The 2018 Winter Chapter of the "Traveling Shin-Tora Market" will be held from January 9th to March 30th on Shin-Tora Street, the symbolic street of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games.

2018 marks the 150th anniversary of the start of the Meiji era. This year's theme is "Spring of Ming and Enlightenment," and three local governments - Hagi City in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Matsuyama City in Ehime Prefecture, and Satsumasendai City in Kagoshima Prefecture - are participating. Centered on history rooted in the land, the market will allow visitors to feel the aroma of history and powerful energy through people, lifestyles, culture, and craftsmanship, vividly coloring Shin-Tora Street for the New Year.


The popular "Traveling Stand," offering gourmet food from participating municipalities, will feature "Shochu Bar Sakuba Satsuma no Kuni" from Satsumasendai City, Kagoshima Prefecture. Enjoy over 20 varieties of shochu from seven breweries in the city, along with the city's bountiful ingredients.

The lunch menu will feature a special event version of the "Saigo Donburi" (¥815), a local rice bowl made with pork, Saigo Takamori's favorite food, and miso, his specialty. Another new specialty dish is the "Kagoshima Kurobuta Pork Steak Set Meal - Kumquat Aroma" (834 yen), an exquisite dish that combines the mellow flavor of black pork with a sauce made from the sour kumquats that are a specialty of Satsumasendai City.


At Taimeshiya Oidenka Matsuyama in Matsuyama City, Ehime Prefecture, you can choose from two types of taimeshi from Matsuyama (Central and Toyo regions) or Nanyo region, along with their specialty five-color somen noodles. The menu changes monthly, with items such as "Small bowl + Five-color somen noodles" (1,109 yen, 1,111 yen), a tasting set of local sake from five long-established sake breweries that have been part of Matsuyama's history, and sake carefully selected based on haiku (from 600 yen), fitting for a city that has produced famous haiku poets such as Masaoka Shiki. You can enjoy a menu that makes generous use of local seafood and mountain produce that pairs perfectly with the local sake.


At "Sashimi and Appetizers Shop Hagi" in Hagi City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, they offer the plump and fatty "Fried Horse Mackerel Set Meal" (¥741) and the Thursday-only dinner menu featuring "Fresh Hagi Sashimi" (price based on market value), caught that morning. They also offer "Miran Beef Tendon Curry" (¥814), made with Miran beef, a rare Japanese breed that's a descendant of the Mishima cattle, a designated natural monument of Japan. Meals can be enjoyed in clear, deep Hagi glassware made from quartz basalt harvested in Kasayama, Hagi City, or with Hagi ware, featuring beautiful crazing. Also opening at the event is the "TABISURU SAKE STAND," a stand showcasing a selection of sake and shochu from 15 renowned breweries that participated in the 2017 event. The lineup includes delicately flavored "winter-brewed" new sake, as well as a wide variety of freshly squeezed sake from each brewery. Lunchtime specials include the "5-item Oden Platter" (580 yen), perfect for the cold season, and the popular "Ehime Prefecture Imabari City Grilled Pork and Egg Rice" (760 yen), a lunch menu item that has been a hit at the "TABISURU STAND" in the past. Also appearing at the venue is the "TABISURU Store Produced by ISETAN MITSUKOSHI." The store is designed to resemble a traditional Japanese inn, and sells carefully selected items based on the concept of "ryokan," or travel. Items on offer include Hagi Glass's "Taper Glass" (6,000 yen), Matsuyama's Ichiroku Honpo's "Hitokari Ichiroku Tart Yuzu" (3 pieces, 390 yen), and Yamamoto Sake Brewery's "Ichiko Soden Barley Long-Term Storage Sake" (10,000 yen) from Satsumasendai City, all of which are seasonal specialties.

Also featured will be a "Traveling Cafe" by Barnibarbi, which promotes the charms of local regions through food. In keeping with the event theme, a special menu featuring ingredients from the participating municipalities will be offered. The winter 2018 chapter features Matsuyama City's "Matsuyama Citrus Traveling Parfait" (950 yen), Hagi City's "Mutsumi Pork Milanese Cutlet with Marmaretto Sauce" (980 yen), Satsumasendai City's "Koshikijima Silver Herring Ajillo" (780 yen), and "Traveling Tapas" that allow you to enjoy the local specialties of each municipality, as well as a weekly changing side dish "Traveling ONE DISH" (from 200 yen) available at lunchtime.

In addition, on January 26th and 27th, "Traveling Labo" will host a special event called the "Traveling Hot Spring Festival," featuring footbaths. Hagi City will feature a footbath with the scent of summer mandarin oranges, which was selected as one of the "Top 100 Scented Landscapes," Matsuyama City will feature a footbath with "Japan's Famous Hot Springs Dogo Camellia Scent," a medicinal bath additive jointly developed by Bathclin Co., Ltd. and the Dogo Onsen Ryokan Cooperative, and Satsumasendai City will feature a footbath at Kawauchi Takagi Onsen, the oldest hot spring in Kagoshima Prefecture, which was said to have been frequented by Saigo Takamori, allowing visitors to enjoy the "hot springs" of each region while feeling like they're on a trip.

In addition to selling local specialties, the two days will also offer opportunities to experience the deeper charms of each city, such as a Hagi ware potter's wheel experience, trying on armor, and writing haiku.