Tachikawa Udo Guide: History of Tokyo’s Underground White Vegetable

Vinegared miso and stir-fried peel: how to eat Tokyo udo, and what to take home

The Tama-Fuchu health centre’s food calendar says that white udo, compared with mountain udo, has no harsh taste and is tender, and is used in all sorts of dishes: vinegared salads, stir-fries, tempura and salads. The city’s public-relations bulletin says Tachikawa udo has little bitterness, a refreshing aroma that hints at spring, and a crisp texture.

The classic dish is probably udo no sumiso-ae, udo dressed with vinegared miso. The Ministry of Agriculture’s page on regional home cooking lists it as a dish of Tokyo. Peel the udo thickly and soak it in vinegared water, cut it into thin rectangular strips, pass it through boiling water, then cool it. Mix sugar and miso well, add vinegar and mirin to make the vinegared miso, and toss the udo in it. Because udo discolours easily, put it in the vinegared water quickly. Rape blossoms and firefly squid also go well with udo and vinegared miso, the ministry says.

A recipe published by the Federation of Tokyo Udo Producers’ Associations appears on the same page. Cut the udo into lengths of 4 to 5 centimetres, peel it thickly, cut it into strips, soak them in vinegared water to remove the bitterness, and drain. Blanch some wakame seaweed briefly, cool it in water and cut it into easy pieces. Arrange the wakame and udo in a bowl and pour over the vinegared miso. White miso is common, but red or mixed miso is also used. Which colour of miso to pour over a white stem: a small dilemma of the winter kitchen. The Tokyo metropolitan guide says that Tokyo udo, mild and tender, goes well with almost any ingredient, in vinegared dishes, stir-fries, tempura, soups and salads.

Udo discolours easily. A vegetable whose whiteness was guarded underground starts to change colour the moment it reaches the surface and meets the knife and the air. Quick, into the vinegared water. Eating a white thing while it is still white keeps you busy.

The same page says the peel can be used for tempura or kinpira, a dish of thin strips sautéed and simmered with soy sauce and sugar. Instead of throwing away the thick peel, you make it into a second dish. The luxurious white stem, and the kitchen wisdom of the peel. To be honest, it is the peel kinpira that tempts me more. This is where a person’s greed shows.

There are ways of eating it that are particular to Tachikawa, too. The Tokyo metropolitan guide says that restaurants in Tachikawa have come up with a wide variety of dishes and products such as udo ramen. The Tachikawa Tourism and Convention Association recommends souvenirs that represent the city under the nickname “Tachikawa no Taikoban” (a seal of approval, roughly), and according to the city, the items certified that use Tokyo udo are an udo pie, a sweet called Sasaragi (笹らぎ), and an udo salad dressing. Turning udo into a pie: surely someone tried to talk the inventor out of it at least once. An idea that sounds like it should have been stopped is now on the city’s souvenir signboard.

After the kitchen comes the stage. Once a year, udo too gets its day in the bright lights.

The udo show, and the monster who didn’t quite make it

Every year, in mid-February, the peak of the udo season, the city holds an udo competitive show. The fiscal-2024 show, held on 21 February, had 32 entries: 27 of Tokyo udo and 5 of Tachikawa Komachi. The judges look at colour, shape, presentation and whether there is any pest or disease damage. After the judging, the udo on display are sold on the spot.

White stems that have spent a month quietly growing taller underground are, for this one day, lined up in a bright hall to be compared for colour, sheen and posture. When the judging is over, they are bought and taken away. Their moment on stage and their job placement are decided on the same day. The udo world gets things done quickly.

The names of the prizes tell you who is watching over this vegetable. According to the city’s report, the fiscal-2024 special prizes were: the Governor of Tokyo Prize, the Mayor of Tachikawa Prize, the Chair of the Tachikawa City Council Prize, the Chair of the Tachikawa Agricultural Promotion Council Prize, the Chair of the Tachikawa Agricultural Committee Prize, the Prize of the Head of the Tokyo Office of the National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations, the Prize of the Representative Director of JA Tokyo Midori, and the Prize of the Chair of the Federation of Tokyo Udo Producers’ Associations. From the Governor of Tokyo down to the farm co-operative, that is a remarkable line of titles for a single white stem.

In neighbouring Kokubunji, too, a show is held every year in February, at the height of the harvest, according to the metropolitan guide. As part of its efforts to promote local farm produce together with restaurants, Kokubunji City also holds an “Udo Festa,” where restaurants devise dishes using Tokyo udo. Udo’s winter becomes a festival all over North Tama.

Around the same time, the Federation of Tokyo Udo Producers’ Associations holds a “Tokyo Udo Shipping Improvement Competition.” According to the city, in fiscal 2024, eleven Tachikawa udo farmers entered, and they won two of the eleven special prizes.

