The Otemon gate of Obi Castle; Obiten Kura, where obi-ten is fried, is beside this gatePhoto: z tanuki / CC BY 3.0
Checked · Researched, not yet visited · times from official timetables and our estimates · Takumi Yamada
Obi-ten is the town’s fried fish cake, made with tofu, brown sugar and miso, so it tastes faintly sweet. Obiten Kura by the Otemon gate fries it in front of you and serves set meals. Obiten Kura is open 09:00–17:00 (last order 16:00). The Ayumi-chan food-walk ticket, ¥1,000 or ¥1,600 with the houses, swaps five vouchers for obi-ten, thick sweet omelette and other snacks along the lanes.
- 3 hr 30 min door to door needs a 5.5-hour call: a 2–3 hour stop cannot hold it. Pick something closer instead.
Two places, two different answers
| Place | What you get |
|---|---|
| The famous oneObiten Kuraおび天蔵 | Obi 9-1-8, by the Otemon gate: obi-ten fried in front of you, and set meals with obi-ten, crab soup and thick omelette (the Hana set is booked by the day before). 09:00–17:00, last order 16:00, open every day; rents bicycles 09:30–17:00. |
| Local pickObiten Honpoおび天本舗 | Obi 4-1-20, the maker of obi-ten since the domain days, for take-away. |
Each name opens in Google Maps. Opening days change; check before you build a day around one.
Where the 3 hr 30 min goes
The hour before all-aboard is not in this bar; it is already set aside. The minutes are our estimates from timetables and maps, not timed on the ground.
If your ship is late, cut the 2 hr 50 min in the middle. Never cut the hour at the end.
Routes that already include it
Finished days timed from official timetables and our estimates, with this stop in them.
Obi castle town by taxiNeeds a 6-hour call · ~4h door to doorCalls of 6 hours or more. With the train instead, leave JR Aburatsu at 08:53 or 10:59 and come back on the 13:14 or 15:00 from Obi. The houses are open 09:30–17:00, last entry 16:30A wet day in Obi: museums, houses and obi-tenA wet day · ~4h door to doorA wet day: the history museum, the Komura Memorial Hall and the old houses are under a roof, and the lanes are shortWhat to put beside it
Each of these still lands you back aboard with the hour to spare.
See · ~3hUdo Jingu, the shrine in a sea cave
A vermilion main hall built inside a sea cave at the tip of Cape Udo, with the Pacific breaking on the rocks below.
See the detailSee · ~3.5hObi castle town
The Ito lords ruled from Obi for 280 years, and the town has been a preserved district since 1977: the rebuilt Otemon gate, mossy stone walls, a cedar grove where the keep stood, and samurai lanes.
See the detail
See · ~3hThe moai of Sun Messe Nichinan
Seven full-size moai stand on a lawn above the Pacific, made with the permission of the Rapa Nui elders after a Japanese team re-erected the fallen moai of Ahu Tongariki in the 1990s.
See the detail