Baigai whelk served at an oden bar in Kanazawa · Photo: Sterry2607 / CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
JapanKanazawaKanazawa Oden: The City Where Oden Bars Are Busy Even in Summer, and What to Order
In Kanazawa, oden is not a winter street snack but something you eat all year at a counter with local sake. Here is how the city's oden bar culture began, what defines "Kanazawa oden," which items to try and the winter-only kanimen, with ordering tips for first-timers.
A City That Eats Oden All Year
Kanazawa is said to have more oden restaurants per capita than any other city in Japan. The claim drew wide attention after a popular TV information show introduced it in 2010, and one striking feature is how many specialist oden bars stay open all year rather than just in winter. Several have been in business for more than 50 years. Oden bars are said to have taken off in Kanazawa from the late Taisho era to the early Showa era. People heading home from evenings at the teahouses, office workers after work and late-night laborers all dropped in, and for a time it was common for shops to stay open until dawn. Even today they are loved as neighborhood gathering places where people talk over affordable plates of oden.
What Counts as "Kanazawa Oden"?
The term "Kanazawa oden" spread around 2015, when the Hokuriku Shinkansen reached Kanazawa. A group of the city's oden bars with more than 50 years in business defines Kanazawa oden by two points: it uses local ingredients that feel distinctly Kanazawa, and it can be eaten all year round. It is often described as having a sweet, gentle golden broth, but in reality it varies quite a bit from shop to shop. Some make a clear golden broth without soy sauce, some a light Kansai-style broth, others a Kanto-style soy-flavored one, and some use local soy sauce. That is why many locals say there is no fixed formula for Kanazawa oden. What they share is that many of the ingredients come from Kanazawa and Ishikawa.
Items You Should Try
If it is your first time, start with kurumabu (車麩), a large wheel-shaped piece of wheat gluten. Many owners cut it by hand, and the broth soaks deep into the cut surface. Baigai (バイ貝), a whelk resembling a turban shell, is a signature item of Kanazawa oden available all year; you twist the meat out with a toothpick. From autumn into early winter, Gensuke daikon, one of the heirloom Kaga vegetables, is in season and said to be at its best from late October to early December. Handmade tsumire fish balls are also popular. Akamaki (赤巻), fish cake with a red spiral in its cross-section, and fukashi (ふかし), steamed fish paste, look distinctively Kanazawa and often appear in photos, though some say locals do not actually order them that often.
Kanimen: A Winter-Only Treat
The most coveted item in Kanazawa oden is winter-only kanimen (カニ面). The shell of a kobako crab, the female snow crab, is packed with its roe (both the inner roe and the outer eggs), crab innards and leg meat, then simmered in the oden broth. It feels like eating a whole crab with a spoon. Kobako crab can only be caught for a very short period, so most places serve kanimen only from around the opening of the crab season in November until around the end of the year. Timing and whether you need to reserve vary by shop. Because it takes so much work, it is pricey for oden; a 2024 article put the going rate at 3,000 yen and up. It is so popular that some shops limit it to one per person, or even one per customer per season, so if you really want it, check in advance.
How to Order and Where to Go
Many Kanazawa oden bars are small, counter-centered places. You sit in front of the pot and name two or three items at a time, and they are served onto your plate, so it is better to keep adding a little at a time than to order a lot at once. Most stock sake from Ishikawa, and some offer "dashiwari," sake mixed with warm oden broth, rice with plenty of broth poured over, or ginger miso for dipping, so each shop has its own character. Oden bars are concentrated around Kanazawa Station, the Omicho Market area and the Katamachi and Korinbo nightlife districts. Some close early once they run out of ingredients, and seats fill quickly in the evening, so going early is the safe bet. If you are in a large group, check in advance whether they take reservations.