Nozawana: the result of a botched turnip
The origin of Nozawa Onsen dates back to Emperor Shomu's era (724 - 748) when Gyoki, a monk of the Buddhist sect Hosso, discovered the natural hot spring. Later during the Kanei period (1624 - 1643), it is said that Matsudaira who was then the feudal lord of the Iiyama clan (which ruled the area) consolidated the scattered inns and bath houses into a spa village. Nozawa has another specialty: nozawana (pickled
turnip leaves). On almost every dinner table in the village is a dish of nozawana pickles. The specialty's turnip plantation began in 1756 when the chief priest of Kenmeiji Temple brought back turnip seeds as a souvenir from his trip to Kyoto. The seeds were planted in the temple premises, but Nozawa's climate and earth was not suitable for the growth of the turnip. Instead the root and the leaves grew immensely
and thus resulted in the birth of nozawana. The crunchy pickles maintain the fresh green color when the greens are boiled in steaming hot bath of the natural spring and are pickled under the freezing Nozawa air. The villagers' wisdom which incorporated the area's natural environment is still passed on today.
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