The city also writes that Udora came along to play at the show venue. According to the city’s character introductions, Udora (ウドラ) is a monster born from pure-white Tachikawa udo; though a monster, it is not scary, and it loves children. According to the city’s newsletter Koho Tachikawa of 25 February 2026, Udora came second in the Tachikawa city character vote. It did not become the official character. And so its creator started presenting it on social media as “Tachikawa’s Not-Quite-Official Character.”

Not quite official. The phrase is printed just like that in a municipal newsletter. On this point alone, I decided to trust the city of Tachikawa a good deal more. To come second, call yourself second, and turn up at the udo show with your head held high: no life could be more fitting for the spirit of a vegetable that grows up without seeing the sun. The character introductions also include “Udoppo-kun” (うどっ穂くん), who emerged from a chilly udo pit and is bewildered by how much the city has changed, and “Udoka-chan” (うど花ちゃん), whose hair is modelled on udo flowers. It is a rare city that can produce this large a cast from a single vegetable.

If you want to meet udo above ground, there is Farmers’ Center Minore Tachikawa (ファーマーズセンターみのーれ立川). According to a Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism survey report, the City of Tachikawa opened it in May 2013 as the core facility for Tachikawa agriculture. According to JA Tokyo Midori, the local agricultural co-operative that runs it, it is at 2-1-5 Sunagawa-cho, Tachikawa, on the north side of Showa Kinen Park. The city also directs enquiries about sending Tachikawa Komachi to other parts of Japan to this centre — while taking the trouble to note that, depending on the season, it may be out of stock. A vegetable with a season cannot be met at any time you like.

According to JA Tokyo Midori, the centre sells local farm and livestock products, processed foods and specialities, and also provides tourist information about Tachikawa. It is open all year, closing only from 31 December to 4 January. In the udo season it sometimes holds an “Udo Fair,” and JA Tokyo Midori’s product guide lists a Tokyo udo dressing made with Edo-Tokyo vegetables under the heading “Hugely popular.”

Now it is time to return to the mystery from the beginning. The white stems lined up at the show — where were their roots last summer?

The roots summer in the highlands, then go underground in Tachikawa for winter

According to the Tokyo metropolitan guide, growing Tokyo udo divides into two main periods. One is the “blanching period,” from around mid-November to around the end of April, when root clumps are bedded into the pit and made to sprout. The other is the “root-growing period,” from around the end of April to around mid-November, when the root clumps are grown in fields for the following year. During this period, to avoid the problems that come from growing the same crop in the same soil year after year, and to raise good-quality roots, most of the clumps are grown under contract in fields in cool highland areas such as Gunma Prefecture.

The Tama-Fuchu health centre’s food calendar says the root clumps are grown from the end of April to mid-November in highland fields in places such as Tochigi and Gunma prefectures. A root clump is the root of an udo plant that has grown large in a field, put out leaves, and then had its stem wither. According to the city, this arrangement started in the decade from 1965. Growers began contracting out the cultivation of root clumps to highlands such as Tochigi, to secure good roots of udo — a crop prone to replant problems — and to bring the harvest forward.

The city also writes that, unlike ordinary crops, udo goes through many stages before harvest, such as dividing the root clumps and bedding them into the pit. The Tachikawa Udo Producers’ Association has made signboards explaining how udo is grown and uses them at agricultural events. A vegetable that grows where you cannot see it, while shuttling back and forth to distant fields, needs its upbringing explained before anyone can understand it.

So here is the answer to the mystery. Tokyo’s number-one udo spends the summer in the highlands of the northern Kanto region, putting out leaves and fattening its roots. When the stem withers in autumn, the root clumps are carried to Tachikawa, bedded three metres underground for the winter, and in about a month they send up white stems. Grow it in the same field year after year and problems set in, so the place where it grows and the place where it is finished were separated. Build up your strength at a summer retreat, then get your finishing touches in a hole in the city. For a human, that would be quite a luxurious way to live.

There was one more fact I found while researching that made me laugh out loud. Tochigi Prefecture’s official website lists, among the prefecture’s farm products that rank first in Japan, kanpyo (dried gourd strips), bean sprouts — and udo (the udo figure is from 2022 data). One of the places where the roots of Tokyo’s number-one udo spend their summer is the prefecture that is number one for udo in the whole country. Behind Tokyo’s speciality lies a summer holiday in the national champion’s home.

So why is the finishing done in Tachikawa? Half the answer is in the soil: the Kanto loam that does not crumble and does not let warmth escape. The red earth that was no good for rice became a dependable wall once you dug a hole in it. The other half lies in the times. After the war, as silkworm raising declined, farmers needed a crop that would earn money in the winter off-season. Just then, the technique arrived from the east. Summer in the highlands and winter under Tachikawa: only when both are in place does Tokyo udo turn white.

