Shop Selling Food from Fukushima Holds Anniversary Fair; Tastings Offered for Sake, Whiskey and Ramen

By Futoshi Mori / Japan News Senior Writer

17:40 JST, April 12, 2024

A shop in Tokyo’s Nihombashi district that promotes food from Fukushima Prefecture is celebrating its 10th anniversary with a fair. Until Sunday, Nihombashi Fukushima-kan Midette is offering sales on limited-edition products and seasonal foods that come directly from the prefecture, and the first 100 visitors each day will also receive gifts.

At an opening event on Friday morning, Midette’s Director Takashi Sasaki and others broke open a sake barrel and served cups of the alcohol to visitors. The shop, which was crowded from the morning, was lined with specialties such as asparagus and strawberries from the Aizu region, nameko mushrooms from Iwaki, which are all in limited supply.

In the dining area at the back of the shop, Yamatonbi, a ramen shop based in Iwaki and previously featured in our Ramen of Japan column, served commemorative soy sauce ramen with a blend of chicken and dashi broths. Mami Hasegawa, proprietress of Yamatonbi, served as emcee at the opening event on Friday. She is a former tourism ambassador for Iwaki City, and now a mother of two, she is the face of many promotional efforts for the prefecture.

While tastings and sales for sake were scheduled for Saturday, those for whiskey and Kitakata ramen were to run on both Saturday and Sunday. The first 100 visitors on Friday received baked apples, and the first 100 on Saturday and Sunday were also to receive a present.

“We will do our best to get people to know about Fukushima and become fans of Fukushima,” said Sasaki.

Midette is located at 4-3-16 Nihombashi Muromachi, Chuo Ward, Tokyo, and is open from 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.