Part 11. Uwasawa Umetaro Shoten in Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture, Creator of Tamari-zuke Pickles
Jun 01,2023
People all over the world have developed clever ways to preserve food. Preserving food enables it to be set aside for emergencies or stored for times of year when fresh produce is scarce. It also ensures that precious food doesn’t go to waste.
Fresh fruits and vegetables, seafood, and meat are preserved using a variety of techniques, such as fermenting, drying, and smoking. Preserved foods reflect the food culture of a region or nation.
In this series, we take you on a journey through Japan exploring the country’s rich heritage of preserved foods, which underpin its culinary culture.
This installment focuses on tamari-zuke pickles, for which the town of Nikko in Tochigi Prefecture is renowned. We visited Uwasawa Umetaro Shoten, which has been in business for four centuries, and interviewed Uwasawa Yuki, who with his family is working to pass on its long heritage to the next generation.
Nikko’s famed tamari-zuke pickles were inspired by a desire to restore it to its former glory as a tourist destination.
In the Edo period (1603–1867), the Nikko Highway bustled with worshippers on their way to the great shrine at Nikko, which was revered by the people of Edo (modern Tokyo) and the Tokugawa shoguns. For over four hundred years, Uwasawa Umetaro Shoten has witnessed how this historic route has evolved. It was founded, according to tradition, in the Genroku era (1688–1704).
Uwasawa Umetaro Shoten immediately catches your eye with its whitewashed walls, gabled roof, and imposing sign. It stands at the intersection of three historic routes: the Nikko Highway, the Aizu Nishi Highway, and the Nikko Reiheishi Highway. The building speaks history.
On ducking under the noren curtains at the entrance, you find yourself in a spacious interior where you can enjoy shopping. There’s also a lounge at the back where you can take a break from sightseeing.
The Uwasawa family business started out in the Genroku era operating granaries for storing rice received as tax from the Nikko Shrine’s lands. In the Taisho era (1912–1926), it expanded into making miso and soy sauce. It’s been part of the fabric of local life for countless years. Today, it’s known as a historic vendor of tamari-zuke pickles, a Nikko specialty. The massive sign above the entrance identifies it as such.
“Tamari-zuke pickles, our flagship product, were invented by Umetaro, the head of the family two generations back. It was immediately after the war, and making miso and soy sauce was a struggle because ingredients were hard to come by. But despite the chaotic situation, Umetaro was convinced that one day when peace returned, Nikko and nearby Kinugawa would be restored to their former glory as globally renowned tourist destinations. With his own hands, he wanted to create something that would be celebrated as a local specialty. And that’s how tamari-zuke pickles were born. He diligently researched how to make pickles by harnessing the fermentation process. The result was our Nikko miso tamari-zuke pickles. In the old days, people made their own miso at home. They would pickle vegetables and stuff in miso that was slightly old. Well, Umetaro succeeded in making pickles with tamari, the thick liquid that is a byproduct of the miso-making process.”
A photo on display in the store showing Uwasawa Umetaro (at the rear), previous head of the family but one, and his son Saburo. They’re in the fermentation lab working on development of tamari-zuke pickles.
The secret to the great taste of Uwasawa Umetaro Shoten’s tamari-zuke pickles: their crunchy texture and rich flavor.
Uwasawa Umetaro Shoten offers a wide selection of vegetables and other items pickled in tamari: daikon, eggplant, cucumber, burdock root, ginger. The most popular of all, though, are the Japanese scallions. These scallions, which are almost too big to eat in a single mouthful, are wonderfully crunchy. They don’t have the peculiar tangy flavor that ordinary pickled scallions possess. They taste like something out of a fresh salad. You could keep eating them forever!
Nikko miso tamari-zuke pickles served at Inkyo Uwasawa, the restaurant next to the store. It specializes in breakfasts featuring miso soup, rice, and pickles
“Ibaraki Prefecture is famed for its Japanese scallions. We use the choicest scallions sourced from local farmers we know we can trust. The secret to their mouthfeel is how we pickle them. We don’t heat them when we make them, so the fibers remains intact. Ensuring they’ll keep for an extended period at room temperature requires heating them, but that makes them lose their flavor and chewy texture. Here at Uwasawa, we insist on making them the old-fashioned way without heating to deliver the finest flavor. A lot of people who never liked Japanese scallions tell us they can eat ours.”
The wall encircling the grounds features an illustration of a Japanese scallion, one of Uwasawa’s flagship products.
Keeping alive Umetaro’s willingness to dare in the face of adversity
Tamari-zuke pickles emerged from the food shortages that followed World War II. Today they’ve evolved far beyond what Umetaro envisioned to become a Nikko classic. Many stores now make them.
“Back then, there were those who wondered what on earth he was doing and told him he’d never succeed. After all, people made pickles at home in those days. But Umetaro was determined. He dared to rise to the challenge. And once he’d perfected his pickles, next he made sure that people were aware of them. When delivering miso to customers, for example, he’d give them away as freebies. His hard work paid off as Uwasawa’s tamari-zuke pickles slowly but surely gained ground. That said, even today, pickles still don’t have a very high profile. And the market for miso and soy sauce is shrinking by the year. But such are the times, so we need to meet the moment and be resourceful.”
The first thing Yuki did on joining the company was a rebrand. He’s been embarking on new initiatives ever since as he works to spread the word about the attractions of good old Japanese food.
“We’ve had an online store since 1999, but we redesigned our website because we wanted younger people to know about us as well. We also implemented a full-blown rebrand. It occurred to us on that occasion that the best way to acquaint people with the traditional culture of pickles and Japanese food was to get them actually eating them. So we decided to start a restaurant called Inkyo Uwasawa specializing in breakfasts featuring miso soup, rice, and pickles. It was housed in a building that was built 150 years ago as a place of retirement and hadn’t been used in decades. This serves plain meals consisting of freshly cooked rice, miso soup, and pickles, which we hope will give people a better idea of what the ordinary Japanese diet is like. But we don’t just want to showcase how good pickles taste. Going forward, we hope to offer all-round ideas integrating local culture, history, and lifestyles.”
The Rich Breakfasts of Inkyo Uwasawa, a Restaurant Specializing in Miso Soup, Rice, and Pickles Operated by an Established Tamari-zuke Pickle Store
Uwasawa Yuki. After graduating from university, he worked in the overseas operations division of a major pickle brand and gained experience at their factory in China. He has been with the family business since 2013.
