Having fun in Nankoku City with the Ryoma Passport!

Kochi City CIR Marisa

   The cold weather has all but disappeared, and spring, the season where Japan’s beautiful cherry blossoms start to bloom, has begun. As it gets warmer it becomes a waste to spend your days curled up at home, so why not head out and use your Ryoma Passport! You can use it as if you were playing a gamecollecting stamps, and moving up levels.

 

We used our Ryoma Passports to try Shamo chicken in Nankoku!

Shamo nanban ricebowl

   Gomen Machi in Nankoku City is famous for its shamo cuisine, and the chickens raised there are called “Gomen Kenka Shamo”. It is said to have been a favorite dish of Sakamoto Ryoma. Furthermore, these “Gomen Kenka Shamo” are rare in Japan due to being purebred, the same as when they were once eaten by Sakamoto Ryoma. Shamo is known for its firm meat and chewy texture.

 

   In Nankoku City, approximately 20 restaurants located around the JR Gomen Station area provide shamo cuisine, and of these, 15 accept the Ryoma Passport. When we investigated, the standard shamo dish was “nabe” (hotpot), however we found you could eat a whole range of shamo-based foods in the area, including “shamo teppan-yaki” (shamo cooked on a hotplate), “shamo koumi-age” (shamo that is deep-fried after being seasoned with herbs or spices) and shamo pizza. We were surprised that there was such a mix of shamo dishes available!

 

The stamp we received from the
restaurant, Furari

  The place we decided to visit was the restaurant at the “Michi-no-Eki” (roadside station) called “Nankoku Furari”. The two dishes available that used shamo, were “shamo nanban rice bowl” (deepfried shamo with tartar sauce on rice) and “shamo sukiyaki” (hot pot with egg dip). We decided to order the shamo nanban rice bowl (you have to prerequest the shamo sukiyaki). The combination of the shamo, which is pickled in a special sauce, and the tartar sauce was delicious, and the succulent yet tough shamo meat was very satisfying. When I paid, I showed my bronze-level Ryoma Passport and got a 100 JPY discount!

 

You can use the Ryoma Passport at the Michi-no-Eki too!

   After eating we went to the first floor of the Michi-no-Eki. Lots of Kochi souvenirs were on display, ranging from sweets to foods to eat with rice, and sake. Plus, if you spend over 500 JPY, you receive another stamp on your Ryoma Passport. We purchased Kochi-grown tea leaves and got a stamp! We were happy that you could get two different stamps at the same place. The seasonal gelato and “softcream” (ice cream) were also tasty, but unfortunately you don’t get a stamp for buying them.

   In this way, you can enjoy delicious food while collecting stamps, and getting special discounts as you use the Ryoma Passport is fun. Furthermore, you can use the Ryoma Passport to enter various tourist attractions and for some activities, so it’s an opportunity to learn about and experience more of Kochi!

Seasonal gelato