Photo/Illutration The sales section managed by Rito Hyakkaten at Haneda Airport in Tokyo’s Ota Ward (Provided by Rito Hyakkaten)

YAKUSHIMA, Kagoshima Prefecture--Travelers unable to visit remote islands of Japan can now purchase tasty treats from those faraway places at a souvenir shop in Tokyo’s Haneda Airport.

The outlet in the ANA Festa B1 Gift Shop at Terminal 2 was set up in late August with the assistance of a group company of All Nippon Airways Co. to promote local delicacies and bolster the economies of far-flung areas.

The sales section is managed by Rito Hyakkaten, an organization headquartered in the capital to create a network of people, information and distribution for isolated islands. It was founded in 2019.

Thirty-five food items produced on islands in 12 municipalities across Japan are on offer. They include marinated yellowtail amberjack from Ojikajima island in Nagasaki Prefecture and a traditional bread-like treat called Kunpen from Ishigakijima island in Okinawa Prefecture.

From Kagoshima Prefecture, smoked Japanese Spanish mackerel from the Tokara island chain is on offer, as well as rice crackers flavored with flying fish and mackerel flakes from Yakushima island and other products.

The village of Toshima, part of the Tokara island chain, is promoting Shima-Banana Curry sauce mix cooked with locally grown bananas with a high sugar content and lilikoi butter made with passion fruit.

“It is helpful because Tokara is located several hundred kilometers from the mainland and it is troublesome just to go to (the prefectural capital of) Kagoshima,” said Shigenari Hidaka, 86, head director of Tokara Interface, a nonprofit organization based in Toshima.

He said he has high hopes of Rito Hyakkaten establishing a foothold to deliver products from remote islands to metropolitan areas.

(Tsuyoshi Takeda is a former Asahi Shimbun senior staff writer.)

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