“梅のまち” 横浜市磯子区杉田、訪日外国人むけに、横浜での伝統文化体験、杉田梅を使った料理体験を販売開始！
武州杉田の梅林 初代歌川広重（神奈川県立歴史博物館所蔵）
この浮世絵は梅が盛りの杉田の里に美女達が花見にやってきたところを描いています。後ろには金沢の地が一部見え、遠くには房総半島も描かれています。
◆体験プログラム
１．横浜磯子で過ごす 日本伝統文化体験
◇概要：妙法寺で瞑想とお経、和室で茶道を体験頂きます。天気がよければ境内山頂の牛頭山（ごずさん）から、歌川広重が描いた浮世絵と現在の杉田の東京湾の風景を重ねた眺望をお楽しみ頂きます。お食事の宴は、杉田梅を使った会席御膳を召しあがって頂きながら、かつての横浜・磯子の観梅の賑いを芸者衆が再現します。
◇開催日：2023年12月22(金)、23(土)、2024年１月26(金)、27(土)
※1月中旬から3月上旬の観梅時期の平日にグループプランを設定予定です（8～15名まで）。
２．杉田梅のあるくらし 杉田梅を使った料理体験
（１）冬野菜の収穫体験と天ぷら、おにぎりのランチ 横浜氷取沢にて
◇概要：ひとりざわテラスのある氷取沢は鎌倉に続く山道が今でも残り、自然が守られています。冬の代表的な野菜、大根やブロッコリー、人参等を収穫をして、ランチに天ぷら、自分で握ったおにぎり、味噌汁をお召し上がり頂きます。
◇開催日：2023年12月13(水)、14(木)、15(金)
（２）お節料理つくり体験
◇概要：杉田梅を使ったお節料理体験。お節料理は年の初めの1月１～3日にいただく伝統食文化です。楽しくお節料理づくりを体験して頂きます。
◇開催日：2023年12月17(日)
（３）薬膳中国料理×杉田梅
◇概要：中国古来より伝わる薬膳料理。自然豊かなひとりざわテラスで料理人 林訓美（りん くんび）先生の指導で楽しく薬膳料理をつくります。
◇開催日： 2024年１月13(土)
（４）精進料理×杉田梅
◇概要：杉田梅を食材とした精進料理をつくり、歴史を学びます。世界的に活躍する藤井まり先生をお迎えして開催します。
◇開催日：2024年1月14 (日)
（５）手前味噌作り体験
◇概要：日本の代表的な発酵食品「味噌」。日本でしかできない味噌づくり体験をお楽しみ下さい。
◇開催日：2024年1月14(日)、15(月)、16(火)
◆関連リンク
・詳細および予約： https://matcha-jp.com/jp/mcm25922
・杉田梅まつり：https://www.youtube.com/@user-ko2hg1wj5d/about
Sugita, the town of plum blossoms”
Visitors to Japan can now purchase a traditional Japanese cultural experience and a cooking experience using Sugita plums in Yokohama!
Yokohama Shunsaika（CEO and culinary researcher/Yukiko Ms.Ichihara）has started selling experience programs for foreign visitors in collaboration with “Sugita，the town of plum blossoms” executive committee. These programs include courses on enjoying Edo period Japanese culture expressed in ukiyo-e and Japanese cultural cooking using Sugita plums.
The Sugita of old (currently Isogo Ward, Yokohama City) had soil unsuitable for farming grain or vegetables. The lord of Sugita, Nobushige Mamiya, created a Plum Groves by planting plum trees which match warm climates between 1573 and 1592. The plums harvested from this forest were pickled and were used as a preserved food during battles. The Plum Groves of Sugita which had over 36,000 plum trees in the Edo Period, became famous in Japan, and became a staple plum blossom viewing spot in the Kanto Region.
The Plum Groves of Sugita was illustrated by artists such as Hiroshige Utagawa from the Edo to Meiji Period. The vestiges of the plum grove still remain slightly at Myoho-ji Temple even now.
Utilizing the unique historical and food culture resources of the region called Sugita Plums, the Plum Groves of Sugita aims to revive the area and promote regional revitalization as “Sugitaa,the town of plum blossoms”. In February 2023, “Sugita Plum Festival” was held for the first time in 100 years, and many people visited”.next year's event will be held on Sat 17 ～ Sun 18 February 2024.
A 50-minute train ride from Tokyo, and a 20-minute train ride from Yokohama! There are cooking workshops using the elusive Sugita Plums, and restaurant meals that can be enjoyed surrounded by a garden. Furthermore, there is even an event where Yokohama geisha perform songs and dances, and recreate the liveliness of the Edo Period as it is depicted in the woodblock prints!
