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Sansai wild herbs, buckwheat noodles, and a mod washi maker interview

A small selection of Japanese sansai mountain vegtables

If you are in the Tokyo area between April 20 and May 20 do check out the amazing Azalea and Rhododendron Fair 2025 in Hakone (30 min from Tokyo by bullet train and also a famous location for viewing Mount Fuji).

The event takes place at the Odakyu Hotel de Yama, located along the shores of serene Lake Ashi. The hotel grounds are home to the historic grounds of the villa once owned by Baron Koyata Iwasaki, the fourth CEO of the Mitsubishi conglomerate. The gardens have been carefully preserved since the baron’s time and are home to rare azalea varieties dating back to the Edo period, and historical rhododendrons (3,000-4000 bushes). Admission is free.

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Content by Ian Martin Ropke, owner of Your Japan Private Tours (est. 1990). I have been planning, designing, and making custom Japan private tours on all five Japanese islands since the early 1990s. I work closely with Japan private tour clients and have worked for all kinds of families, companies, and individuals since 1990. Clients find me mostly via organic search, and I advertise my custom Japan private tours & travel services on www.japan-guide.com, which has the best all-Japan English content & maps in Japan! If you are going to Japan and you understand the advantages of private travel, consider my services for your next trip. And thank you for reading my content. I, Ian Martin Ropke (unique on Google Search), am also a serious nonfiction and fiction writer, a startup founder (NexussPlus.com), and a spiritual wood sculptor. Learn more!

Stalking the wild spring sansai herbs of Japan

Early spring is when Japan's sansai wild herbs (or mountain vegetables) spring out of the ground like edible energy. But don't assume all of these wild plants grow in remote places. They can be found on the edges of Tokyo and Kyoto in abundance (or some of them).

Sansai are heavily featured in March, April, May on the menus of Japan's top kaiseki haute cuisine restaurants. And sansai are also a favorite in spring at Japan's top tempura restaurants. They are also sold to the public, some, in specialty boutiques and gourmet shops in Tokyo and Kyoto and other major centers.

Here is a "long" list of all the sansai varieties I could list (there are more that can only be found in certain locations):

Sansho (Japanese pepper): These low (1 to 5 meter) shrubs grow in mountain meadows and around the base of hills. Young leaves appear in March and continue growing till May. The fruit comes out in June and July. The young leaves (called kinome) are good in miso soup (especially in akadashi) and on maze-gohan pilaff, too. They are often used to garnish boiled bamboo shoots. The pepper pods are boiled with soy sauce to make a delicacy called tsukudani.

Yomogi (mugwort): This plant grows around houses or along the Kamo River banks from March to June. It's 50-100 cm high and easy to find. The young leaves are boiled, ground, and mixed with mochi dough to make Yomogi mochi. When sweet beans are put inside, it becomes a popular home-made cake. Or dry the leaves, put a handful in a cotton cloth, and add it to your bath. Like soaking in an onsen! Seri (Japanese watercress) You can find this on the banks of rice fields and in wet places from around March to May. It's about 20 - 40 cm in height. It can be cut finely and sprinkled on miso soup or added to maze-gohan.

Tampopo (dandelion): This well-known flower appears from March to April. It can be made into tempura, or mixed with walnuts, peanuts, or sesame and flavored with a bit of soy sauce and sugar. Mustard can be added to spice it up.

Mitsuba (trefoil): Grows in wet places from March to May. It's usually 30 - 60 cm in height and is good in miso soup, and in maze-gohan.

Nanohana (rape blossom): This green vegetable with the thick stalk and yellow flowers looks, and is, good enough to eat. It's delicious made into tempura, or blanched and then flavored with sesame and soy sauce. If you can manage to gather all the above plants, why not have a tempura extravaganza? On your way down from the mountains, just be sure to stop by a liquor store for some sake.

Fuki (butterbur stalks): Fuki stocks are a long wild Japanese vegetable with a slightly bitter taste. They are used in many Japanese dishes and are also a Korean ingredient for snacks (apparently).

