Stories of Kyushu, Japan

Kyushu’s People and Way of Life, Shared with the World

Vol. 3 | What the Springs Feed

Following Water through the Food and Daily Life of Shimabara

On the eastern edge of Nagasaki's Shimabara Peninsula, a small castle town sits at the foot of an active volcano. Two centuries ago, part of the mountain collapsed and destroyed the town in a single night — and in doing so, opened the underground springs that Shimabara has lived on ever since.

The volcano is not a relic. It erupted again in the 1990s, and for five years, pyroclastic flows and debris reached the town below, causing extensive damage. The eruption also gave rise to a new mountain known as Heisei-shinzan. Residents rebuilt beside the same springs. 

The water surfaces everywhere: in gardens, beneath floorboards, along residential streets. In the quarter known as the Town Where Carp Swim, clear channels run past front doors, and koi drift through them to the delight of visitors. The springs that flow through the old castle town have been woven into daily life here for centuries, and residents still gather at water points across the town to fill their bottles each day. 

From the Springs to the Table

A food culture has grown around these springs. Kanzarashi, the town's signature sweet, is a small rice dumpling served floating in chilled spring water.

It was born from thrift: farmers who could not meet their rice tax used the broken grains left over to make something worth offering a guest. Around thirty shops in town serve it today, each with its own syrup. The local sake is brewed from the same springs. Beyond the town, volcanic soil and spring water together support large-scale vegetable farming, making the peninsula one of Japan's major growing regions.

A Private Dinner Above the Water

Shimeiso, a historic villa built directly over a spring, opens in the evening for private dinners in its garden — served with sake brewed from the very water running beneath the room.

“YokaYoka” — Living with What the Mountain Gives

Why live at the foot of a volcano? Locals answer with one word: YokaYoka — "it's fine, let it be." Two hundred years of taking what the mountain gives, and letting go of what it takes. In Shimabara, sustainability is not a policy. It is a habit.