Okonomiyaki sizzles as Hiroshima revivesHometown taste born in postwar period
Okonomiyaki, a kind of "savory pancake," is a tasty and filling dish. Many people enjoy the sizzle of okonomiyaki on a hot griddle and the smell of okonomiyaki sauce.
Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki, distinguished by its layer of noodles and vegetables, was born in Hiroshima after the city was turned into a scorched plain by the atomic bombing. The dish, which could be easily made using available ingredients and implements, was sold in many places around town, including small street stands and corners of private homes. Okonomiyaki made an important contribution to the financial survival of many people, while satisfying the stomachs of the population, and is thought of as a symbol of the city's reconstruction.
There are many okonomiyaki restaurants in Hiroshima today. The number of okonomiyaki restaurants, including spin-off dishes like yakisoba noodles and takoyaki octopus dumplings, stands at about 1,800. Per capita, Hiroshima Prefecture boasts the largest number of such restaurants among all prefectures in Japan. In Hiroshima, each restaurant or local area seeks to serve its own special type of okonomiyaki with unique ingredients or a unique taste, making these different versions of okonomiyaki a "local specialty" which use local ingredients.
The president of the "Ise" company runs three okonomiyaki restaurants in the heart of the city. Mitsuo Ise, 79, returned to Japan in 1946 when his family was repatriated from the old Manchuria in northeastern China. In 1950, Mr. Ise's father opened an okonomiyaki stand, then known as "Mikasaya," in the Shintenchi district in downtown Hiroshima. But because his father was often in poor health, Mr. Ise took charge of running the stand to support the family of seven. Some time later, the name changed from "Mikasaya" to "Micchan," an easier name to recall. In the early days, he made "issen yoshoku," which consists of wheat flour mixed with water and then cooked with green onions. But this dish was eaten as a snack, and his only customers were children, so the earnings were insufficient to support his family. Then, following a friend's advice, he started adding cabbage and sliced pork. Even today, Mr. Ise works in the restaurants on weekdays from the time they open until 2 p.m. His long experience of making okonomiyaki has given him expertise in the cooking process and the taste. "There's no secret," he said, very willing to share his knowledge. "I'll teach you all about my okonomiyaki." Mr. Ise shows young people how to make the kind of delicious okonomiyaki that they themselves would want to eat. (Nene Takahashi, 16, and Yumi Kimura, 15)
"I've never thought about closing my restaurant," said Hanako Miyake, 74. "It makes my life worthwhile." Ms. Miyake is the owner of the okonomiyaki restaurant "Sazanka," which has been in operation for 54 years since it first opened. When she was a child, her parents passed away because of illness. She was then raised by her mother's cousin, the late Shizuka Sazanka. In 1954, the two opened a shop selling fruit near a residential area. Then, in 1957, they opened the okonomiyaki restaurant in that location, a dish that wasn't as well-known at the time. Ten years later, Ms. Sazanka retired and Ms. Miyake and her husband took over the restaurant. She cooked the okonomiyaki while her husband made udon noodles and sushi. The restaurant provided their livelihood, but her husband's health was poor and he was hospitalized repeatedly so the task of raising their two sons fell onto her shoulders. Twenty years ago her husband passed away and since then she has been running the restaurant on her own. She has continued to use the same okonomiyaki recipe for the past 54 years, and still uses a spatula and an iron griddle from the time the restaurant opened. "It's fun to chat with my customers. As long as I'm in good health, I want to keep on making okonomiyaki until I'm 80 or 90 years old," she said in a spirited tone. (Yuka Ichimura, 15, and Rena Sasaki, 15) |
