Matsusaka
Today's entry is about a city famous for the luxury beef brand "Matsusaka beef."
Matsusaka City
Matsusaka city is one of the major cities in Mie Prefecture and has a population of 160 thousand people. As an historic merchant town, it has played an important role in commerce of Mie Prefecture for a long time. Since it's located almost in the middle of Mie Prefecture and is between two major cities "Tsu" and "Ise," it's very convenient for tourists as crossroads of the Ise-Shima region. In fact, I stayed at a hotel in Matsusaka for two nights. Matsusaka usually isn't featured so much in travel guidebooks but it actually has much to offer tourists. For one thing, various festivals are held every summer and autumn. When I was there in July, Matsusaka Gion Festival was held in central Matsusaka, the representative festival of Matsusaka city famous for a portable shrine consisting of three shrines.
Matsusaka Merchant Town
This city originally thrived as a merchant town during the Edo Period. The merchants mainly produced high-quality indigo-dyed cottons, taking advantage of their lands which were suited for a cultivation of cotton. After the productions got off the ground, the merchants immediately expanded their business to Edo, Osaka and Kyoto. Edo's largest kimono shop by Matsusaka merchants during the Edo Period (called "Echigo-ya") is known as the predecessor of the famous Mitsukoshi department store. Later, some merchants became millionaires, including the founder of the famous company group "Mitsui Conglomerate." Even now, you can see many Edo Period merchant houses preserved in their original condition while walking around Matsusaka City. The site of Matsusaka Castle is also worth seeing because there are some traditional and historical properties, such as the memorial hall of Motoori Norinaga - a very famous scholar born in Matsusaka during the Edo Period - Gojoban-Yashiki, where samurai guards lived during the Edo Era, and the History Folklore Museum.
Local food
As I mentioned above, Matsusaka's local specialty is definitely "Matsusaka Beef," one of the three major beef varieties in Japan along with Kobe and Omi(or Yonezawa) Beef. Matsusaka Beef is usually produced from only virgin heifers of Japanese Black Cattle raised in Matsusaka. It's very tender and flavorful with a large amount of marbling. It's well known that the cattle are given beer to stimulate their appetite so they get fat. Since it's high quality beef, the price is very expensive, costing several thousand yen per quarter pound. Therefore, I looked for a restaurant as inexpensive as possible and found a nice place where you can eat it for around 1,500 yen. The restaurant served the beef in a fast-food style, such as beef bowl, hashed beef with rice, and beef cutlet bowl. However, you have to be careful if you go there too late in the evening. This time, I couldn't order most dishes because they were already sold out.
Today's entry is about a city famous for the luxury beef brand "Matsusaka beef."
Matsusaka CityMatsusaka city is one of the major cities in Mie Prefecture and has a population of 160 thousand people. As an historic merchant town, it has played an important role in commerce of Mie Prefecture for a long time. Since it's located almost in the middle of Mie Prefecture and is between two major cities "Tsu" and "Ise," it's very convenient for tourists as crossroads of the Ise-Shima region. In fact, I stayed at a hotel in Matsusaka for two nights. Matsusaka usually isn't featured so much in travel guidebooks but it actually has much to offer tourists. For one thing, various festivals are held every summer and autumn. When I was there in July, Matsusaka Gion Festival was held in central Matsusaka, the representative festival of Matsusaka city famous for a portable shrine consisting of three shrines.
Matsusaka Merchant TownThis city originally thrived as a merchant town during the Edo Period. The merchants mainly produced high-quality indigo-dyed cottons, taking advantage of their lands which were suited for a cultivation of cotton. After the productions got off the ground, the merchants immediately expanded their business to Edo, Osaka and Kyoto. Edo's largest kimono shop by Matsusaka merchants during the Edo Period (called "Echigo-ya") is known as the predecessor of the famous Mitsukoshi department store. Later, some merchants became millionaires, including the founder of the famous company group "Mitsui Conglomerate." Even now, you can see many Edo Period merchant houses preserved in their original condition while walking around Matsusaka City. The site of Matsusaka Castle is also worth seeing because there are some traditional and historical properties, such as the memorial hall of Motoori Norinaga - a very famous scholar born in Matsusaka during the Edo Period - Gojoban-Yashiki, where samurai guards lived during the Edo Era, and the History Folklore Museum.
Local foodAs I mentioned above, Matsusaka's local specialty is definitely "Matsusaka Beef," one of the three major beef varieties in Japan along with Kobe and Omi(or Yonezawa) Beef. Matsusaka Beef is usually produced from only virgin heifers of Japanese Black Cattle raised in Matsusaka. It's very tender and flavorful with a large amount of marbling. It's well known that the cattle are given beer to stimulate their appetite so they get fat. Since it's high quality beef, the price is very expensive, costing several thousand yen per quarter pound. Therefore, I looked for a restaurant as inexpensive as possible and found a nice place where you can eat it for around 1,500 yen. The restaurant served the beef in a fast-food style, such as beef bowl, hashed beef with rice, and beef cutlet bowl. However, you have to be careful if you go there too late in the evening. This time, I couldn't order most dishes because they were already sold out.
