Welcome to “Miyakko Detective,” a section where readers can investigate Nishinomiya mysteries and feel like they’ve become detectives.Well, technically you really are detectives. This article will keep getting updated whenever readers(Miyakko detectives) send us new information.
Here at @Nishi2, we receive lots of tips and emails every day, including requests like “Please look into this.”
The @Nishi2 team is very capable, but there’s only so much we can do on our own, so we decided to ask our readers for help～(^o^)／
We’ve received new information, so we’re republishing this article!
目次
What We’d Like Miyakko Detectives to Tell Us
This reader request comes from Kattoshi-kun.
“Please tell me more about the butcher shop that used to fry barrel-shaped croquettes.”
Location: Around Mokkosu Imazu
Era: 1970s
Request: Details about a butcher shop near Imazu that always fried barrel-shaped croquettes in a black pot full of oil
@Nishi2 Investigation
@Nishi2 begins the investigation!
Mokkosu Imazu opened on October 1, 2019.
Here it is on the map↓↓
We covered its opening here at @Nishi2～
↓↓
The article included this note↓↓
There used to be a butcher shop called “味鉄” here.
A butcher shop!?
↑Google Maps Street View from 2008
We confirmed that there was a butcher shop called “味鉄”(^o^)
This is what it looked like in July 2019.
味鉄, a shop specializing in Japanese Black beef, was founded in 1949.
According to Mama @Nishi2’s memory, this shop had been there for more than 20 years.
So, the croquettes Kattoshi-kun ate were
probably croquettes from “味鉄,” weren’t they～?
Nearby, there seems to be a 味鉄 butcher shop in the Suidosuji Shopping Street near Oji-koen Station♪
We thought maybe you could eat “croquettes” there, so we asked, but
they told us “we don’t carry croquettes”😣 Too bad…
Mama @Nishi2’s memories of “味鉄”↓↓
My neighbor used to say that yakiniku wasn’t real yakiniku unless the meat came from this shop, and they always went there to buy it.
Information from Miyakko Detectives
Croquette Lover
I think the barrel-shaped croquettes were from 井上精肉店, which was inside Hankyu Market. My mother told me they were cousins with Koji Tsuruta.
Neriel
I was born in 1972. Could they have been the croquettes from “井上” inside Hankyu Market? They were small barrel-shaped croquettes, fried by the butcher and placed on a thin wooden boat-shaped tray, then wrapped in thin green paper with a rubber band. When the mothers in each household brought them home and left them in the kitchen, it made us so happy we couldn’t help but smile. My husband and I still talk over and over about wanting to eat them again… The sweetness of the onions and the savoriness of the meat were so good, and they were delicious even when cold… After the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, the market disappeared and I lost track of what happened, but if they were the croquettes from “井上,” I’d also love to know what became of them. If they were actually croquettes from a different shop, “味鉄,” then sorry for the unnecessary information.
Imazu Junior High Graduate
I don’t think it was 味鉄. I used to buy yakiniku meat from 味鉄, but I don’t think they fried croquettes. The barrel-shaped croquettes were from a butcher shop inside Hankyu Market, and around 1973 I sometimes bought and ate them on my way home from school. The shop was around the middle of the north-south market, so I think it was a little east of where Mokkosu is now. Lots of Imazu Junior High students used to buy snacks there back then.
Ko
About the croquettes in Imazu, could it have been a butcher shop in Hankyu Market? They were small and barrel-shaped. I think it was called Inoue’s butcher shop. It was on the south side of the middle exit. They were cheap and delicious. I remember that after the earthquake, the market disappeared and the shop closed for good. I don’t know whether there was any connection to Koji Tsuruta.
Hirame
The barrel-shaped croquettes were from Kawakami’s butcher shop in Hankyu Market.
Nao-chan
About the croquettes from 味鉄 in Imazu… I think it was the shop of one of Ryohei Suzuki’s classmates. If you asked Ryohei-kun, you’d probably find out for sure. But… how would you even ask him?
Zukkyon
I think it was the butcher shop by the road that split the market around the middle of Hankyu Market, across from a greengrocer. I remember they put them in a tray like a takoyaki boat made of thin light-green paper. I think the place was farther inside than Mokkosu. My grandmother also said it was a shop run by a sibling of Koji Tsuruta. At our house, every Saturday lunch was croquettes from this shop. They were packed with potato, with just a token amount of minced meat. According to my mother’s memory, they were 20 yen each.
I imagine they probably came in a container shaped something like this. The food on top is takoyaki, not croquettes, though…
KAZU
“The barrel-shaped croquettes were delicious～ They were in the central part of Hankyu Market, at the spot where the market was interrupted partway through. The owner of 井上精肉店 fried them at a special croquette stall! They were really good. They weren’t sold every day, and if you went in the afternoon, they were already sold outー(^-^) I definitely ate them once a week. They put them in a wooden boat-shaped container～ I think the owner was the grandfather of one of my daughter’s friends. My daughter is 36 now.
Anonymous
“I think it was やまお精肉店(*^^*) I was born in 1983, and the parents of one of my older brother’s friends ran a butcher shop around this area back then and fried croquettes(*^^*)
Nontata
They were croquettes from 井上精肉店, which was right at the central boundary of Hankyu Market. I think they were about 30 yen each back then. I ate them often when I was little. They sold so well that there were lines. It was also well known that the family was related to Koji Tsuruta. I checked with my mother, and she confirmed that the barrel-shaped croquettes were definitely from 井上精肉店. The croquettes were placed on a boat-shaped plate like the ones used for takoyaki, covered with thin green paper, and fastened with a rubber band. The flavor was slightly sweet, with smooth potato and minced meat. The deli shop? in the row with Watanabe Electric in Imazu used to have a shop inside the market, so they might know more details. Though it may have closed during COVID…
Yo-chan
There definitely used to be a barrel-shaped croquette shop!! There was a place called Hankyu Market, and the shop ran both a butcher shop and a croquette shop. I ate them often because they were so good!
Aki-chan
About the croquettes, there used to be Hankyu Market in that area, and inside the market there was a shop called “山尾精肉店.” I wonder if that’s where they sold the barrel-shaped croquettes⁉️… I think it might be the butcher shop now located along the old national highway in Imazu Yamanaka-cho, in the row where Life used to be, next to Yamazaki liquor store⁉️… Sorry if I’m wrong.
Investigation Summary
The barrel-shaped croquettes Kattoshi-kun ate were from either “井上精肉店” or “やまお精肉店”.
- 井上精肉店 was a butcher shop located on the south side of the central exit of Hankyu Market
- やまお精肉店 has moved to Imazu Yamanaka-cho (the Tabelog page for やまお精肉店 is here)
- There was a stall for frying croquettes
- After the earthquake, the market disappeared and 井上精肉店 also closed
- They came in a boat-shaped container
- They were wrapped in thin green paper with a rubber band
- They were cheap and delicious
- The connection to Koji Tsuruta is uncertain
According to my aunt who lives in Kurakuen, the owner was supposedly the older brother of Koji Tsuruta!? I’ve tried searching online but couldn’t find much. I’d be very grateful if you could look into the details.