Boxed lunch shop opens in Nishiishiki, Kagoshima – The first physical shop from United Marché

It has been three months since the bento (boxed lunch) shop “Cuu Café” opened in Nishiishiki, Kagoshima City. The shop opened on January 18. Taira Sayuri, the owner of Cuu Café, said: “I decided to open the shop because I wanted to bring a smile to people’s faces with food, as they are spending more and more time at home.” Ever since Taira can remember, she has been fascinated by how food can bring smiles to people’s faces, and this led her to go to culinary school. After gaining experience, she opened a bento stand at United Marché, or “Yuna-marché,” the gourmet food booth at the Kagoshima United FC stadium. Cuu Café is her first physical shop. The name of the shop “Cuu” means “to eat” in Japanese. Although the name includes the word “café,” it will operate as a boxed lunch shop for the time being due to the coronavirus crisis. “I want to open a café one day,” Taira added. The Karaage Bento (500 yen), Japanese fried chicken boxed lunch prepared by marinating chicken in lemon juice, has a “refreshing taste,” says Taira. Other line-ups include Bibimbap Bowl (600 yen) and Weekly Special Bento (650 yen), which features something different every week such as Pork Loin Cutlet and the Indonesian dish Nasi Goreng. “I feel so delighted when people tell me how delicious my lunches are. I want to keep offering a fun menu for everyone – something that customers will enjoy when they choose their bento,” she said with enthusiasm. Opening hours: 11:00 – 15:00. Closed on Wednesdays, Sundays, and holidays.

Kagoshima’s first tapioca drink specialty shop, “Tea Way”, opens in Li-Ka, Kagoshima-Chuo Station

On April 23, the tapioca drink specialty shop “Tea Way” opened on the first floor of the commercial complex “Li-Ka 1920”. Although the complex is set to open in June, individual tenants have already started to open their doors ahead of its grand opening. Tea Way is managed by Shake Hands based in Fukuoka. The company, which started the tapioca drink business in 2008, has opened 16 shops in Kyushu, Chugoku, and Shikoku, and this is its first shop in Kagoshima Prefecture. All drinks are served with tapioca. The tapioca used at Tea Way is the shop’s original “large pearl tapioca with collagen,” manufactured without preservatives in a factory in Fukuoka. The drinks are made “shaken” using a shaker after receiving orders. The line-up includes Premium Milk Tea (490 yen), Superior Strawberry Milk (570 yen), Passion Fruit Milk Tea (460 yen), Nata de Coco Jasmine Tea (530 yen), and more. There are 14 base flavors to choose from, including milk tea, black tea, Uji green tea, chocolate, black sesame, mango, and passion fruit. Toppings such as tapioca (90 yen), whipped cream (90 yen), nata de coco (90 yen), and almond jelly (60 yen) are also available, and the tapioca that is originally included in the drink can be replaced with other toppings for free. Limited-time products will also be introduced, and “Melon Smoothie” (650 yen) and “Premium Milk Tea Mousse Smoothie” (660 yen) will go on sale in May. Opening hours: 10:00 – 21:00. Each customer who purchases at the shop will receive one “Tea Way Original Cup Holder”. (The offer will end when all the cup holders have been claimed.)

“Tori no Miyama” outlet opened in Komatsubara, Kagoshima – Offering Chicken Sashimi and Yangnyeom Chicken

One month has passed since the opening of “Tori no Miyama – Komatsubara” in Komatsubara, Kagoshima City. The shop opened on March 12, and it is managed by Miyama Sangyo. Miyama Sangyo operates “Chicken Cuisine Miyama Honpo” in the Kagoshima-Chuo Station building, Tenmonkan, Kokubu, and Kirishima, along with takeout shops for side dishes and lunch boxes in Hayato and Kokubu. The company opened a new shop in Komatsubara after receiving many requests to open an outlet in Kagoshima City. Their offerings include Chicken Sashimi (278 yen/100g); Oidon no Karaage (228 yen/100g), Japanese fried chicken made with Kagoshima’s Fukuyama black vinegar; Yangnyeom Chicken (258 yen/100g); Kagoshima’s local specialty Goteyaki (350 yen/piece), grilled chicken thighs with special sauce; and Karaage Bento (380 yen), a bento box made with Japanese fried chicken. “The special sashimi sauce that we use for chicken sashimi was passed down from my grandmother. We also recommend using it for salads and tofu,” said the President of Miyama Sangyo, Sakawa Ryoichi. “We also accept large orders of lunch boxes for offices and junior sports clubs. We hope you will enjoy the refined taste that we have cultivated as a chicken specialty restaurant for 30 years.” Opening hours: 11:30 – 19:30

