What’s the connection here: railway company x udon?
Continued from “Support Shikoku Project!” Kagawa Prefecture Edition Chapter 1
The “Support Shikoku Project” revitalizes local communities through sports and tourism.This is a regional revitalization initiative in which the Iyo Bank Vertz (hereinafter Vertz), which is based in Matsuyama City, Ehime Prefecture, Shikoku, a member of the top women’s softball league, the Japan Diamond Softball League (JD League), has teamed up with Shikoku Railway Company (JR Shikoku).
JR Shikoku sightseeing train Shikoku Mannaka Sennen Monogatari
It seems our travel reporters, Vertz players Mana Kawaguchi, Rui Shomura, and Kyoka Endo truly enjoyed savoring udon, the food culture that is the pride of Kagawa Prefecture.
Please enjoy “Kagawa Prefecture Edition” Chapter 2.
What’s the connection here: railway company x udon?
Kawaguchi: I am Mana Kawaguchi, third base player for Iyo Bank Vertz.Following on from Chapter 1, I would like to introduce various ways of enjoying udon, the food culture that is the pride of Kagawa Prefecture.
Endo: I am Kyoka Endo, a pitcher for Iyo Bank Vertz.I am first going to introduce the intriguing relationship between a railway company and udon.We just finished having fun interacting with members of a high school girls’ softball team in Chapter 1, and I am famished.I can’t wait to eat delicious Sanuki udon, the specialty of Kagawa Prefecture.
Shomura: I am Rui Shomura, an outfielder for Iyo Bank Vertz.Sanuki udon from Kagawa Prefecture is generally characterized by its very firm noodles and broth made from dried sardines. There are various types, from popular standard dishes to unusual varieties that have a big impact both visually and in terms of flavor. Shops also offer a wide variety of toppings and side dishes, so I am looking forward to experiencing them.
Food reportage on Merikenya’s Kakehashi branch
Kawaguchi: The first shop we want to introduce is Merikenya operated by the JR Shikoku Group.It’s hard for me to see the connection between a railway company and udon, however…
Endo: Kawaguchi, it’s the train stations!Udon spreads as a food culture for customers using the local train stations in Shikoku, of course within the stations but also in station buildings and shops near them.Merikenya has five branches in Kagawa Prefecture including this Kakehashi branch and also in front of JR Takamatsu Station as well as branches in Osaka and Tokyo.They say they ship ingredients every morning from Kagawa Prefecture to Osaka and Tokyo!
Inside the Merikenya shop, which is also popular with truck drivers
Kawaguchi: I see! This shop is packed with customers even though it’s a little past lunchtime. It seems like there are a lot of long-haul truck drivers here. I take it that’s partly due to its location at the foot of a bridge.That said, families with kids and tourists arriving in rental cars are also lined up.We greet President Koichiro Nakamura, who has come to meet us.It’s a pleasure to meet you.
Merikenya is particular about more than its noodles
Shomura: I began to feel less nervous and even hungrier after seeing Mr. Nakamura, who greeted us with a big smile and bursting with enthusiasm, saying, “Thank you for choosing our udon shop from among the many out there!” Mr. Nakamura also gave us some recommendations, offering, “We’re proud of our original noodles made from carefully selected flour, Seto Inland Sea salt, and soft water. Also, there aren’t many shops that offer such a wide range of toppings made from seasonal local vegetables and fish, so I hope you’ll enjoy our toppings too.”
Merikenya takes pride in its toppings made from locally sourced ingredients
Endo: In addition to the 10 menu items, there are also seasonal limited items! While I was thinking about what to choose, suddenly it was my turn to order! The toppings section is truly something to behold.The big ingredients look really filling, don’t they?The onigiri also look delicious.
Kawaguchi: We each chose a different udon style—bukkake (with dashi broth), kamatama (with egg), and shoyu (soy sauce)—added some toppings and even got some onigiri rice balls…Once we set everything out on the table, it was amazing how different the same udon could look! It’s such fun to visit together, show each other the dishes you picked, and share your thoughts on the flavors! The udon that is Mr. Nakamura’s pride has outstanding texture, boasting the unique firmness of Sanuki udon and a delightfully chewy feel in your mouth.
Endo and Shomura’s food reportage on Sanuki udon
Shomura: Even while we were eating, Mr. Nakamura told us some fun stories about Sanuki udon.As our hometowns are outside Shikoku (Kawaguchi is from Shizuoka, Shomura from Kagoshima, and Endo from Akita), he taught us in a way that was easy to understand, so we are now able to properly promote Sanuki udon, the food culture of Shikoku, home of Vertz.
