Karatsu with abundance of nature and long-lived craftsmanship.Local sweets to handicrafts – the gifts of sincerity for your travel memories.
Fueled by rice farming first established here in the country as well as the popularity of tea ceremony culture stemming from the old castle-town era, Karatsu is a producer of some most outstanding and long-lived Japanese sweets and rice cookies. Take this opportunity and enjoy the historic, traditional flavors of Karatsu along with the likes of confectionaries closely connected to Shogun Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
These balls of baked sweets take after the round shape of Shoro mushrooms commonly found in Nijinomatsubara. Within the sponge cake is filled all the way with pleasant and smooth sweet bean paste. It is a mellow yet flavorful treat.
This handmade, traditional Japanese-style rice crispy is coated with brown sugar through and through. This is attributed to the fact that Nijinomatsubara, one of Japan’s three best pine coves, is entirely made up of nothing but black pine trees. Providing the flavor and the sweetness of the brown sugar, this is a must-have item for those with sweet tooth.
The origin of this item is said to be when it was presented to Shogun Hideyoshi as he made his victory invocation at Suwa Shrine for his incursion in Korea. Stone-ground non-glutinous rice powder is steamed and then shaped into a thin layer wrapping a sweet bean paste. It is very smooth in texture, mild and elegant in flavor.
Surrounded by the sea and the mountains, Karatsu is truly rich in food resources: rice, Japanese yam, tangerine, beef, and many more. Seafood out of the rough currents of the Genkai Sea is absolutely meaty and juicy. It continues to draw high praises for the rich flavor. Cultivation of Japanese tiger prawn is also thriving in the region as well.
Capturing the essence of Loligo kensaki right in a pack is the frozen seafood product, Yobuko Houtou Ika (or “Yobuko frozen squid”). It is a perfect souvenir item. There are tons of other gems in the region from establishments with over 100 years of history – like the “zaru tofu” by Kawashima Tofu still keeping the same tried-and-true method of the old days, the exotic “Matsuura-zuke” by Matsuuraduke Honpo, a whale cartilage pickled in sake lees, among many others.
“Meisuidate” is a traditional method of boiling pure water implemented by tea ceremony masters of the past. Legend has it that Shogun Toyotomi Hideyoshi once ordered Sen no Rikyu to prepare green tea using the geyser springing out of one particular location in Karatsu. There stands a sake brewery today utilizing the same exact spring to produce top-quality sake. Sake from Karatsu is made with pure water, to say the least. Saga is the only prefecture in the entire Kyushu where sake production exceeds shochu production. Karatsu, especially, is consistently putting out some of the best brands in the entire country; namely, Juraku Taiko – six consecutive, 13 total since 1989, Gold Prize winner of the Annual Japan Sake Awards. A long list of many varieties and flavors of supreme traditional Japanese alcoholic beverages gather here in Karatsu.
Festivity Karatsu Kunchi continues to draw tens and thousands of spectators from all over the country every year. Available are various items themed around Hikiyama, the main event of the festival. There are also colorfully drawn postcards, hand towels, adorable Hikiyama key rings, stationeries, accessories, and etc., in a wide range of original products. Among them, Karatsu Kunchi Hikiyama dolls replicating exactly like the actual festival floats are some of the most beloved, long-standing local handicrafts of the region. Quite notably, this extravagant citywide fall fest has been drawing a high number of international visitors and spectators to the region as of late.
