Sweet Potato Day; An anniversary from my city

Today, and October 13th annually, is sweet potato day. Much to my delight this anniversary started in Kawagoe. I feel quite proud about that! Kawagoe is known for its sweet potatoes after all. The "Kawagoe Potato Friends Association" started the anniversary in 1987. 

There are three different reasons they chose October 13th. The first two are that 1) October is the season of sweet potato, and 2) it is said there are 13 benefits of sweet potatoes. The final reason has to do with another name for sweet potato which is "Jyusanri", after the distance from Kawagoe (aka Koedo or Little Edo) to Edo in "ri". One "ri" is about 3.92 kilomters. Kawagoe is 13 "ri" from Edo. The pun is on the measure of distance "ri" from the saying in Japanese "Kuri yori umai jyusanri (栗よりうまい十三里)." It means sweet potatoes are better than chestnuts, but more so it is a nod to the great taste of Kawagoe sweet potato. 

If you are in Kawagoe, you have to try some of the sweet potato street food on offer. And there is a great choice in the tourist town. You can also, if you book in advance, dig for sweet potatoes in Kawagoe and right now is prime digging season. Have you ever tasted sweet potato dishes in Kawagoe? You will find lots of posts about sweet potatoes in Kawagoe by using the search function on City-cost.