is a specialty in Tango. Is it a remnant of the mackerel highway? Some famous shops also use sweet and savory mackerel flakes, but they open late, so I had nothing to do and decided to get souvenirs here. Naturally, there was no sushi at 8 o'clock, so I wandered around the store and ordered pear and chirashi sushi, my daughter's favorite, for the family. We decided to wait in the car and received the order in about 40 minutes.

When I used to go to Amanohashidate to eat crab for seven years, I often used this roadside station. In Kumihama, there is a lot of sandy soil, and because of its good drainage, vegetables grow very well here. You can buy such vegetables and fruits at this roadside station. The restaurant offers a vegetable-centered buffet, but it might be a bit lacking for younger people.

I purchased the grilled garlic miso.

◇◇◇ July 28, 2018 (Saturday) ◇◇◇ For over 20 years, I have been going on a camping trip to Kumiham Camp with my bad colleagues from work. We use one day of our summer vacation and stay for 2 nights and 3 days. Since the camp is held in a hot place during the summer, we call it "training". I started participating when I was in my late 20s, and now I find myself as the eldest along with a colleague who joined the company at the same time as me. We, the elder group, should probably call it "training". The subordinates who have worked their way up over the years have also taken on roles, and now their subordinates are starting to join as well. Time really flies. It's about time we start passing it on to the next generation. But it's so much fun playing mahjong on the sandy beach in the shade with a beer in hand... It has become an annual pleasure, so it might be difficult to quit, right? This year, due to logistical reasons, we split into an advanced team staying for 2 nights and 3 days, and a later team staying for 1 night and 2 days. I was naturally in the advanced team. We loaded the training equipment onto a light truck owned by a nearby colleague, met up with the Kobe team, and set off. The plan was for 2 nights and 3 days, but due to the impact of Typhoon 12, it was changed to 1 night, and the later team did not participate, so this year's training ended. Now, onto the food review. Every time we went on training, we bought local souvenirs. This time, I'm sharing my first post. Last year, I bought melons, but this year, at the request of my dear wife, I bought white peaches. There was a box of 5 for ¥500, but next to it was a boxed set of 7-8 for ¥2,700. It's too many to eat at home, so I'll share some with the colleague who drove us back and forth. While exploring the store after buying the peaches, I noticed a sign that said, "This is worth trying. It's a popular product that Emiko Uenuma highly recommends." Oh, if it's that good, I'll buy it and try it. The peaches need to ripen for 2-3 days. Although it has only been ripening for a day, I tried it the next day. The recommendation was not false. It was slightly hard, so I think it would be better if it ripened a little more to bring out the desired softness and sweetness. I'm looking forward to trying it in 2 days. The sea urchin seaweed was eaten the next morning with white rice. I won't say it was "highly recommended," but the combination of sea urchin and seaweed was a good collaboration and tasted better than average. If the typhoon hadn't come, we could have had more training, but oh well. We promised to resume next year and headed home.

I bought a local shochu called "Imotan" at a roadside station in Kyotango, Kyoto Prefecture, located in Kumihama. It is along Route 178, near Kumihama Bay. This medium-sized roadside station sells local products such as vegetables. Various local sake and shochu were displayed, including "Imotan," a sweet potato shochu from Kyoto. According to the manufacturer's website, they blend raw sake made using vacuum distillation and atmospheric distillation methods to create a shochu with a gentle aroma and a refreshing taste, inspired by Kyoto. As described, it was a sharp and refreshing sweet potato shochu.

The Kani Kaisen Hamakaze express train arrived at Toyooka Station. The name suggests that it is a train for going to eat crab. The train was full of excited tourists, making me, a business traveler, feel a bit out of place. I got off at Toyooka and headed to the site by rental car. The snow from the other day had mostly melted, with only remnants on the sides of the roads. I stopped at a roadside station in Kinosaki for a restroom break. They had souvenirs and vegetables, typical of a roadside station.

The restaurant is located at Kumihamacho Michi no Eki. The weekday buffet is 700 yen, while the weekend buffet is 800 yen. Despite the attractive prices, the variety and quantity of food were lacking, and it quickly ran out during lunchtime. The vegetables sold at the Michi no Eki were pesticide-free, but seemed a bit expensive for direct sales from farmers (in my opinion). The buffet mainly focused on vegetables...

This is a buffet restaurant located inside the road station "Kumihama SAN KAI KAN", which uses plenty of locally grown vegetables. The restaurant is not very large, seating around 20 people, and when I visited during a long weekend, it was almost full. Unfortunately, I refrained from taking photos of the food. The locally sourced fresh vegetables were delicious, but it would be nice if they added more fish and meat dishes. After all, having only vegetables can leave young people feeling a bit lonely! 😉

I visited the Michi-no-Eki "Kumihama Sankaikan." At "Sankaikan," various souvenirs from Kyotango are sold. At "Namano Kajitsu Ichi," vegetables grown by local farmers are sold. At "Meshiiru," you can enjoy dishes using vegetables from "Namano Kajitsu Ichi" in a buffet style. Vegetables grown in the sandy soil of Kumihama are said to grow well due to good drainage. I bought some fresh snap peas, which are currently in season. I lightly boiled them and ate them with mayonnaise. I also bought some fish senbei as a souvenir. These senbei are made by baking small fish until crispy. They were perfect as a snack with tea. Address: 1709 Uraake, Kumihama-cho, Kyotango City, Kyoto Prefecture.

October 2, 2021 14:00・Economical B-Grade Large Bag: ¥1,100 Discovered the "Economical B-Grade Large Bag" around the same time last year. A great deal on pears where the B-grade difference is not noticeable. The "Gold 20th Century Pear" in the bag weighs 3kg and has a crunchy texture, high water content, and a slightly sweet and tangy taste.

Vegetables as souvenirs.

This time, my family went on a small trip to the northern part of Kyoto. While we were on the way, we saw an event happening in front of us, so we decided to stop by. It seemed like a watermelon sales event, as there were many stalls selling watermelons. Since we had already had lunch, we decided to skip the food and explore the store instead. They were selling local vegetables, fruits, seafood, and products from Hirayamiruku. They also had Jersey ice cream from Milk Factory Sora, but we decided to pass on it since we were planning to visit there later. We ended up buying some vegetables. The vegetables, freshly picked in the morning by local farmers, were very fresh. We had them in a salad the next morning, and they were delicious and juicy.