Japan's Three Great Soba: Izumo, Wanko, and Totsukawa

Three regions in Japan serve soba in a form found nowhere else in the country.

The term nihon sandai soba refers to three regional soba traditions that stand apart from the usual zaru or kake served everywhere else: Izumo soba in Shimane, wanko soba in Iwate, and the mountain soba of Totsukawa in southern Nara. Each has an eating method unique to the region, and travelers who care about food often plan whole detours around trying one of them.

1. Izumo soba: the three-tier warigo bowl

Izumo soba from Shimane Prefecture is served cold in stacked round lacquer bowls called warigo, usually three to a set. The noodles are a darker gray-brown than most Japanese soba because the buckwheat is milled with the husk, which gives the flavor more depth and a slightly rougher texture. The eater pours a small amount of concentrated dashi directly onto the noodles in the top bowl, eats that bowl, then pours any leftover sauce down into the next bowl and tops up before continuing. Shops cluster around Izumo Taisha, the great shrine, and a warigo set typically runs about 900 to 1,500 yen.

• ●How it's eaten — pour sauce onto noodles rather than dipping; cascade the remaining sauce down the stack.
• ●Where to try — Kaneyasu, Araya, and Kiganan near Izumo Taisha; several long-running shops in central Matsue.
• ●Price — typical three-tier warigo set about 900 to 1,500 yen; add-on tempura brings the total closer to 2,000 yen.

2. Wanko soba: the small-bowl relay of Iwate

Wanko soba, famous in Morioka and Hanamaki, is both a meal and a mild competition. A server stands beside the diner and refills a small lacquer bowl, barely more than a mouthful, as soon as it is emptied, calling out encouragements with each pour. The diner stops only by placing the lid firmly on the bowl before the server can refill it again. Fifteen small bowls are traditionally said to equal one normal portion of soba, and casual eaters often pass fifty. Set-course prices generally run between 3,000 and 4,500 yen for all-you-can-eat sessions.

• ●How it's eaten — continuous refill until the diner caps the bowl; small toppings keep the pace tolerable.
• ●Where to try — Azumaya and Chokurian in Morioka are the two historic houses most tourists visit.
• ●Price — all-you-can-eat courses roughly 3,000 to 4,500 yen; souvenir certificate for high counts.

3. Totsukawa soba: mountain spring water in southern Nara

Totsukawa, a mountain village in the south of Nara Prefecture, gives the third style its name. The village is Japan's largest by area and one of its most lightly populated, strung along the gorges of the Totsu River. The soba here is simpler in presentation than the other two, usually served as cold zaru or hot kake, but the cold mountain water used both in the dough and the boiling is what makes locals and traveling writers rank it among the best in the country. Shops are small, often family-run, and a bowl generally runs between 800 and 1,200 yen.

• ●How it's eaten — classic zaru or kake; the point is the clarity of flavor from spring water, not showmanship.
• ●Where to try — a handful of shops along Route 168 through Totsukawa village; some combine soba with onsen entry.
• ●Price — single bowls about 800 to 1,200 yen; set with tempura closer to 1,500 to 1,800 yen.