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But that doesn’t mean we don’t love it.

Japanese convenience store chain Lawson’s Karaage-kun is one of the absolute all-stars of the combini food world. These bite-sized pieces of karaage (Japanese-style fried chicken), which even come with a toothpick so you can eat them without getting your fingers dirty, are so deliciously satisfying that it’s hard for us to recall a time when we regretted buying a pack of them.

But while Karaage-kun is a reliable favorite, Lawson still likes to change things up by offering seasonal and limited-time flavors alongside the always-available regular-version Karaage-kun. That’s what brought us to Lawson on a recent afternoon to try their new corn soup-flavored fried chicken.

It might not be a standard-bearer for Japanese cuisine with such global fame as sushi or ramen, but corn soup definitely has a place in the country’s heart and stomach. Anyone who’s traveled in Japan during the fall or winter has probably spotted cans of heated corn soup for sale in vending machines, but you can find it year-round at restaurants that serve Western-style fare in Japan, including steak restaurant chain Asakuma, whose take on corn soup is so popular that it’s sold on its own too.

▼ Asakuma corn soup

You can find Asakuma branches in the Tokyo area, but the chain got its start in Nagoya, and so the Asakuma Corn Soup Karaage-kun is not only a limited-time flavor, but a region-specific one too, only available at Lawson locations in the Tokai and Hokuriku areas that sit between Japan’s eastern Kanto and central Kansai. We were willing to track it down, though, to see how it tastes.

▼ The box’s graphics sport the Asakuma (あさくま) logo.

Japanese-style corn soup, also sometimes called corn potage, is similar to corn chowder, but simpler, creamier, and slightly sweeter. It’s an accessible, widely loved flavor, but would it work well with fried chicken?

As soon as we opened the flap, the inviting aroma of corn soup wafter up out of the box. After spearing a piece of chicken, we popped it into our mouth, and just as our olfactory senses had been promised, this Karaage-kun delivered the gentle but unmistakable rich flavor of corn soup. There was nothing forceful or artificial-feeling about it, just a comforting, enticing flavor profile that smoothly accentuated the meaty notes of the chicken with those of sweet corn.

Just how happy were we with the Corn Soup Karaage-kun? So happy that we immediately bought another box, since we were absolutely certain knew we’d be craving more after we finished the first pack.

▼ Buying just one would be a mistake.

With the Corn Soup Karaage-kun priced at 298 yen (US$1.90), we also had room in our budget for another collaboration between Lawson and Asakuma, this one a 248-yen roll cake reimagining of the purin (custard pudding) Asakuma serves.

Nagoya is famous for the quality of its eggs, and their rich sweetness, with a touch of bitterness from the ribbon and drizzle of caramel sauce, make for an excellent dessert

Really, the only downside here is that these items aren’t available nationwide, so if you want to try them, you’ll need to head to a Lawson in Aichi, Shizuoka, Gifu, Toyama, Ishikawa, or Fukui Prefecture, or to participating stores in Mie or Fukui Prefecture. On the plus side, that means you’ll also be able to try the other Tokai/Hokuriku foods Lawson has in those regions right now, like the chicken cutlet sandwich produced in cooperation with Nagoya chicken wing specialty restaurant Furaibo.

And hey, if this gives you an excuse to combine travel and fried chicken, two of the finest things in life, then that sounds like a win-win to us.

Photos ©SoraNews24
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Taste-testing the northern frontier of local foods in Japan.

Just about every corner of Japan has some special food it’s famous for, and if you head up to the country’s northern tip, Hokkaido Prefecture, there are several. Travelers often arrive in Hokkaido licking their lips as they look forward to some of the country’s best salmon roe, sea urchin, and crab, plus delicious miso ramen, soup curry, and all sorts of cheeses and dairy desserts.

But on our recent visit to Hokkaido, the most memorable things we ate were the ones we hadn’t ever heard of before this trip: ohaw, ruibe, and pocche.

If you’re an experienced eater of Japanese cuisine yet don’t recognize any of those, don’t fell like you’ve got to turn in your foodie card. All of those dishes come from the culture of the Ainu, the indigenous people who populated Hokkaido before the arrival of Japanese settlers and the region’s absorption into Japan. Though Hokkaido’s Ainu population is far smaller than it used to be, cultural centers like Akanko Ainu Kotan, near the shore of Lake Akanko, help to preserve Ainu cultural traditions and share them with visitors.

In addition to a theater with traditional dance performances and shops selling handicrafts, Akanko Ainu Kotan also has restaurants where you can try Ainu dishes, and with our visit coming right around launch time, we decided to check out the eatery Marukibune.

