The "Wakayama Cultural Co-Creation Project" (和歌山文化共創プロジェクト) is getting under way in Shirahama, Wakayama. It is a joint effort between Yuasa Shoyu Co., Ltd. (Yuasa, Arida District, Wakayama; President: 新古敏朗), the soy sauce division of the long-established brewer Marushin Honke, and Shiraraso Grand Hotel (Shirahama, Nishimuro District, Wakayama; General Manager: Eiichi Nojiri), operated by Granvista Hotels & Resorts Co., Ltd. (Chiyoda, Tokyo; President: Yukio Arai). Marushin Honke was founded in 1881 (Meiji 14) in Yuasa, Wakayama, known as the birthplace of soy sauce brewing.
The project is a new model of regional co-creation that turns the appeal of soy sauce, a basic seasoning at the heart of Japanese food, and of fermentation culture into a special overnight stay in Shirahama, and shares it with travelers from Japan and abroad as well as the next generation.
Background: Passing On Local Culture and Valuing Experiences
As population decline and a shortage of successors advance across Japan, how to hand down local food culture, traditional skills, and ways of life to the next generation has become a major social issue.
At the same time, values in the global travel market have shifted from "trips to buy things" to "experiential travel" (known in Japanese as "koto shohi"), in which travelers experience a place's culture and the everyday lives of its people.
Wakayama has regional assets that it can be proud of worldwide:
- Yuasa, the birthplace of soy sauce brewing
- Wakayama's food and fermentation culture, nurtured by its rich sea and mountains
- The spiritual culture of the World Heritage Kumano Kodo and Mt. Koya
- Shirahama Onsen, one of Japan's leading hot spring resorts
Yuasa Shoyu has so far worked on turning soy sauce brewing into an attraction, with brewery tours, paddle-stirring experiences, and soy sauce making experiences, to help people understand brewing culture. However, there are limits to what a single company can do to share the value of Japanese food culture with the world.
So the region's soy sauce (food) and a hotel (lodging) have joined forces to share a "fermentation culture experience in Wakayama" at home and abroad as a tourism value unique to Wakayama Prefecture.
Concept: Making Wakayama's Culture Itself the Travel Experience
The project is not an effort to jointly sell products or accommodation plans.
It combines the history of soy sauce brewing that lives on in Wakayama with the skill of chefs who bring out the best in the area's rich ingredients. Condensing the two into a single dish and layering it with time spent at the inn turns the trip itself into a special experience.
Touching the culture and daily life rooted in the land, learning what the producers care about, tasting the food, and spending time in Wakayama's nature all become part of the value of the trip and stay in the memory.
In an age when easy food is everywhere, the project aims to deliver the depth and culture of genuine soy sauce as an experience, offering travelers from Japan and around the world the flavors and fermentation culture at the origin of Japanese cuisine.
Upcoming Plans
First Installment: Fermentation Gastronomy, "Yuasa Shoyu Kura no Megumi Kaiseki" (湯浅醤油 蔵の恵み会席)
Themed on Wakayama's fermentation culture, including Yuasa Shoyu, this kaiseki course was developed jointly with the head chef to bring out new possibilities of soy sauce, and it can only be tasted here.
- The dishes use products such as "湯浅醤油 生一本黒豆," which has won the Monde Selection Grand Gold Medal for 21 consecutive years since 2006, as well as "湯浅醤油 蔵匠 白搾り," "湯浅醤油 蔵匠 樽仕込み," "丸新本家 白みそ," and "丸新本家 紀州金山寺味噌." Through dishes that bring out the character of each product, diners can taste the natural flavor of the ingredients.
Head chef: 古川裕也
Messages From the Partners
Eiichi Nojiri, General Manager of Shiraraso Grand Hotel
"Our hotel stands a 30-second walk from Shirarahama Beach, and we have proposed new leisure options that share the region's appeal, such as tours of places like the Kumano Kodo and the geopark. This collaboration with Yuasa Shoyu embodies the belief we hold dear: 'Changing the future through the value of the region.' By offering the history and fermentation culture of Yuasa, the birthplace of soy sauce brewing, through a stay, we will pass that value on to the next generation and nurture a lasting circle of co-creation that connects the region, travelers, and producers."
新古敏朗, President of Yuasa Shoyu Co., Ltd.
"Our company has made 'create, convey, and contribute' its philosophy and has practiced traditional soy sauce making. Beyond protecting and making what has been handed down through generations, we put strong effort into outreach, conveying the traditions and techniques of soy sauce brewing along with the thoughts of our predecessors.
Conveying not only tradition and history but also the true deliciousness of soy sauce, the basic seasoning that determines the flavor of a dish, to the next generation and the world is also my own mission.
Through this collaboration with Shiraraso Grand Hotel, I am confident that we can create new regional value that we could not achieve on our own and share Japan's food culture with the world."
Representative Director: 新古敏朗
Hotel Overview
Shiraraso Grand Hotel stands a 30-second walk from the sand of Shirarahama Beach and is known for its ocean-view location. The open-air bath, renewed and reopened in summer 2016, offers sweeping views of the sea and Shirarahama Beach. Guests can enjoy the waters of Shirahama Onsen, one of Japan's three oldest hot springs, along with creative cuisine that makes use of the sea's seasonal bounty. It is part of the Granvista Hotels & Resorts group.
- Name: Shiraraso Grand Hotel
- Address: 868 Shirahama-cho, Nishimuro-gun, Wakayama Prefecture
- Opened: 1929
- Building: 6 floors above ground
- Guest Rooms: 110 rooms (488 guests)
- Phone: 0739-43-0100
- Website: https://www.shiraraso.co.jp/
