Imotaki

Imotaki is documented as having begun in Ozu (Ozu City) in southern central Ehime, where the custom is traced back more than 350 years to the era of the Kato clan, the local domain lords. It is said to have grown out of a communal devotional gathering called okomori, to which people brought taro from their own neighborhoods to cook together in a shared pot. In 1966 Ozu turned the riverside gathering into an official tourism event, held on the gravel bed of the Hijikawa beneath the lit Garyu Sanso villa; at its peak it drew well over 70,000 visitors in a season. The custom spread across Ehime, with large gatherings also held in cities such as Niihama, and is now counted among the prefecture's defining mid-autumn scenes.

The taro is the prize: soft and creamy at the center with a faint chestnut sweetness, its surface left just slightly slippery so it slides off the chopsticks. The broth is clear amber and gently sweet-savory, fragrant with dried shiitake and the chicken's fat, soaking into every piece. Konnyaku adds a cool, springy chew and the aburaage drinks up the stock. Eaten outdoors in the autumn night air, it is warming, homely and unhurried.

Taro's character comes from its starch and its slippery coat. The slime is built largely of galactan and mucilage, which thickens when heated; a light pre-salting or rinse removes enough of it to let the broth soak in, while leaving a little keeps the taro's signature slick, melting texture. The starchy flesh gelatinizes as it stews, turning creamy without falling apart if the pot is held at a bare simmer rather than a hard boil. The broth itself is an umami stack: kombu and bonito dashi for glutamate and inosinate, plus dried shiitake (which carry guanylate) and chicken bones, so the savory compounds multiply against one another and steep slowly into the porous taro and aburaage.