Bakeries and cafés from Kagoshima Prefecture to gather at Maruya Gardens – 19 new participants

The “Soraniwa Marché vol. 15 – Pan Picnic” will be held on May 4th and 5th at the rooftop garden “Solaniwa” of Maruya Gardens. The event will feature 30 vendors, mainly bakeries, from Kagoshima Prefecture. This third edition of “Pan Picnic” will the first one in two years, and 19 of the 30 participating shops will be attending the event for the first time this year. The line-up of the shops will change on the 4th and 5th. The shops participating on the 4th include “Kuroda no Pan,” a bakery specialized in bread made with Kirishima and Miyakonojo wheat; “SkyClear,” a company offering Hawaiian sandwiches such as Mala Salad; and “Boulangerie garde,” which offers seasonal buns and hard-type bread made with Kagoshima wheat. On the 5th, you will find “OFFJI,” a café offering fruit sandwiches and muffins; “temahima,” a bakery combined with a yoga studio selling hard-type bread and baked goods box sets; “Hitotsubu Café,” serving bagels and sandwiches; and “otonari,” a café with a shared kitchen offering cube-shaped treats made with mulberry tea and hojicha tea. In addition to bakeries, there will be cafés specialized in coffee such as “SUNNY DAYS COFFEE” and “OdeCafé,” as well as food stalls serving curry and other food items. Four workshops are planned at the venue, which include “Pancake Candle,” where you can try your hand at making pancake-shaped candles (Participation fee: 1,000 yen/Limited to 10 candles per day); “Jam Spoon and Jam Knife Making” (Participation fee: 800 yen each); and “Croissant Candle/Reclaimed Wood Tray/Butter Knife Making” (Participation fee: 2.300 yen/Advance reservation required). Shintoku Maki, the Public Relations Manager of the shopping complex, said: “In addition to popular bakeries that have stores in Kagoshima Prefecture, many others that don’t have a brick-and-mortar presence will participate in the event. There will also be workshops for children to enjoy, as well as curry and pizza shops. It will be a great way to enjoy family time during the Golden Week, just like having a picnic.” The event will be held from 10:00 to 16:00, with free admission.

A joint event on green tourism and animal adoption in Kagoshima – Including a lecture: “Lesson on Life”

On April 25, an event, “Green Tourism by Nyanberwan & Nikukyu Marche”, will be held at “Toshi Noson Koryu Center Ocha no Sato” in Haruyama, Kagoshima City. This is the first joint event organized by the Farm Inn “Nyanberwan” and “Nikukyu Marche”, a group organizing pet adoption events and selling handmade items featuring dogs and cats created by various artists. They were looking for a large place with a parking space to hold the event, and their search led them to “Ocha no Sato”. Miyao Saori, the representative of Nikukyu Marche, said, “Up until now, we have been organizing smaller, more intimate events with limited numbers of stalls. It is a new experience for us to hold such a large-scale event”. At the venue, there will be workshops related to green tourism, such as soba (buckwheat noodle) making, woodworking, Maneki-neko painting, as well as a pet adoption event and a lecture, “Lesson on Life”, to inform people about the current situation and causes of animal euthanasia. You can also buy handmade items and pick up rice balls, pizza, curry, drinks, etc. from food trucks at the event. The “Lesson on Life” will be presented by “Houzukino Sato,” a volunteer group that offers lectures on the very topic at schools, universities, and employee training programs. “Sakumonto”, a non-profit animal welfare organization based in Takaharu-cho, Miyazaki, and volunteer groups from Satsumasendai, “Kurukuru Ichigo” and “AnimalLife Ren”, will be also attending the event. “We want to make this an event where people can learn while having fun. We want people to ask the volunteers many questions and listen to what they have to say. I hope it will be an opportunity for all of us to learn something new,” Miyao said. The event will be held from 11:00 to 16:00. In case of rain, it will be postponed to Thursday, April 29th.

