Shizuoka · Aoi, TokiwachoNo.1055★★★Open in map →

Shizuoka Oden

foodThe classic — done right

Beef tendon and dark soy sauce make a broth you cannot see through, every piece rides a bamboo skewer, and you pay by the stick. Two lanes of small counters in central Shizuoka are where the dish is at home.

FromShizuoka Station (JR Tokaido Main Line)
~15 minWalk from Shizuoka Station
Shizuoka Oden

Directions ↗

Where it is

16 more notes in Shizuoka · open the map →

What to look for — in walking order

Aoba YokochoAkahito Yamabe / CC BY-SA 4.0

Showa-dorithe avenue you follow west from the station, with the lanes set just off it in Tokiwacho
Aoba Oden-gaia low block of small counters under a continuous run of red lanterns, closest to the old cart trade
Aoba Yokochothe narrower lane, squeezed between office buildings, with older shopfronts along it
Aoba Symbol Roadthe green promenade running north past the lanes, laid along the avenue the carts once filled

How to actually get there

Arrive at Shizuoka Station (JR Tokaido Main Line or Tokaido Shinkansen).
Leave by the north side and follow Showa-dori west into Tokiwacho, around fifteen minutes on foot.
Look into both lanes before choosing a counter — they run to different hours and rest days.
Order by the skewer, and add ground fish and green laver yourself before eating.

On foot from Shizuoka Station: Leave by the north side of Shizuoka Station and follow Showa-dori west-north-west into Tokiwacho. Official guides put the walk at somewhere between ten and fifteen minutes. It is flat pavement through the shopping streets the whole way, with no change of transport needed.
Return to Shizuoka Station: Retrace Showa-dori east to the station, again about a quarter of an hour on foot. Shizuoka is on the Tokaido Main Line and the Tokaido Shinkansen, so late services run in both directions, but the counters here are small and evening-based — check the last train you need before you sit down rather than after.

Directions from my location (Google Maps) ↗

About the place

The pot is the thing. Beef tendon and dark soy sauce give the broth a colour you cannot see the bottom of, and most counters keep topping the same pot up rather than starting it again, the way an eel shop keeps its sauce going. The dark fishcake helps: kuro-hanpen is made around Yaizu from oily fish ground down whole, skin and bone included, which is why it comes out grey-black instead of white. Every piece is threaded onto a bamboo skewer before it goes in, so nothing is portioned by the bowl. You take what you want, and the used skewers left on the counter are the bill. Ground fish and green laver go on last.

How to enjoy it

Come in the evening: this is a lantern-and-stool district rather than a lunch one, and most counters open into the night. Order two or three skewers to start rather than a set — kuro-hanpen first, since it is the one thing you will not find in oden anywhere else — then keep adding while you decide. The ground fish and green laver are yours to shake on, so try one skewer without and one with, and you will see why local people insist on it.

Background & history

The dish is traced to the Taisho era, when beef tendon and pork offal were cheap because nobody else wanted them. After the war the same cuts turned oden into everyday food here, and it was street food first: carts stood along the avenue in the middle of the city until redevelopment cleared them, and the sellers who carried on moved into the lanes off Showa-dori that are still working. The habit outlasted the carts. Sweet shops, delicatessens and bakeries across Shizuoka still keep a pot going, which is why local people count 'sold at the sweet shop' as part of the definition.

Before you go

Cash: The lanes cost nothing to walk. Oden is priced per skewer, so the bill grows one stick at a time and is settled by counting what you leave on the counter. These are small independent counters rather than chains, so bring cash and do not assume cards.
Good to know: Each counter keeps its own hours and its own rest days, and most of them work the evening rather than lunchtime, so an afternoon visit can find shutters down. The lanes are narrow and roofed in places; the seats are stools at a counter, so a large group will not sit together.
Another way: If you are driving, the city guide routes you off the Tomei expressway along National Route 1 and in via Showa-dori. Coming from the New Tomei, the route runs through Abe Kaido and Miyuki-dori to Showa-dori. Central Shizuoka parking is paid and separate from the lanes, which have none of their own.
After you get off: From Shizuoka Station the walk is a straight line west along Showa-dori. Tokiwacho begins where the office blocks give way to a green promenade; the two lanes of red lanterns are set just off the avenue, a few steps apart from each other.