Hello, my name is Amanda, and I am the new Coordinator of International Relations for Nagareyama City Hall’s Nagareyama Honcho/Tone Unga Tourism Promotion Section, as of July 2023. I am originally from San Diego, California, which is known for its beaches and tacos. I hope to become a bridge that connects the cool sights and spots of Nagareyama to the rest of the world!

A Flavor that Carries the History and Memories of Nagareyama

Autumn is a special time in the United States, especially for families to spend time together. Many traditional activities involve going to orchards and shopping for nuts and fruit, taking family photos at a pumpkin patch, and getting a variety of desserts and drinks made with apples. What my family did every autumn was go to a countryside town called Julian, and order a fresh glass of apple cider at a local American diner.

Apple cider is a sweet, juice that is a very common autumn drink in the U.S. My father, who was originally from Michigan, one of the top producers of apples in the country, grew up drinking apple cider, and was sad that apple cider was so hard to find in California. Every year, he looked forward to our trip up to Julian, which was a bit of a trip from San Diego, but was one of the few locations in the state where you could find it. It always felt like fall had officially started when my dad took his first sip of cider and said, “it tastes just like home.” Following in my father’s footsteps, I also have a deep love of apple cider, and when autumn time rolls around, I start longing for a sip of that sweet, juicy drink.

Having grown up watching my father reliving his childhood memories of Michigan through apple cider, I have come to realize that “taste” plays a large role in recording important memories and preserving history. I observed this again upon moving to Nagareyama and discovering “Shiro Mirin” (which translates to “White Mirin”). At first, when everyone told me that Nagareyama was the “birthplace of Shiro Mirin,” I do not think I fully understood what they meant. Everything changed however, when I happened to take a small sip of Nagareyama Shiro Mirin at a taste test. I was shocked by the refined, yet intricate sweetness that shocked my taste buds with just a few drops. It was then that I realized that Nagareyama had invented something very important, an entirely new flavor that carries the pride and history of the city within a single taste.

One of the most interesting things about exploring the Nagareyama Honcho and Tone Unga areas is looking for cool interpretations of Shiro Mirin in desserts and food at several restaurants and cafés. At Old House Café TOWA, they have an Apple and Cheese Mirin Butter Cake, which is a delicious dessert that puts a smile on your face. Made with apples that are delicately simmered in Shiro Mirin, it provides a sweet accent to this decadent cake. Wagashiya Meigetsu also sells Dorayaki, a traditional Japanese dessert that looks like a sandwich, and the fluffy pancake layers are made with Shiro Mirin, creating a luxurious harmony with the red bean paste filling. In this way, several stores in Nagareyama pass on the history and memories of the city through Shiro Mirin. The taste of Shiro Mirin is filled with the efforts of the brewers who worked tirelessly to create Shiro Mirin, the remnants of the city’s once prosperous streets and storefronts, and the people of Nagareyama who continue to carry the history of the city into the future through Shiro Mirin. Come get a taste of the memories of Nagareyama!