Visit HYOGO

Kobe beef, popular around the globe, is a high-grade wagyu beef. The name “Kobe beef” is only granted to Tajima cattle raised in Hyogo Prefecture that pass strict requirements. Its beautiful marbling is truly a work of art. Its melt-in-the-mouth deliciousness offers an unforgettable flavor with just one bite.

Hyogo’s Toji (skilled master brewers) from Tamba and Tajima, its miyamizu (famous brewing water from Nishinomiya) perfect for sake-brewing, and its status as a major production area for good-quality Yamada Nishiki sake rice all support the excellent quality of its sake. Thanks to the great success of Itami’s sake in the Edo period (1603–1868), it is even known as the birthplace of refined sake.

The tides flow rapidly through the Akashi Strait, creating a complex sea floor that is a natural fish preserve where an abundance of shrimp, crabs, and shellfish thrive. Akashi sea bream and Akashi octopus are among the specialty produce of this strait. Swimming in its intense, cold currents gives these marine creatures lean bodies and an extraordinary umami flavor.

Ako is famous for its salt, and as this suggests, the seawaters of Ako, facing the Seto Inland Sea, are rich in minerals. The oysters that live in these abundant waters are large, fleshy, and creamy. During the oyster season, you’ll find rows of oyster hut eateries, bustling with people enjoying the fresh oysters.

Banshu somen, represented by Ibonoito, are silk-fine noodles that appeal with their chewy, smooth texture. They are matured with the clear waters of the Ibo River using traditional hand-pulling techniques. This traditional taste, which can only be created by experienced craftspeople, is a must-try.

Snow crabs offer a taste of the winter of the Sea of Japan. In Hyogo, brand-name crabs landed in each port are well-known: Tsuiyama crabs, Shibayama crabs, Kami Matsuba crabs, and Hamasaka Matsuba crabs. This area offers the unique opportunity to savor wonderfully fresh, living crabs, thanks to its proximity to the fishing grounds.

Tamba’s specialty kurodaizu (black soybeans) can only be harvested in the short period before they fully mature, making them a true “phantom edamame.” The annual distribution period for these beans lasts for around three weeks in October. Their large grains, rich and delicious taste, and sweetness mean they are highly valued as a taste of fall in Tamba-Sasayama.

These tender, sweet onions are a brand ingredient valued by professional chefs. Enjoy them uncooked in salads, with a fruit-like juiciness. Their flavor, created by the warm climate unique to Awaji Island, makes them a delight that brings to mind the blessings of the sun.

This is high-quality pufferfish, carefully raised over three years, unlike normal pufferfish that are shipped after two years. The fast, cold tidal currents of Fukura Bay, near the Naruto Strait, ensure these fish are large but lean-bodied, firm and tasty. This brand of pufferfish are highly valued around Japan.

This soul food of Nagata is made by stir frying yaki-soba and rice on a hot iron plate (teppan), using a spatula-like implement called a kote to shred them while cooking. It’s said this dish started when, during the late 1950s or early 1960s, a regular customer who ordered yaki-soba requested to have the leftover rice from his lunch stir-fried together with yakisoba.

This dish originated from an eatery in front of Kakogawa Station in the late 1940s and early 1950s, and consists of a thin beef cutlet served on rice and topped with demiglace sauce. It’s well-loved by the people of Kakogawa City, even appearing in school lunches for elementary school students.

In Himeji, it’s the norm to add ginger soy sauce to oden, a type of hotpot. Himeji City was originally famous for its production of ginger and soy sauce, and this way of eating oden was apparently established in the late 1930s and early 1940s. This popular gourmet treat is now available in over 100 eateries in the city.

This is a type of okonomiyaki (savory pancake), loved as a light snack, and a specialty of Takasago City in Hyogo Prefecture. It is characterized by its use of potatoes cooked for oden, salty-sweet beef tendon, konjac (yam cake), and other ingredients. Since the fillings are made to be sandwiched, it’s a quite filling dish!

Akashiyaki is made by rolling octopus in fluffy, piping hot egg “batter.” It uses a higher ratio of eggs than takoyaki, another octopus dish, giving it a lighter texture, and the filling is essentially just octopus. Dip it in a broth with added toppings such as spring onions and Japanese wild parsley (mitsuba) and enjoy it. It’s known and loved locally as “tamagoyaki.”

This is a well-known local gourmet cuisine in the northern Harima area, characterized by its slightly sweet broth. It's said that this dish began when traditional shoyu ramen was slightly sweetened in accordance with the tastes of the women employed in workshops making Nishiwaki City’s specialty Banshu-ori fabric.

This is a cuisine local to Izushi, known as the “little Kyoto of Tajima.” It generally consists of five plates of noodles per person, served with a dashi stock made of kombu and katsuo (skipjack tuna), which you can flavor using condiments and toppings such as spring onions, wasabi, grated daikon, raw egg, and grated yam. This meal is traditionally presented in white porcelain Izushi ware.

This is a local gourmet dish from Sayo Town, which has thriving livestock and meat industries. The deliciousness of the fresh offal combines with the chewy, flat noodles, making this a perfect side-dish to have with an alcoholic drink. Enjoy it freshly made and piping hot with a special sauce carefully created by each individual eatery.

Tamba-Sasayama is said to be the birthplace of botan nabe. During the high season, the eateries that specialize in botan nabe, which is made using fresh wild boar meat, become very lively. The boar meat is boiled in a broth with miso and powdered pepper—dip the meat in a raw egg, in the style of a sukiyaki hotpot, to warm your body from the core.

Gyoza, a type of dumpling, are normally eaten with a sauce made of vinegar, soy sauce, and chili oil, but in Kobe, the norm is to enjoy them with a miso sauce (miso dare). We recommend customizing your food by adding vinegar, chili oil, and garlic to the salty-sweet intensity of the miso dare.

This is an essential breakfast dish in the cafes in the Himeji area. Plenty of almond butter, mixed with almond powder, sugar, and other ingredients, is spread on bread to create this toast. It’s a local offering that will leave a gentle, fragrant sweetness filling your mouth.

Since its port opened in 1868, Kobe has led Japan’s culture of Western-style confectionary as an international city. It is home to well-established stores known across Japan such as Morozoff, Fugetsudo, and Juchheim, as well as up-and-coming pastry shops that create the latest sweet treats: an ever-evolving battleground of western-style confections.

Kobe, quick to assimilate foreign cultures, developed bakeries for the international residents of its foreign settlements. It is home to plenty of talented bakeries, from well-established stores loved by the local people to those that offer crusty breads and dressed and stuffed breads. You’re sure to find a bread you love here.

Ako offers an abundance of fruit that has been grown in Setouchi’s bountiful natural world. The cafes and confectioners in the city have developed their own unique “Ako confections,” made with carefully selected local ingredients such as local strawberries, citrus fruits, and Ako salt. Enjoy trying the different delights!

When people are asked about the specialty product of Tamba, with its lush natural world, Tamba chestnuts and Tamba kurodaizu (black soybeans) come to mind. Both are known for their incredibly large size and the quality of their flavor. When the harvest season arrives in the fall, a variety of elaborate confections make an appearance and the streets bustle.

Awaji Island milk is produced on Awaji Island, surrounded by a natural world with four seasons. Soft serve, gelatos, yoghurts, and cheeses made with the essential richness and deliciousness of the raw milk offer a wonderful and special flavor. We also recommend Awaji Island coffee milk, beloved by the local people.

What do you think? Make your trip even more enjoyable with some tasty food!

Don't forget to have a look at our feature on recommended souvenirs to buy while you’re traveling in Hyogo.