Kawaguchi: After the meal, we gave them our autographs as a token of our appreciation and took a commemorative photo.Thank you very much to everyone at Merikenya who treated us as warmly as their udon.I will definitely be back with my teammates in between league stage games.
A commemorative photo with President Koichiro Nakamura of Merikenya
The president loves baseball and softball!
Endo: The other shop I’d like to introduce is the Nakano Udon School, where you can enjoy the intriguing experience of enrolling in a school just to eat udon!
Shomura: We “enrolled” in the A Building of the Kotohira Campus.There’s also a B Building in the Kotohira Campus and even a Takamatsu Campus.It’s almost like a cram school, isn’t it? (lol) There’s a brand new souvenir shop and eat-in corner at the entrance of the A Building, so at first glance, it doesn’t look like a school.It seems the school is up the stairs in the rear-most part off the building.
Kawaguchi: What’s this? In front of the stairs is a display of a uniform from the ORIX Buffaloes professional baseball team, isn’t there? It belonged to Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who joined the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). It doesn’t look like it’s for sale though.
A commemorative photo with softball fan Yuko Hatou of the Nakano Udon School
Shomura: An attractive lady appeared and told us why the uniform was on display, explaining, “Yoshinobu Yamamoto visited Kotohira-gu Shrine here before!”The attractive lady in the apron is Representative Director Yuko Hatou.She welcomed us warmly, “The company I used to work for (NTT Shikoku) also had a corporate baseball team, and that’s how I came to love baseball and softball!”We were really happy that she asked us various questions about Vertz!
Endo: The shop was established in 1914! It is said that the business started as a seller of textbooks on the approach to Kotohira-gu Shrine, which is on the same location as the current Kotohira Campus.Nakanoya has been in business for 110 years since then. We broke out in smiles at the cute atmosphere of the shop, which we women are bound to love, the wonderful Yuko, the very bright atmosphere of the udon school, and the venerable shop that never stops evolving.
Kawaguchi, Shomura, and Endo in aprons to make udon
Why do we “enroll in school” to eat udon?
Kawaguchi: Yuko informed us that the Sanuki udon-making experience started in 1981.”Back then, we would serve boiled noodles that we had sourced early in the morning to our customers at lunchtime.We received complaints from customers who were looking forward to eating authentic udon that it was tasted bad, so the previous president came up with the idea of serving freshly made udon to them.” This was an experiential menu that was conceived to meet the expectations of fans.
Instructor Kazumi Miyake’s fun “udon lecture”
Shomura: Kazumi Miyake of Nakanoya arrived before us as a lecturer at the udon school.She said, “Please call me Micchan! Let’s have fun today making udon together.” With that, her lecture began with bounds of enthusiasm.The large classroom, which can accommodate about 100 students at once, looks like a big university lecture hall! The sturdy desks, like those in a home economics classroom, are lined up in rows, so it really feels like you are taking a class at school.
Endo: I didn’t know how to make udon, so it was a good learning experience for me to be able to learn while looking at the ingredients and mixing ratios written on the whiteboard.In particular, we learned that the ratio of flour and salt water added varies depending on the season, so it’s a very delicate food.Kawaguchi and Shomura actually make udon.I’ve got to quickly post this on Instagram!
Have fun learning! The surprising curriculum of Nakano Udon School
Kawaguchi: We first experienced cutting finished dough into the width of udon for boiling.We spread out the dough with a rolling pin.The difficult part for me was cutting the noodles. You have to apply even pressure to the whole knife to cut it well…you need to cut through it in one go so you don’t lose out to the elasticity of the chewy dough.”You’ll be eating the udon you cut later. If you both don’t cut it well, it’ll end up looking like kishimen (flat udon noodles) (lol),” encouraged Micchan, and I suddenly felt motivated!
Nakano Udon School in Kotohira, where you can experience making udon
Shomura: Next, we finally experience making udon dough from flour.It sounds simple. You add salt water to the flour in a bowl and knead it, but…This work is actually tough.You have to use your whole body and transfer force firmly to both hands to mix the flour and salt water well.At first I was kneading with a smile on my face, but my body gradually started to heat up and I started to sweat.It is like you’re working out.
Endo: After Kawaguchi and Shomura formed the dough into a ball, it was time to start kneading it with our feet to make it more elastic, firm, and chewy.This was a huge task with everyone involved in this report helping out, including myself!