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Origins of "Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki" Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki is believed to have come to the city from the dishes called "dondon yaki" from the Kanto area, around Tokyo, and "issen yoshoku" from the Kansai area, around Osaka. From about 1950, okonomiyaki food stands began to appear in the Shintenchi district downtown and in front of Hiroshima Station. In residential areas, widows who lost their husbands in the war opened okonomiyaki shops, along with their shops selling sweets, in order to make ends meet. They found discarded griddles in the burned fields or bought them at a cheap price from an ironworks. Under the griddle they placed a portable stove made of clay. Back then, issen yoshoku was made by mixing wheat flour with water, pouring the batter onto the griddle, and then adding green onions, boiled fish paste, and powdered fish meal. The pancake-like food was then folded in half into a half-circle shape. Later, cabbage and sliced pork, which became available at low prices, were added, and wheat imported from the United States was used to make the flour. A special sauce was created, too, and the idea of including noodles reportedly came from someone who returned from China. The evolution to today's heavy Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki was then complete. (Junichi Akiyama, 15) |
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New organization established to increase local cabbage production Cabbage is used in making okonomiyaki, so a lot of cabbage is consumed in Hiroshima Prefecture. However, less than 10 percent of this cabbage is produced within the prefecture. In order to increase the amount of locally-grown cabbage, in 2009 the government of Hiroshima Prefecture and local branches of the Japan Agricultural Cooperative established an organization to promote local cabbage. At their meetings, the members of this group discuss such things as increasing cabbage production, growing good products, locating reliable markets, and exchanging sales information. From fiscal year 2013, they are aiming to increase the amount of land used to grow cabbage locally to three times, or 100 hectares, what it is today. (Arata Kohno, 14) |
Cabbage in okonomiyaki comes from outside Hiroshima Prefecture
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Agricultural group in local town expands land for cabbage fields
In the town of Sera in Hiroshima Prefecture, the agricultural group "Megumi" is growing cabbage on land as large as 4 hectares. When they started planting cabbage in 2007, the size of the land they used was just 25 ares. Because the taste of their cabbage has proven popular, the area for cultivation expanded to the current size, 16 times as big as the original field. They grow a type of cabbage that has a sweet flavor when heated and has been met with positive reactions from restaurants, supermarkets, and of course, okonomiyaki shops. Some okonomiyaki restaurants in the area visit the cabbage fields directly to buy the vegetable. The head of the group, Tsuneya Miyasako, 49, said, "When people say our cabbage tastes delicious, we feel encouraged to work hard every day." They now plan to expand their growing area even further. (Sayaka Azechi, 17) |
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Okonomiyaki training centers offer support to prospective restaurant owners Otafuku Sauce, a company located in the city of Hiroshima which produces the special sauce for okonomiyaki, established a "training center for okonomiyaki" when it began its business in Tokyo in 1987. The company now has eight training centers in Hiroshima, Osaka, Fukuoka, and other cities with the aim of spreading a taste for okonomiyaki nationwide. Five of these centers offer training for people who wish to open an okonomiyaki restaurant. To support the reconstruction effort in eastern Japan in the wake of the major earthquake which hit that region in March, Otafuku Sauce provided a training course in the city of Sendai in December. During this training, the participants learned how to cook okonomiyaki, how to choose suitable ingredients, and how to manage a restaurant. About 4,000 people attended the course. According to Kazuharu Kawamoto, 34, who serves on the staff of the training center in Hiroshima, about half of those who have undergone training in Hiroshima ultimately opened their own restaurant. "If you don't like okonomiyaki, you can't run an okonomiyaki restaurant," Mr. Kawamoto said frankly. He enjoys visiting the restaurants now run by his former trainees and eating their okonomiyaki. (Kana Kumagai, 17) |
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Many local types of okonomiyaki are being made In Hiroshima Prefecture, local types of okonomiyaki, which boast special ingredients from local areas, are on the rise. As a part of the Hiroshima Food Festival, which is held every October around Hiroshima Castle, the "Hiroshima Teppan Grand Prix" was instituted in 2010. The first year the contest was held, "Fuchu yaki" won the grand prize, while this year the award went to "Shobara yaki." Apart from local ingredients, many other ingredients and toppings can complement okonomiyaki, such as kimchi, perilla herbs, and tomatoes. Okonomiyaki can be enjoyed in a variety of ways. (Naho Shigeta, 13) 
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