Calbee regional chips, the Fukagawa meshi version

Tonight, I craved a salty, umami-laden snack and spied this bag of chips at my local convenience store. 

The chips were satisfying enough. But beyond just the crunch and umami, I learned about the Calbee campaign. This year, the chips manufacturer has a campaign celebrating regional flavors. The one that I found at my local convenience store is the Fukagawa meshi flavored chips. 

So, what is Fukagawa meshi? It's a rice dish born from Edo Period prosperity, centered around the Fukagawa neighborhood in what is now Koto Ward in eastern Tokyo. Fukagawa meshi is a rice dish that features the bounty of asari, little neck clams and seaweed that were so plentiful in the lower reaches of the Edo River basin in that era. It's still a signature dish in the area, available in little eateries around Kiyosumi-shirakawa Station. 

So, maybe these are just potato chips, but they hint at a delicious regional cuisine and a rich local history.

If you have a hankering for little neck clams and rice, and curiosity about the Edo Period, go visit the area, enjoy the local dish, and see the Fukagawa Edo Museum which is a time capsule that reveals the life of people in the era and the neighborhood.