The Delicious Miyazaki Dishes That Leave You Wanting More

Renowned for its temperate conditions, the southern prefecture of Miyazaki is one of Japan’s top culinary destinations. With many of the country’s most iconic dishes derived from the region’s fresh cuisine and inventive techniques, travelers will experience a myriad of foodie havens wherever they visit.

Across world-famous beef, summertime soups, and sweet treats, Miyazaki’s gastronomic pleasures are almost impossible to resist. Here, we showcase a selection of local dishes and spotlight venues where you can experience them at their best.

The masters of Japanese beef

Japan is admired around the globe for its high-quality beef, with Miyazaki beef considered one of the absolute best. Although it hasn't yet risen to international fame like Wagyu or Kobe, the Miyazaki variety has consistently won the top prize at national competitions held across Japan.

What is Miyazaki beef?

As one of the most desirable cuts in the world, Miyazaki beef earns its name by having its cattle raised and documented with incredibly rigid standards. Alongside exact dietary requirements and a genetic lineage that continues this livestock's remarkable legacy, many industry experts consider Miyazaki beef the highest-quality cut available today.

Celebrated for its distinctive marbling and prime tenderness, feasting on authentic Miyazaki beef outside Japan is a rare and costly endeavor. However, tasting this outstanding meat in its homeland ensures you have access to a top product for a reasonable price. As this beef steadily grows in popularity around the globe, now is the perfect time to seek it out.

Where to try Miyazaki beef?

Traveling to Miyazaki means you’re in the ideal spot to sample its unique flavor. If you’re keen to discover what all the fuss is about, one of the top restaurants is Miyachiku. Situated inside the luxurious Miyazaki Kanko Hotel, you can experience it being cooked right before your eyes through a teppanyaki feast. The high-quality Miyachiku restaurants also have a second venue in the middle of the city center on Tachibana Street.

Miyachiku Oyodo River address: 
1-1-1 Matsuyama, Miyazaki City, Miyazaki Prefecture 880-0865

Miyachiku Tachibanadorinishi address:
B1F 3-10-36 Tachibanadorinishi, Miyazaki City, Miyazaki Prefecture 880-0001

Takachiho Beef

Takachiho beef is another exceptional cut considered almost as special as Miyazaki. With this beef taken from black cows raised in the northwestern region surrounding the namesake town, its incredible marbling and texture reveal its utmost quality. Like Miyazaki beef, Takachiho has won several national prizes, including the prestigious Prime Ministers Award. 

Takachiho's wealth of warm weather and lush countryside ensures its cattle are some of the happiest in the world. However, the town is recognized for more than its beef, with the stunningly beautiful Takachiho Gorge featuring picturesque waterfalls, scenic hiking trails, and rentable paddle boats. Once you’ve finished exploring, head back into town to experience tantalizing Takachiho beef at Nagomi.

Nagomi address: 
1099-1 Mitai, Takachiho-cho, Nishiusuki-gun, Miyazaki Prefecture 882-1101

Fried chicken with tartar sauce

Look over almost any menu in Japan, and you’re bound to find a variety of chicken dishes that sound truly delicious. With many of these flavors first created by Miyazaki cooks, make sure you experience them in their original setting.

Chicken nanban

Perhaps the most famous Miyazaki dish is chicken nanban, with this outrageously tasty fried chicken dipped in sweet and sour dressing before being topped with tartar sauce. However, the creator behind this beloved recipe was inspired by the Portuguese meal Peixe Frito de Escabeche, which is thought to have arrived in Japan via 17th-century traders.

Today, chicken nanban is served in every city of Japan and in countless places overseas. While you won’t have a problem finding a restaurant serving a delicious interpretation, the two cooks credited with creating the dish operate venues within Miyazaki city. Ogura operates popular eateries in Honten and Segashira, while you can find Nao-Chan in Nobeoka.

Ogura Honten address: 
3-4-24 Tachibanadorihigashi, Miyazaki City, Miyazaki Prefecture 880-0805

Ogura Segashira address: 
2-2-23 Segashira, Miyazaki City, Miyazaki Prefecture 880-0867

Nao-Chan address:
9-3 Sakaemachi, Nobeoka City, Miyazaki Prefecture 882-0054

Miyazaki Jitokko

Miyazaki Jitokko looks much the same as western-style charcoal chicken, but the love and care required to produce these dishes reach far greater heights. Alongside Miyazaki's wonderful cattle stock, specialized farmers raise chickens to provide the highest-quality meat possible. Just as Wagyu and Kobe have become widely respected names in the beef industry, Jitokko has earned the same reputation in poultry.