▼ 丸木舟 = Marukibune

After sitting down, we opened up the menu and took a look. While such standard dishes as soy sauce broth ramen and curry rice are available, we wanted a literal taste of Ainu culture, so that’s what we gravitated towards…

…and for our first step into this new-to-us food frontier, we selected the yuk kam ohaw.

Breaking that down linguistically, ohaw is a kind of stew made with fish or other animal stock and kelp. Kam ohaw means that there’s meat in the stew, and yuk indicates that the meat here is venison.

Our ohaw also contained root vegetables and wild garlic.

It looked very different from the sort of soups common to mainstream Japanese cooking, and we braced ourselves for something that could possibly be an acquired taste. That apprehension turned out to be unnecessary though, as we found it immediately delicious.

Despite the generous portion of venison, there was no gaminess at all to the flavor profile, which was instead fortifying yet simple and comforting. It was so good that we think we might find ourselves craving a bowl of ohaw once the winter chill sets in later this year.

Next up: parimomo ruibe.

Ruibe is the Ainu equivalent to sashimi, but with a few key differences. First, ruibe is prepared, and served, frozen. Second, while conventional sashimi consists pretty much entirely of saltwater seafood, ruibe is made with freshwater fish as well. In our case, parimomo is the Ainu word for the fish called Ezo ugui in Japanese (whose scientific name is Pseudaspius sachalinensis), a relative of the freshwater minnow.

Marukibune catches its Ezo ugui from Lake Kussharoko, which isn’t too far away from the restaurant, so it’s fresh and flavorful, with a sweetness that comes to a clean finish. The mouthfeel of the frozen fish slices, and the sensation of the texture changing as they thawed as we chewed, took a little getting used to, but made for an enjoyably stimulating change of pace from regular sashimi.

We also ordered a kotandon. This is a donburi (rice bowl) topped with strips of grilled pork, wild garlic, onion, and egg, flavored with a salty sweet marinade.

To be honest, we’re not sure exactly how traditional the kotandon is. In addition to being part of Akanko Ainu Kotan’s name, kotan is the Ainu word for a village or community. It seems like the kotandon might be a more modern fusion concession to visitors to Akanko Ainu Kotan who want something that’s a nod to Ainu culture but isn’t going to feel too challenging. None of that changes the fact, though, that this is a very tasty rice bowl, and one that just about anyone will probably enjoy.

And last, we ordered a pocche set.

That might look like a plate of cookies accompanying our cup of tea, but pocche are actually preserved potatoes. Hokkaido gets very cold in winter, and pocche are traditionally made by leaving potatoes outside until they freeze, then bringing them inside to thaw, and repeating the process enough times for fermentation to take place.

So rather than a dessert, pocche were actually a way to make sure the entire potato harvest could get eaten. They have a chewy texture but no sweetness beyond that which you’d find in a regular potato. We can’t really say they tasted particularly good, but they didn’t taste bad either, and they’re an interesting way to experience hands-on one way that the Ainu culture turned the harsh conditions of Hokkaido’s winter weather into a positive.

As for prices, our ohaw was 1,200 yen (US$7.50 yen), the ruibe 1,100 yen, the kotandon (which also came with a side of ruibe) 2,600 yen, and the pocche set 1,100 yen. Taking the portion sizes into account, those prices are a little on the high side, but it was money well spent for such a unique meal.

After eating, it’s also well worth your time to take a look at the rest of Akanko Ainu Kotan too.

We especially recommend the Ikor Theater, which hosts three different traditional storytelling dance performances.

Even without a reservation, we were able to catch the Ainu Ancient Ceremonial Dance program, which presents an inaw, a ceremonial tool mean to form a connection between performers and the kamuy (Ainu gods). The dances aren’t flashy, but seated in the theater, with the light of open-flame torches illuminating the dancers and singers, we were comfortably mesmerized for the 30 minutes the performance lasts.

As an added bonus, the nearby Lake Akanko is quite beautiful too, whether you’re admiring the scenery from the shore of from the deck of one of the boats offering cruises for day trippers.

So if you’re looking to broaden not only your cultural knowledge, but also your palate, while you’re in Hokkaido, stop on by Akanko Ainu Kotan and Marukibune.

Location information
Akanko Ainu Kotan 阿寒湖アイヌコタン
Address: Hokkaido, Kushiro-shi, Akan-cho, Akanko Onsen 4-7-19
北海道釧路市阿寒町阿寒湖温泉4丁目7-19
Website

Marukibune / 丸木舟
Address: Hokkaido, Kushiro-shi, Akan-cho, Akanko Onsen 4-7-9
北海道釧路市阿寒町阿寒湖温泉4-7-9
Open 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m.
Possible irregular hours during winter and cold-weather months, so are reservations recommended at those times.

