Awaji Island: Japan’s ‘First Island’ Offers a Gourmet Taste of a Sustainable Future

Photo Source: https://awajikanko.com/blogg/wp-content/uploads/harusansan1.webp.

Awaji Island, situated in the east of the Seto Inland Sea, boasts lush greenery, rugged mountains, and sacred sites steeped in myth. Revered as the legendary Onokoro Island, it is said to be the first land formed from seawater by the gods Izanagi and Izanami. This deep historical connection contrasts with its vibrant, present-day character. Easily accessible from Osaka or Kobe, the island is just a short drive across the towering Akashi Kaikyo Bridge.

Known as Miketsukuni, or a ‘Land of Food,’ Awaji’s legacy as a culinary treasure lives on through exquisite local ingredients and innovative approaches to wellbeing and sustainability. The island straddles myth and modernity, past and future, offering a singular destination where history resonates, nature thrives, and greener possibilities bloom.

Nowhere is Awaji Island’s commitment to sustainability more evident than at Haru San San, a farm-to-table restaurant championing local, homegrown produce and sustainable agriculture. Situated amidst fields cultivated using circular farming practices, the building itself, designed by Pritzker Prize laureate Shigeru Ban, forms a natural part of the tranquil scenery, incorporating traditional thatched-roof techniques with an eco-conscious hybrid structure of recycled paper tubes and minimal timber.