Plus, another traditional festival involves giving a very icy bath to recently wedded grooms.
Niigata
The only thing better than a nationwide ice cream tour is doing it without leaving the city.
This charming town on the Sea of Japan coast is a great place to dive into a local culinary culture without massive tourist crowds.
This year, the preliminaries are part of a larger edamame festival showcasing a popular style of serving soybeans from Niigata Prefecture.
Mayor of second-place city expresses regret at not capturing the title of Japan’s biggest ramen-spenders.
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