Online Kuramatsuri Festival – Hamada Syuzou in Kagoshima celebrates 20th anniversary of Denbeegura Shochu Distillery

On April 24th, Sasshu Hamadaya Denbee (薩州浜田屋伝兵衛), one of the shochu distilleries managed by Hamada Syuzou, will hold an online event “Denbeegura 20th Anniversary – Online Kuramatsuri Festival”. The Denbeegura Distillery marks the 20th anniversary on 22nd this month. It opened its doors in 2001, “aiming to offer information about the culture of Honkaku Shochu (traditional single distillation shochu) to future generations”. They said, “It has been difficult for Honkaku Shochu enthusiasts as they haven’t been able to visit us in person because of the pandemic. Celebrating this milestone, we decided to hold an online event to express our gratitude and to tell people how fascinating Honkaku Shochu is and how wonderful Ichikikushikino City is”. On 24th, a shochu advisor as well as a singer, Nishida Ai, and a TV personality, Kawakitei Gesotaro, will lead the event. This virtual event will include a “virtual tour of the distillery,” in which a master distiller will show various sections of the distillery, a talk show with local guests, and a lecture on shochu tasting, which will be presented by the distiller. The “Tasting Kit” will be used in the lecture and will be available for purchase in advance at the company’s online store “Shochu.Life”. The kit includes: a 720ml bottle of “Sekitoba”, a 720ml bottle of “Murasaki Sekitoba”, an “Oyuwari Glass” by Denbeegura Distillery, a ballpoint pen, a product brochure, etc. In addition, “Den Hanatare”, the annual limited-edition Honkaku Imo Shochu that is made from sweet potatoes, and Kuramatsuri Umeshu, the festival limited-edition plum wine that has been stored and matured for 10 years, will go on sale on 22nd. They will be available at the Denbeegura Distillery store and its online store. The event will be held from 17:00 to 18:30, and it will be live-streamed on Denbeegura’s official YouTube channel.

Boxed lunch shop opens in Nishiishiki, Kagoshima – The first physical shop from United Marché

It has been three months since the bento (boxed lunch) shop “Cuu Café” opened in Nishiishiki, Kagoshima City. The shop opened on January 18. Taira Sayuri, the owner of Cuu Café, said: “I decided to open the shop because I wanted to bring a smile to people’s faces with food, as they are spending more and more time at home.” Ever since Taira can remember, she has been fascinated by how food can bring smiles to people’s faces, and this led her to go to culinary school. After gaining experience, she opened a bento stand at United Marché, or “Yuna-marché,” the gourmet food booth at the Kagoshima United FC stadium. Cuu Café is her first physical shop. The name of the shop “Cuu” means “to eat” in Japanese. Although the name includes the word “café,” it will operate as a boxed lunch shop for the time being due to the coronavirus crisis. “I want to open a café one day,” Taira added. The Karaage Bento (500 yen), Japanese fried chicken boxed lunch prepared by marinating chicken in lemon juice, has a “refreshing taste,” says Taira. Other line-ups include Bibimbap Bowl (600 yen) and Weekly Special Bento (650 yen), which features something different every week such as Pork Loin Cutlet and the Indonesian dish Nasi Goreng. “I feel so delighted when people tell me how delicious my lunches are. I want to keep offering a fun menu for everyone – something that customers will enjoy when they choose their bento,” she said with enthusiasm. Opening hours: 11:00 – 15:00. Closed on Wednesdays, Sundays, and holidays.

