Obama, Fukui Pref. ¨C For all of Kyoto¡¯s stately grandeur, it owes much to the quaint coastal town of Obama to the north.
This small city on the Sea of Japan is indelibly tied to Kyoto by the famed Saba Kaido (literally, ¡°Mackerel Road¡±), the feudal-period route along which merchants would travel the roughly 60 kilometers as the crow flies to the old capital, carrying mackerel caught from the waters of Wakasa Bay and packed in brine for preservation. A former staple of the imperial family, the fish eventually became a popular addition to the usual vegetarian fare of the landlocked city.
Like the Silk Road, the Saba Kaido was never a single path. The name refers to any of the five roads that extended through the mountains separating modern-day northern Kyoto and Fukui prefectures. But the most reliable of these routes was the Wakasa Kaido: Men and horses could depart Obama and reach Kyoto the following morning, seasoning the fish in their briny containers along the way to ensure the freshness of their catch.
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