My Rural Travelogue (Part XLII): Promoting local food, including wild edibles, in Japan

Ad for ice cream at a Teshikaga (Hokkaido) ramen house
features a photo of the family farm (4 children!) who produce the milk--
and, of course, one of the cows.

During my recent trip to Japan, I noticed a lot of promotion regarding food that played up the origin of food--usually its local origin. In this photo-dense post, I'm going to feature some of what I saw.  (All photos are (c) Lisa R. Pruitt 2025) 

I first noticed the attention to local food in Kanazawa, on the west coast of Honshu, where the breakfast place mats at our Hyatt Centric hotel noted local milk products and featured the label, "Kanazawa Local Style" (lower left quadrant)  

Breakfast placemat Hyatt Centric Kanazawa

Then, in Osaka, which is known as the food capital of the country, the cafe in a private library touted dairy products from Hokkaido, the northernmost island.  When I asked why an establishment in the southern part of the main island, Honshu, was promoting products from the north, I was told that Hokkaido has more space than Honshu--it's less crowded--and thus most of the nation's milk and dairy products are produced there.  Hokkaido seems to be associated with farm-fresh food, especially dairy.

live chickens outside a restaurant in Osaka; 
now that's local food

The next week, I visited northern Hokkaido and saw for myself many dairy farms.  Near Kushiro and the surrounding marshlands, which are habitat for Japanese cranes as well as dairy cows, the two species often share space. 

I also saw, on the northeastern side of the island near Kushiro, greenhouses where strawberries were grown.

To the northwest of the Kushiro area, closer to Shire and en route to Shiretoko National Park, I was driven past fields of yams and sugar beets.  A sugar beet processing facility was also pointed out.  

Then, between Shiretoko and Memanbetsu, I saw apple and cherry orchards, as well as the Okhotsk Bean Factory storage tower/elevator.  

A wild fox crossed my taxi's path very near there, just a few miles from the Memanbetsu airport.  This was striking because I'd not seen one in the far more remote and wild Shiretoko National Park. 

Fried sweet potato balls are associated with Bihoro Pass, above Lake Kussharo, and are sold at the roadside station there.  I can attest to their deliciousness, as well as their greasiness.  

Raised beds for student gardening at a primary school at Wakoto, on the shores of Lake Kussharo, in rural northeastern Hokkaido.
 

Woman preparing bracken, a wild fern-like plant, outside a restaurant at Lake Akan.  I noticed a significant focus on wild edibles, including fiddlehead fern, at restaurants in Japan, especially outside major cities.  I had wild edibles as part of tempura meal sets in Takayama and on Hokkaido.  Hokkaido guides also pointed out to me places (some of them at relatively high elevation) where wild edibles were growing.

Below are a Japanese crane across the road from the cattle pictured in the second photo below, both in/near Tsurui village, in northeastern Hokkaido.  I found that the iconic cranes frequently occupied the same habitat as cattle in the region's marshes.  In fact, a barely visible crane is behind the cattle in the lower photo.  

 

A Sapporo Co-op delivery truck in Utoro, a rural region at the entrance to Shiretoko National Park.  Sapporo is the seat of Hokkaido prefecture and its largest city.  The co-op sells both groceries and daily essentials, e.g., detergents, toiletries.  

I enjoyed a lovely lunch at Heart n Tree auberge/guest house and restaurant in Tsurui, Hokkaido.  I also took a cheese-making class there.  

Here is a placard at breakfast that promotes local dairy products, with Holstein cow stylized art, at hotel buffet in Utoro, near entrance to Shiretoko National Park, Hokkaido.

Okhotsk Bean Factory products for sale, Utoro, near Shiretoko National Park, Hokkaido.