[Handa city] Recommended spots in Handa where you can Learn and Enjoy

The Chita Peninsula, where Handa City is located, has been one of the leading sake brewing regions in Japan since the Edo period (1603-1868). In addition to sake, miso, soy sauce, vinegar, and other brewed products also flourish here. Handa was the birthplace of a groundbreaking innovation to create vinegar from sake lees. It also triggered the Edo-mae-zushi (Edo style sushi) boom.

This time, we will introduce spots where you can learn and enjoy yourself while experiencing the culture and history of Handa. Please use this as a reference for your weekend outings!

Learn about vinegar while having fun
"MIM Mizkan Museum"

Speaking of Handa City, there is a company "Mizkan" famous for its "vinegar".

First, let's go to the "Mizkan Museum MIM" which was completely renewed in November 2015. This is a hands-on museum where you can enjoy learning about the history of vinegar making at Mizkan and the appeal of food culture.

It is located along Handa Canal, a 3-minute walk from Handa Station on the JR Taketoyo Line and a 13-minute walk from Chita Handa Station on the Meitetsu Kowa Line. In the past, water for the factory was collected here and the finished vinegar was transported by boat. The mark of Mizkan is everywhere.

In the "Daichi no Kura" zone, visitors can see how vinegar was made in the Edo period and how it is brewed today, and get a feel for the spirit of craftsmanship that has been passed down from generation to generation.

In the "Storehouse of Time" zone, the history of the Mizkan Group is depicted like a picture scroll, allowing visitors to learn about the transformation and history of Mizkan.

In fact, there was a deep relationship between Edo-mae-zushi and Mizkan's sake lee. In Edo (present-day Tokyo), "Hayazushi," a prototype of today's nigiri-zushi, was very popular. At the time, rice vinegar, which was still expensive, was used, so Matazaemon began selling Kasuzu (sake lee vinegar) to Edo, believing that it would make sushi tastier and easier to prepare. Sake lee vinegar, which was sweeter and tastier than rice vinegar, quickly became popular for its suitability for sushi.

The gigantic object in the center is a full-scale reproduction of the Bezaisen boat that transported vinegar from Handa to Edo in the Edo period (20 meters long, 5 meters high, and weighs 20 tons).

Finally, visit the "Hikari no Niwa (Garden of Light)" zone. Visitors can enjoy learning about the appeal of food through a variety of experiences. This zone is probably the most exciting for kids.

The table named "Sushi Continent" has more than 1,000 pieces of more than 20 types of nigiri sushi.

"Ajipon Studio" where you can make "My Ponzu"

There is also a “photo spot” where you can use your body to complete the Japanese Hiragana character “su”.

"MIM Mizkan Museum" is a museum where not only adults but also children can learn with the whole family. Why don't you have fun learning about the history of Mizkan and the profundity of vinegar making?

[Handa city] "MIM Mizkan Museum" where You can Learn about Vinegar while Having Fun

I went to "MIM  Mizkan Museum" in Handa City, Aichi Prefecture, which was completely renewed in November 2015. This is a hands-on museum where you can enjoy learning about the history of vinegar-making by Mizkan, a company famous for vinegar, and the appeal of food culture. Handa is a revolutionary innovation that creates vinegar from sake lees.

2019.01.29

https://life-designs.jp

[MIM Mizkan Museum] *Visits must be reserved in advance.
Address ：2-6 Nakamura-cho, Aichi Handa City
Phone number ：0569-24-5111
Hours of operation : 9:30-17:00
Closed ：Thursdays (if Thursday is a national holiday, the museum is open on Thursday and closed on the following Friday), Year-end and New Year holidays
Parking: Approx. 40 cars in the first parking lot, approx. 100 cars in the second parking lot (8 buses available)

http://www.mizkan.co.jp/mim/

Let's eat "Hayazushi", the prototype of nigiri sushi!
"Sushi Kaiseki Masago Main Store"

"Hayazushi" is the prototype of nigirizushi, which was introduced earlier in the Mizkan Museum. Actually, there are only three restaurants in Handa City where you can taste Hayazushi!

When Mitsukan reissued the Edo period sake lees vinegar "Mituban Yamabuki", several sushi restaurants in Handa City gathered together to research the production method and ingredients from remaining documents and materials, and faithfully reproduced the sushi of the time. Bishu Hayasushi is a sushi made by a sushi restaurant in the Edo period, and is a faithful reproduction of the sushi of that time. Since most of the workers in those days did manual labor, each piece of sushi was three to five times the size of today's sushi! Another feature is the preparation of the ingredients, such as marinating blue fish in vinegar and marinated tuna to preserve it.

