The Flavors of Shinshu Discovered by Yamazakana Yamaki
Bringing the work of our shops and artisans to your daily dining table.
A dish from a restaurant, ingredients grown on a farm, handcrafted goods from a brewery or workshop, and the aroma infused into every cup. Each item at Yamazakana Yamaki embodies the craftsmanship of its creator.
Centered in Shinshu, we’ve also selected producers from beyond the region, such as those growing Hida sansho. Start with a flavor that catches your interest, and explore the story behind it.
Available at Yamazakana Yamaki
Takeout Souvenirs & Merchandise
Takeout refers to food and drinks you can take home. Souvenirs and merchandise are items you can purchase for your own use or as gifts. The availability at Yamazakana Yamaki is indicated in each store’s introduction.
01 Restaurants
Bringing the restaurant’s flavors to your everyday table.
Japanese Cuisine Yukimoto’s Oyaki
Iida City, Nagano Prefecture | Minami-Shinshu
Japanese Cuisine Yukimoto
Takeout Souvenirs & Merchandise
Discover the flavors of Southern Shinshu, starting with a single oyaki.
“Yukimoto,” a Japanese restaurant in Iida City, Nagano Prefecture. This restaurant conveys the charm of Southern Shinshu through dishes that make the most of local ingredients, culinary culture, and the region’s unique environment. The expertise of a Japanese restaurant is evident even in the oyaki, which wraps up local ingredients.
Take, for example, the oyaki made with Chiyogenton pork, raised right here in Iida. The chef transforms ingredients raised by local producers into a familiar, everyday dish. Savoring just one of these can spark a deeper interest in the region’s cuisine.
Perfect for days when you want to add one more dish to your meal alongside rice and soup. Or to share the flavors of Shinshu at the dinner table with someone special. Let Yukimoto’s oyaki be your gateway to experiencing the culinary richness of Southern Shinshu.
Mamani is located inside the Son of the Smith Taproom in Taira, Omachi City. This restaurant combines the experience and creativity of chef Takeshi Shirasawa—who trained in French cuisine—with the traditional oyaki beloved throughout Shinshu.
We want to make dining more casual and enjoyable for everyone, from children to adults. It was with this desire in mind that we chose the oyaki format. We wrap the techniques cultivated by our chef within the region’s deeply rooted food culture. Within these familiar dishes, you’ll discover new flavors.
Here’s how to enjoy oyaki, brought to you from Omachi at the foot of the Northern Alps. We’ll introduce Mamani’s unique approach—adding a modern sensibility to traditional cuisine.
Selecting and grinding buckwheat. Bringing that craftsmanship to your table.
“Yamanomi: Stone-Ground Soba Workshop” in Yamanouchi Town’s Kitashiga Highlands. At Yamazakana Yamaki, we feature their house-milled 100% buckwheat dried soba. They select whole buckwheat grains and grind them with a stone mill. The shop’s dedication to soba results in a dish you can enjoy right at home.
Place the soba at the center of your table, take your first bite, and savor it slowly. Enjoy the flavors by gradually adding condiments, and finish with a cup of soba-yu (soba broth). These dried soba noodles are meant to be cherished—from the moment you savor the noodles to the lingering aftertaste.
Perfect for everyday meals or as a gift for soba lovers. Choose this product to enjoy at your own pace, from the moment you boil the noodles to the end of the meal.
“The Source Diner” in Kamido, Matsumoto City. Located near Yamazakana Yamaki, it’s a diner you’ll want to stop by while strolling through the neighborhood. Utilizing a building that was originally a flower shop, the interior—where tiles and wood textures blend—is filled with an atmosphere unique to this establishment.
The owner has poured the experience gained at cafes in New York and restaurants in Tokyo into this single establishment in Matsumoto. It’s a place where interests extend beyond the food and the restaurant’s design to include music and books. Let your meal be your gateway to discovering another side of Matsumoto.
Working closely with the land to cultivate our ingredients.
Azumino City, Nagano Prefecture | Akashina
Azumino Pasture-Raised Pork (Fujiwara Livestock)
Souvenirs & Merchandise
Pigs raised naturally and freely in the mountains overlooking the Northern Alps.