I am a little ashamed now of having almost decided this was a city with no famous product. Tachikawa’s speciality was simply somewhere you cannot see. It is the biggest Tokyo producer of a vegetable the people of Edo waited for as the first taste of the season, and the finishing is done three metres down, a little north of the station. Broccoli, too, is number one in Tokyo, in season from mid-October to February. In winter, Tachikawa grows Tokyo’s top vegetables both above and below ground.

According to the city, the season runs from mid-December to April. In the coldest months of the year above ground, the white stems that sprouted from roots that spent their summer in the highlands come into season.

Under Tachikawa this winter, white stems will once again be growing toward a place where no light comes.

Quiz answer

The answer is (B), its length. According to the city, Tachikawa Komachi is Tokyo udo cut to a shorter standard, easy to carry and affordable. If you are taking it home on the train, this is the relaxed option.

Before you go

• Season: According to the City of Tachikawa, Tokyo udo is in season from mid-December to April. The udo show is held every year in mid-February, and the exhibits have been sold afterwards. Depending on the time of year, udo may not be in the shops at all.
• Where to buy it, and how to get there: Farmers’ Center Minore Tachikawa (JA Tokyo Midori, 2-1-5 Sunagawa-cho, Tachikawa; on the north side of Showa Kinen Park). From bus stop No. 2 at the North Exit of JR Tachikawa Station, take a bus bound for “Oyama Danchi Orikaeshijo” (大山団地折返場), or for “Higashi-Nakagami Station” (東中神駅) or “Higashi-Nakagami Eki Iriguchi” (東中神駅入口). Get off at Sunagawa Gosaro (砂川五差路) and walk 2–3 minutes in the direction the bus was travelling. The bus ride takes about 20 minutes, according to JA Tokyo Midori. Check opening hours, closing days and what is in stock on the official site (Japanese): https://ja-tokyomidori.or.jp/minore/
• Getting to Tachikawa: From Shinjuku, take the JR Chuo Line; Tachikawa is on the line, with no change needed. Check the current timetable before you set off.
• Combine it with: Minore Tachikawa is on the north side of Showa Kinen Park, so pairing it with a walk in the park makes a good half day. The traces of the silkworm trade that supported Tachikawa before udo can be seen at Kokage Shrine in the grounds of Azusami Tenjin-sha Shrine in Sunagawa (along the route of our Tamagawa Aqueduct and Sunagawa walk).
• Practical tips: Carry an IC transport card such as Suica or PASMO; it works on trains and buses alike. Udo discolours quickly once cut, so if you buy some to cook, prepare it soon and keep vinegared water ready. Shrines are places of worship: walk quietly and follow any notices.
• City of Tachikawa, “Tokyo Udo (No. 1 in Tokyo for production)” (figures, Tachikawa Komachi, souvenirs; Japanese): https://www.city.tachikawa.lg.jp/sangyo/nogyo/1004072/1004090.html
• How to make udo with vinegared miso: Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, “Our Regional Cuisine” (Japanese): https://www.maff.go.jp/j/keikaku/syokubunka/k_ryouri/search_menu/menu/34_30_tokyo.html

At the North Exit, in the city of white udo

The udo season overlaps with the coldest weeks in Tachikawa. Go out to the north side of the park in search of udo, ride the bus back to the station, and your hands and feet will be thoroughly chilled.

One minute’s walk from the North Exit of JR Tachikawa Station, on the third floor of the Etoile Building at 2-14-10 Akebonocho, Tachikawa, is On the Shore Tachikawa (オンザショア立川店), a hot yoga studio heated by lava-stone plates. Besides lava-stone hot yoga, it offers room-temperature yoga, Pilates, women-only kickboxercise, boxercise, HIIT and personal training, with more than 25 kinds of yoga lesson.

It is open every day from 8:00 to 23:30. Shop in the morning or walk until evening, and there is still time to drop in.

A trial yoga lesson costs ¥1,980 including tax, with two bath towels, one face towel and a yoga mat included in the rental. You can come as you are, even with a bag of udo in hand.

Pregnant guests cannot take part in lava-stone hot yoga, but room-temperature maternity yoga is available. Many of our yoga instructors speak English, and the studio’s owner, Naomi Fujita, who holds Japan’s top English qualification (Eiken Grade 1) and a perfect TOEIC score and once worked as a translator and overseas interpreter at Nomura Securities, and who lived in Alaska for three years, often helps guests from the US bases in English herself (visitors from abroad have even left Google reviews about the care they received in English); if you would like an English-friendly lesson, just say so when you book.

Studio information: https://ontheshore.jp/ — trial lesson booking: https://site.locaop.jp/C0aVK?_src=hp

A white vegetable grown underground in your hand, up three floors in a building by the station. Winter in Tachikawa is made of these trips between below and above.

Cover photo: Tokyo udo served as ohitashi: translucent white slices of stem with the tender tips alongside. (Photo: Kentin / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons)

Information as of October 2026.

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