Minakuchi Kanpyo

"Minakuchi Kanpyo" is "kanpyo (dried gourd strips)" ⁽¹⁾ processed from bottle gourds of a native variety that are selected and cultivated in Minakuchi-cho, Koka City, Shiga Prefecture. It is characterized by becoming soft and absorbing much taste when it is cooked.
　The producing area has been famous for the production of "kanpyo" since the Edo period. It is an essential ingredient and used in abundance for "Ugawa zushi ⁽²⁾", a local dish eaten during spring festivals, etc., and has been handed down through generations as a local ingredient, anchored in the food culture of the region.

"Minakuchi Kanpyo" is produced from bottle gourds that are cultivated in the producing area (Minakuchi-cho, Koka City, Shiga Prefecture) by members of "Minakuchi Kanpyo Bukai" selecting varieties from native varieties and using seeds produced in-house.
　Processing involves pealing a matured bottle gourd into long strips of 2 to 3cm wide and 2 to 3mm thick and hanging on bars, etc., to dry naturally.
　When the "kanpyo" is possibly suffering quality deterioration, such as by mold development, sulfur fumigation is allowed.

The producing area, Minakuchi-cho, Koka City, has been famous for the production of "kanpyo" since the Edo period ⁽³⁾. A scenery of its output during the period is visible in Utagawa Hiroshige's ⁽⁴⁾ work "Minakuchi: Kanpyo, A Local Specialty" from the series "The Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido" (around 1833).
　The Feudal Lord encouraged its production in the area, and the product could quickly be sold for cash because the area was located near the large consumer areas of Kyoto and Osaka. And it served as a good souvenir for travelers because it was light and could be preserved.
　It is produced by using bottle gourds of regionally native varieties and implementing traditional methods such as sun-drying the strips without using a warm air dryer. The product is highly recognized and is subject to direct inquiries by sushi restaurants and so on in Tokyo and Osaka.

1. Kanpyo is dried food prepared by peeling bottle gourd fruit into strips and drying. It is an indispensable ingredient in Japanese cuisine and is eaten in diverse ways, such as in sushi and cooked dishes.
2. Ugawa zushi is pressed sushi that contains abundant kanpyo and is eaten at a festival held at Ugawa Tenmangu in the Ugawa Community in Minakuchi on April 25th every year.
3. Edo period: An era of Japanese history extending from 1603 to 1867, under the shogunate established in Edo (present-day Tokyo). With Ieyasu Tokugawa as the first shogun, the Tokugawa family ruled the country thereafter under the centralized feudalism.
4. Utagawa Hiroshige was a ukiyo-e artist (1797-1858) of the Edo period. He became famous for his wood prints of landscapes and is believed to have influenced Western artists such as Van Gogh and Monet.