Please participate in the workshop and enjoy a walk around the town of plum blossoms
The Plum Groves of Sugita in Musashi Province owned by Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Cultural History
This ukiyo-e depicts beautiful women coming to enjoy flower viewing in Sugita village, where plum blossoms are in full bloom. In the background, you can see a part of Kanazawa and the Boso Peninsula in the distance. This ukiyo-e was created by Hiroshige Utagawa in 1852.
◆Workshops
１．Japanese Traditional Culture Workshop in Isogo, Yokohama ＜Noon/Evening Program＞
◇Plan Overview：A Yokohama traditional culture experience at a temple which was once vibrant during the Edo and Meiji periods. You can try traditional Japanese cultural practices at Sugita (Isogo Ward, Yo kohama), only 20 minutes from Yokohama by train. This plan entails meditation and sutra-reading in front of the Buddha statue, in the main temple. Later, you can experience the tea ceremony in the Japanese-style room with tatami mats. If the weather permits, you can visit Gozusan, located within the grounds. The peak of the mountain, which can be reached in about five minutes, can be enjoyed by matching the landscape illustrated by Hiroshige Utagawa and the current state of the Tokyo Bay. Guests will be able to enjoy a banquet including a multi-course meal using Sugita Plums, and a performance recreating the liveliness once present in Yokohama and Isogo during the plum-viewing boom. You can enjoy singing, dancing, and ozashiki asobi (traditional games). Please visit Sugita, Yokohama and fully experience Japanese cultural activities such as meditation, sutra-reading, tea ceremony, ukiyo-e, course meals, and geisha song and dance.
◇Date of the tour：22、23 December 2023 / 26、27 January 2024
※Group packages (up to 8-15 people) are available on weekdays from mid-January to early March during the Plum Blossom season. More information will be posted on the website soon.
２．Cooking experience using Sugita Plums
（１）Winter Vegetable Harvest, and tempura and rice-ball lunch in Hitorizawa, Yokohama
◇Plan Overview：Yokohama City is a cosmopolitan city, but there are still some rice paddies and farms in the area. In Hitorizawa, Isogo Ward, Yokohama City, where Hitorizwa Terrace is located, a mountain trail that leads to Kamakura still remains, and the nature there is preserved. Insects can be heard singing in the fall, and wild birds can be heard in the winter. Staple crops of winter such as daikon-radish, broccoli, and carrots can be harvested and served at lunch as tempura, self-made rice balls, and miso soup. We will have a lesson on how to make rice-balls.
◇Date of the tour：13、14、、15 December 2023
（２）Osechi(Japanese traditional New Year’s food) making workshop
◇Plan Overview：An osechi-making workshop using the illusive Sugita Plums. Osechi is traditionally eaten from January 1～3. Why don’t you join us in preparing this traditional New Year’s food？
◇Date of the tour：17 December 2023
（３）Yakuzen Chinese cooking Workshop
◇Plan Overview：Yakuzen cooking traveled to Japan from ancient China. Why don’t you join us and learn how to prepare a yakuzen meal from cook Rin Kunbi, in the restaurant Hitorizawa Terrace? It is surrounded by nature and is only 20 minutes from Yokohama.
◇Date of the tour：13 January 2024
（４）Shojin-ryori (vegetarian meal) cooking Workshop
◇Plan Overview：We will invite the world-renowned Mari Fujii, and learn how to use Sugita Plums products as they are used in the shojin-ryori dishes.
◇Date of the tour：14 January 2024
（５）Temae-miso making workshop
◇Plan Overview：Miso is a classic Japanese fermented food. Why don’t you come and make some miso with us at Hitorizawa Terrace．Please come and experience the miso-making workshop, available only in Japan.
◇Date of the tour：14、15、16 January 2024
◆History
The Sugita of old (currently Isogo Ward, Yokohama City) had soil unsuitable for farming grain or vegetables. The lord of Sugita, Nobushige Mamiya, created a Plum Groves by planting plum trees which match warm climates between 1573 and 1592. The plums harvested from this forest were pickled and were used as a preserved food during battles. The The Plum Groves of Sugita which had over 36,000 plum trees in the Edo Period, became famous in Japan, and became a staple plum-blossoms viewing spot in the Kanto Region. Thereafter, The Plum Groves decreased in size year by year, and the Sugita Plum was later known to be the “Elusive Plum”．
◆Culture
The Plum Groves of Sugita was illustrated by artists such as Hiroshige Utagawa from the Edo to Meiji Period. Furthermore, the Japanophile Eliza Scidmore who visited Japan repeatedly since 1885, introduced to the West the The Plum Groves of Sugita of Myoho-ji Temple, and the view of Mt. Fuji from the once highest peak of Yokohama, Mt. Enkai, as one of the best views in the Kanto Region, in her book, Jinrikisha Day in Japan, New York, London 1902.
◆The workshop details are as follows:https://matcha-jp.com/jp/mcm25922
◆Sugita Plum Festival:https://www.youtube.com/@user-ko2hg1wj5d/about
