OH!!!～Fermentation, Health, and the Magic of Food!!!～ Fermented Food Theme Park
Hannō City is located in Japan’s metropolitan area and blessed with an abundance of nature from the Okumusashi region. The city is now home to the「OH!!! ~Fermentation, Health, and the Magic of Food~」theme park, established on October 16, 2020 on the city’s symbolic icon, Tenranzan Mountain.
We had the pleasure of taking a peek at the「OH!!! ~Fermentation, Health, and the Magic of Food~」theme park ourselves. The park was established with the ideal of “promoting the concept of living with a diet closely linked to fermented foods in order to spread better health from the dinner table to the rest of the world.” We look forward to sharing our discoveries with you through this article.
Within the theme park there are 3 shops/restaurants and 1 workshop.
＜Traditional Tsukemono Store「Yawataya」＞
Yawataya is a store selling traditionally made fermented Japanese treats carefully selected from across the country, such as tsukemono (pickled vegetables) and umeboshi (pickled dried plums). The products sold at the store are all entirely additive-free and so customers can enjoy worry-free snacks! In addition to selling souvenirs, the store also offers light meals and ice cream! You can sample different snacks and select your favorite to buy as a souvenir♪
＜Firewood and Fermentation at「Femy_」Restaurant＞
Customers can enjoy both lunch and dinner while gazing at the flames dancing in the furnace. All the meals available are made using fermented and fully ripened foods utilizing traditional cooking techniques.
＜Piene Café＞
At「Piene Café」you can enjoy a cafe-style menu made using vegetables, lactobacillus, and kōji (malt). The top recommendation from the drink menu is the “Vegetable Malt Amazake,” a specialty amazake (sweet sake) made with living lactobacillus and only sold at Piene Café.
We treated ourselves to a brown rice-flavored soy ice cream made with lactobacillus, a freshly baked financier pastry, and a rice malt ginger ale! Each item had a refined, elegant flavor and was extremely delicious without being too sweet!
＜Pari Shaki Laboratory＞
At the Pari Shaki Laboratory you can experience making food using fermented ingredients first hand. The Laboratory hosts events and workshops teaching how to make kimchi, salted rice bran used for pickling, and other activities! There are also craft courses and cooking workshops that use fermented ingredients and condiments. Why not try some of them out for yourself?
Directly next to the Laboratory is the zen temple Nouninji. The temple, known as the “autumn leaf temple”, boasts a history of over 500 years and is famous for its autumn foliage, attracting huge crowds of picture fanatics during the autumn season. The temple’s beauty has even seen it used as the shooting location for TV dramas!
Our visit seemed perfectly timed – the trees had all changed color to a beautiful autumn hue, so we decided to have a quick stroll and found ourselves refreshed and healed by the beautiful colors♪
Just beyond Nouninji temple is Tenranzan Mountain, which offers breathtaking views of the entirety of Hannō City. We highly recommend everyone climb the mountain if you have the time!
In fact, why not spend a day feeling truly healthy from within, thanks to both wholesome fermented food products and the exercise of a wonderful hike up the mountain?♪
【Inquiries】
| Address | 1333 Hannō, Hannō City, Saitama Prefecture |
| Telephone | 042-975-7001 |
| Hours | ＜Yawataya＞
10:00〜17:00 ＜Femy_＞ 11:00～14:30（LO 14:00）, 17:00～21:00（LO 20:30） ＜Piene Café＞(Currently operating as bakery POCO-POCO） 10:00～17:00 ＜Pari Shaki Laboratory＞ Times vary according to individual workshops |
