Kokura Interaction Hall
Opened in 2003 for the purpose of promoting regional agriculture. Along with the exhibition of everyday articles of the region that are handed down through generations, locally grown farm products and processed goods produced in the adjoining Oe Agricultural and Livestock Product Processing Facility are on sale. On the second and fourth Sundays of April to June and September to November, women of the local Hongo-nishi district get together and cook traditional dishes of the Juhassai district, using seasonal produce. Limited to 20 servings per day. Highly recommended.
▲Kokura Interaction Hall Exterior
Facility Summary
Location:〒990-1144 18-7 Oaza Juhassaiko, Oe-machi, Nishimurayama-gun, Yamagata
Tel:0237-62-3495
Closed:December 29th to January 4th
Open hours:9 AM to 5 PM
Description of the Site
(1) Direct Sales Section
Fresh farm products, beans, and rice harvested in the local Hongo district, along with pickled vegetables and other agricultural processed goods produced in the adjoining Oe Agricultural and Livestock Product Processing Facility overcrowd the shelves and are available for purchase.
▲Fresh farm products and processed products are on sale
(2) Local Collection Exhibition Room
Located in the back of the Direct Sales section, the room exhibits a collection of precious farming tools and everyday articles that had been used a long time ago in the local Hongo-nishi district. Enjoy a quick history lesson escape from shopping.
(3) Study Room
Can be used for various purposes including meetings, band practice, cooking classes, etc. For detailed fee information, see below.
| Room 1 | Room 2 | Both rooms | |
| AM | 420 yen | 420 yen | 500 yen |
| PM | 520 yen | 520 yen | 620 yen |
| nighttime | 630 yen | 630 yen | 750 yen |
| All Day | 1,570 yen | 1,570 yen | 1,570 yen |
(4) Oe Agricultural and Livestock Product Processing Facility
Located next to Kokura Interaction Hall, the facility sells processed food products made from local farm products, with the motto of “safe and reliable taste of home-cooking prepared by the locals.” Products are also sold at Kokura Interaction Hall.
▲Omizuke is the soul food of Yamagata Prefecture locals.
Souvenirs
Commodities Sold
| Farm products | Locally grown vegetables, fruits, wild plants, mushrooms. etc. |
| Processed farm products | Fruit juice, pickled vegetables, confectionaries, etc. |
| Others | Folk craft, wild grasses and flowers |
Oe Agricultural and Livestock Product Processing Facility’s Calendar of Handmade Products
| FebruarySpring Combo | Frozen mochi, grilled rice cake for Dolls Festival, Frozen Daikon Radish, wine-pickled dried persimmons, Ochame-san, pickled vegetables, crushed beans |
| May to June | Fragrant bamboo leaf-wrapped rice cakes, Flavored bamboo leaf-wrapped dumplings, accompanied by a secret recipe roasted green soybean flour |
| July Early Summer Combo | Cherry jam, kiri-ume, crunchy pickled plum, tana rice, furikake rice seasoning, mameto (sugar-coated peanuts) shiso flavor, fuki-no-tsukudani (fuki plant boiled down in soy sauce), etc. |
| October Flavors of Autumn Combo | Log-cultivated nameko mushroom, salt-pickled dried plum, apple jam, Tekka-miso dip, mameto roasted beans with powdered bean etc. |
| December to January | Pickled greens, assorted omizuke, and other pickled vegetables that are characteristic of Yamatgata |