{"id":1943,"date":"2015-03-05T07:08:32","date_gmt":"2015-03-04T22:08:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/japanese-festival-matsuri-food-explained\/"},"modified":"2025-08-28T11:35:31","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T02:35:31","slug":"japanese-festival-matsuri-food-explained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/japanese-festival-matsuri-food-explained\/","title":{"rendered":"Japanese Festival (matsuri) Food Explained"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"640px-Yomise(Yatai)\"<\/a>The arrival\u00a0of spring means only one thing in Japan: hanami. Hanami is a great time when people get together in parks all over the country to see the beautiful cherry blossoms. They gather with family, friends and coworkers to eat, drink and be merry.<\/p>\n

As with most Japanese matsuri (festivals), the \u2018eat\u2019 aspect is particularly important, and you will find Yatai (mobile food stalls) in hanami viewing spots selling all sorts of\u00a0interesting and wonderful foods.<\/p>\n

While some of the food is instantly recognizable, others need a little explanation.<\/p>\n

Cooked Foods at\u00a0Japanese Festivals<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"Yakitori\"<\/a>Yakitori<\/strong> \u2013 You will find at most Japanese festivals many foods will be meat fried on sticks. You can find steak, sausages and even octopus skewered and fried on hotplates. While all of these may be found\u00a0under the name of yakitori, perhaps the most popular is the true yakitori, grilled or fried chicken. You can choose between having it cooked with salt or tare sauce, a mix of sake, soy sauce, mirin and sugar.<\/p>\n

Karaage<\/strong> \u2013 The Colonel has nothing on this deep fried chicken! Chunks of chicken are marinated in a mix of soy sauce, garlic and\/or ginger, and then coated in seasoned flower and deep fried. It comes served in a large paper cup with a long wooden skewer with which to eat it.<\/p>\n

\"Takoyaki\"<\/a>Takoyaki<\/strong> \u2013 Originally an Osakan street food, takoyaki has found popularity all over the country, particularly at matsuri time. These are batter balls with a large helping of diced octopus (tako), pickled ginger and green onion. There are various toppings to takoyaki, the most common being takoyaki sauce (similar to Worcestershire sauce) and sprinkled with dried seaweed and dried bonito flakes (katsuobushi). Other toppings include mayonnaise and even cheese. Be warned though, many non-Japanese find katsuobushi an overpowering taste. If you fall in to this category you can say \u2018katsuobushi nashi de onegaishimasu\u2019, no katsuobushi please.<\/p>\n

\"okonomiyaki\"<\/a>Okonomiyaki<\/strong> \u2013 There are various types of okonomiyaki, but at most festivals you will find the Osaka variety. Sometimes called Japanese pizza, okonomiyaki is closer to an omelet and was originally made from\u00a0leftovers, and thus the ingredients can vary (the name comes from okonomi, meaning \u2018what you like\u2019 and yaki meaning ‘cooked’). The base\u00a0ingredient is\u00a0a kind of pancake batter cooked on a hotplate. On top of this\u00a0comes shredded cabbage, green onion and meat: usually either octopus, thin pork belly or shrimp. Sometimes it will also have mochi or cheese. It also often comes topped with katsuobushi, sometimes with an egg.<\/p>\n

\"Yakisoba\"<\/a>Yakisoba<\/strong> \u2013According to a survey conducted by website Gadget Tsushin, yakisoba is Japan\u2019s number one matsuri food. It is similar to chow mein, from which it derived. Despite the name it is not actually soba (buckwheat) noodles, but wheat flour ramen-style noodles. Thin slices of pork are fried with the noodles on a hotplate along with diced cabbage and a sauce similar to oyster sauce. Once again katsuobushi sprinkles top this dish.<\/p>\n

\"Ikayaki\"<\/a>Ikayaki<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013Ikayaki is perhaps the most daunting of the meats on a stick, being as it is a whole squid (ika), grilled. Other than it being coated in soy sauce, there isn\u2019t much more you can say.<\/p>\n

Looks scary, tastes wonderful!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jaga bata<\/strong> \u2013 you are on firmer ground with jaga bata, literally buttered potatoes. Large potatoes are baked in huge steaming wooden ovens, usually minus the skin. Once served\u00a0you are given a trowel and pointed to a vat of butter. You can add as much as you and your arteries can stand.<\/p>\n

