🍱 Renkon no Suri-Nagashi Jiru / Renkon no Gori-Gori Jiru

Lotus roots growing along Kosuigaike, a pond located on the banks of Mizunuma Shrine, were first planted when Akizuki Taneshige, the seventh lord of the Takanabe domain, brought over high-quality lotus roots from Yamato and recommended that it be grown locally. It was a way to overcome food scarcity and deal with financial crises. The lotus roots grown here are popular for their delicious taste, crunchiness, and stickiness. The local people call this vegetable “sticky lotus root of the water god.” “Renkonno suri nagashi jiru / renkonno gori gori jiru” is made by grating lotus roots and placing them in a soup flavored with “dashi” (=Japanese soup stock) and miso. It is the perfect soup to eat during the cold winter. Harvesting lotus roots is a lot of work as the farmers need to pick the vegetables out of deep mud. They are required to wear overall type long boots that cover the torso. In the summer, it is extremely hot, and in the winter, the farmers need work in cold mud. Traditionally, it is the job of men to dig the lotus roots out of the cold mud in the winter. Only selected shrine parishioners are permitted to harvest the lotus roots growing near Mizunuma Shrine. Every year, during the spring festival, plots are allocated to selected people.