This time, we would like to introduce you to "Sushi Kaiseki Masago Main Branch" where you can enjoy Bishu Hayasushi.

"Bishu Hayazushi Gozen" ¥1,500

The "Bishu Hayasushi Gozen" includes three pieces of sushi (tuna, shrimp, and conger eel), tempura, grilled fish, red miso soup, and a small bowl of cooked food. Although not shown in the photo, we also got some nimono (simmered dishes). It is a very generous portion!

This is the long-awaited Bishu Haya-zushi! Not only the vinegar, but also seaweed and rice from Chita are used.

Take it in your hand, it's quite big! In the old days, nigiri sushi was held with the whole hand, just like the character. The sushi rice made with sake lees vinegar "Mitsuban Yamabuki" is fluffy and the taste of vinegar spreads. I felt it was sweeter than modern sushi.

It is a local flavor that can only be tasted in Handa. Please try the early sushi of the Edo period!

Sushi Restaurant Masago Honten
Address : 2-15-3 Kita Futatsuzaka-cho, Aichi Prefecture Handa City
Phone number ：0569-21-0547
Business hours: 11:00-14:00, 17:00-22:00
Closed: Thursday
Parking: 18 cars

You can taste the phantom "Kabuto Beer"
"Handa Red Brick Building"

Along with the Mizkan Museum, we would like you to visit the Handa Red Brick Building. In fact, it is a place that has a deep relationship with the Mizkan Group.

"Handa Red Brick Building" is a brewery that produced "Kabuto Beer", which has been produced for about half a century and is called "phantom beer". Until now, it was open to the public only a few times a year, but in 2015 it was renewed as a tourist facility.

Handa City The Chita Peninsula, where Mitsukan is located, has been a region where brewing of sake, miso, soy sauce, vinegar, and other fermented products has flourished since the Edo period (1603-1868). It was here in Handa that Nakano Sumise, which is connected to the current Mizkan Group, was born. The origin of Kabuto Beer was the shipment of bottled beer named "Marusan Beer" in 1889 by Matazaemon Nakano, the fourth generation of Nakano Sushiten, and Zenpei Morita, the founder of Shikishima Baking Company.

In 1898, a mechanical engineer and a brewing engineer were invited from Germany to build a new brewery, the Handa Red Brick Building, in Enokishita, Handa-machi. Renamed Kabuto Beer and began brewing full-fledged German beer. Two years later, he won a gold medal at the Paris Exposition. It spread with the momentum approaching the four major beer makers.

And at the Handa Red Brick Building, you can actually taste Kabuto beer!

There is a cafe "CAFE BRICK" in the building. You can enjoy reprinted “raw” Kabuto beer and snacks made with local ingredients. It is a very luxurious space where you can have a phantom beer in a historic building.

Kabuto beer tasting ¥800 (Meiji and Taisho mini glasses 230ml each)

There are two types of Kabuto Beer.

The left side of the photo is "Meiji Kabuto Beer". An authentic German beer that won a gold medal at the Paris Expo in the Meiji era. The alcohol content is a little higher at 7%. It looks like a dark beer, but since it's a red beer, it's a refreshing drink with little astringency.

And the golden one on the right is "Taisho Kabuto Beer". It's refreshing to drink without any peculiarities, so you can drink it quickly. Kabuto Beer after knowing the background and history of its birth is exceptional!

Handa Red Brick Building is a place where you can feel the history of Handa City as well as Kabuto Beer. It's not easy to learn the history and actually drink the beer. If you like beer, I would like you to visit once.

"Handa Red Brick Building" where you can taste the phantom "Kabuto Beer"

Do you know a beer called "Kabuto Beer"? The Kabuto Beer billboard appeared in the Studio Ghibli movie "The Wind Rises" and became a hot topic. Kabuto Beer has been produced in Handa City for only about half a century, and is called a “phantom beer”. This time, I would like to introduce you to such a phantom Kabuto beer...

2019.02.01

https://life-designs.jp

Handa Red Brick Building
Address ：8 Enoshita-cho, Handa City, Aichi, Japan
Phone number ：0569-24-5111
Business hours ：10:00-17:00
Closed ：New Year's Holidays
Parking ：The parking lot of the museum is shared with the adjacent Handa venue of Nagoya Housing Center

https://handa-akarenga-tatemono.jp/

This time, we have featured recommended spots in Handa City City, Aichi. The town of Handa and brewed products such as vinegar and sake had a deep relationship.

Handa is relatively easy to get to from Nagoya and perfect for a day trip. Please use it as a reference for your weekend trip.