Yanagawa Canals
Slow canal punt rides past a centuries-old warren of moats, banked by eel restaurants guarding secret sauces.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to the Yanagawa Canals near Fukuoka follows seiro mushi, the twice-steamed eel dish nearly every restaurant along the canal claims to make the one true way, each guarding its sauce recipe as a family secret. It traces the dish back to the Edo period and its 2021 listing as an official hundred-year food. You will hear how the canals themselves nearly disappeared by the 1960s as city pipes made them feel obsolete, and about the local official who held over a hundred meetings urging neighbors to save them.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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