Fumi Ichihara
(Tsurugi Town)

Radishes are dried and processed as preserved food during the cold winter season in the mountainous areas of Nishi-Awa.

Mrs. Fumi Ichihara, who lives in Nagase, Tsurugi, peels radishes grown on a slope and hangs them under the eaves to dry for approximately one month every December.

They are exposed to cool breezes that keep them out of the rain under the eaves to dry and increase their sweetness.

She uses a knife to thinly chop the dried radish to approximately one-tenth of the original thickness.

The radish was cut into round slices approximately 2 mm in diameter and dried again to complete the drying process.

She said the radish's sweetness and crunchy texture are addictive when she eats vinegar dipped "Hariharizuke" or marinated in soy sauce and sweet cooking rice wine.

Her dried twisted radishes are sold every February at the Sadamitsu Yuyu-kan roadside station in Tsurugi.