is a term most often applied to regional specialties (also known as ). can also be applied to specialized areas of interest, such as , where it refers to famous tea utensils, or Japanese swords, where it refers to specific named famous blades.

Definition

Hiroshige-53-Stations-Hoeido-41-Narumi-MFA-02

Hiroshige-53-Stations-Hoeido-51-Minakuchi-Met-New-York-01

could be classified into the following five categories:According to a paper by Laura Nenzi cited by Jilly Traganou in ''The Tokaido Road: Traveling and Representation in Edo and Meiji Japan'' (Routledge, 2004), (72) * , regional Japanese food specialties such as the roasted rice cakes () of Hodogaya, and the yam gruel of Mariko; * Japanese crafts as souvenirs such as the

sword A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed ti ...

s of

Kamakura is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Kamakura has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 persons per km² over the total area of . Kamakura was designated as a city on 3 November 1939. Kamak ...

or the shell-decorated screens of Enoshima; In the past, also included: * Supernatural souvenirs and wonder-working panaceas, such as the bitter powders of Menoke that supposedly cured a large number of illnesses; * Bizarre things that added a touch of the "exotic" to the aura of each location such as the fire-resistant salamanders of

Hakone is a List of towns in Japan, town in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the town had a population of 11,293 and a population density of 122 persons per km². The total area of the town is . The town is a popular tourist destination due to its many o ...

; and * Prostitutes, who made localities such as

Shinagawa is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. The Ward refers to itself as Shinagawa City in English. The Ward is home to ten embassies. , the Ward had an estimated population of 380,293 and a population density of 16,510 persons per km2. The total are ...

, Fujisawa, Akasaka,

Yoshida Yoshida (written: 吉田 lit. "lucky ricefield") is the 11th most common Japanese surname. A less common variant is 芳田 (lit. "fragrant ricefield"). Notable people with the surname include: * Ai Yoshida, Japanese sailor *, Japanese idol, singe ...

and Goyu famous. In some cases these people may have encouraged visits to otherwise impoverished and remote localities, contributing to the local economy and the exchange between people of different backgrounds. Several prints in various versions of the

ukiyo-e Ukiyo-e is a genre of Japanese art which flourished from the 17th through 19th centuries. Its artists produced woodblock prints and paintings of such subjects as female beauties; kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers; scenes from history and folk ta ...

series '' The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tōkaidō'' depict . These include Arimatsu , various tie-dyed fabrics sold at Narumi (station 41), and (sliced gourd), a product of Minakuchi (station 51), as well as a famous

teahouse A teahouse (mainly Asia) or tearoom (also tea room) is an establishment which primarily serves tea and other light refreshments. A tea room may be a room set aside in a hotel especially for serving afternoon tea, or may be an establishment whi ...

at Mariko (station 21) and a famous (rest stop) selling a type of ricecake called at Kusatsu (station 51). Another category are special tea tools that were historic and precious items of

Japanese tea ceremony The Japanese tea ceremony (known as or ) is a Japanese cultural activity involving the ceremonial preparation and presentation of , powdered green tea, the procedure of which is called . While in the West it is known as "tea ceremony", it is se ...

Usage

Evelyn Adam gave the following account of in her 1910 book, ''Behind the Shoji'':

Examples

In media

are key to the promotion of tourism within Japan, and have been frequently depicted in media since the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was character ...

(1603–1867).

Ukiyo-e

File:Opening shellfish at Fukagawa.jpg, opening shellfish at Fukagawa by

Utagawa Kuniyoshi Utagawa Kuniyoshi ( ja, 歌川国芳, ; January 1, 1798 – April 14, 1861) was one of the last great masters of the Japanese ukiyo-e style of woodblock prints and painting.Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric ''et al'' (2005). "Kuniyoshi" in He was ...

