Yakage Town in Okayama Prefecture is a post town along the Sanyo Road that flourished during the Edo period due to the Sankin-kotai system.
In the Yakage shopping district, historical buildings designated as Important Cultural Properties of Japan, such as the former Yakage Honjin Ishii Family Residence and the former Yakage Waki Honjin Takakusa Family Residence, remain intact.
Bokkohdo is a long-established rice cracker shop in the Yakage shopping district that has been in business for 60 years.
Using sugar, flour, and eggs as a base, there are various flavors including peanuts, ginger, yuzu, and miso, and each rice cracker is carefully baked one by one, evoking a sense of nostalgia.
The second generation, Hori Shinji, and the third generation, Hori Shobu, along with their family members, continue to preserve the taste and methods of the founder, Hori Tsuyoshi.
While managing the rice cracker shop, second-generation owner Hori Shinji is also involved in various initiatives related to tourism in Yakage Town.
This article introduces Bokkohdo and its second-generation owner, Hori Shinji.
Overview of Bokkohdo
Bokkohdo is a rice cracker shop that has renovated a traditional house over 100 years old into a store, located at the western end of the Yakage shopping district.
Business hours are from 8 AM to 6 PM, and there are two parking spaces on the east side of the store.
The shop is closed on irregular days.
If you are lucky, you can see the rice crackers being baked through the glass, and the sweet aroma of freshly baked rice crackers fills the store.
A logo of Tenshoin Atsuhime with a smiling face welcomes you, and the various types of rice crackers wrapped in colorful packaging all look delicious.
Tenshoin Atsuhime is recorded to have stayed at the former Yakage Honjin Ishii Family Residence on her journey from Satsuma to marry Tokugawa's 13th shogun, Iesada.
Features of Bokkohdo
The flavors and methods of the hand-baked rice crackers, including broad beans, yuzu, ginger, miso, and peanuts, were devised by the founder, Hori Tsuyoshi, and have been passed down unchanged to this day.
To meet the demands of customers seeking the taste of Bokkohdo, the flavors and methods have not changed.
The hand-baking machine visible from the shop window has been in use for over 50 years.
When I visited, they were making "Small Peanut Rice Crackers."
Third-generation Hori Shobu pours the batter, and as the machine makes one round, he removes the baked rice crackers from the iron plate, trims the excess, and shapes them into squares.
The work is done smoothly, but the iron plate is quite hot, and I thought that baking the rice crackers by hand must be challenging.
Shobu's mother trims the square rice crackers into strips and packs them into bags.
It is a difficult task to determine the right timing, as if they are too hot, they stick to other batter, and if they cool too much, they break when being trimmed.
The arch-shaped salt rice crackers, the ginger rice crackers folded and coated with pure white ginger syrup, and the small peanut rice crackers cut into strips are all intricately made, showcasing high skill that is hard to imagine coming from the same machine.
Salt-flavored Rice Crackers
These rice crackers have a simple and gentle taste of salt, sugar, and flour.
Before the baked rice crackers cool completely, they are cut and placed into molds to form an arch shape.
Ginger Rice Crackers
These rice crackers are folded and coated with pure white ginger syrup.
Once baked, they are folded by hand while hot and coated with ginger syrup.
Peanut Rice Crackers
Beautiful pine patterns are elegantly embossed.
The combination of peanuts and wheat creates an irresistible flavor.
Egg Rice Crackers
These rice crackers are made with eggs, sugar, and flour, baked in molds.
They are stamped with designs such as "Yatsu" from the Daimyo-Gyoretsu and "Yakappy," the tourism ambassador of Yakage.
Bokkohdo Second-Generation Owner Hori Shinji
Hori Shinji, the second-generation owner of Bokkohdo, is not only managing the shop but also serves as the chairman of the Yakage DMO General Incorporated Foundation Yakage Town Tourism Exchange Promotion Organization and as the representative director of the Bichu Nishi Chamber of Commerce and Industry Yakage District, working diligently to promote tourism in Yakage Town.
The representative activities of the Yakage DMO General Incorporated Foundation Yakage Town Tourism Exchange Promotion Organization and the Bichu Nishi Chamber of Commerce and Industry are as follows:
- Events: Cream Soda in Yakage, Oimo ga Imon (Yakage DMO General Incorporated Foundation Yakage Town Tourism Exchange Promotion Organization)
- Realization of underground power lines in part of the Yakage Town streetscape area (Bichu Nishi Chamber of Commerce and Industry)
- Daimyo-Gyoretsu (Bichu Nishi Chamber of Commerce and Industry)
The Cream Soda in Yakage event in the summer of 2023 featured 14 shops in Yakage Town, each showcasing their unique cream soda to charm visitors.
During the winter, 20 shops in Yakage Town are enlivening the area with the event Oimo ga Imon, where visitors can enjoy sweets and dishes made with sweet potatoes.
The Oimo ga Imon event runs from November 19, 2023 (Sunday) to January 31, 2024 (Wednesday).
The Yakage Town Streetscape Area Underground Power Line Project was adopted as a public-private partnership project under the Comprehensive Grant for Social Infrastructure Development in 2018, and underground power lines have been realized in part of the Yakage shopping district.
East of the former Yakage Honjin Ishii Family Residence, a townscape without utility poles and wires spreads out.
The Daimyo-Gyoretsu was held in November 1976 by the youth division of the Chamber of Commerce to revitalize the Yakage shopping district, which had suffered from flooding damage due to heavy rain, as a "festival."
Since then, the Daimyo-Gyoretsu has been held every second Sunday in November as a revival event and is cherished by the people as a representative festival of Yakage Town.
I spoke with Hori Shinji, the owner of Bokkohdo, chairman of the Yakage DMO General Incorporated Foundation Yakage Town Tourism Exchange Promotion Organization, and representative director of the Bichu Nishi Chamber of Commerce and Industry Yakage District, about Bokkohdo and the charm of Yakage.
Data on Bokkohdo
| Name | Bokkohdo |
|---|---|
| Address | 714-1201 Okayama Prefecture, Oda District, Yakage Town, Yakage 3198 |
| Contact | 0866-82-0369 |
| Parking | Available Two spaces on the east side of the store |
| Business Hours | 8 AM to 6 PM |
| Regular Holidays | Irregular holidays |
| Payment Methods |
|
| Reservation | Not accepted |
| Restroom | No restroom |
