{"id":471,"date":"2024-11-20T14:59:53","date_gmt":"2024-11-20T05:59:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/azumino-e-tabi.net\/ennew\/?page_id=7"},"modified":"2025-03-19T15:16:06","modified_gmt":"2025-03-19T06:16:06","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/visitazumino.com\/en\/about","title":{"rendered":"About"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Why is AZUMINO
the Wasabi Town?<\/h2>\n

The expansive Azumino is located at the foot of the approximately 3,000 m elevation Japan Alps Mountain Range, featuring an abundance of water that has enriched both the land and lives of the people who live there. Snow from the Japan Alps melts and turns into underground water that eventually moistens the land of Azumino. The water\u2019s transparency never fails to impress those who see it. Even in summer, the water feels cool and refreshing to the touch. \u201cWasabi\u201d is the most renowned product of Azumino. Azumino proudly holds the title of being Japan\u2019s number one producer of wasabi due to it having access to approximately 700,000 tons of water per day and a year-round stable temperature of about 13\u00b0C, which are the perfect conditions to grow wasabi. In Azumino, the Hotaka area is especially known for its thriving wasabi cultivation, and in the city, you can see fields of wasabi protected with black sunshades. So please come and see the wasabi, which can only be viewed like this in Azumino.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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Japan\u2019s Largest Wasabi Farm<\/h3>\n

Daio Wasabi Farm enjoys great popularity as a unique spot in Nagano and Japan as a whole. Beautifully clear water streams down from the Northern Japan Alps and into Azumino, allowing farmers to cultivate healthy, spicy wasabi. Hundreds of thousands of visitors both Japanese and from abroad flock to the farm every year to experience the nation\u2019s largest wasabi farm firsthand and sample some authentic wasabi. Other wasabi-flavored goods, like beer and ice cream, are also available.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Wasabi<\/h3>\n

Wasabi is a root known as Japanese horseradish and commonly found in sushi as a paste. Because fresh wasabi is so perishable and expensive, fresh wasabi root is not common for home use. At Daio Wasabi Farm, visitors can taste real fresh wasabi and also get the rare opportunity to see how wasabi is grown on the farm. You can even try wasabi ice cream and wasabi beer.<\/p>\n

Refer to Marui Wasabi\u2019s website<\/a> (Azumino-based wasabi factory. The has fun wasabi trivia and information about how to enjoy eating wasabi.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Origins of Wasabi<\/h3>\n

Wasabi is a pungent green paste served as a condiment with many Japanese dishes, particularly sushi and sashimi. It comes from the thick part of the stem, or rhizome (not the root, a common misconception), of the\u00a0Wasabia japonica\u00a0plant, native to Japan. eye-watering, tongue-tingling effects are powerful but short-lived.<\/p>\n

Like other botanicals, wasabi is thought to have first been consumed for its medicinal properties, with records suggesting it was used as far back as the Asuka period (552\u2013645). A book from the Muromachi period (1336\u20131573) introduced wasabi as a condiment for sashimi, and as such it was a favorite among the wealthy and powerful. By the eighteenth century, it had become a standard accompaniment to the increasingly popular sushi. Cultivation in the Azumino area only began some 140 years ago, around the middle of the Meiji era (1868\u20131912).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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About Azumino<\/h2>\n