Fuki no to (butterbur buds): Fuki no to, the aromatic buds of the butterbur plant, are a very early spring delicacy.

Kogomi (ostrich fern): The still curled-up fiddleheads of the kogomi fern are super tender and go great with sesame and wasabi and a bit of good mayo (for example)

Shungiku (spring chrysanthemum): Shungiku (or chrysanthemum greens, or garland chrysanthemum), a leafy green sansai vegetable, is widely used in traditional Japanese cooking. It smells lovely but is slightly bitter. The flowers can be green or yellow.

Takenoko (bamboo shoots): In season, May, you can buy takenoko bamboo shoots dug up on the day you buy them all over Japan (high-end vegetable shops and more than a few supermarkets). You have to boil takenoko, as soon as possible, with a handful of nuka (rice bran) to remove the bitterness.

Tara no me tree buds: Tara no me are often called the "queen of edible wild plants." The come from the aralia elata tree, which grows naturally in woodlands and mountains throughout much of Japan. The new shoots are picked between April and early June.

Wasabi (wasabi mustard greens): Wasabi is the green paste served with sushi. It's hot! It can be compared to English horse radish. Before wasabi becomes paste it is a sansai root herb. Wasabi was already a known plant for its unique properties in the Nara era (710- 794). Japan's most famous wasabi growing area, for nearly 400 years now, is in Shizuoka Prefecture, just west of Tokyo.

Places to experience sansai vegetables across Japan

Yamagata Prefecture, NE of Niigata or NW of Tokyo, is the most famous area of Japan for sansai mountain vegetables. Details: https://www.sansai-tamaki.com/en/aboutus-top.html .

The mountains surrounding Lake Nojiri in Nagano Prefecture is also a famous sansai area. You can participate in sansai hiking and picking tours at the lake from April to late May.

Miyamacho, north of Kyoto City, also has a big sansai reputation. And Miyamacho is also famous for it's many thatch -roofed kayabuki farmhouses and top quality indigo dyeing studios. At the Kigusuri-ya in Miyamacho you can still soak in a luxurious bath full of yomogi, dokudami, and numerous other kinds of wild herbs. Western herbs like thyme, rosemary, marjoram, and mint are available, too. And other shops in the area sell cosmetics and other health products made with wild and cultivated vegetables and herbs. Learn more!

Western herbs have also become wildly popular across Japan.

Japan's Western herb craze kicked of in the late 1990s largely because of the popularity of British herbalist Venetia Stanley Smith (1950-2023). I was a friend of Venetia's from the mid 1980s onward. She was an amazing British woman.

She took the fabled overland route from London to India by van in the 1960s. In the early 1970s she settled in Kyoto and soon after established a commune dedicated to the 1960s Beatle's spiritual leader, the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, near Shuzan (north of Kyoto). Venetia was related to Lady Di, and Lord Curzon, Viceroy of India until 1905. She passed away at age 72 in the village of Ohara, NE of Kyoto, on 21 June 21, 2023. I think of her every year . . .

Venetia moved from her long-time base near Kyoto University in 1996 and moved to the ancient village of Ohara, NE of Kyoto. There she began growing Western herbs at her traditional thatched roof house property.

Venetia became "famous" across Japan after winning top prize in an NHK (television corporation, like the BBC or CBC) herb contest in the late 90s. She went on to write best-selling Japanese books on western herbs (her Japanese was flawless!). And based on the popularity of her book she hosted the NHK television series, "At Home with Venetia," from 2009 to 2013.

Venetia's work had an impact in main stream Japanese society. More Japanese people began growing Western herbs at home and buying more of these herbs in high end supermarkets. And more Japanese people migrated to Western cuisine styles that used Western herbs (especially Italian cuisine). [The same thing happened with Western approaches to gardening in the 1990s. Suddenly, the gardening sections of major department stores veered away from bonsai towards the beauty of Western plants and Western gardening styles.]

