🇯🇵 Chiba

The food of Chiba's Boso

The southern half of Chiba prefecture, the Boso Peninsula, is a peninsula ringed by sea on three sides. On the Kuroshio-swept Sotobo coast, kinmedai, spiny lobster, horse mackerel and sardine come in well; inland are temple-gate towns like Naritasan, and on the coast lives Katsuura, one of Japan's three great morning markets. Chiba's image is dominated by Narita of the airport, but the real body of its food lies in temple-gate eel and sweets, a harbour morning market, and Sotobo's local fish — that is, in "the sea and the approach." One or two hours from the city by train, within reach even on a day trip, it is a food treasury right next to Tokyo.

Three faces

Here, Chiba is split into three routes with distinct characters. First Naritasan Omotesando — the roughly 800-metre approach to Naritasan Shinshoji, lined with old houses of storefront-grilled eel, chestnut yokan and local sake, a temple-gate town since Edo. Then Katsuura Morning Market — counted with Wajima and Takayama among Japan's three great morning markets, a "morning town" whose signatures are charcoal-grilled fish from the morning catch and a bright-red Katsuura tantanmen. And Kamogawa — on the Sotobo coast, where you eat the shop-by-shop oraga-don, braised kinmedai and spiny lobster while looking at the sea. Approach, morning market, seaside: together the three show the breadth of Boso's food.

Boso's local fish and home cooking

You cannot speak of Boso's food without its local fish and the home cooking the fishermen made. "Namero," the morning's horse mackerel or sardine minced with miso, ginger and onion, and the "sangayaki" that wraps it in shiso and grills it, are seaside home dishes eaten all over Boso. Sotobo's kinmedai (line-caught) is braised, and the spiny lobster is served as sashimi or in a miso soup that draws a rich stock from the shell. Like Katsuura tantanmen, some plates were born to warm a fisherman's body. In Boso, the food of people who live by the sea has become the local specialty as it is.

How to go — from the city

The three routes differ a lot in place and mood. Narita is right by Narita Airport, easy to reach from the city, and outside the New Year worship season a half day will do. Katsuura and Kamogawa are further south on the Sotobo Line. Katsuura's market stands only in the morning, so go first thing; Kamogawa's shops are scattered along the coast, so a car helps. Katsuura and Kamogawa are close, so staying a night and touring the Sotobo coast over two days is good too. Each route starts at a station, but trains on the Sotobo side are infrequent, so check the timetable first.

Plates that change with the season

In Boso, the lead changes with the season. Kinmedai and spiny lobster are in season in autumn and winter, firm-fleshed and full of flavour. Katsuura's market stands all year on mornings other than Wednesday, closed over the New Year holiday, while the Naritasan area is busiest in that worship season. Spring brings Boso's flower fields, summer the Sotobo beaches — seasonal pleasures beyond food overlap too. If your season is set, build around the local fish that is good then, and satisfaction rises.

More to come

For now, Chiba starts with three routes — Naritasan, Katsuura and Kamogawa. Boso still has Tateyama's seafood, Choshi's harbour meals, and the flowers and loquats of Minami-Boso — several more seaside towns to walk. Routes will be added over time. For now, take these three and taste the "Boso plate" of temple gate, morning market and the Sotobo sea, each in turn.