Fujiwara Livestock Co., Ltd. raises “Azumino Pasture-Raised Pork” in the mountains of Akashina, Azumino City, at an elevation of 800 meters with views of the Northern Alps. In accordance with animal welfare principles, the pigs are raised in ample pasture areas where they can bask in the sun and breeze while moving about freely. Their feed is a custom blend that includes malt from a Matsumoto brewery, as well as potatoes, apples, rice, and soybeans from Hokkaido. They are raised for about 100 days longer than typical pigs, allowing for a slow and thorough fattening process. No antibiotics or hormones are administered.
“Raised naturally in nature”; “Nurturing life and receiving life.” Described as having no unpleasant odor or off-flavors typical of pork and producing almost no scum when cooked, this pork has been selected as an ingredient for Seizan’s sansho pepper curry and Mamani’s oyaki. At Yamazakana Yamaki, we have also featured frankfurters and other items made with this pork.
Located in Matsumoto City, “Shinshu Aozora Natural Farm” produces vegetables and processed goods using natural farming methods that rely on no pesticides, chemical fertilizers, or herbicides. Their “Pure Tomato,” made by pressing mini tomatoes ripened on the vine, is characterized by the tomato’s natural sweetness and umami, as well as a fragrance reminiscent of fresh fruit.
Otari Village, Kitaazumi District, Nagano Prefecture
Yamazaki Apiary
Souvenirs & Merchandise
A jar of honey from early summer’s Japanese horse chestnut blossoms.
Located in Otari Village, the northernmost part of Nagano Prefecture, “Yamazaki Apiary” is a beekeeping operation that harvests nectar collected by honeybees from horse chestnut blossoms, which bloom in early summer after surviving the harsh winter.
“Tochi Honey” has a mild flavor, a refreshing sweetness, and a light aftertaste. Enjoy a spoonful straight on bread or yogurt. At Yamazakana Yamaki, we offer two sizes: 200g and 600g.
Capturing the sweetness of Kyoho grapes in a grainy mustard.
“glasses farm,” a grape farm in Tomi City, and “Nezu Shoten,” which produces its processed goods. They grow Kyoho and Shine Muscat grapes using cultivation methods that prioritize soil health and the natural vitality of the vines, without the use of herbicides.
“Kyoho Mustard” is made by simmering juice-rich Kyoho grapes for four hours and combining them with vinegar, salt, and brown mustard seeds. It’s a condiment that lets you enjoy the fruit’s natural sweetness and the texture of the mustard seeds when served with meat dishes, sandwiches, or steamed vegetables.
Hara Village, Suwa District, Nagano Prefecture | Western Foothills of Mount Yatsugatake
Hara Village Ichchan Farm
Souvenirs & Merchandise
Fruit ground cherries grown at the foot of Mount Yatsugatake.
Located in Hara Village on the western foothills of the Yatsugatake Mountains, at an elevation of just over 1,000 meters, “Hara Village Ichchan Farm” cultivates the fruit groundcherry variety “Child of the Sun” without the use of pesticides, chemical fertilizers, or herbicides. The fields, which enjoy a high percentage of sunny days, combined with significant temperature differences between day and night, produce fragrant, sweet-and-tart fruit.
Fresh ground cherries are available from late summer through fall. The farm also produces processed goods that can be enjoyed year-round, such as fruit sauce made with honey and lemon, ground cherry miso, and dried ground cherries. At Yamazakana Yamaki, we offer fruit sauce, ground cherry miso, and pickles.
Shimada Sheep Farm is run by Mr. Shimada, who moved from Tokyo to Shinshu-Shinmachi through the Regional Revitalization Corps program. He also works with meat at the local Fresh Top Tanakaya supermarket, connecting the work of raising sheep with the food on our tables.
The farm raises Suffolk sheep. Its local sheep farmers’ association values breeding, raising and finishing sheep within Shinshu-Shinmachi. Members care for their sheep from birth to shipment, continually improving the environment in which they are raised.
Yamazakana Yamaki’s Suffolk sheep oyaki use meat from Shimada Sheep Farm. A chef turns this locally raised ingredient into oyaki, offering an approachable way to enjoy the results of the farmer’s work.
The Suffolk sheep oyaki is a limited item and is currently sold out.
Bringing out the natural flavors of ingredients through craftsmanship.