The finished udon prepared by Mana Kawaguchi
Kawaguchi: From the start, I had been curious about the karaoke machine at the entrance. Micchan set it up, grabbed a tambourine, and cheerfully announced, “Let’s step on the dough rhythmically and have fun to music! Start the music!” Soon, the sound of my favorite BTS song began filling the classroom.You step the dough in time with the music, but this is also quite hard work.While tapping to the beat with her tambourine, Yuko told us, “When the school first opened, the main focus was on studying udon through classroom lectures, but we eventually decided to switch to a menu that would allow students to have fun while learning about udon in a way that was more in line with the times.Students on school trips also enjoy the experience.”
Stepping on udon dough with General Manager Katayama and Mr. Amagumo of JR Shikoku
Shomura: After changing the music and the members who were stepping on the udon dough several times, it gradually became more elastic and firmer.This process gives Sanuki udon its unique texture.Even so, the sight of everyone stepping on the udon dough while dancing to the music and beating on the tambourines was just like being in a karaoke box! It was really fun to be able to join in with Yuko, Micchan, and the rest of the interview staff!
The smiles never stop when experiencing udon-making
Endo: What was the verdict when Micchan examined the udon dough that we made…? “Well done! Now you can all make udon at home. Congratulations on graduating!” We received the words of congratulations for our successful results! We expressed our gratitude for today’s encounter on an autograph card and took a commemorative photo with everyone.I was given a diploma in a scroll. I was surprised to find it included instructions on how to make udon and that the pole on the hanging scroll could also be used as a rolling pin. The memories of the experience will remain with me forever even after I returned home.
The taste of udon we made ourselves
Kawaguchi: The udon dough, which has been stepped on and kneaded to completion, needs to rest for about two hours, so it can’t be eaten straight away. So let’s go to the dining hall to eat the udon that we cut in the beginning!
Endo: From earlier, my eyes keep wandering to the many autographed cards that are displayed on the walls here and there.There are also autographed cards with illustrations by Osamu Tezuka, the leading figure in Japanese manga and anime and creator of numerous masterpieces such as Astro Boy, and by Takashi Yanase, the creator of Anpanman.They are both graduates of the Nakano Udon School! As graduates of the same school, we will try to do well this season so that we too can have our autographs displayed at the Nakano Udon School!
Manga artists Osamu Tezuka and Takashi Yanase are among the school’s famous graduates
Shomura: The all-important freshly cut udon may have some slight variations in the width of the noodles (lol), but it’s absolutely delicious! Along with the freshly boiled kama-age udon, we also enjoyed a beautifully presented Makunouchi bento (990 yen, tax included), which came with tempura, chirashi sushi, simmered dishes, and vinegared side dishes. It was all wonderfully satisfying! You can also come here just for a meal without taking a lesson.Incidentally, the price for the udon-making experience is 1,760 yen (tax included) per person, making it not only one-of-a-kind experience in Kagawa Prefecture but also a great deal, so please be sure to try it out when you visit Kotohira-gu Shrine!
Kawaguchi: When I was buying a souvenir to take back home, Yuko stopped me and treated me to a soft serve ice cream for dessert! Topped with colorful and cute rice confectioneries, this soft-serve is called “Yomeiri (getting married) Oiri Soft” (350 yen, tax included).Hearing the word “Yomeiri” immediately gets the three of us excited! Yuko explained, “The rice confectionery topping called oiri is a traditional gift for wedding attendees in western Kagawa Prefecture, and is said to be fortuitous.”
Kawaguchi, Shomura, and Endo putting the udon they cut into a pot
Endo: This soft-serve, topped with sweets symbolizing the bride’s feelings of working wholeheartedly represents the spirit of marriage. With the blessing of Kotohira-gu Shrine, known for its matchmaking power, I’m sure we’ll be blessed with great ties! And I must say, the soft-serve with a subtle soy sauce flavor has a wonderful Japanese taste and is delicious! I was impressed by the innovative ideas that the long-established Nakanoya shop pursues, such as conceiving of a local soft-serve that is so Instagrammable.
After enjoying the food of Kagawa Prefecture with the local professionals, we will move on to the “Support Shikoku! Project” Kagawa Prefecture Edition Chapter 3, which introduces the history, culture and nature that Kagawa Prefecture is proud of.
Listening to an entertaining udon story by Koichiro Nakamura of Merikenya
Mana Kawaguchi’s food reportage on Merikenya
Food reportage on Merikenya by Rui Shomura and Kyoka Endo
The large worktable at the Nakano Udon School
Enjoying handmade udon and lunch at the Nakano Udon School
To be continued in “Support Shikoku Project!” Kagawa Prefecture Edition Chapter 3.