With a lineage dating to the Edo period, Jitokko chickens were declared a national treasure in 1943. Raised natively in the foothills of Mount Kirishima, this serene volcanic mountain range stretching from Miyazaki to Kagoshima is home to around 50 free-range chicken farms.

While the preferred method of cooking Miyazaki Jitokko is charcoal grilling, it's regularly deep-fried or spit-roasted to perfection. To add to the flavor, this chicken is often seasoned with high-quality salt or sweet-and-spicy yuzu kosho seasoning. For a much-loved Miyazaki restaurant that serves mouthwatering Jitokko chicken, head to Gunkei Miyazaki Ekimae in Nishikimachi.

Gunkei Miyazaki Ekimae address:
2F 1-10 Nishikimachi, Miyazaki City, Miyazaki Prefecture 880-0811

Refreshing chilled miso soup for tropical heat

When you live in a place with hot summers like Miyazaki, it helps to have a refreshing meal that cuts through the heat. Hiya-jiru is a popular chilled Soup enjoyed throughout the region, with this local specialty containing a reviving combination of tofu, ground sesame seeds, cucumber, and fish stock. While this staple home dish isn't elaborate, its fresh ingredients are perfectly balanced.

While you can just eat the soup, hiya-jiru is often poured over a warm rice bowl to add another level of satisfaction. You’ll find varieties of this traditional soup in eateries across the prefecture, but one of the best is undoubtedly Konohana Kitchen. Situated close to the beach in Aoshima, slurp down a chilled meal before exploring the scenery. Meanwhile, Suginoko also has a stellar reputation for its regional hiya-jiru.

Konohana Kitchen address:
2-1-38 Aoshima, Miyazaki City, Miyazaki Prefecture 889-2162

Suginoko address:
2-1-4 Tachibanadorinishi, Miyazaki City, Miyazaki Prefecture 880-0001

The sweet side of Miyazaki

Miyazaki isn’t just known for its savory dishes, with a selection of local desserts proving to be a hit with locals and tourists alike. When you’re in the mood for something sweet, look out for these tantalizing treats.

Miyazaki mango

Miyazaki’s tropical heat leads to more than just great beach weather. The climate is also responsible for the Miyazaki mango – a native fruit renowned for its impressive size and extra-high natural sugar content. Originating from the Irwin mango grown in Florida, Miyazaki mango benefits from extended sunlight and considerable rainfall leading up to the harvesting season between April and August. 

Although you’re welcome to eat delicious Miyazaki mango on its own, this fruit is also incredible in sweet desserts. For instance, the Palo Borracho Cafe in Aoshima’s picturesque Miyako Botanic Garden offers customers delightful soft serve, smoothies, and parfaits adorned with exquisite Miyazaki mango. 

Palo Borracho Cafe address: 
2-12-1 Aoshima, Miyazaki City, Miyazaki Prefecture 889-2162

Cheese manju

Japan is like heaven for sweet-tooths, but if you’re heading to Miyazaki specifically, you can’t look past cheese manju. Although manju is popular across the country, it usually involves soft steamed cakes filled with sweet red bean paste. However, the Miyazaki variant takes a noticeably different approach, choosing to oven-bake and fill with delicious cream cheese.

With cheese manju created in Miyazaki in 1980, these doughy delights quickly became a local favorite, with many viewing these snacks as proudly representing the prefecture. To get your hands on a single piece or a box of 20, pay a visit to the beloved Confectionary Warabe store.

Confectionary Warabe address: 
38-1 Daio-cho, Miyazaki City, Miyazaki Prefecture 880-0871

Green tea sweets

Refreshing, soothing, and rich in therapeutic qualities, green tea is one of the most consumed beverages in Japan. With green tea served at almost every dining table you come across, experience a top-quality product in the heart of Miyazaki at Green Tea Fields.

This enduring company has been selling green tea products for over 50 years, with its Green Tea Fields cafe presenting an inventive menu that highlights this local staple. From matcha ice cream with tapioca topping to green tea cheesecake sets, don't miss out on these fascinating flavors.

Green Tea Fields address:
82 Yamato-cho, Miyazaki City, Miyazaki Prefecture 880-0878

How to get to Miyazaki

Reaching Miyazaki from Tokyo is easy, as flights from Haneda Airport land at Miyazaki Airport in around 1 hour and 45 minutes. Then, simply catch the JR Sonic-Nichirin express train from Miyazaki Airport Station to Miyazaki Station to arrive in the center of the city in approximately 10 minutes.

If you’re looking for a superb way to explore the country, the JAL Japan Explorer Pass offers special airfares for over 30 cities across our extensive domestic network. As this ticket ensures you experience more of the country for less, it’s the ideal way to make your next adventure the best one yet.