Sweets at\u00a0Japanese Festivals<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"watame\"<\/a>Watame<\/strong> \u2013 Like much of the world, cotton candy is a huge favourite at Japanese matsuri. Here it is sold in prepackaged bags, often decorated with pictures of popular characters such as Pikachu, Hello Kitty and Anpanman<\/p>\n

Choco banana<\/strong> \u2013 Choco banana probably needs no explanation, but it is extremely popular. Sometimes you may find other chocolate covered fruit, including pineapple.<\/p>\n

\"Taiyaki\"<\/a>Taiyaki<\/strong> \u2013 Made using regular pancake or waffle batter, taiyaki is poured into a fish shaped mold, filled and cooked on both sides. The most popular filling is sweetened red bean paste, but you can also find custard, chocolate or sweet potato.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Dango\"<\/a>Dango<\/strong> \u2013 Dango is a sweet dumpling ball made from rice flour (mochiko) similar in texture to mochi, and served on sticks. There are various flavours, but the most popular is probably the tricolor hanami\u00a0dango, one ball coloured by read beans, one by eggs, and one by green tea. At this time of year my might find one is flavoured by sakura.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Furutsu\u00a0ame<\/strong> \u2013 Another worldwide favourite is the candy apple. However, in Japan at festival time you will find a whole variety of fruits coated in sugar candy such as strawberry (ichigo), grape (budo), satsuma (mikan) and even Japanese plum (ume)<\/p>\n

Drinks at Japanese Festivals<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"Ramune\"<\/a>Ramune<\/strong> \u2013 For the adults you can get the usual array cans of beer, shochu and jars of sake, but for kids at festival time, ramune is a must. This sparkling soda drink had been a popular matsuri staple for many years\u00a0and is opened by popping a marble down into the bottle\u2019s neck. Originally ramune was lemon-lime flavor but there are now at least 36 flavours, including takoyaki!<\/p>\n

[spacer height=”20px”]<\/p>\n

By Mark Guthrie<\/p>\n

\n

Image: wikipedia.com “Yatai<\/i> in the summer festival<\/a>“<\/span> by Tomomarusan<\/a> (<\/span>CC BY-NC-SA 3.0<\/a>) \u2013 Modified<\/p>\n

Image: flickr.com “Okonomiyaki<\/a>“<\/span> by Norio NAKAYAMA<\/a> (<\/span>CC BY-NC-SA 2.0<\/a>) \u2013 Modified<\/p>\n

Image: flickr.com “Takoyaki<\/a>“<\/span> by Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric BISSON<\/a> (<\/span>CC BY-NC-SA 2.0<\/a>) \u2013 Modified<\/p>\n

Image: flickr.com “Yakisoba<\/a>“<\/span> by Keiichi Inoue<\/a> (<\/span>CC BY-NC-SA 2.0<\/a>) \u2013 Modified<\/p>\n

Image: flickr.com “Yakitori<\/a>“<\/span> by Hideya HAMANO<\/a> (<\/span>CC BY-NC-SA 2.0<\/a>) \u2013 Modified<\/p>\n

Image: flickr.com “Grillad bl\u00e4ckfisk<\/a>“<\/span> by Niklas Barsk<\/a> (<\/span>CC BY-NC-SA 2.0<\/a>) \u2013 Modified<\/p>\n

Image: flickr.com “Sanja Masturi Watame<\/a>“<\/span> by Michelle Lai Lai<\/a> (<\/span>CC BY-NC-SA 2.0<\/a>) \u2013 Modified<\/p>\n

Image: flickr.com “\u82b1\u3088\u308a\u30fb\u30fb\u30fb<\/a>“<\/span> by Chie Gondo<\/a> (<\/span>CC BY-NC-SA 2.0<\/a>) \u2013 Modified<\/p>\n

Image: flickr.com “Taiyaki<\/a>“<\/span> by Takanori Nakanowatari<\/a> (<\/span>CC BY-NC-SA 2.0<\/a>) \u2013 Modified<\/p>\n

Image: flickr.com “Ramune<\/a>“<\/span> by Collin Grady<\/a> (<\/span>CC BY-NC-SA 2.0<\/a>) \u2013 Modified<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The arrival\u00a0of spring means only one thing in Japan: hanami. Hanami is a great time when people get together i […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":1944,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[65,68,94,54,59,63],"tags":[69,95,144],"class_list":["post-1943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","category-festivals","category-food-and-dining","category-japan","category-life-in-japan","category-outdoors","tag-event","tag-food","tag-japanese-food"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1943"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1943\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51162,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1943\/revisions\/51162"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}