is a gorge in

Ibusuki is a Cities of Japan, city located in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 37,594 in 17477 households, and a population density of 250 people per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Ibusuki is loc ...

Kagoshima Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu and the Ryukyu Islands. Kagoshima Prefecture has a population of 1,527,019 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 9,187 Square kilometre, km2 (3,547 Square m ...

, in southern Japan. It stands southwest of the Ikeda Lake. The name Tōsenkyō is derived from a place known as Tōsen-ga-saka, which had a deep cove in the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

(1603–1868) where many Chinese ships came to anchor in (''tōsen'' means Chinese ships).

Tōsenkyō and sōmen

Sōmen

The reason Tōsenkyō is famous all over the country is its ''nagashi-sōmen'' or ''sōmen-nagashi'' (“flowing noodles”), which is regarded as a summer attraction (outdoor party cuisine). Ordinarily, noodles are placed in a long

flume A flume is a human-made channel for water, in the form of an open declined gravity chute whose walls are raised above the surrounding terrain, in contrast to a trench or ditch. Flumes are not to be confused with aqueducts, which are built to t ...

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

across the length of the restaurant. The flume carries clear, ice-cold water. As the sōmen passes by, diners pluck it out with their chopsticks and dip them in ''tsuyu'' broth. In 1962, people sought a way to use the clear stream in Tōsenkyō. For their first trial they poured thin noodles through bamboo as normal. It got much attention. Based on this, Inoue Hironori invented a turn-style motorized machine which is able to swirl thin noodles around inside it. Originally, this machine was under a personal patent, but in 1967 he transferred the patent to Ibusuki city. The city then put this machine to practical use as part of its efforts to develop the town, and publicized Tōsenkyō as the birthplace of flowing noodles. Today, Tōsenkyō is known as the village of ''nagashi-sōmen''. The park is well-maintained easily accessible for tourists. Miso soup with carp in it is also famous there. Wasabi is grown commercially in the clear stream across Tōsenkyō. Sturgeons have also been farmed in recent years in a study to make caviar a special product.

References

そうめん流し
Tourist attractions in Kagoshima Prefecture Landforms of Kagoshima Prefecture Canyons and gorges of Japan Ibusuki, Kagoshima {{Kagoshima-geo-stub

Tōsenkyō and sōmen

See also

References