There’s a long history of people eating well at Japan’s train stations.
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people → ’ → stations
You know the onigiri trend we’ve seen in Sydney and Melbourne lately?
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we → know → Sydney
Passengers have enjoyed these rice balls since 1885: they were one of the first snacks Japanese commuters could buy.
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commuters → enjoy → snacks
In Australia, railway food is often a last resort, but in Japan, a walk to your platform can take you past ramen-dedicated alleys, walls lined with vending machines selling sake and castella cake from a Nagasaki bakery that has hand-made this treat for more than 400 years.
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that → take → years
“Japanese train stations are like mini-cities,” says chef Brendan Liew, who has worked at Tokyo’s fine-dining restaurant Nihonryori Ryugin and Melbourne’s Minamishima.
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who → say → restaurant
“Many are attached to multiple office towers and department stores, and there are almost too many food options to choose from.”
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Many → attach → towers
Commute northeast of Tokyo and you’ll discover one of his favourite stations: Sendai in Miyagi.
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you → commute → Miyagi
“There’s a corridor of restaurants just outside the ticket gates serving gyutan, or grilled ox tongue,” he says.
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he → ’ → gyutan
The local specialty can be served with a spicy miso condiment known as togarashi nanbanzuke, along with beef soup made with sweet green onions, and barley-studded rice with grated sticky yam.
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specialty → serve → yam
“It’s a unique and delicious meal,” says Liew.
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Liew → ’ → ?
It’s one of many ways to dine well at Japan’s transport hubs.
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It → ’ → hubs
Ekiben meals worth unboxing
Railway bentos, known as ekiben, are so wide-ranging that Tokyo Station’s Ekiben-ya Matsuri store famously sells around 200 kinds.
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store → unbox → kinds
They’re so regionally diverse that Liew’s latest book, Ekiben (Smith Street Books, $45), covers the phenomenon.
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book → ’re → phenomenon
In fact, Liew believes railway bentos unveil a station-by-station tour of Japan’s regional specialties: they’re not a disposable convenience food, but an enduring cultural artefact.
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they → believe → specialties
He interviews Kenichi Fukuoka, who has documented over 11,000 railway lunchboxes on hisEkiben Museum website and personally sampled over 9000 – including Japan’s most expensive bento from Tobu Nikko Station, which was only available via reservation, cost up to 237,000 yen (AU$2121.88) and featured lavish crab and wagyu beef.
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which → interview → beef
Typical ekiben are more accessible, yet still meet a high standard – even for an on-the-go, mass-produced meal.
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ekiben → meet → meal
“They’re always perfect,” says Liew.
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Liew → ’re → ?
“When you open the box, there isn’t a grain of rice out of place – despite the vigorous shaking as you rush from one platform to the next, dragging suitcases behind you.
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you → open → you
Commuters unboxing five-tier sea eel rice in Himeji (45-minutes shinkansen ride from Osaka) will encounter a bento resembling the local castle, while Musubi Maru Bento in Miyagi (in Japan’s northeastern Tohoku region) reveals onigiri shaped like the region’s samurai mascot (with a yuzu peel in place of his helmet).
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Bento → unbox → helmet
Passengers might encounter ekiben presented like lanterns, bullet trains or superheroes.
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Passengers → encounter → lanterns
Akashi’s specialty is sold in clay pots resembling the coastal city’s octopus traps.
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specialty → sell → traps
Liew’s favourite packaging evokes the past: Toyama Prefecture’s trout sushi bento is wrapped in bamboo leaves and pressed into a traditional magewappa (steam-bent cedar) box.
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bento → evoke → box
“A large stone is placed on top to weigh it down, expelling air and helping to preserve the rice and fish,” he says.
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he → place → rice
“Ekiben are fiercely local,” the chef adds.
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chef → add → ?
Hokkaido’s kakimeshi (oyster rice) reflects the area’s ingredients and cooking style, for instance.
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kakimeshi → reflect → instance
Foodstuffs at stations are so local that you almost don’t need a sign to tell you where you are.
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you → need → you
They are a way of tasting your destination, or … sharing it in the form of a gift [or] souvenir, known as omiyage,” says Jane Lawson, author of Secret Japan (Affirm Press, $35).
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Lawson → taste → Japan
Omiyage shops reflect Japan’s strong gift-giving culture, where you load up on regional souvenirs for friends or co-workers before getting the train home.
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you → reflect → train
Lawson runs Zenbu Travel tours and has been to Japan more than 50 times.
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Lawson → run → Japan
She recalls a Sapporo Station visit where Hokkaido’s “extraordinary dairy culture” was exemplified by sweet cheese tarts baking in a small shop.
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culture → recall → shop
The aroma inspired her to join the enormous queue.
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aroma → inspire → queue
“Most customers were buying boxes of them as omiyage,” she says.
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she → buy → omiyage
From a station in Nagano’s grape-growing prefecture to Okayama train stops selling treats zesty with local Setouchi lemons, “stations can act as shop windows for the region and its producers,” she says.
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she → grow → region
At a small Kyoto station, Lawson encountered a market selling fresh greens and locally grown rice, with pictures of the smiling growers and handwritten signs about their farm and ingredients.
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Lawson → encounter → farm
Even region-specific Kit Kats by multinational Nestle showcase Fukuoka’s Amaou strawberries or Kochi’s yuzu in omiyage stores.
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Kats → showcase → stores
At Tokyo Station, Calbee’s chip shop celebrates different prefectures, including crisps seasoned with blended spices from Shichimiya, a Kyoto merchant originating in 1655.
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shop → celebrate → 1655
(Similarly, Fukusaya feeds commuters at Nagasaki station; its outlets have hand-baked castella cakes with perfect edges and evenly coloured surfaces since 1624.)
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outlets → feed → 1624
Culinary convenience and ramen streets
Lawson’s memorable ramen-eating experiences at railway hubs include noodle bowls filled with local butter, cheese and corn in dairy-rich Hokkaido, and standing shoulder to shoulder with commuters at a platform ramen bar in Gifu, slurping strands salty with local miso, before dashing onto the departing train.
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experiences → eat → train
“Kyoto Station has Kyoto Ramen Koji, a whole ramen alley hidden up high in the enormous station building,” she says.
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she → have → building
Tokyo Station has Ramen Street, home to Soranoiro’s vegan tantanmen and gluten-free ramen as well as tsukemen dipping noodles by Rokurinsha, a ramen restaurant championed by Momofuku founder and American chef David Chang.
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Station → have → Chang
…and 5 more, not listed.
The Aporia