Spring soba buckwheat & other great noodles dishes

The Chinese gave Japan its first taste of buckwheat back in the eighth century and for 900 years they used it to make the skin for dumplings. And then, out of the blue, Ganchin, a Korean-born Buddhist monk, figured out how to make soba buckwheat noodles. Soba cuisine is inexpensive, tasty, light and healthy. What more could you ask for?

Here’s all the information you will need to order. The first thing you have to decide is whether you want hot or cold (tsumetai ho) noodles. Cold actually means chilled. If you choose to have chilled soba, here are some of the favorite options: zaru soba. (plain soba noodles); tenzaru soba (noodles served with hot, batter-fried shrimp and vegetables); inaka soba (noodles topped with dried seaweed, grated radish, chopped green onions, a quail egg, and sesame seeds). All zaru soba variations come with tsuyu, fish broth flavored with soy sauce and rice wine, to which is added a touch of hot green horseradish (wasabi), and chopped green onions. For hot noodle variations choose from: nishin soba (soba and herring in a broth); tempura soba, (soba and batter-fried shrimp in a broth); kitsune soba (soba with fried tofu in a broth). Add a small pinch of shichimi, a blend of seven spices, to give your noodles a bit of heat. LAST of all, remember, it’s considered polite to slurp your noodles. So don’t be shy. Enjoy yourself.

Other Kinds of Noodle Dishes:

Hiyashi Somen: These fine, thread-like, noodles are consumed at home in large quantities during the summer. They are usually served in a bowl of cold, iced water, and dipped into a cool fish-based soup, flavored with soy sauce and sweet rice wine.

Nagashi Somen: From late May or early June in green, riverside Kibune, a 30-min ride north on the Eizan railway line from Demachiyanagi Stn, you can enjoy nagashi, or "flowing", somen, chilled noodles sent down a long, water-filled bamboo chute to where you are sitting. This meal can be unbelievably fun.

Reimen: Reimen is a Chinese summer noodle dish featuring chilled noodles topped with sliced cucumbers, ham or pork, egg, and a bit of spicy hot, yellow mustard. Dip all this in a pre-made tangy blend of vinegar, sesame oil, and soy sauce.

Interview with modern washi paper artist Kyoko Ibe

Born in Nagoya, Kyoko Ibe is one of Japan’s leading contemporary washi (Japanese paper) artists. A graduate from the Kyoto Institute of Technology in 1963, she completed her Masters at the same institution in 1967. Since 1974, she has had more than 20 solo exhibitions in Japan and abroad. Her work has been featured in nearly 25 selected group exhibitions in Japan and overseas. The recipient of numerous Japanese and international awards, Ms. Ibe’s work has pushed the limits of washi into an artform that is unique, stunning, bold and sensitive. In addition to her more traditional washi art pieces, she has also created stage sets and costumes, large washi (traditional, and synthetic) installations for building atriums and lobbies. This interview took place at Ms. Ibe's Kyoto studio in the autumn of 1998.

YJPT: How did you get involved with washi [handmade paper]?

Ibe: As a university student, I majored in art. During my studies, I was constantly looking for interesting materials to look for. I was very much influenced by the work of Karl Klint. His lighting works were really impressive. I tried to do similar work with washi paper, but ultimately these efforts failed because washi is so very different from Western paper.

However, it was because of these failed efforts that I became exposed to and ultimately interested in washi. At that time washi paper wasn’t all that trendy. In fact, most people thought it was too traditional and so many artists were using Western paper. But for me, washi immediately captured my attention. It’s totally different from Western paper and so much stronger. For me washi was the beginning of everything. It’s been thirty years now since my first exhibition.

YJPT: How has washi changed over its long history?

Ibe: Basically, the materials used for making washi haven’t changed hardly at all. The production process has also hardly changed at all. Essentially, we are still making paper the same way, by mixing plant fibers with water, screening it and drying it. In this century a number of new paper production methods have been developed. Indeed, this has been the century of new materials and machines. And yet, despite all these new things, we still continue to value handmade paper as the best and most beautiful. Some people say that we are wasting paper. I would say that paper supports our life. At one time it was regarded as the fourth most important invention.

