Souvenirs In Oita. The Best 10 Gifts That Everyone Likes!

Oita in the Kyushu region, where there’re a lot of hot springs including Beppu Onsen and Yufuin, has been recording so many visitors every year. Now, when it comes to travelling, you might think of getting some souvenirs too. For your family, friends, collegues, or even for your bosses at work. You might be in need of buying gifts for them! Today, I will introduce a few goods for souvenirs that you can get in Oita.

Pudding Dora

“Pudding Dora” is a dessert people in Oita should know of. Because it’s been exposed to the media, Pudding Dora is getting more popular nation wide now. As it’s name, Pudding Dora is a dynamic dessert with a pudding put in Dorayaki. Even though pudding and Dorayaki are both sweets, Pudding Dora is not too sweet and easy to eat it up! No matter how old you are, you will be addicted to this dessert.

It might be a bit hard to take this away as it needs to be kept refrigerated, but it’s actually so nice. There are a wide variety of Pudding Dora and it is believed that “Kikuya” in Yufuin started making this dessert at first.

Yuzu Koshou

“Yuzu Koshou” is an almighty seasoning that families in Oita love to have! Although it says “Koshou”, meaning pepper, it doesn’t contain pepper, but Yuzu (citron) and red pepper are included. There are 2 types; red and blue – the red one contains red pepper and yellow Yuzu, and that makes “very spicy” taste. Then the blue one contains green chili and blue Yuzu, and that makes “light spicy” flavour.

Both of them are spicy anyway, but it goes quite well with anything like hot pot, tofu, and oden. However, miso soup is actually the best partner of Yuzu Koshou! If you put a bit of Yuzu Koshou into miso soup, it makes an acquired taste.

So many shops now sell this Yuzu Koshou in a different style, packages do vary. Yuzu Koshou listed here is the one from “Sugawara Farm Fuki Koubou”. This is a home-made Yuzu Koshou blended with home grown Yuzu and red pepper.

Mysterious Toriten Senbei

“Toriten”, meaning “tempura of chickens” – and making it Senbei makes it a soul food in Oita. The ingredients, chickens, are grown in Oita. You can smell garlic in it too!

What’s important here is that this is not a fried chicken, but tempura. The story how it becomes popular was quite unique. The person who made this once went out of Oita and soon realised that the tempura of chickens are not as popular as they were in Oita, and that was a starting point. Why don’t you buy one as a souvenir for your memory?

Nanban Dessert Zabieru

This is one of the standard desserts that was born 60 years ago. The harmony of the skin with a smell of butter, sweet bean paste, and rum raisins can be enjoyed. It also goes well with the cold milk!

The packages with the words in red and gold makes an atmosphere of the Western culture. That “Zabieru” is produced by “Zabieru Honpo”, and the website itself has an atmosphere of overseas. This could be one of the best souvenirs not only because it has a great taste, but also the packages are so cool and stylish.

Iichiko

What do you think of Oita? That is “Iichiko” – you might think of Iichiko when it comes to the barley shochu, and Sanwa Shurui, which has been producing Iichiko for years, now has created a flask bottle with a stylish design. Alcohol percentage is slightly high as 30. It has a sense of enhanced value with this stylis design. Any generation would welcome this cool souvenir!

After drinking this up, flask bottle still remains. It could be used as a single flower vase, or decanter. Have fun twice – drinking, and decorating your room afterwards!

Koujou no Tsuki

One of the most popular gifts as a souvenir is “Koujou no Tsuki” as well as Zabieru. It was born in 1935 and it’s been loved by people for a long time. With awayuki-kan outside and egg yolk bean paste inside, “Koujou no Tsuki” is a perfect confectionery in Japan. It is said that its name was after the famous old song.

The soft texture is quite addictive that you cannot forget, and when the more it is regrigerated, the better it tastes! If you are a big fan of Japanese confectioneries, just give it a go!

Beppu Hattou Soap

“Beppu Hattou Soup” is a natural hand-made soap that blends 8 different constituents of hot springs with olive oil and honey. With an affordable price, this product have been popular for souvenirs with the stylish package. Of course, you can get one for yourself too!

A long established beauty salon “Ecchi Hair Salon” which was opened in 1932 sells this Hattou Soap. There are a wide variety of soaps with a different effect, so it’s fun to choose! This is a perfect gift once you are in Oita.

Hita Tenryo Water

“Hita no Tenryo Water” is a mineral water which comes from the well used for farming eels. When eels are farmed in that well, they grow so fast – then people started do a research on the reason.

Also, it came out as the water from the well is suitable for drinking without any sterilization, and people started drinking.

Everyone knows how great it tastes as the water was awarded a few awards such as Monde Selection for 7 years a row etc. This is the world recognised water! With the less hardness of the water, it’s quite easy to drink or goes well with a cup of coffee and tea. If you are seeking a healthy lifestyle, this is it!

Bomdia

The name “Bomdia” might sound a bit weird, but it actually means “Hello” in Portgues. Oita has a lot of confectioneries or desserts related to the Western culture like Zabieru mentioned above

The producer is “Kikuya” which also sells “Pudding Dora”. Arranging the red bean paste, it is wrapped by pie pastry. Not only the smell is nice, but the texture is an important point of this confectionery as it contains chopped walnuts.

They sometimes sell the time limited menu like “Matcha Bomdia”, so keep checking on them!

Kuri Soba Manju The Original

This is a small manju, meaning sweet bun, which contains home grown buckwheat flour. You will be amazed that the whole chestnut is used for each one. The skin is quite chewy, and has has a smell of buckwheat. The producer is a long established company “Asahi Manju” which was opened in 1865.

Not only Mameda Town in Hita, but Asahi Maju also has a retro atmosphere. With 150 years of history, the reputation of Kuri Soba Manju has been spread over the country again – this is a perfect gift for your loved ones!

Get The Souvenirs Everyone Would Love in Oita!

How was it? I have introduced the best 10 gifts you should get in Oita, Kyushu. Each of those listed above has a good sense of Oita and people would love it when they receive as a souvenir. The thing is – choosing a souvenir is fun indeed, but you might find it hard to decide what to get. When that happens, how about choosing one of those?