A restaurant-style antenna shop (6-23 Kagurazaka, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo) has opened in Tokyo's Kagurazaka district, serving as the base for the "Remote Island Kitchen" project, which brings together traditional cuisine and tableware from approximately 40 Japanese islands.
Remote islands, while blessed with magnificent natural scenery and abundant resources and products, face unique challenges such as high logistics costs and declining labor force populations. The "Remote Island Kitchen" project was launched with the aim of connecting with islands across Japan and revitalizing them by bringing together their unique charms.
Started in 2009 by Ama Town, one of the Oki Islands in Shimane Prefecture, as a food truck vendor, the project has since expanded to over 40 regions, including Awaji Island in Hyogo Prefecture, Sado Island in Niigata Prefecture, the Ogasawara Islands and Niijima in Tokyo, Yakushima and Amami Oshima in Kagoshima Prefecture, and Ishigaki Island in Okinawa Prefecture.
The newly opened "Remote Island Kitchen Kagurazaka Branch" was renovated from an original house in Kagurazaka, and is characterized by its presence and dignified appearance, as if it were a dignified remote island, and the interior has also been given careful attention, such as using salvaged materials from scaffolding used in shrine construction.
At lunchtime, in addition to daily set meals and rice bowls, they offer a "Special Island Course" (2,500 yen) that changes monthly and offers a menu from islands across the country. At the time of opening, it will be a special course from Ama Town.
During dinner time, dishes such as Yakushima's "smoked mackerel," Goto Islands' "sea bream chazuke," and Ama Town's "grilled turban shell" (350 yen to 1,280 yen) will be served, as well as alcoholic beverages such as Awaji Island's "Awaji Beer," "Haisenzake" sake, and Sado Island's "Kitayuki" sake, as well as drinks (500 yen and up) such as Yakushima's "ginger ale" and Suo-Oshima's "hot honey."
In addition, food ingredients, traditional crafts, tableware, and other items from each island will be available for purchase. Other local products on sale include salts from each of the outlying islands (starting from 500 yen), such as "Amanoshio," made from seawater from a bay into which water from one of Japan's 100 famous water sources flows; "Ginger Syrup" (980 yen), made with pesticide-free ginger from Yakushima; and "Sake Kasu Soap" (1,200 yen), a completely additive-free soap made with sake lees from Ama Town's Junmai Daiginjo "Jokyu no Utage" sake (1,200 yen).
