This time, I visited "Namegata City Tourist Product Center Koikoi" located at Roadside Station Tamatsukuri. As the name suggests, you can feel the hospitality that aims to welcome customers. It is located at the foot of Kasumigaura Ohashi Bridge, which connects Namegata City and Kasumigaura City, a place where people have frequently traveled since ancient times. During the Edo period, a ferry crossing was established there to cross to the opposite bank.
Lake Kasumigaura is the second largest lake in Japan after Lake Biwa (with a surface area of approximately 220 km²), but its shoreline length is approximately 260 km, making it the longest in Japan. The average depth of Lake Kasumigaura is about 4 meters, and the maximum depth is 7 meters, making it a wide and shallow lake. However, this direct sales store offers a wide variety of unique and interesting products.
The store was open and fresh vegetables greeted me. Also, producers were stocking the shelves with their products. Seeing producers directly stocking their items felt like they were showcasing the freshness of their vegetables through their actions, which is another great aspect of a direct sales store.
There was a corner for products developed through "sixth industrialization" and collaborative local specialty products. In addition to processed sweets and alcoholic beverages made from sweet potatoes, a specialty of Namegata City, there were also products from Noboribetsu City and Abashiri City in Hokkaido, and Izumisano City in Osaka Prefecture. I never expected to be able to buy local specialties from Hokkaido and Osaka here without having to travel there.
On the other hand, there was something I did expect. I anticipated finding seafood. I didn't think there would be mountain produce with Lake Kasumigaura right in front of me.
There it was. There it was. Boiled and seasoned pond smelt, ice fish, freshwater shrimp, and goby, as well as dried fish.
There it was. There it was. Sweetened carp. It's sometimes served as a local celebratory dish.
There it was. There it was. Carp sashimi. What, carp sashimi!? That's unusual.
While natural carp live in Lake Kasumigaura, carp for consumption are raised using a method called "kobun-shiki yoshoku" (net cage aquaculture). Incidentally, Ibaraki Prefecture had the largest aquaculture production in Japan in fiscal year 2016, with most of it being carp raised in Lake Kasumigaura.
Fishing for wakasagi (pond smelt) and shiraou (ice fish) is also popular, and this year, the fishing season for wakasagi and shiraou opened on July 21st. It is said that in the Edo period, when grilled wakasagi were presented to the shogun family from the Aso Domain (Namegata City), they were greatly pleased, and the fish became known as "koayu" (公魚), meaning "lord's fish," as it was reserved for the shogun family. Summer wakasagi, especially, are called "natsu-waka" (summer wakasagi) and are at their fattest all year, characterized by a high content of unsaturated fatty acids like EPA and DHA.
There it was. There it was. Natsu-waka! It's sparkling! The shiraou is also said to be called the diamond of Kasumigaura.
And let's not forget the "Namegata Burger," which can only be eaten here. There are four types: Name Packun, Koi Packun, Buta Packun, and Kamo Packun.
The Name Packun is surprising because it uses catfish as a patty. Furthermore, it now uses a valuable part of the catfish as the patty, and due to unstable supply, only 10 are sold per day. It's a very rare product that sells out quickly, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to try it.
After a few minutes of waiting at the counter overlooking Lake Kasumigaura, my order arrived. The view was amazing. Although it was cloudy that day, the sunset over Mount Tsukuba from the Tourist Product Center Koikoi is said to be a magnificent sight.
There was no fishy smell at all, and it had a meaty texture. I couldn't believe I was eating catfish. The bun was warm, the vegetables crunchy. Ah, delicious.
Upon reflection, I realized that "koi" in "Koikoi Tourist Product Center" is probably a pun on "carp" (鯉). While eating river fish is not a common practice in modern food culture, I felt the significance of the direct sales store as a place for developing local identity, such as local production for local consumption and the continuation of food culture.
Indeed, a direct sales store is a microcosm of the region.
Text and Photos: Sekiguchi (Regional Collaboration Team)
Roadside Station Tamatsukuri, Namegata City Tourist Product Center Koikoi
1963-5 Tamatsukuri-ko, Namegata City, Ibaraki Prefecture
TEL 0299-36-2781