Welcome to “Miyacco Detective,” a feature where readers can investigate Nishinomiya mysteries and feel like detectives themselves.Well, actually, they really are detectives. The idea is that the article keeps getting updated whenever readers(Miyacco Detectives) send us information.
Here at @Nishi2, we receive lots of tips and emails every day asking us to “look into” different things.
The @Nishi2 team is excellent, but there’s only so much we can do on our own, so we decided to ask our readers for help～(^o^)／
This article has been republished because we received new information!
目次
What We Want Miyacco Detectives to Tell Us
This reader request comes from Kattoshi-kun.
“I’d like to know more about the butcher shop that used to fry barrel-shaped croquettes.”
Location: Around Mokkosu Imazu
Period: 1970s
Request: Details about a butcher shop around 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 had written about 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” there(^o^)
This is how it looked in July 2019.
“味鉄,” a shop specializing in Kuroge Wagyu beef, was founded in 1949.
According to Mama @ Nishi2’s memory, she thinks this shop had been there continuously for more than 20 years.
So, the croquettes Kattoshi-kun used to eat were
probably the croquettes from “味鉄,” weren’t they～?
Nearby, there also seems to be a 味鉄 butcher shop in the Suidosuji Shopping Street by Ojikoen Station♪
We wondered if maybe you could eat “croquettes” there, so we asked, but
they said “we don’t carry croquettes”😣 Too bad…
Mama @ Nishi2’s memories of “味鉄”↓↓
My neighbor used to say yakiniku wasn’t real yakiniku unless the meat came from this shop, and they always went there to buy it.
Information from Miyacco Detectives
Croquette Loverさん
I think the barrel-shaped croquettes were from Inoue Butcher Shop, which was inside the Hankyu Market. I heard from my mother that they were cousins with Koji Tsuruta.
Nerielさん
I was born in 1972. Could they have been the “Inoue” croquettes from inside the Hankyu Market? They were small barrel-shaped croquettes, and the butcher would fry them and place them on a thin wooden boat-shaped tray, then cover them with thin green paper and secure it with a rubber band. When the mothers in each household bought them and left them in the kitchen, it made everyone so happy they couldn’t help smiling. My husband and I still say over and over that we want to eat them again… The sweetness of the onions and the flavor of the meat were so good, and they were delicious even after cooling down… After the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, the market disappeared and I lost track of what happened, but if those were the croquettes from “Inoue,” I’d also like to know what became of them. If they were actually croquettes from a different shop, “味鉄さん,” then I’m sorry for the unnecessary information.
Imazu Junior High Graduateさん
I don’t think it was 味鉄. I also bought yakiniku meat at 味鉄, but I don’t think they fried croquettes. I used to sometimes buy and eat the barrel-shaped croquettes from a butcher shop inside Hankyu Market on my way home from school around 1973. It was around the middle of the north-south market, so I think it was a little east of where Mokkosu is now. Back then, lots of Imazu Junior High students bought snacks there on the way home.
Kouさん
About the croquettes in Imazu, could it have been the butcher shop in Hankyu Market? They were small and barrel-shaped. I’m pretty sure it was called Inoue no Nikuya. 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 as it was. I don’t know about any connection to Koji Tsuruta.
Hirameさん
The barrel-shaped croquettes were from Kawakami’s butcher shop in Hankyu Market.
Naochanさん
About the croquettes from 味鉄 in Imazu… I’m pretty sure it was the shop of a classmate of Ryohei Suzuki. If you asked Ryohei-kun, you should be able to find out for sure. But… how would you ask him?
Zukkyonさん
I think it was the butcher shop near the road that split the market around the middle of Hankyu Market, across from a greengrocer. I remember they put them in a thin light-green paper container like the kind used for takoyaki. The place was farther in than Mokkosu. My grandmother also said it was the shop of Koji Tsuruta’s sibling. At our house, every Saturday lunch was croquettes from there. They were potato-heavy croquettes with just a token amount of ground meat. According to my mother’s memory, they were 20 yen each.
I’m imagining they probably came in a container shaped something like this. What’s on top here isn’t croquettes, though, it’s takoyaki…
KAZUさん
“The barrel-shaped croquettes were delicious～ They were at Inoue Butcher Shop, located in the center of Hankyu Market where the market was interrupted partway through. The owner fried them at a croquette stall! They were incredibly good. They weren’t sold every day, and if you went in the afternoon, they were already sold outー(^-^) I ate them at least once a week. They served 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さん
“I think it was Yamao Butcher Shop(*^^*) I was born in 1983, but the parents of one of my older brother’s friends ran a butcher shop around that area back then and fried croquettes there(*^^*)
Nontataさん
They were the croquettes from Inoue Butcher Shop, which was right at the central boundary of Hankyu Market. I think they were about 30 yen each back then. I ate them often as a child. They sold so well there were lines. It was also well known that they were relatives of Koji Tsuruta. After checking with my mother, there’s no doubt that the barrel-shaped croquettes were from Inoue Butcher Shop. The croquettes were placed on a boat-shaped dish like the ones used for takoyaki, covered with thin green paper, secured with a rubber band, and handed over. The taste was slightly sweet, with smooth potatoes and ground meat. The prepared-food shop? in the same row as Watanabe Denki in Imazu used to have a shop inside the market, so they might know more. Though it may have closed because of COVID…
Yochan
There really was a barrel-shaped croquette shop long ago!! There was a place called Hankyu Market, and the shop ran both a butcher shop and a croquette shop. I loved them and ate them often!
Akichanさん
About the croquettes, there used to be Hankyu Market in that area, and inside the market there was a shop called “Yamao Butcher Shop.” Maybe that’s where they sold the barrel-shaped croquettes⁉️… I think it may now be the butcher shop on the old national road in Imazu Yamanakacho, along the row where Life used to be, next to Yamazaki the liquor shop⁉️… Sorry if I’m wrong.
Investigation Summary
The barrel-shaped croquettes Kattoshi-kun used to eat were likely from “Inoue Butcher Shop” or “Yamao Butcher Shop”
- Inoue Butcher Shop was a butcher shop on the south side of the exit in the center of Hankyu Market
- Yamao Butcher Shop has relocated to Imazu Yamanakacho (the Tabelog page for Yamao Butcher Shop is here)
- There was a croquette stall
- After the earthquake, the market disappeared and Inoue Butcher Shop also closed
- They came in a boat-shaped container
- Thin green paper and a rubber band
- Cheap and delicious
- The connection to Koji Tsuruta is uncertain
According to my aunt who lives in Kurakuen, the owner was apparently the older brother of Koji Tsuruta!? I’ve searched online but can’t find much! I’d be happy if you could look into the details.