Kagoshima’s first tapioca drink specialty shop, “Tea Way”, opens in Li-Ka, Kagoshima-Chuo Station

On April 23, the tapioca drink specialty shop “Tea Way” opened on the first floor of the commercial complex “Li-Ka 1920”. Although the complex is set to open in June, individual tenants have already started to open their doors ahead of its grand opening. Tea Way is managed by Shake Hands based in Fukuoka. The company, which started the tapioca drink business in 2008, has opened 16 shops in Kyushu, Chugoku, and Shikoku, and this is its first shop in Kagoshima Prefecture. All drinks are served with tapioca. The tapioca used at Tea Way is the shop’s original “large pearl tapioca with collagen,” manufactured without preservatives in a factory in Fukuoka. The drinks are made “shaken” using a shaker after receiving orders. The line-up includes Premium Milk Tea (490 yen), Superior Strawberry Milk (570 yen), Passion Fruit Milk Tea (460 yen), Nata de Coco Jasmine Tea (530 yen), and more. There are 14 base flavors to choose from, including milk tea, black tea, Uji green tea, chocolate, black sesame, mango, and passion fruit. Toppings such as tapioca (90 yen), whipped cream (90 yen), nata de coco (90 yen), and almond jelly (60 yen) are also available, and the tapioca that is originally included in the drink can be replaced with other toppings for free. Limited-time products will also be introduced, and “Melon Smoothie” (650 yen) and “Premium Milk Tea Mousse Smoothie” (660 yen) will go on sale in May. Opening hours: 10:00 – 21:00. Each customer who purchases at the shop will receive one “Tea Way Original Cup Holder”. (The offer will end when all the cup holders have been claimed.)

“Tori no Miyama” outlet opened in Komatsubara, Kagoshima – Offering Chicken Sashimi and Yangnyeom Chicken

One month has passed since the opening of “Tori no Miyama – Komatsubara” in Komatsubara, Kagoshima City. The shop opened on March 12, and it is managed by Miyama Sangyo. Miyama Sangyo operates “Chicken Cuisine Miyama Honpo” in the Kagoshima-Chuo Station building, Tenmonkan, Kokubu, and Kirishima, along with takeout shops for side dishes and lunch boxes in Hayato and Kokubu. The company opened a new shop in Komatsubara after receiving many requests to open an outlet in Kagoshima City. Their offerings include Chicken Sashimi (278 yen/100g); Oidon no Karaage (228 yen/100g), Japanese fried chicken made with Kagoshima’s Fukuyama black vinegar; Yangnyeom Chicken (258 yen/100g); Kagoshima’s local specialty Goteyaki (350 yen/piece), grilled chicken thighs with special sauce; and Karaage Bento (380 yen), a bento box made with Japanese fried chicken. “The special sashimi sauce that we use for chicken sashimi was passed down from my grandmother. We also recommend using it for salads and tofu,” said the President of Miyama Sangyo, Sakawa Ryoichi. “We also accept large orders of lunch boxes for offices and junior sports clubs. We hope you will enjoy the refined taste that we have cultivated as a chicken specialty restaurant for 30 years.” Opening hours: 11:30 – 19:30

Online Kuramatsuri Festival – Hamada Syuzou in Kagoshima celebrates 20th anniversary of Denbeegura Shochu Distillery

On April 24th, Sasshu Hamadaya Denbee (薩州浜田屋伝兵衛), one of the shochu distilleries managed by Hamada Syuzou, will hold an online event “Denbeegura 20th Anniversary – Online Kuramatsuri Festival”. The Denbeegura Distillery marks the 20th anniversary on 22nd this month. It opened its doors in 2001, “aiming to offer information about the culture of Honkaku Shochu (traditional single distillation shochu) to future generations”. They said, “It has been difficult for Honkaku Shochu enthusiasts as they haven’t been able to visit us in person because of the pandemic. Celebrating this milestone, we decided to hold an online event to express our gratitude and to tell people how fascinating Honkaku Shochu is and how wonderful Ichikikushikino City is”. On 24th, a shochu advisor as well as a singer, Nishida Ai, and a TV personality, Kawakitei Gesotaro, will lead the event. This virtual event will include a “virtual tour of the distillery,” in which a master distiller will show various sections of the distillery, a talk show with local guests, and a lecture on shochu tasting, which will be presented by the distiller. The “Tasting Kit” will be used in the lecture and will be available for purchase in advance at the company’s online store “Shochu.Life”. The kit includes: a 720ml bottle of “Sekitoba”, a 720ml bottle of “Murasaki Sekitoba”, an “Oyuwari Glass” by Denbeegura Distillery, a ballpoint pen, a product brochure, etc. In addition, “Den Hanatare”, the annual limited-edition Honkaku Imo Shochu that is made from sweet potatoes, and Kuramatsuri Umeshu, the festival limited-edition plum wine that has been stored and matured for 10 years, will go on sale on 22nd. They will be available at the Denbeegura Distillery store and its online store. The event will be held from 17:00 to 18:30, and it will be live-streamed on Denbeegura’s official YouTube channel.

