Shinshu Soba

Buckwheat grows where rice will not - poor soil, cold, short seasons, steep ground - which is why Nagano, the old province of Shinano, became a buckwheat region and why soba is its food rather than a delicacy. The distinctions worth knowing are the ratio and the season. Nihachi is eight parts buckwheat to two parts wheat flour as a binder; juwari is pure buckwheat, harder to make because there is nothing holding it together, shorter in the strand and stronger in flavour. Shin-soba is the new crop, milled and eaten from late autumn, when the aroma is at its strongest and shops advertise it. It is normally served cold on a slatted tray with a dipping sauce, and at the end the cooking water is brought in a lacquer pot to be poured into the leftover sauce and drunk. Togakushi serves it in coiled bundles on a woven basket.

What you actually see

• Nihachi and juwari - eight-to-two with wheat, or pure buckwheat with no binder.
• Shin-soba - the new crop from late autumn, when the aroma is strongest.
• Sobayu - the cooking water poured into the leftover dipping sauce and drunk.
• Togakushi's baskets - coiled bundles served on woven trays.

When to go

Late autumn for the new crop. An hour. Good shops close when the day's dough runs out.

Honest expectations

Shops often close in the early afternoon when the dough is gone. Juwari is drier and shorter and disappoints people expecting a springy noodle. Buckwheat is a serious allergen. Tourist-area soba varies widely in quality.

Nearby

Togakushi is north of Nagano city; the Kiso valley is south.