By KENGO YAMADA/ Staff Writer
January 1, 2025 at 07:00 JST
A bathtub prepared with the “Sanuki Udon no Kaori Yu” bath additive of the “kake udon” style variant (Provided by the Genpei no Sato Mure roadside rest area)
TAKAMATSU—Kagawa Prefecture is so proud of its specialty “udon” noodles that it believes people will enjoy bathing in the broth.
Prefectural workers have released a bath additive called “Sanuki Udon no Kaori Yu,” which roughly translates as “bath with the fragrance of Sanuki udon.”
Sanuki is the name of a former province that is today’s Kagawa Prefecture.
The bath additive faithfully reproduces the smell and color of udon broth that is prepared by using dried bonito and “konbu” kelp. Bathers can feel as if they are udon noodles themselves.
The product was put on sale in limited quantity on Dec. 6 at “Genpei no Sato Mure” (Mure: the Genpei battlefield country), a government-designated roadside rest area in the prefectural capital of Takamatsu on the Shikoku main island.
Udon is eaten in Kagawa Prefecture in a variety of ways, including: “kake udon,” served in a hot broth; “bukkake udon,” with a smaller volume of a thicker broth poured over the noodles; and “zaru udon,” served on a latticed tray.
The different udon varieties feature different flavor strengths and fragrances in their broths.
The bath additive is available in “kake udon” style and “bukkake udon” style.
The product was developed by workers at the roadside rest area facility, who wished to have Sanuki udon enjoyed in an unconventional manner.
Roadside rest area officials said they paid closer attention to the fragrances than to the effects of the bath salts in their trial-and-error endeavor.
They prepared 800 pouches of the additive for individual and set sales.
They said that, depending on sales, they may consider releasing more product variants, such as a “zaru udon” style and a “kama-tama udon” (straight from the pot and served with raw egg) style.
“Our product makes the bath water smell so tasty that you may get the urge to drink it, but you shouldn’t,” an official with the roadside rest area facility said. “We will sell our product with caution.”
The Kaori Yu bath additive is priced at 260 yen ($1.74), including tax, for an individual pouch.
The chain of numerals 2-6 can be read as “furo,” which means “bath.”
A two-pouch set is available for 426 yen, including tax. The numeral chain 4-2-6 is meant to stand for “yoi furo,” or a “good bath.”
A six-pouch set costs 1,126 yen, including tax, where 1-1-2-6 is intended to be read as “ii furo,” which again means a “good bath.”
Call the Genpei no Sato Mure roadside rest area (087-845-6080) for inquiries.
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