"Omotenashi"
Japanese philosophy
of hospitality
Ikoinomura Tateyama
(いこいの村たてやま), where we made the stop for our lunch.
We were greeted with
gorgeous swaying palm trees upon our arrival to the hotel.
Tateyama
is a town blessed with beautiful sea around its surrounding. Realizing
this fact, the city has come out with a local specialty menu based on
the concept of "omotenashi" or Japanese hospitality. This menu
which made its debut early this year on January 30, 2013, is called
Tateyama's Hasshokudon (八色丼), or literally, "eight colours rice bowl
dish".
The
main characteristics of this menu is that eight different kinds of
topping is served in eight mini rice bowls, giving us the chance to
enjoy various flavours in one meal. You may wonder why the number "8" is
chosen here. The eight different mini dishes included in this set
symbolizes the orbs possessed by the eight warriors from the story "Nanso Satomi Hakkenden" (南総里見八犬伝), or the "Tale of Eight Dogs".
Upon entering the cafeteria,
we came across these mysterious-looking gigantic bowls!
An aerial shot of our lunch set.
A closer look at the
condiments, pickled vegetables, clam soup and dessert.
Another shot from the top.
However, I am very sure
everyone is curious what is inside the huge bowl on the left.
Hmmm....
Each of the eight rice bowls is carved with Japanese kanji characters that represents the kanji
appeared in the tale. All eight bowls which contain about 25-30 grams
of rice is placed in a huge bowl with a cover which measures 36
centimeters in diameter and 25 centimeters tall.
The names of the eight bowls are "jin" (仁丼), "gi" (義丼), "rei" (礼丼), "chi" (智丼), "chu" (忠思), "shin" (信丼), "kou" (孝丼), "tei" (悌丼). "Tomo" is placed on the centre, "jin" is placed on the 12-o-clock position, and the rest will follow on clock wise rotation. The condiment to be enjoyed together with the rice dish is also arranged according to the same order.
The names of the eight bowls are "jin" (仁丼), "gi" (義丼), "rei" (礼丼), "chi" (智丼), "chu" (忠思), "shin" (信丼), "kou" (孝丼), "tei" (悌丼). "Tomo" is placed on the centre, "jin" is placed on the 12-o-clock position, and the rest will follow on clock wise rotation. The condiment to be enjoyed together with the rice dish is also arranged according to the same order.
Tada! There you go - eight
little rice bowls, each containing different kinds of rice
dish.
Lets take a closer look at the colourful dish.
From
this wonderful dish, you can get to taste everything Tateyama has to
offer, as each dish features famous ingredients from the area, such as
vegetables of the season, aji (horse mackerel), Ise-ebi (spiny lobster), pork, fish of the season, hijiki
seaweed, and fruit of the season. Within these standards, each
establishment determines the method of preparation and seasonings for
these ingredients.
The
fish used in the dish differs from one restaurant to the other, and
depending on the season, the types of fish in the same restaurant might
be different. This gives people the chance to try out this dish multiple
times as it offers a different kind of menu and experience on each
visit. This unique dish can be enjoyed for just 1,800 yen.
And, now you know why nobody can beat Japanese omotenashi.
This is what they call Tateyama's
hasshokudon.
And, now you know why nobody can beat Japanese omotenashi.
Another half of the Chiba Kun Ambassadors had the opportunity to try another local specialty - Aburikaisen-don, which I have tried early this year. One thing to take note is that these two dishes are only available in five selected restaurants within Tateyama city. Furthermore, the number of meals served per day is limited to 125 sets for aburikaisen-don and 70 sets for hasshokudon. It is recommended to make a reservation before you visit the restaurants, especially during the weekends.
By
the way, the place we had our lunch - Ikoinomura Tateyama (いこいの村たてやま)
is a hotel that sits on a magnificent location just right in front of
the Pacific Ocean. This strategic location offers a picturesque view of
the ocean and islands far beyond the horizon from the room and public
bath.
The Chiba Kun Ambassadors enjoying our sumptuous meals.
The
best way to drop by this hotel is by car, on the way driving through
Minamiboso area, because the nearest train station is location quite
some distance away. However, there is a bus stop nearby the hotel which
the local bus runs on a frequent basis. Alternatively, the hotel is
accessible from the station by taxi in approximately fifteen minutes.
By
the way, there is a tropical botanical garden called Nanbo Paradise
(南房パラダイス). It was built in 1970, and has set up a partnership with
Singapore Botanic Gardens. There are about 5,000 kinds of tropical
plants in a large glass houses with 11 rooms. And in the site, there are
the beds of flowers, the house of butterflies, petting zoo and other
some facilities.
The three popular local food from Tateyama.
Finally, a group photo of
Chiba Ambassadors in front of the hotel we had our lunch.
Ikoinomura Tateyama
Check-in time: 15:00 p.m.
Check-out time: 10:00 a.m.
Lunch time: 11:30 - 14:00 (abura-kaisendon and hasshokudon is only available during lunch time)
Closed days: None (except special holidays)
Number of seats: 200 seats
Number of servings per day: Aburi-kaisendon - 20 servings; Hasshokudon - 10 servings
Parking spaces: 60 cars (no charge, no reservations required)
Address: 1495-1, Fujiwara, Tateyama-shi, Chiba Prefecture, 294-0224, Japan.
Tel: 0470-28-2211 Fax: 0470-28-2215
Website: http://ikoi-tateyama.com/index.html (Japanese only)
Access: Tateyama is located in the southern region of Bōsō Peninsular. It takes approximately 90 minutes from Tokyo; and 30 minutes from Tateyama Station by car.
Five establishments offer Tateyama's Hasshokudon:
・Umi no Hana (Tel: 0470-25-5151) 2903-101 Hojo, Tateyama
・Hana Sohonten (Tel: 0470-22-1385) 2619-6 Hojo, Tateyama
・Kyukamura Tateyama (Tel: 0470-29-0211) 725 Kenbutsu, Tateyama
・Ito Daibo Kobo (Tel: 0470-29-1221) 963-1 Ito, Tateyama
・Ikoi-no-Mura Tateyama (Tel: 0470-28-2211) 1495-1 Fujiwara, Tateyama
Inquiries: Tateyama New Local Gourmet Promotion Council (within the Tateyama City Tourism Association)
Website: http://tateyama-gourmet.com (Japanese only)
Tel: 0470-22-2000