Photos ©SoraNews24
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Immerse yourself in a lesser-known side of Japan, minutes away from the famous international airport. 

Narita City in Tokyo’s neighbouring Chiba Prefecture tends to be overlooked as a travel destination, with a lot of overseas visitors bypassing it on their way in and out of the country through Narita Airport. The area around the airport really is worth exploring, though, as it retains a traditional charm with historic shrines and temples, a famous Edo-style traditional shopping street, and lots of special workshops and experiences for tourists.

To help visitors explore these charms, Narita Airport is bringing back its special free guided tours, which were introduced in 2015 but suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Designed for transit passengers and foreign tourists staying around the airport, the “Narita Airport Transit & Stay Program” will officially restart on 1 October, after a six-year absence, with English-speaking volunteer guides providing free tours and an additional paid “Plus” series, for special experiences that reveal a deeper side of the area.

There are six free guided tours:

▼ Narita City (3-hour tour)

This tour takes you to Naritasan Shinshoji, a temple with 1,000 years of history, and the Omotesando shopping street, where you can pick up souvenirs and snacks at traditional stores.

▼ Naritasan Shinshoji is 25 minutes by train from Narita Airport.

▼ Katori City (5-hour tour)

Here you’ll find a riverside town with a beautiful traditional atmosphere, where you can take part in Sawara Hariko, a traditional paper-mache craft local to the area.

▼ Katori is 41 minutes by train from Narita Airport.

▼ Tako (4-hour tour)

Famous for its rice, this town boasts a beautiful green landscape and rural scenery, which you can easily explore by renting an electric-assist bicycle.

▼ Tako is 23 minutes by train from Narita Airport.

▼ Shibayama (4-hour tour)

Two of the highlights on this tour are a visit to the Museum of Aeronautical Sciences and a home-style buffet lunch, with a wide variety of local ingredients, on weekdays.

▼ Shibayama is 26 minutes by train from Narita Airport.

▼ Sakae (5-hour tour)

Slip into a yukata and step back in time at a beautiful open-air museum called Boso no Mura (“Boso Village”).

▼ Sakae is 27 minutes by train from Narita Airport

▼ Kozaki (6-hour tour)

Dubbed the “village of fermentation”, this part of Chiba prides itself on brewed and fermented products, with two sake breweries in the area, as well as miso stores and bakeries that use natural yeast made from sake lees (a byproduct of the sake-making process).

A visit to Kozaki Shrine is another highlight of the tour, and it’s said to be a good place for travelers to pray for safe journeys as it’s home to the guardian deity of aviation, transportation, and industry.

▼ Kozaki is roughly 31 minutes by train from Narita Airport.

Though the guided tours are free, participants need to cover their own expenses such as transportation, meals and admission fees. As for the paid Transit & Stay Program, there are currently nine to choose from, including a one-hour brewery tour and tasting for 1,000 yen (US$6.31)…

▼ … a knife-forging experience (4 hours, from 32,800 yen)…

…and entry to the World Boshuriken Tournament, where you can dress in a ninja costume and try out some ninja techniques for yourself (5.5 hours, 23,800 yen).

▼ What’s likely to really draw tourists, though, is the chance to participate in a local festival.

Pulling a festival float is usually only reserved for people who live in the neighbourhoods where the festival is being held, so this is a rare opportunity to immerse yourself in the culture and rub shoulders with the locals.

The first festival-focused tour to be offered is the Otaiyasai Festival on 5 September, which is being treated as a pre-official launch event. Taking around five hours and priced from 15,800 yen, this tour takes place at the Sogo Reido temple, which is half an hour by train from the airport.

Those pressed for time can enjoy a shorter two-hour float-pulling experience at the Narita Gion Festival on Omotesando Street from 8-11 July 2027…

… while those wanting maximum festival immersion can stay overnight during the Narita Gion Festival, with the float-pulling experience followed by time in a special viewing room at the Waqoo Naritasan Monzen hotel.

One night’s accommodation at Waqoo Naritasan Monzen with breakfast and dinner are also included in the deal, all for 84,000 yen.

These tours prove that the area around Narita Airport really is home to some great hidden gems. So if you’re passing through the region, or looking for something to do during a long layover, these Transit & Stay tours are a great way to explore outside the airport and experience a lesser-known side of Japan with the help of a local.

Reservations for the free tours open on 15 September and can be made here, while the paid tours are available to purchase now from this site.

Source: Press release, Narita Airport Transit & Stay, Narita Beyond
Featured image: Narita Beyond
Insert images: Press release, Narita Airport Transit & Stay (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6), Narita Beyond (1, 2, 3, 4)
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