Awabiya Co. President Masashi Ichikawa introduces the vending machine selling "war snacks" in Odawara, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Dec. 16, 2021. (Mainichi/Yuki Motohashi)

       HIRATSUKA, Kanagawa -- A vending machine selling culinary delicacies with conflict-themed names almost as impactful as the flavors within is proving popular at an east Japan fishing port.

       The vending machine is located at Odawara Fishing Port in the Kanagawa Prefecture city of Odawara. All 14 delicacies it sells have strong textures and flavors, under a "battle in the mouth" concept. The "Odawara war snacks" series uses local ingredients including Japanese anchovies and Soga plums, and each product has a quirky name. They can be bought around the clock with no store-clerk contact and kept at room temperature.

       The "Gyosho Odawara Rokuzaemon" brand Odawara war snacks were launched by Awabiya Co., whose name means abalone shop. The firm deals in fresh and processed seafood products, and sells the idiosyncratic new range at its store opened at the Minaka Odawara shopping center connected to Odawara Station in December 2020.

       The business, founded by first-generation owner Ichikawa Rokuzaemon back in 1587, started out carrying soy-sauce pickled abalones on horseback to the Takeda feudal lord clan in then Kai province, now central Japan's Yamanashi Prefecture.

       For one of the delicacies, translating to "Japanese anchovy and Soga plum at war," anchovies caught in fixed fishing nets in Sagami Bay are put in a pressure cooker until their bones are soft and soaked in sauce, then dried. The snack has a unique soft texture.

       Eggs pickled in miso fermented soybean paste made at the city's only miso factory are called "Nietagiru Hakoneji miso no ran," which translates to "miso eggs in the boiling hot Hakone route" -- a pun on the syllable "ran," which can mean "war" and "egg."

       Dried "mentaiko" spicy cod roe "Musha musha mentai" puns on the word "musha," which is the term for "warrior" and also an onomatopoeic word for "munch." Seven delicacies including these three are reportedly original Awabiya products.

       Name suggestions were sought within the company, and contributions from an employee in his 20s adopted. The snacks are priced between 410 yen (about $3.60) and 850 yen (some $7.40).

       The vending machine was set up in October 2021. Although the only one, it sells some 200 items per month, with "Musha musha mentai" the most popular. President Masashi Ichikawa commented, "We want to install another around Odawara Castle in future, too."

       (Japanese original by Yuki Motohashi, Hiratsuka Local Bureau)

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