10 Must Eats in Gunma Prefecture

1. Joshu Sukiyaki (上州すき焼き)

Sukiyaki is a Japanese dish where thin slices of beef and several types of vegetables are simmered with sweet soy-based sauce. You can eat this hot-pot meal throughout Japan, but Joshu Sukiyaki in Gunma is a little bit different in taste. Because Gunma is the largest producer of all of the ingredients for Sukiyaki, you can eat all the food in it's best and most fresh condition. If you would like to eat the best Sukiyaki in Japan, try Joshu Sukiyaki.

*Image is for illustration purposes.

2. Mizusawa Udon (水沢うどん)

Mizusawa Udon is famous and it is said it is one of the top 3 udon meals in Japan. Its noodles have a characteristic thick, resilient texture. You eat them with a soy-based sauce or sesame-flavoured sauce. You can also buy dried udon noodles for a souvenir to eat it at home for easy cooking. 

3. Gateau Rusk: Gouter de Roi (Gateau Festa Harada) (ガトーフェスタハラダのガトーラスク)

The Rusk: a sweet made from a baguette, by Gateau Festa Harada is popular gift all over Japan. They are particular about making delicious rusk so they even bake the baguettes at their own factory. The picture above is a sugar flavored rusk, a milk chocolate flavored rusk and a white chocolate flavored rusk. They have mild sweetness and elegant flavor.

HP: www.gateaufesta-harada.com/ (Japanese Only)

4. Karintou-manju by Omiya (おおみやのかりんとうまんじゅう)

Karintou-manju is a Japanese fried bun stuffed with sweetened bean paste and it is made from wheat flour and brown sugar. It has a crispy texture outside and a delicate mild sweet flavor. A well long established Japanese sweets store, Omiya's Karintou-manju is really popular and always has line up outside the store.

HP: www.wagashi-omiya.jp/ (Japanese Only)

Address: 1068 Shimomurodamachi, Takasaki-shi, Gunma (Google Map)

5. Motsuni at Nagai-shokudo (永井食堂のモツ煮)

Motsuni is a stew made with beef or pork innards and various other indigents, and it is common in Japan. The simmer it for a long time, so you can taste melting tender and juicy motsuni here. It is very famous and covered by TV and magazines. At lunch time, inside the restaurant is filled with people who came from all over Japan.

Address: 4477-1 Kamishiroi, Shibukawa-shi, Gunma (Google Map)

6. Konjac(こんにゃく)

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Konjac is made from the devil's tongue plant and has a jelly-like texture. They eat it with a lot of different seasonings in Japan. Gunma is producing 90% of Japan's total output of Konjac. It has low calories so it is attracting public attention as a health food.

7. Sauce Katsu-don(ソースかつ丼)

Katsu-don is a simple Japanese dish, which is a pork cutlet placed on top of a bed of rice. In most of the areas in Japan, Katsu-don is cooked with egg but in this area, it doesn't make it with eggs but just seasoned with sauce. This type of Katsu-don is simple but the sauce is soaked into pork cutlet and that satisfied you. 

8. Okirikomi(おきりこみ)

Okirikomi is a local food from Gunma and it has long history. It is a hot-pot meal which simmers thick long noddles and seasonal vegetables in a pot. It has miso (a fermented soybean paste) flavored soup, and you can fully enjoy characteristic sweet taste that miso has. It is best in cold winter. 

9. Yaki-manju(焼きまんじゅう)

Yaki-manjyu is a food made from steamed flour with sweet miso flavored sauce on top and then it is grilled. It has fluffy bread like texture that is complimented by the excellent sweet sauce. Though, it can become unbelievably hard when it gets cold, so you should eat it right way.

10. Tori-meshi at Torihei( 登利平の鳥めし)

Tori-meshi is a dish with dressed chicken covered in a secret sauce placed on top of rice. It is a reasonable price for the large portion size. Even many celebrities love it. They have take out service so you can also eat it at your home. You will not regret even if you visit Gunma just eat it.

HP: www.torihei.co.jp/ (Japanese Only)