Miyagi Prefecture Specialty Products, Souvenirs, Shrines and Temples, and Travel | 47 Prefecture Guide

Miyagi is, even within Tohoku, a prefecture with a strong character as a “gathering place”. The presence of the large city of Sendai appears in both its food and crafts.

Specialties

Sasa kamaboko was originally made to preserve the large quantities of flounder caught in Ishinomaki and Shiogama. If minced into paste and grilled, it keeps longer. It is an example of preserved food becoming a local specialty.

oysters aquaculture is also thriving. Nutrients from the mountains carried by rivers such as the Hachiman River flow into Shizugawa Bay, creating the conditions for aquaculture.

In Shiretoko, Hokkaido, drift ice carried nutrients. In Miyagi, rivers do that work. Behind a good fishing ground, there is usually a mountain.

Souvenirs

Sendai beef tongue is a relatively new specialty that was born in postwar Sendai. A cut that was inexpensive at the time was seasoned and grilled, becoming a local specialty.

Zunda is made by mashing boiled edamame and adding sugar. Today it has expanded beyond mochi to shakes and sweets as well.

Shrines and Temples

Shiogama Shrine (Shiogama City) is the head shrine of the roughly 100 Shiogama shrines said to exist across Japan. It is the ichinomiya of Mutsu Province, and its main hall and other structures are National Important Cultural Properties.

The deity of this shrine is said to have taught people how to make salt. Even today, every July, a Shinto ritual is held in which salt is made from seawater using ancient methods. Salt is a prerequisite for making preserved foods. Sasa kamaboko, too, lies on the extension of this land’s wisdom of preservation. Here, faith and the origins of food share the same source.

Osaki Hachimangu Shrine in Sendai City is a National Treasure. The oldest surviving building commissioned by Date Masamune, preserving the black lacquer and vivid colors of the Momoyama style. The main hall of Zuigan-ji Temple in Matsushima Town is also a National Treasure, and likewise serves as the Date family temple.

Sightseeing

Matsushima is counted alongside Amanohashidate and Miyajima as one of the Three Views of Japan. More than 260 islands float in the bay. These islands weaken the waves, creating a sea suited to aquaculture.

The scenery and the industry are not separate things. The same terrain creates both.

Sendai’s Tanabata Festival is held every year in August. Naruko and Akiu are hot spring areas that are also known as kokeshi doll production centers.

Traditional Crafts

Nationally designated items are Miyagi traditional kokeshi dolls, Ogatsu inkstones, Naruko lacquerware, and Sendai tansu chests: 4 items in total.

Ogatsu inkstones have accounted for the majority of inkstone production in Japan. The inkstone you used at school may have come from this shore.

For details, see 【VILLAGE Report vol.42】This shore supplies 90% of inkstones

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References: Miyagi Prefecture, Sendai City, Ishinomaki City, Shiogama Shrine, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Agency for Cultural Affairs, Association for the Promotion of Traditional Craft Industries — Value Village Editorial Team