“I wanna eat curry for breakfast, lunch and dinner all year round!” If you’re a curry lover, and a curry lover to that extent, then do I have the perfect article for you. With just my purse, camera and undying love for curry in hand, I, Rinko Murata, am on a mission to find the best curry houses in the city that are approved by both myself and others.

This time, I visited “Curry Land” in Asakusa, a place that specialises in local curry-in-a-pouch! I was guided to the dazzling world of curry by its fascinating owner, where every possible retort-pouch curry, from all times and all places, were collected together!

Asakusa’s Kaminarimon—a majestically built gate. I glanced a certain shop out the corner of my eye when I was looking at a group of cute girls in kimono taking a photo in front of the gorgeous gate. I thought when coming here I had entered a quiet residential area, but I suddenly felt something strange in the air around me.

Oooooh! What could this be!
There it was, the striking signboard of Curry Land. Below it, at the entrance, was the shop window—that was completely covered in pouch-curries!

And at the storefront was something I had never seen before… they even had a curry vending machine!

That’s right! This time, coming to Asakusa, I have found a place truly spectacular!
For me and other people who cannot contain their love for curry, even the entrance is welcoming at this dream theme park called “Curry Land,” with curry from all around Japan there to greet us.

※ The ranking of recommended curry changes every month

The shelves are packed and lined with pouch-curries and divided by the region that they come from. From Hokkaido all the way to Okinawa, they boast an immense selection of curries from all prefectures around Japan!

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This is the quintessential Hokkaido curry: soup curry!

There’s even a region that serves beer curry…

The 18+ only curry looks like the real deal… it seems that the spiciness in it is not your everyday level of spice!

Nevertheless, there are so many options I want pick, from northern Japan all the way to the south! It’s too hard to choose! And it seems that way for every other person that steps foot in here too – they are spoilt for choice. If you find yourself in the same boat, then be sure to talk with the owner, Inomata, or his wife.

It was really fun to hear about how they select their stock. The owner has tasted them all, so he was able to kindly explain the local ingredients used in the curries, as well as their flavours, the best ways to eat them, and so on. (He even went to the trouble to take out his iPhone and send me photos! So nice! *cries*)

Oh, and Curry Land even sell their own original cute iPhone cases! The owner of this dream land really doesn’t miss a thing when it comes to great service, does he? I was impressed by his unbelievable way of interacting with people!

The design is of curry pouring from pouches – as expected of a shop that specialises in just that!

The shelves are lined with the chosen ones – those curries specially picked by the owner who has tasted them all. They’re all so fascinating! Everyone in the editing team followed me as I went back and forth multiple times contemplating which to buy.

Customers that travel long distances to come here and get their hands on rare gems that they can only find here have received lots of interview requests from the media who have heard the rumours. Curry Land has become so much the talk of the town that people are even calling it one of Asakusa’s unique tourist spots. And there’s a happening related to that surrounding a certain local curry! It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that this certain curry changed Inomata’s life forever.

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Inomata has always loved curry. One day, he encountered the curry pictured above on a trip to Shimane Prefecture – Okuizumo Wagyu Curry. It was when he took a bite of this that it hit him, “There was always something as delicious as this in the world?”

From that time forward, he thought to himself, “There must be other curries like this out there too!” So he took his car and went on a pilgrimage around Japan to seek out local retort-pouch curries! Even in this day and age where you can get whatever you want with a click of a button online, Inomata took it upon himself to visit all of those places by foot to check them himself with his own eyes and mouth. To clinch local pouch-curries is his aesthetic. You can be nothing but amazed by his passion and the lightness in his footwork!

The carefully selected local ingredients, the retort-pouch curries and their high quality ingredients – which you can’t imagine combining with anything else – and testing of unknown flavours and spices. There’s an enjoyment in all of these things. I eat quite a lot different of pouch-curries – I buy them myself, and I even receive them from fans who know that I love curry too. But this shop that specialises in local retort-pouch curry is something else. There were many curries I had never seen before coming here. I couldn’t compose myself.

While receiving advise from the owner and his wife, I picked up 3 curries! The editing team got some too, so in the next article we are going to showcase our curry party and taste-report! We’ll be eating all kinds of original curry goodies, all from the curry haven that is Curry Land, so please look forward to it♡

Lastly, I have some personal news that made me super happy! The owner’s wife, Sanae, knew who I was! I’m truly honoured and over the moon that the wife at the famous curry sanctum that is Curry Land, which has been covered even by the media, knew about me!

I feel I have spread the word about my ordinary love for curry (well, maybe not so ordinary). The fire I have for my love of curry is burning even brighter now that I’ve been able to dig deeper into retort-pouch curries. I have come to realise that it’s my duty to report on even more curries that are out there in the world. And I’m going to do it!

Navigator&text：Rinko Murata @rinco1023
Photo：Kayo Sekiguchi
Edit：Miiki Sugita／Namiko Azuma

Translation：Joshua Kitosi-Isanga

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