Tourism EXPO JAPAN 2024

No.5_A Cultural Heritage Linking the Sea to the Ancient Capital

Ocean views, delicious seafood, rich history, and a welcoming community eager to share their culture and traditions with visitors... All this and more awaits you on your journey!

The seaside city of Obama and the neighboring town of Wakasa may not be as well known as tourist hubs like Tokyo and Kyoto, but this historic region has a lot to offer for visitors willing to venture a little way off the beaten track!

Driving what is now known as the Saba Kaido (Mackerel Road) or taking a train along the scenic Lake Biwa and the Sea of Japan will bring you to Obama and Wakasa in Fukui Prefecture. This rural area has a population of approximately 41,000 people, who mostly make a living in the agricultural and commercial fishing industries. Local traditional crafts include lacquerware (especially chopsticks), agate carving, and washi papermaking. Popular cuisine features winter crab, kuzu manju sweets, pickled sea bream topped with bamboo leaves, Yatabe green onions, fresh eels, ume plums, and a dizzying variety of mackerel! Seasonal tourism usually consists of beach lovers, autumn color chasers, and seafood connoisseurs, but Obama and Wakasa are worth visiting for their heritage and art as well.

In earlier periods of history, when Kyoto was still the capital of Japan, mountain routes through Wakasa to Obama were Kyoto's primary mode of access to the Sea of Japan. This went beyond just fishing, as the port in Obama also served as the gateway to the Asian mainland. With foreign goods and travelers arriving from abroad to proceed to Kyoto along with shipments of local staple foods such as fish and salt, Obama and Wakasa inevitably absorbed aspects of their trading partners' refined culture, some of which has survived to this day in the form of culinary traditions, architecture, hospitality customs, and festivals.
Co-exhibitor of Japan Heritage
A miniature garden city from the middle ages built around the onomichi channel  :    Land of Izumo,Tatara Chronicle -A Thousand Years of Iron-  :    Mt. Mitoku and Misasa Onsen Thrills and Spills An Exciting Climb and Healing Hot Springs   :    No.100_Masuda glows with the brightness of the Age of Regional Revitalization  :    No.101_Volcanic Iwami - Prehistoric forests and the Iwami Ginzan silver mines -  :    No.103_Spreading the Sugar Culture Through Nagasaki-Kaido"SUGAR ROAD"  :    No.104_A Legacy of Stonework : the craftsmanship of Yatsushiro's masons  :    No.11_The down of Japan -woman in the Asuka Period-  :    No.15_Japan Heritage "Shikoku Henro" -Circular pilgrimage route and unique pilgrimage culture-  :    No.17_The Border Islands - A 2300-year story of trade, cultural interaction, and conflict.-  :    No.1_The Educational Heritage of Early Modern Japan : the origins of learning and eiquette  :    No.23_An Edo Travelogue through Four Hokuso Cities  :    No.25_"Iza, Kamakura" Kamakura, a city of history and culture  :    No.26_"What on Earth?!" Flame Pots and Snow Counry Culture in the Shinano River Basin  :    No.27_The Story of Komatsu's Gems & Stones - A Heritage of Stone Polished by the Flow of Time  :    No.2_Kakaa Denka -The Silk Story of Gunma-  :    No.32_Living with Whales  :    No.33_Japan's Largest Livestock Market Born of Jizo Bodhisattva Worship  :    No.36_The Geiyo Islands, home to "JAPAN'S GREATEST CORSAIR" reviving the memory of the Murakami KAIZOKU  :    No.39_Merchant Ships Carrying Goods, Culture, and Big Dreams (Hokkaido, Aomori, Akita, Yamagata, Niigata, Toyama, Ishikawa, Fukui, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyogo, Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima, Kagawa Prefectures)  :    No.3_THETHE STORY OF THE LORD AND HIS CITIZENS WHO TURNED A CRISIS INTO A GREAT OPPORTUNITY  :    No.45_Bantan Throughway - Gin no Bashamichi and Koseki no Michi Japan Heritage Site  :    No.46_Treasure House of Scenic Beauty Wakanoura  :    No.49_Kurashiki and the Story of Fiber - East meets west through cotton -  :    No.50_Six Ancient Kilns - Ceramics Born and Raised in Japan -  :    No.51_From Forest Railway to Yuzu Road-The Story of Japan's Largest Yuzu-Growing Region  :    No.55_Kamikawa Ainu in Coexistence with Kamuy - Traditional World of the Gods at the Foot of Mt. Daisetsu -  :    No.57_Underground Adventure -Utsunomiya,Home of Oya Stone-  :    No.5_A Cultural Heritage Linking the Sea to the Ancient Capital  :    No.60_A Landscape Interwoven with Vineyards -Kyotoh-Yamanashi Wine County-  :    No.62_Infinite stone pavement conveying the footsteps of travelers from the past - Hakone Hachiri, the trace of a journey from the Edo period -  :    No.64_Okayama, the birthplace of the Legend of Momotaro, a piece of Japan Heritage-A tale of ogre conquest handed down through ancient Kibi heritage-  :    No.66_ Kunisaki where Oni and Buddhas coexist as one  :    No.67_The Prehistoric Burial Mounds of Miyazaki  :    No.69_The Story of MICHINOKU GOLD -Zipang,the Land of Gold:Tracing the Origins of Japanese Gold-  :    No.74_A 1,300-Year-Old Buddhist Pilgrimage  :    No.7_Saio - The Prayers of a Princess  :    No.81_Awa - The Home of "Ai" - Searching for the Supreme Blue of Japanese indigo  :    No.82_Defense Network of Satsuma Samurai Districts in the Edo Period  :    No.84_A Heritage of Salmon -A Journey of Ten Thousand Years in the Nemuro Strait-  :    No.88_THE STORY OF MULBERRY CITY  :    No.89_Ultimate Snow Country Tokamachi - The True Story! A Story of a heavy snowfall  :    No.90_The Railway That Crossed the Sea~The Railway of Miracle and Trajectory that Connected with the World~  :    No.94_Yaji and Kita's journey through Sunshu, gave rise to the first travel boom in Japan  :    No.98_No Landslide Anymore! Crossing Kamenose,the heart of the ancient Tatsuta Kodo  :    No.99_The birthplace of Shugendo, a tradition passed down through generations of believers and villagers  :   
Booth NoL-030
AreaJapan
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Wakasa and Obama
Sabakaido Ride
soulful road
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