MATENO COFFEE opened in Daikoku-cho, Kagoshima City – Offering homemade sweet treats and coffee beans to-go

A specialty coffee shop “MATENO COFFEE” opened in Daikoku-cho, Kagoshima City, on March 15th It is co-owned by a husband-wife duo. The shop, which was built over 70 years ago, is furnished with antique furniture selected by the couple. “We used wood as the base to bring out the quaint characters, and the decor behind the counter was inspired by a kitchen in rural Europe,” the husband, Uozumi Kakeru, said. The name of the shop means “morning” in Esperanto, and it reflects the couple’s hope that “People start their morning on a positive note and have a lovely day”. They use coffee beans from “ANY B&B + COFFEE”, a Nara-based roaster. “They are light roasts but not too light, and you can get the flavor and sweetness of the beans,” says Uozumi. Their coffee menu includes “Hand Drip Coffee” (400 yen), which is brewed one cup at a time upon receiving an order, and “Cafe Latte” (450 yen), which is made with medium-roast espresso and steamed milk. You can bring your own coffee canister and buy their beans by weight. About four types of beans, including Ethiopian and Kenyan, are always available at the shop. You can also enjoy other beverages, such as “Mikan Juice” (450 yen), freshly squeezed mandarin oranges from Kazumi Farm (Hidaka-gun, Wakayama), and “Mori-cha” (400 yen), a wildflower tea made from a blend of pearl barley, mugwort, and dokudami (chameleon plant) with the Sannen Bancha (special aged green tea) as its base. This Bancha tea is produced by the wife Haruka’s family. The shop also offers some homemade sweet treats; New York Cheesecake (450 yen) and Chocolate Chunk Cookies (200 yen), to name a couple. All products are available for takeout, excluding the morning set. Uozumi says, “Just like the Esperanto language, which was created to build a bridge between people from different backgrounds, we want to welcome all people. We would love people to enjoy a moment of relaxation, a moment filled with warmth here before going to work, on a walk, or on a holiday morning”. Opening hours: 7:00 – 17:00. Closed on Wednesdays.

Hamburger restaurant in Tenmonkan, Kagoshima: “A place to feel the culture of the American West Coast”

It has been three months since the hamburger restaurant “COLORS” opened its doors in Kagoshima’s Tenmonkan district. The store opened on December 27th last year. Shimoda Ryotaro, the owner of the store, has been involved in music activities mainly on the West Coast of the U.S. “I wanted to create a place where people can feel the culture of the West Coast”, Shimoda said. The name of the restaurant comes from the movie “Colors” which portrays the street culture of the area. “Hamburgers are an essential component when talking about the culture of the American West Coast,” said Shimoda. The menu includes: “COLORS Burger” (1,200 yen) with a patty, tomato, cheese, egg, and bacon on a 12-centimeter bun; “Mary Jane Burger” (1,000 yen) with shrimps, egg salad with tartar sauce, avocado, and lettuce on a pink bun; and “Snoop Dogg” (900 yen) with coarse sausage and onion on a navy bun. For drinks, they serve 150 types of cocktails and soft drinks. All food menu items are available for takeout. COLORS has 4 tables and 8 counter seats. There are 2 mirror balls and vinyl records displayed on the wall, and a DJ booth for parties. The restaurant has an adjoining shop, “C’s SHOP”, where you can buy West Coast streetwear and accessories selected by Shimoda himself. “I want to make this a center for spreading the West Coast culture, with a focus on music,” he added. Opening hours: 12:00 – 15:00 and 18:00 – 2:00. Closed on Mondays.

