Experience Classic Amazake Culture at Hakone
Aug 31,2023
Aug 31,2023
Hakone Amazake Chaya is the only teahouse remaining on the old Hakone road that has kept its doors open to a great many travelers for over 400 years. (Part 1 of this article is here.) We spoke with Yamamoto Satoshi, the 13th-generation owner, about the teahouse’s signature amazake [a sweet drink made with koji malt], which has been passed down for generations, and other items cherished by travelers.
What sets Hakone Amazake Chaya’s amazake apart is its subtle saltiness. The amazake is served with a side dish of locally-sourced mountain butterbur shoots pickled in soy sauce. Both are prepared using age-old methods.
Yamamoto Satoshi, the 13th generation owner of Hakone Amazake Chaya
“The secret ingredient in our amazake are the slopes coming here. It’s the taste your body craves when it is absolutely exhausted. When you finally sit down for a rest, have a sip of amazake, savor it slowly, and think: ‘Alright, now I’ll send this nourishment to every part of my body.’ If you drink amazake in this spirit, it will surely course through every part of you. That’s why it’s a completely different experience having it here, as opposed to drinking the same amazake in an air-conditioned apartment.”
Made with rice and rice koji, the teahouse’s amazake has tasted the same since its founding
The mild sweetness comes solely from the rice and koji, as no sugar is used. Rich-tasting, yet silky smooth, it has a nourishing depth that seeps into and soothes a weary body.
The old Hakone road was known for how grueling it was to cross the eight ri section (about 32 km) along the Hakone Pass. During the Edo period (1603 to 1868), processions of daimyo feudal lords traveled this route, and numerous teahouses dotted the area before and after checkpoints where travelers could rest from their journey. It makes perfect sense that refreshing amazake was served here.
Shiso [perilla] juice, with its exquisite balance of tartness and sweetness, is another drink that restores a tired body. The soft, freshly pounded texture of the “fortifying” mochi rice cake makes it easy to devour: both the uguisu [coated in sweet, olive-green soybean powder] and isobe [dipped in soy sauce and wrapped in seaweed] types are popular.
Hakone Amazake Chaya is recognized as a Japanese heritage and cultural asset. Records indicate that in the Edo period, there were as many as 13 teahouses along this 32-kilometer stretch of road.
Yamamoto took over the teahouse as the 13th generation owner in 2022. Born and raised in Odawara, he remembers the teahouse being his playground since childhood. Yamamoto grew up watching his grandmother and father, the previous owner, run the teahouse. He admits there was a time when he agonized over whether he was truly fit to carry on this long-established family business.
“I guess that was my youthful rebelliousness. [laughs] Although I always had a sense that I’d eventually take the teahouse over, I thought I should be allowed to do what I wanted while my father was still active. After graduating from school, I left home and went to train at a traditional Kyoto ryotei restaurant I had a connection with. It was a ryotei associated with the Urasenke school of tea ceremony, and I learned so much there — about cooking ingredients simply, valuing a sense of the season, and much more. But when I returned after 13 years, showcasing those techniques I’d learned here just didn’t feel right. This is my teahouse, yet it isn’t my teahouse. It really belongs to the customers. Keeping it open even when the buses stop running in winter or during storms stems from the feeling that I can’t close up just for my own convenience. Taking over the teahouse means looking after the special memories it holds for each customer.”
Looking out at the garden from the dimly lit interior unique to Japanese homes. Did people long ago take in the same view?
The Tokaido route was at its peak during the Edo period, bustling with travelers. But when the Meiji period (1868 to 1912) began and National Route 1 opened, the flow of people dwindled. Compounded by shortages during WWII, teahouses serving amazake were forced to shut one after another. Hakone Amazake Chaya remained the sole survivor.
“We made it through my grandparents’ era, when running a teahouse wasn’t enough to make a living. Now, thankfully, we’ve had an upsurge in customers in recent years. We still open every morning at 7 a.m., 365 days a year, just as in the past.”
For more than 400 years, Hakone Amazake Chaya has been a haven for travelers gathering strength for the final push over the Hakone Pass. Not only does the teahouse quench people’s thirst still today; the owner’s warm kindness also soothes their hearts.