Takayama City, Gifu Prefecture | Okuhida Hot Spring Resort
Hida Sansho
Souvenirs & Merchandise
Hand-picked, shade-dried and sun-dried, then ground with a pestle and stone mortar.
“Hida Sansho” is a producer specializing in sansho pepper, sourcing “Takahara Sansho” grown in a limited area of the Takahara River basin in Takayama City, Gifu Prefecture, within the Okuhida Onsenkyo region. The berries are hand-picked cluster by cluster, dried naturally—first in the shade and then in the sun—and finally pounded with a pestle and stone mortar to preserve their aroma.
Although based outside Shinshu, Hida Sansho is an essential partner in Yamazakana Yamaki’s selection of aromatic seasonings. They offer salt-preserved “sansho berries,” “chirimen sansho” (sansho simmered with dried baby sardines), and “red sansho” and “green sansho” ground in a mill. This Hida sansho is also used in Seizan’s sansho curry.
A natural ham nurtured by koji mold and Shinshu’s winter.
“Jambon de Himeki” has its atelier in Himekidaira, located at an elevation of 1,500 meters on the Yatsugatake Chūshin Highlands. Nobuhiko Fujiwara creates natural ham by rubbing carefully selected Shinshu pork with traditional Japanese koji mold and drawing out the meat’s umami and aroma through long-term aging.
The ham is prepared on whole hams only during the three and a half months from mid-November to February, when temperatures drop below 5°C. It undergoes low-temperature aging in a curing room surrounded by winter’s freezing temperatures and snow, and in the spring, moisture is drawn out by the dry winds blowing from the Asama Mountain Range. The “Paleta,” made from bone-in forelegs, takes 7 months to 1 year, while the “Jambon,” made from bone-in thighs, takes 18 months or more to develop a deep flavor reminiscent of nuts, cheese, and soy sauce. In the spring and fall, we also produce dry salami and charcuterie, and at Yamazakana Yamaki, we offer sliced prosciutto, salami, rillettes, and more.
Chikuma City, Nagano Prefecture | Mori District, “Land of Apricots”
Mori Food Industries (Mori Shinkyoan)
Souvenirs & Merchandise
The art of apricot craftsmanship, passed down in Apricot Village.
The Mori District, known as “Apricot Village,” is located in Chikuma City, Nagano Prefecture. Established in 1965 and tracing its origins to the Mori Village Apricot Improvement Association of 1910, Mori Food Industries is a food company that processes apricots grown by local farmers using traditional regional pickling methods and handcrafted techniques. Its in-house brand is “Mori Shinkyoan.”
Products include “Shinzanmaru (whole apricots),” whole apricots preserved in syrup; “Dried Apricots,” halved and sun-dried for several days; and apricot jam. These products embody the wisdom of enjoying apricots—which have a short harvest season—all year round.
Capturing the four seasons of the Ina Valley through traditional methods.
Established over 70 years ago in Ina City, “Tsukahara” prepares seasonal delicacies—from Shinshu river fish and wild mountain vegetables to insect-based foods like bee larvae, grasshoppers, and zazamushi—using traditional methods. It is a shop dedicated to preserving and passing on the culinary culture of Shinshu.
At Yamazakana Yamaki, we offer country-style stews featuring grasshoppers, bee larvae, and zazamushi, as well as sweet-braised wakasagi and ayu, and simmered carp. Enjoy these flavors, passed down through generations in the Ina Valley, as a side dish with rice or as a snack with sake.
Matsumoto’s soy sauce and miso, nurtured by wooden barrels and time.
Located in Satoyamabe, Matsumoto City, “Okubo Brewery” is a miso and soy sauce brewery founded in Meiji 38 (1905). Its trade name is “Kikkoki,” derived from the characters for “tortoise shell” and “joy.” The family continues the tradition of natural brewing, using premium-grade domestic soybeans and wheat and allowing the products to mature slowly in wooden barrels over time.
While the process relies on the microorganisms within the wooden barrels, the environment of the brewery is carefully maintained by hand. From the lacquered wooden barrels to the airflow pathways, the work involves no shortage of time and effort. At Yamazakana Yamaki, we carry “Amber Dashi,” a broth made from a blend of three types of dried fish, and “Ume Shoyu,” a soy sauce with a distinct plum tartness.
