Station #20: Food was very important along the Tokaido. Guidebooks, first printed in the 1600s, carefully explained the regional specialties, sometimes giving recipes. Travelers often planned their stops in order to sample special delicacies along the way. Mariko was known for a special potato soup, cheap and filling. This inn is still at Mariko, still serving "tororojiro." While we enjoyed the tororojiro while visiting in 2002, the pickled wasabi leaves served with it were the highlight of our meal. Notice the waitress with the baby strapped to her back. Everyone in the family worked at a restaurant like this, open many hours of the day, every day. The famous haiku poet, Basho, was so impressed with his tororojiro that he wrote a poem about it.

Image Copyright: Minneapolis Institute of Art