Kansai in Winter

Koyasan Danjo Garan (高野山 壇上伽藍) in winter sees heavy snowfall settle across the highland temple precinct on the mountain plateau in northern Wakayama and the central training complex of Japanese Shingon Buddhism that was founded by the monk Kukai in 816, with the snow covering the wooden temple halls and the surrounding cedar forest and the visitor numbers reduced to a small fraction of the spring and autumn peak seasons. The Konpon Daito (根本大塔), the two tiered vermilion tahoto pagoda at the centre of the precinct that houses a statue of Dainichi Nyorai and a three dimensional mandala, is the most distinctive winter image at Koyasan with the deep red of the pagoda against the white of the surrounding snow. The Kondo (金堂) main hall housing the Yakushi Nyorai healing Buddha sits beside the pagoda, with both buildings open daily from 8:30 to 17:00 for ¥500 admission each. Koyasan was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004 as part of the Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range. An overnight stay at one of the 51 shukubo temple lodgings from around ¥10,000 to ¥20,000 per person with two meals gives access to the early morning Buddhist service and the night time lantern walk through the snow covered Okunoin cemetery to the mausoleum of Kobo Daishi. From Osaka the Nankai Koya Line from Namba Station to Gokurakubashi Station and the Koyasan Cable Car total around 2 hours.

長谷寺 (Hasedera) is the head temple of the Buzan school of Shingon Buddhism, set on a wooded hillside at Hatsuse in Sakurai, and is known as the temple of flowers for the peonies that fill its grounds in spring, around 7,000 plants of about 150 varieties at the late April festival. In the coldest weeks of winter a few peonies are coaxed into flower out of season, each protected by a small conical hood of straw that keeps off the frost and snow, so the bright pink and red blooms stand out against the bare stone walls and winter grass of the temple garden. The long covered stairway of the Noborirou leads up to the main hall and its wooden stage looking out over the valley, quiet in winter compared with the spring crowds. The temple is open 9:00 to 16:30 from December to February, and entry is ¥500 for adults and junior and senior high school students and ¥250 for elementary school children. It is about a 15 minute walk from Hasedera Station on the Kintetsu Osaka Line.

Kansai oden differs slightly from its Kanto counterpart, with a lighter, clearer broth that reflects the region’s preference for subtle flavours. Ingredients like daikon, tofu, and fish cakes are simmered slowly, creating a dish that is warming without being heavy.

A winter speciality made using sake lees, this soup is rich, slightly creamy, and deeply warming. It often includes vegetables, tofu, and sometimes fish, and is particularly associated with Kyoto and Osaka during the colder months.

Botan nabe is the winter dish of Tanba-Sasayama in inland Hyogo, a pot of wild boar and vegetables simmered in miso broth. The name comes from the way the sliced meat is arranged, fanned out in overlapping petals like a botan, or peony. The town's tourism association traces the name to the early Showa period and the plating style to the post war years, when local inns worked out the presentation the dish is now known for, and the dish was recognised in 2022 under the national 100-Year Food scheme. The season follows the hunting calendar, which opens on 15 November, so the pot is on inn and restaurant menus through the coldest months. The broth is traditionally made with red bean miso, though many places now blend in white rice miso.

Uramura oysters are grown in Ono Bay off Uramura on the eastern side of the Shima Peninsula in Toba, where the ria coastline gives calm, nutrient rich water. Toba's tourism association says the harvest starts around October and that the oysters put on size from the new year through to about February, with the winter oyster season running roughly from November to the end of March. The stretch of the Pearl Road between Toba and Shima has enough grill huts along it to be known locally as the Oyster Road, and most of them work on an all you can eat basis with a time limit of 60 to 90 minutes at a fixed price, usually somewhere between ¥2,800 and ¥4,000 for an adult. You either grill your own over the coals or have the staff do it for you.

Asuka nabe simmers chicken and vegetables in a broth of milk and dashi, giving a mild, faintly sweet pot that is an unusual thing to find in the Kansai repertoire. Nara City's tourism association traces it to the Asuka period, when milk first came into use in Japanese cooking and chicken was cooked in it, which is where the name comes from. The chicken and vegetables give the broth plenty of body, and the standard finish is to drop udon into what is left in the pot at the end. It turns up on menus around Nara Park and the old streets of the city through the cold months, and it is an easy order for anyone finding the region's other winter pots heavy going.

JA Wakayama puts the prefecture first in Japan for mikan production, and the main growing district is Arida on the coast south of Wakayama City, where the groves run in terraces up the hillsides above the sea. The shipping season runs from early October to late February, working through the extra early, early, mid and late Unshu cultivars as the winter goes on, so the fruit on sale in January is not the fruit that was on sale in October. Arida City runs its own place of origin certification for fruit grown inside the city, with sampled batches required to average at least 12 degrees Brix and acidity of 1.0 per cent or below. Boxes appear in every supermarket and roadside stand in the region through the winter, and a kotatsu with a bowl of mikan on it is about as domestic a Japanese winter image as there is.

Nada Gogo, the five brewing districts of Nishi go, Mikage go, Uozaki go, Nishinomiya go and Imazu go, runs along the coast between Kobe and Nishinomiya. The brewers' association describes Hyogo as the leading prefecture in Japan for sake production and Nada as the largest producing area within it. Sake is made in the cold months, so winter is when the tanks are working and the first pressings of the season reach the shops, and the association's event listings include a Nada Gogo brewery open day in late January. Brewery museums along the route, among them the Hakushika Sake Museum in Nishinomiya, stay open through the winter and sit within a short walk of the Hanshin line, which makes an easy half day out of a cold Kobe afternoon.