What is Kashido?
From every corner of Japan to you.
Each month, the Kashido team travels the country to create prefecture-themed okashi (snacks) and culture selections and an accompanying online journey article that take you off the beaten path to explore authentic local flavors and stories.
Our Story
It all started in a single van travelling across Japan.
One Summer morning we left the city and journeyed the small roads that interlace valleys, towns, ports, and shopping streets. It was here, off the beaten path that we found Japan alive with untold richness.
We met locals who passionately introduced us to the okashi they grew up eating. Local business owners who avidly collect the antique crafts that call their region home. And craftspeople enjoying a festival, admiring their handiwork after creating hundreds of intricate decorations.
It was this culture and the desire to help preserve it that inspired us to create Kashido.
Kashido is not just an selection of okashi, but a way to cross cultural barriers and experience the Japan that lies beyond the surface.
We hope that you can glimpse into the traditions and culture the people of Japan hold dear, and maybe find a new way to cherish the richness that is found in your community as well.
Our Mission
Japan’s local cultures are shaped by the people who live there, and sustaining them means sustaining the traditions they have cultivated through the years. As younger generations leave for the city, the countryside is left with aging communities and fewer successors to carry traditions forward.
Through thoughtful curation and storytelling, we hope to bring new attention and energy to these regions, ensuring they can be cherished by the world far into the future.
How are Kashido Selections Curated?
There isn’t a set way of deciding which prefecture the Kashido Team will visit next.
The changing of the seasons, a beautiful spot to see, or even a personal connection might spark the next journey.
But how does one uncover the yet-unknown richness of the countryside?
The team begins with a list of places of interest then follows the winding roads that connect them, letting the path itself and the tips from the locals along the way reveal hidden gems.
The journey, however, is only the beginning.
After returning home to Tokyo, the team collects the okashi (snacks), traditional crafts, as well as the photos and videos carefully documented during the trip to begin the curation process.
It all culminates into the final snack assortment and journey article, an authentic way to experience a prefecture’s culture through the lens of okashi (snacks) and the personal stories of the people who call it home.
Messages from the Locals
Suo-Oshima, Yamaguchi Prefecture
Masaaki Murakami, Ryujin no Sato CEO
The Journey Articles
The record of the Kashido Team’s journey to every prefecture is laid out in these articles.
Read about the people, places, and okashi that call Japan home.
