Choujiya

Chojiya is a tororo-jiru (grated yam soup) restaurant founded in Keicho 1 (1596) and has continued for over 400 years since the Edo period. Mariko, Suruga Ward in Shizuoka City—where Chojiya is located—was once the smallest post town on the Tokaido, counted as the 20th station of the Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido. Tororo-jiru, which appears in Basho’s haiku and also in Jippensha Ikku’s travel satire Tokaidochu Hizakurige, has been known as a Tokaido specialty since the Edo period. Cherishing this history, Chojiya serves carefully prepared tororo-jiru using primarily local ingredients such as natural yam (jinenjo). If you dig into the hearty, nutritious tororo-jiru with gusto, it feels like energy will surge through your whole body. The restaurant is housed in an atmospheric thatched-roof building that was also depicted in Utagawa Hiroshige’s ukiyo-e prints. Inside, a historical materials room displays Edo-period travel tools as well as works by Jippensha Ikku and Utagawa Hiroshige, allowing you to dine while imagining the travelers of old. Access: about 15 minutes by car from JR “Shizuoka” Station or from Tomei Expressway Shizuoka IC. A large parking lot is available, accommodating about 80 standard cars.