YJPT: How do you use washi?

Ibe: To begin with I don’t use traditional washi for everything I do. But much of my work does involve washi. How I use washi depends very much on what I’m making; whether it’s large or small. I custom order a lot of my washi paper from traditional makers, according to my own special specifications and needs. Sometimes, I make my own paper. I’ve done all kinds of work with washi ranging from stationery on the small side to large interior design projects where I’ve covered the walls and ceilings with washi.

Much of the work that I have done over the past ten years or so has involved paper made of new synthetic materials. Synthetic washi material is ideally suited to installation works, where stronger or more stable paper is required. A good example of this is my bid for a large public art installation for the new Chicago airport. For this work, I used a special material made of compound materials and titanium. These new materials are usually created by new startup companies. Even though I really enjoy doing work involving new materials, I always feel that I am working with paper in a tradition that goes back thousands of years. That my work is only part of a long, unbroken tradition helps me to tackle new projects requiring even more radical solutions.

YJPT: What are some of your most recent projects?

Ibe: A lot of my recent work has involved projects in the United States, which is home to a number of excellent paper museums, such as Dart Hunter museum in Atlanta. At the turn-of-the-century, America went through an important craft revival that greatly broadened the cultural awareness of handmade paper as a craft and led to a strong interest in Japanese washi traditions. In Japan, I have also been very much involved in producing the "Washi in the 19th Century" exhibition, which will be held in Kyoto this month from the 9th to the 20th at the Kyoto Kogei Seni Daigaku. This major exhibit includes a superb and long-forgotten collection of washi from the 1873 International Exhibition in Vienna in 1873. This exhibition established an international reputation for Japanese crafts, including washi.

YJPT: What is required to make great washi?

Ibe: The production of high-quality handmade washi is very much dependent on climate, clean water, and the skilled use of delicate materials from certain kinds of bushes and plants. It is usually made in cold water in the autumn and winter months. Washi also requires extreme diligence on the part of the maker. In this sense Japanese washi is more that just having access to good materials; it is very much a skilled and highly demanding process.

YJPT: How was washi used in the Edo period [1603-1868]?

Ibe: Japan had 30,000,000 people at the end of the Edo period, with 80,000 people directly involved in paper production. At that time, paper making was big business. In those days washi was used for writing letters on, wrapping things, windows, string, printing books, for making candle and oil lantern shades, in Buddhist and Shinto ceremonies, for all kinds of decorations, and for tissues and napkins. Europeans were astounded at how soft, thin and strong our paper was. People called it silk paper. Nowadays, everybody has heard about recycled paper. However, few people realize that recycled paper has been around for over one thousand years. In the Edo period, paper recycling became an industry in itself and paper recycling was a part of daily life as it is now.

YJPT: You’ve lived in Kyoto for more than 40 years. What are your feelings about the city?

Ibe: Compared to a city like Chicago, I find Kyoto to be quite chaotic. I don’t see any pattern to the way the city is developing. There doesn’t seem to be any clear rules about what can be done where and when. Because of this it is difficult to recognize the face of the city clearly. If people want to preserve Kyoto, they will have to sacrifice their desire for modern living. Preservation is a very expensive idea. It’s easy to talk about preservation, but when it comes to actually doing it, it’s not easy at all.

Content by Japan travel specialist & designer Ian Martin Ropke, founder & owner of Your Japan Private Tours (YJPT, est. 1990). I have been planning, designing, and making custom Japan private tours on all five Japanese islands since the early 1990s. I work closely with all of YJPT's Japan private tour clients and have a great team behind me. I promote YJPT through this content and only advertise at www.japan-guide.com, which has the best all-Japan English content & maps! If you are going to Japan and you understand the advantages of private travel, consider my services for your next trip to save time & have a better time. Ian Martin Ropke (unique on Google Search) is also a serious nonfiction and fiction writer, a startup founder (NexussPlus.com), and a spiritual wood sculptor. Learn more!