TokyoTomo Travel Guide

As the mountains in the norland start changing its autumn color to winter, it is the time when “soba (buckwheat noodle)” starts attracting the gastronomists. New soba season starts from autumn to winter. Soba produces white flowers and grow red seeds in summer, then it is reaped in autumn when the seeds turn black. As the freshly reaped seeds are grounded on a stone mill, the “aroma of buckwheat” fills up the surroundings. New soba is made from this buckwheat powder before it loses its flavor. Soba is boiled in one go in a pot with strong fire, and then chilled in cold water right away. Soba-making requires promptness. After quickly draining the water, the cooked soba is ready to be savored in one slurp with your favorite soup. Freshness of the texture, fullness of the aroma, and the appetizing sound. This is the real joy of soba, a taste of Japan.

Foodies travel all over Japan seeking for this taste of supreme bliss; Yamagata can be one of the top soba-producing area for the gourmets. Nowadays, Yamagata has gained reputation nationwide, and has excellent soba that never fails to wow and awe gastronomers by its “aroma,” “body (firmness)” and “texture.” You can enjoy “freshly grounded” “freshly made” and “freshly boiled” delicious soba anytime you come to this area. And no wonder. Along Mogami River running down the prefecture from south, Okitama, Murakami and Mogami area have more than ten selected soba-producers, forming “Soba Kaido (Soba Trail)” by the national route. Mogami River is a motherly limpid stream that was once used as means of transportation written in poetries, but moreover, gourmet in Yamagata cannot be described without this river.

Yamagata produces soba in large quantities due to the big difference in the temperature. The soba-making techniques varies too, ranging from blackish Inaka-soba made from whole-grain soba powder, Yabu-soba made from peeled soba seeds, and white refined Sarashina-soba using only the inner part of the seed. To name a few more, there are unique sobas such as “Benibana Soba” tinted in a light-red color with Yamagata’s specialty, benibana (safflower), and Nihachi-soba using hot spring water to bind the buckwheat and the flour. Having the local soba as you travel; this is what you can enjoy being in the Soba Kaido.

You will have many discoveries from Yamagata Soba, but the most appetizing soba would be thick simple Inaka-soba dipped in a spicy soup. Inaka-soba full of rustic flavor has a characteristics of strong flavor of soba with a chewy texture. Generally, Inaka-soba is served in “Ita-soba” style instead of a bamboo basket. “Ita-soba” is soba served on a wooden board, which was originally a unique style of rice farmers rewarding the neighbors with freshly made soba while being busy from rice planting or harvesting. Soba is usually placed in a square box with wooden frame in a large portion（Most of them are double the portion of a generally served soba.)

Also, as the kingdom of food, soba comes along with pickles or boiled vegetables made from seasonal ingredients, making you realize that soba is a food taking root in daily lives. The soba itself is the same as Edo (Tokyo-style) soba served in bamboo basket, but Inaka-soba has a distinctive taste with its unique charm.

The appearance of the shops are usually rustic, as soba used to be made and eaten by the farmers. Some shops have straw-thatched roofs, and some have watermills. You will get to feel a particular atmosphere of an old Japanese farmer’s house as the shops make use of this earthy style. It even makes you want to stop by as you pass by.

Let me introduce you to some major Soba spots in Yamagata.

“Mogami-gawa Sannansho Soba Kaido” (Murayama City)
This is the original “Soba Kaido” established with 14 soba restaurants located along the road 15 km away from Sannansho, a spot known for the most rapid flow in Mogami River.

“Oishida Soba Kaido”（Oishida Town）
You can savor the local soba produced only in this area. The town is filled with white blossom of soba from middle of September, and has been selected as one of the “Top 100 Aromascapes”.

“Oku no Hosomichi Obanazawa Soba Kaido” (Obanazawa City)
Visited by haiku poet Basho Matsuo, Obanazawa has a suitable environment for soba cultivation and soba-making. Many soba shops here remains loyal to using quality ingredients and devotes time and effort to soba-making.

“Shinjo Mogami Soba Doraku” (Shinjo City)
They take pride in its quality of the soba powder and its soba-making technique, and have their own recipe for the soup. Chewiness, smoothness in the throat and tongue; all the element of the texture satisfies any soba-epicurean.

“Shogun Kenjo Soba no Sato Tendo” (Tendo City)
Tendo City is famous for its hot springs, and has also been one of the largest home to soba that presented its soba to the Shogunate in the old days. Kamo-soba (duck soba) is as popular as the hand-made soba. Kanchu Hikinuki-soba is also available for a limited time, only during the winter.

“Soba Kaido Yamagata” (Yamagata City)
Yamagata City has different kind of soba restaurants from thin Sarashina style Machisoba to thick Inaka-soba; each restaurants have sophisticated skills of soba chef and are all particular about the ingredients.

“Soba no Gassan Meguri” (Nishikawa Town)
Located at the base of Gassan, Nishikawa Town has about 40 restaurants serving skillfully made soba and the local specialty, wild vegetable soba. The soba in this region has a rich flavor from the temperature-changing climate and spring water that was selected as one of the “hundred exquisite waters of Japan.”

“Minami Yamagata Soba Kaido” (Takahata-cho, Yonezawa City)
This is the soba trail in Yonezawa and Kawanishi, around Takahata in South Yamagata Okitama Region. All shops provide hand-kneaded soba made with 100% of soba powder.

“Kakure Soba-ya no Sato” (Shirotaka Town)
Traditionally in Shirotaka, each village had families with the title of “Soba-ya” (Soba shop) in each village; there were many soba-making masters who would use his skills as a soba chef if he was asked to do so. Nowadays, four “Kakure” (secret) soba shop are in business, and each of them upholds its own taste and characteristics.

“Yonezawa Soba Kaido”（Yonezawa City）
In the past, people in Yonezawa peeled soba seeds and cooked them just like rice. After the milling technique was conveyed from China, they started to grind soba to make a powder, and made “soba dumplings” and “sobagaki.” By the time of Edo Period, “Soba-kiri,” the long and thin soba was born and has been tasted over the centuries as a traditional soba.

See earlier articles:

Yamagata Part 2
Yamagata Part 1

Source: Travel Vision

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