File:Edo Jiman Meibutsu Kurabe (BM 1906,1220,0.1327).jpg, with pumpkin grown at Sunamura by

File:GojūSanTsugi-MeishoZu'e, Narumi by Hiroshige.jpg, ''Narumi: Shop selling famous Arimatsu tie-dyed fabric'' by Hiroshige File:Hizenkuni, Imari yaki 肥前伊萬里焼 (All the Famous Products of Land and Sea) (BM 2008,3037.03401).jpg, Imari ware kiln in Hizen Province by

File:Fukuroi Reisho Tokaido.jpg, : famous kites of

Tōtōmi Province was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today western Shizuoka Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Tōtōmi''" in . Tōtōmi bordered on Mikawa, Suruga and Shinano Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was . The or ...

by Hiroshige File:Een pop en ander speelgoed.jpeg, Famous products of

Yamashiro Province was a province of Japan, located in Kinai. It overlaps the southern part of modern Kyoto Prefecture on Honshū. Aliases include , the rare , and . It is classified as an upper province in the '' Engishiki''. Yamashiro Province included Kyot ...

by Keisai Eisen File:MET DP139064.jpg, Famous product of Fukagawa, Tokyo, yokan by Hokucho Joren

Manga and Anime

* Ekiben Hitoritabi,

food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is in ...

and travel

manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is ...

about ekiben containing tokusanhin * Golden Kamuy, a

Seinen manga is an editorial category of Japanese comics marketed toward young adult men. In Japanese, the word ''seinen'' literally means "youth", but the term "''seinen'' manga" is also used to describe the target audience of magazines like '' Weekly Ma ...

and anime that includes many

Ainu Ainu or Aynu may refer to: *Ainu people, an East Asian ethnic group of Japan and the Russian Far East *Ainu languages, a family of languages **Ainu language of Hokkaido **Kuril Ainu language, extinct language of the Kuril Islands **Sakhalin Ainu la ...

meibutsu from

Hokkaido is Japan, Japan's Japanese archipelago, second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost Prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own List of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; th ...

including

salmon Salmon () is the common name for several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae, which are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus '' Salmo'') and North Pacific (genus '' Onco ...

and

Ainu cuisine Ainu cuisine is the cuisine of the ethnic Ainu in Japan and Russia. The cuisine differs markedly from that of the majority Yamato people of Japan. Raw meat like sashimi, for example, is rarely served in Ainu cuisine, which instead uses methods ...

* Ms. Koizumi Loves Ramen Noodles, a food manga and

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

devoted to regional

ramen is a Japanese noodle dish. It consists of served in a broth; common flavors are soy sauce and miso, with typical toppings including , nori (dried seaweed), menma (bamboo shoots), and scallions. Ramen has its roots in Chinese noodle di ...

* Oishii Kamishama (Delicious Venus), a food manga devoted to presenting tokusanhin * Oishinbo, a

and anime that helped launch the gourmet anime genre occasionally featured meibutsu like hōtō or Fukugawa nabe and generally championed the idea of eating fresh, organic, and local *

Omae wa Mada Gunma o Shiranai is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiroto Ida. It began serialization online via Shinchosha's Kurage Bunch website in October 2013 and has since been collected into eight ''tankōbon'' volumes. A 4-episode live-action tele ...

, comedy manga and anime that presents some meibutsu of Gunma including himokawa

udon Udon ( or ) is a thick noodle made from wheat flour, used in Japanese cuisine. It is a comfort food for many Japanese people. There are a variety of ways it is prepared and served. Its simplest form is in a hot soup as with a mild broth called ...

, yakimanju, hoshi-imo (wind dried sweet potato), and miso pan * Yakunara Mug Cup Mo, a manga and anime promoting

Mino ware refers to Japanese pottery that was produced in Mino Province around the towns of Toki and Minokamo in Gifu Prefecture, central Japan. History The history of Japanese pottery in the Toki area appears to have started more than 1,300 years ag ...

and other meibutsu of

Tajimi is a city located in Gifu, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 110,070 in 46,580 households, and a population density of 1200 people per km2. The total area of the city was . The city is famous for its production of Mino ware ceram ...

Gifu Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Gifu Prefecture has a population of 1,991,390 () and has a geographic area of . Gifu Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to the north; Ishikawa Prefecture to the northwest, ...

Yatogame-chan Kansatsu Nikki is a Japanese four-panel manga series written and illustrated by Masaki Andō. It was serialized in Ichijinsha's '' Monthly Comic Rex'' magazine from May 2016 to September 2022. An anime television series adaptation by Saetta aired from Apri ...

, comedy manga and anime that presents some meibutsu of

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most po ...

Television

Japanese Style Originator Wafū Sōhonke (和風総本家) is a TV program which was produced by TV Osaka and aired on the TV Tokyo network. An edited version was shown on the Netflix streaming service, using the title "Japanese Style Originator". The show also airs with E ...

- variety show that presents meibutsu and traditional craftsman as regular segments

References

{{Reflist Japanese words and phrases Japanese popular culture Memorabilia Tourism in Japan