At Lake Kawaguchi, the Udon Shops Close First

The staple here was flour, not rice

Fujikawaguchiko sits on a plateau more than 800m above sea level, where dry-field farming developed instead of rice paddies. That, the town's official gourmet guide explains, is why flour-based dishes such as hoto and udon took root here. The town's gourmet guide

The same is true across Yamanashi: roughly 80% of the land is mountainous and poorly suited to rice, so wheat noodles were made as the staple instead. Ministry of Agriculture on hoto

Two noodles from the same dough, two different roles. Udon was once a solemn dish eaten at weddings and funerals; hoto was the everyday supper after a day's work. That difference still shows in the hours the shops keep.

In a restaurant, hoto is simmered one portion at a time in an iron pot

Hoto is a flat noodle: wheat flour kneaded with lukewarm water, rolled out, and cut about 1 cm wide. It is then simmered with vegetables and meat in a miso-based broth. Ministry of Agriculture on hoto

Because little or no salt goes into the dough, the noodles are not especially chewy. They are simmered with the dusting flour still on them, which thickens the broth so it clings to the noodles and to the pumpkin falling apart in the pot. Pumpkin is the classic, but any vegetable or meat works, which is why the miso and the ingredients differ from shop to shop.

What matters for your plans is the wait. At home it is one big pot, but restaurants usually serve it one portion at a time in an iron pot. This is not a dish that arrives the moment you sit down. Do not squeeze it in just before your train or bus home.

Ozara, made from the same dough, is a slightly thinner noodle boiled, chilled in cold water and dipped in a soy-based broth. It is a summer way of eating, associated mainly with Kofu and Minobu, and you will not necessarily find it around the lake.

Udon was born as a midday dish

The speciality of the Fuji Five Lakes area is Yoshida udon: a firm, hard noodle in a broth that blends miso and soy sauce, topped with cabbage and meat. The town's gourmet guide

Back when textiles were the area's main industry, men made the udon so that the women could stay at the looms. They fed the family with it, and the cloth buyers who came in from the city. Households whose udon became popular converted their homes into shops. That is why the old udon shops still look like private houses from the street. Ministry of Land on Yoshida udon

The legacy of that is simple: most udon shops open only at lunchtime. In Fujiyoshida there are said to be around 50 shops devoted to Yoshida udon. If udon is on your list, put it in the middle of the day. Looking for it in the evening may come to nothing.

Each shop is proud of its own suridane, a hot condiment of ground sesame and chilli. Some keep to the older recipe and use horse meat rather than pork. The same dish name can mean quite different bowls.

The meat here starts with horse and deer

The Fuji Five Lakes area has a long culture of eating horse meat. This was a centre of Mount Fuji worship, and horses carried climbers' loads up the mountain. Butchers still sell lean raw horse, eaten at celebrations and banquets. The town's gourmet guide

Order motsu-ni, a stewed offal dish, at a local izakaya and it may well be horse offal. Many shops also top Yoshida udon with sweet-simmered horse meat and call it niku udon. If a menu just says meat, ask.

Venison is local too. To make use of deer caught within its own boundaries, the town set up a meat processing facility in 2009; it takes in roughly 150 to 200 deer a year and sells them vacuum-packed by cut to restaurants in and beyond the town. The town on its venison

So gibier on a menu here is not an ingredient trucked in from far away. The town's gourmet guide lists the shops that serve it.

Settle on the time of day before you settle on the shop

The town publishes a free gourmet guide listing its restaurants, divided into Japanese food, hoto and udon, grilled meat and Chinese, Western, izakaya, cafes, and bakeries and sweets, with maps. The hours and closing days printed in it are those of the day it was compiled, so confirm with the shop for the day you go. The town's gourmet guide

The tourism association also keeps a list of places to eat. Here too, the last check should be the shop's own page. Places to eat, from the tourism association

The natural order is udon at midday, hoto in the evening, which is the order the dishes themselves were born in. Reverse it and you may find the udon shop shut, or the wait for your hoto eating into your journey home.

If you are heading to a shop on the far side of the lake, look at the sightseeing bus times as well. On a Day Trip to Lake Kawaguchi, Settle on One Bus Line covers how to move once you leave the station.