Travel through Japan’s Heritage
Text:Chihiro Naito
Photos:Teppei Sasaki
- A journey to trace the tales of Japan’s heritage for smooth, velvety skin
Miwa Ishihara, a freelance news presenter active in the San-in area, traveled to Iwami no Kuni. While following the tales of Japanese heritage sites, she discovered new attractions of Iwami through “tools to connect with the gods” such as Iwami Kagura and Japanese sake.
On this day, Miwa Ishihara had lunch in Ohnan Town, the “Class A Gourmet Town.” Class A gourmet is a term created from the concept of regional revitalization to carefully nurture the local food culture of Ohnan and its abundance of ingredients and pass them on for the future.
At the Kamuri restaurant, located in the grounds of the Organic Herb Garden “Koboku no Mori,” you can enjoy teppanyaki (Japanese style steakhouse) cuisine using plenty of local ingredients in an informal atmosphere.
The large windows with bright sunlight overlook the beautiful greenery of the forest park. Miwa selected the “Special Hamburg steak with moromi demi-glace sauce” from the menu. The Hamburg steak is freshly cooked to order and is served hot.
The moromi miso used as a secret ingredient in the demi-glace sauce was made by local high school students as part of their miso making class. The vegetables for the side dishes are also grown by the high school students as well.
Kamuri is very particular about using ingredients from Ohnan.
“The meat is very thick. The sauce has a rich flavor and it’s very tasty. It’s delicious! Moromi miso goes well with the demi-glace sauce.”
Miwa’s face beamed as she ate her Hamburg steak. All the vegetables and dressing for the salad included in the set menu are locally grown and very fresh.
“It's wonderful that the restaurant collaborates with local high school students to develop the menu. Their food shows that the entire community is trying to entertain visitors. Maybe that's the spirit that the Iwami people share.”
Text:Chihiro Naito
Photos:Teppei Sasaki
Miwa Ishihara
Born in Shimane Prefecture. Formerly a news presenter for San-in Chuo Television Broadcasting. Currently renowned as a freelance reporter and as a presenter, narrator, seminar lecturer, and writer. Miwa has deep knowledge of Japanese sake and is a certified SSI Kikisake-shi (a specialist in the service and sales of sake who can entertain customers appropriately). Having visited many breweries in the San-in region as an evangelist for local sake, in 2013 she published two books, “Shimane Shuraku Tanbou” and “Tottori Shuraku Tanbou,” to promote the appeal of the region’s local sake. A member of San-in Good Things Expedition.