Bento Food Tours(5)

We greatly enjoyed and highly recommend this experience to all citrus lovers. We received heartfelt welcome at the station and were taken to a farm of one of the local families, where we enjoyed a stunning view over the sunny hillsides full of mikan trees (you can see the bay and the islands), picked the fruits, squeezed and drank some of the fresh juice on the spot. Invited in a traditional, over 100 years old house of the family, we ate a delicious locally made bento lunchbox. Thanks to our translator we were able to comunicate effortlessly and learned about the culture. Later we were warmly received by local ladies in a community kitchen and were guided through the process of making marmelade from the fruits we picked. We used Haruka, a sweet refreshing yellow fruit. We also tasted Beni-Madonna, a locally developed mikan variaty with exquisite sweetness and softness. The ladies are members of the Japanese Marmelade Association and have won many awards. Of course, through their experience, our marmelade turned out a success! Therefore we were encouraged to try our luck at this year's competition. The last lucky guest won a silver medal last year! We even got fruits to enjoy at home and some more presents from the community. We cannot believe that this experience is so little known, it really is a hidden gem. It is very well organised, everybody is so kind and made us feel very welcome. Thank you, people of Yawatahama!

Ehime Mikan Picking, Marmalade Making is a wonderful opportunity to interact directly with a Shikoku mikan farming family and meet some of the welcoming folks living in the Yawatahama region of Ehime. About an hour by train southwest of Matsuyama, the experience includes the chance to pick and eat a variety of citrus fruits the region is famous for. The terraced orchard provided spectacular views of the ocean and small islands separating Shikoku from Kyushu. Under sunny skies, our hosts spread a tarp and mats on the orchard floor and we dined on a most delicious obento lunch box featuring regional specialties. These included a tempura of shrimp and vegetables, fried chicken with mikan juice and mikan rice balls. Following the harvest and lunch, we were chauffeured to a spotless commercial kitchen operated by the Yawatahama Ward office. There, the kind ladies of the community guided us through the marmalade making process and we bottled multiple jars using Haruka variety mikans. We were also invited to try other varieties created by some of the gold medal winners from last November's Dalemain World Marmalade Awards and Festival. Our product was entered in the "homemade division" for the next festival. Loaded up with our marmalade and several bags of fresh fruit, our hosts returned us to the train station. With the increasing popularity of Japan as a tourist destination, this is a special opportunity to get off the beaten path and away from the crowds to see the real Japan.