Nagoya Takashimaya's 16th Tohoku food fair brings 61 vendors, six of them first-timers
JR Nagoya Takashimaya's 16th Dai-Tohoku food fair gathers 61 vendors from across Japan's Tohoku region onto its 10th-floor event hall this week -- a direct, dated read on what is filling a major department store's event floor right now.
JR Nagoya Takashimaya opened the 16th edition of its "Dai-Tohoku-ten" (大東北展, Great Tohoku Exhibition) food fair on October 28, running through November 3 on the store's 10th-floor event hall, with 61 vendors from Japan's six Tohoku prefectures -- Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Akita, Yamagata and Fukushima -- according to the store. The lineup splits into 53 food stalls, including six making their first appearance at the fair, seven goods vendors and one produce-market stall, the store said.
Among the first-timers, Men-ya Eneru (麺やえねる), a Fukushima ramen shop, is making its first appearance outside Fukushima Prefecture with a 200-bowl-a-day Fukushima jidori chicken soy-sauce ramen priced at ¥1,650, while Maesawagyu Ogata (前沢牛オガタ), an Iwate beef specialist new to the fair, is selling a three-way Maesawa beef sirloin bento limited to 15 boxes a day at ¥3,501, the store said. Returning vendors include Kisuke (喜助), a Sendai beef-tongue specialist, and a Fukushima stall selling a Nagoya-exclusive version of kinoko wappameshi, mushroom rice steamed in a bent-wood box.
A 16th edition points to a format Takashimaya keeps because it works, not because it is new. In our view, this year's mix -- a gourmet-led lineup topped up with a handful of debuts rather than a wholesale refresh -- suggests the store is leaning on familiar draws over novelty.