Gotemba City, Oyama Town

Mizukakena, salt

Gotemba City and Oyama Town are semi-high temperature areas with cold winters and cool summers. In this area, there is an abundance of groundwater from the snowmelt of Mt. Mizukakena" is a traditional vegetable of this area, and is a specialty that can only be enjoyed in early spring from February to March. It is cultivated in winter by making high ridges in the rice paddies and letting the spring water flow through them to keep the fields warm. The name "mizukakena" comes from the Japanese word "mizukake," which means "to pour water over," hence the name "mizukakena.
Cultivation is said to have begun in 1887, when the head of a household in Atano, Kitago Village (present-day Oyama Town) brought back seeds from Echigo (Niigata Prefecture). Around the middle of the Meiji period, a woman from Echigo who came to Japan with workers for the construction of the Tokaido Line (present-day JR Gotemba Line) made mizukakegai pickles, which were later widely cultivated and eaten in the Gotemba and Oyama areas.

It is eaten as an everyday meal and as a teaside dish.

Sprinkle salt on the washed mizukakena and place a weight on it. The next day, when the water comes up, replace the top and bottom of the stacked mizukakegai and pickle them. Three to four days after pickling, they are ready to eat.

The Gotemba City Green Tourism Council offers consumers the opportunity to experience harvesting mizukakegai and making mizukakegai pickles.
The Gotemba Koyama Mizukakena Production Association sells "Mizukakena pickles. Freeze-dried chazuke and furikake are also commercially available.