“Son of the Smith” is a hard cider brewery run by apple farmers in Taira, Omachi City. Their signature cider, which they’ve been crafting since the brewery’s founding, is centered around Granny Smith and Sweetgrass apples—both known for their distinct acidity—and is refined by adjusting the fermentation process for each batch.
Rather than repeating a set recipe, they approach each batch individually, taking into account the condition of the orchards and ingredients that year. This is a beverage born from the fruit itself—a product unique to Shinshu, a region renowned for its apples. Mamani’s oyaki is made right here in this taproom.
Crafting a drink that captures the aroma of plants and bark.
Located in Satoyamabe, Matsumoto City, “Kusawake” crafts aromatic beverages called “Sōkonmokuhi Beverages” using the scents of roots, grasses, and bark. Hitoshi Nomura, who previously ran a gin specialty shop, created these drinks so that even those who don’t drink alcohol could enjoy the aromas of herbs and spices.
The creator believes that ingredients have “leading aromas,” “supporting aromas,” and “aromas that tie the ingredients together,” and combines only those necessary to achieve the desired scent. At Yamazakana Yamaki, we offer their signature drinks, “Kusawake” and “Hinata,” both as draft beverages and in bottles.
Chino City, Nagano Prefecture | At the foot of Mount Yatsugatake
yaso (八十茶)
Takeout Souvenirs & Merchandise
The bounty of the forest, in every cup of tea.
Based in Chino City, Nagano Prefecture, “yaso” transforms trees from the foothills of Mount Yatsugatake into tea, incense, and essential oils. The brand advocates for a lifestyle in harmony with the forest by making use of trees resulting from thinning and pruning.
“Yaso 801 Hojicha Akamatsu,” available at Yamazakana Yamaki, is a tea made from red pine leaves harvested in Nagano Prefecture and roasted using a proprietary method to ensure a smooth, easy-to-drink flavor. In addition to serving it by the cup in our store, you can also purchase it as a souvenir.
Transforming the character of the beans into the aroma of a single cup.
Based in Azumino, “Sawamura Coffee” has been in operation since 2023. We roast the green beans we source ourselves to bring out the unique characteristics of each variety.
We specialize in specialty coffee and fine Robusta. Focusing on lighter roasts, we place great importance on the unique aromas and flavors of each bean. This shop offers an opportunity to broaden your horizons beyond your usual cup of coffee and discover the nuances that come from different beans.
The owner gained experience as a barista and bartender in Tokyo and earned certifications such as the Q Arabica Grader, which involves coffee quality assessment. Starting with online sales, the business expanded to include a physical store and events after the owner moved to Nagano. This experience in the beverage industry is what goes into every cup served from Azumino.
HAKUBA CRAFT is a craft beer brand from the Hakuba Valley. It brews with natural water from the Tsugaike area, fed by snowmelt from the Northern Alps, bringing a taste of the local landscape to each glass.
Where Shinshu ingredients meet a chef’s creativity.
“Meet the Shinshu” is a name that combines “Meet”—meaning “to encounter”—with “Shinshu.” This series features chefs from outside Nagano Prefecture encountering Shinshu ingredients and transforming the inspiration they gain into exclusive Yamaki products.
First Release | Seizan’s Special Sansho Pepper Curry
Entrance to Seizan, a Japanese restaurant in Mita, Tokyo
Mita, Tokyo
Japanese Restaurant Seizan
Souvenirs & Merchandise
Seizan, a Japanese restaurant in Mita, Tokyo. Chef Haruhiko Yamamoto’s skill and artistic sensibility meet ingredients from Shinshu to create a curry infused with the aroma of sansho pepper.
The rich umami of Azumino free-range pork and the gentle acidity of “Muku Tomatoes” are layered with the aroma of Hida sansho. This dish connects ingredients and chefs across regions, with Shinshu as its starting point.
For more details on the chef and the story behind this curry, please see “The Encounter Between Seizan and Shinshu.”
Relive the flavors you encountered on your travels once you return home. Enjoy a dish from a restaurant that caught your eye at your everyday dinner table. Yamazakana Yamaki will continue to introduce the work of restaurants and artisans—along with the encounters that arise from them—through our products.