Kagoshima’s “Kokusan Komugiko Yamapan”, a bakery dedicated to using domestic flour, moved to Uearata-cho – 30 types of bread, including Yudane bread, available

It has been a month since the bakery, “Kokusan Komugiko Yamapan”, relocated to Uearata-cho, Kagoshima City. (“Kokusan Komugiko” means “domestically grown wheat flour” in Japanese.) The bakery was previously located in Shimoarata, and has been in operation for three years. “Since the kitchen was small and I was using home ovens and mixers, I could only bake about 10 kinds of bread a day, and the main product was plain bread. Now that the shop has been moved to a place where I can install commercial equipment, I can bake many kinds of bread. I can offer a wider variety now,” said Yamamoto Hirokazu, the owner of the bakery. He reopened the store in its new location on March 16th. 30 types of bread are always available at the bakery. Yamapan’s signature items include Yudane Bread (1 loaf for 360 yen, 2 loaves for 720 yen), which is made with Hokkaido wheat flour using the Yudane (water roux) method to create a “chewy, fluffy texture”; Ciabatta (120 yen), which is made with Kyushu wheat flour “Minami no Kaori” and a sourdough starter (or levain); French bread (160 yen); and whole wheat Pain de Campagne (280 yen). As Yamamoto makes all the bread for the bakery and some days they are sold out, customers can call and reserve their favorite treats between 10:00 and 18:00. Yamamoto has been a baker for 34 years, and he has been holding regular “Kagoshima Bread Making Classes” (currently on hiatus) at his store “to get people interested in baking bread and help them enjoy professional grade bread at home.” He has also taught at the Department of Sweets & Café, Kyushu Institute of Tourism, and started teaching bread making at Imamura License Academy last year. “The number of new customers has increased, and they are happy with what I offer. Once things are settled, I’m planning to restart bread making classes, so please stay tuned,” he added. Opening hours: 11:00 – 18:00 (or until sold out). Closed on Sundays and Mondays. Two parking spaces available.

A joint event on green tourism and animal adoption in Kagoshima – Including a lecture: “Lesson on Life”

On April 25, an event, “Green Tourism by Nyanberwan & Nikukyu Marche”, will be held at “Toshi Noson Koryu Center Ocha no Sato” in Haruyama, Kagoshima City. This is the first joint event organized by the Farm Inn “Nyanberwan” and “Nikukyu Marche”, a group organizing pet adoption events and selling handmade items featuring dogs and cats created by various artists. They were looking for a large place with a parking space to hold the event, and their search led them to “Ocha no Sato”. Miyao Saori, the representative of Nikukyu Marche, said, “Up until now, we have been organizing smaller, more intimate events with limited numbers of stalls. It is a new experience for us to hold such a large-scale event”. At the venue, there will be workshops related to green tourism, such as soba (buckwheat noodle) making, woodworking, Maneki-neko painting, as well as a pet adoption event and a lecture, “Lesson on Life”, to inform people about the current situation and causes of animal euthanasia. You can also buy handmade items and pick up rice balls, pizza, curry, drinks, etc. from food trucks at the event. The “Lesson on Life” will be presented by “Houzukino Sato,” a volunteer group that offers lectures on the very topic at schools, universities, and employee training programs. “Sakumonto”, a non-profit animal welfare organization based in Takaharu-cho, Miyazaki, and volunteer groups from Satsumasendai, “Kurukuru Ichigo” and “AnimalLife Ren”, will be also attending the event. “We want to make this an event where people can learn while having fun. We want people to ask the volunteers many questions and listen to what they have to say. I hope it will be an opportunity for all of us to learn something new,” Miyao said. The event will be held from 11:00 to 16:00. In case of rain, it will be postponed to Thursday, April 29th.