Iwakuni City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, is famous for the Kintai Bridge, as well as renkon (Japanese lotus root). Iwakuni City Marketplace can be found among the expansive renkon fields.

Marketplace Juice Stand

In one corner of the marketplace lies the Vegetrip juice stand. Run by Tanaka Seika, a company with a 50-year history of selling fruits and vegetables at the marketplace, one of its goals is to get more people to visit.

Bright and cheerful, the interior resembles that of a cafe – it’s chairs and counter are from Eames. Customers can enjoy their drinks in a relaxing atmosphere.

A countless variety of juices

This colorful display of juice is Vegetrip’s lead product, cold-pressed juice. It’s something we’ve heard a lot lately, but what exactly is it?

What is cold-pressed juice?

“The enzymes and vitamins in fruit and vegetables are susceptible to heat, but as cold-pressed juice is made by slowly squeezing them without heat, the juice keeps its natural nutrients,” says store manager Masako Tanaka. She has been drinking cold-pressed juice every morning for a long time now and is surprised by its effect.

Different mixes of ingredients give the juice different colors and offer various natural effects. This mix of carrots, oranges, tomatoes and lemons has both anti-aging and anti-oxidative properties, and is also good for the skin!

I tried this golden colored cold-pressed juice made with yellow bell-pepper, pineapple and grapefruit. It didn’t contain any honey or milk, just 100% fruit juice. It had a rich flavor, but was light and easy to drink. The balance between the bell-pepper and the fruit was just perfect and it tasted delicious. It also gave me more energy! In addition to juice, the store also sells seasonal products such as the following…

Famous Iwakuni products

Fried renkon! Famed Iwakuni renkon is cut into sticks and fried. The crunchy bite-sized pieces are easy to chew, and at the same time give off those nice threads that renkon is famous for. Who can ever get enough of that? (Fried renkon is only offered in winter.)

Store manager Tanaka recommends juice made with komatsuna (Japanese mustard spinach), apple, kiwi, or celery. It’s great to be able to take in a good amount of leaf vegetables in one hit. The fruit the store stocks differs according to season, and rare produce such as melons, dragon fruit and beet also make an appearance. In the fall, among others you can find persimmon, pione grape and pear. The sheer variety alone has customers coming back day after day. It certainly is a great store!

Welcome to Yamaguchi!

Vegetrip

Vegetrip – The juice bar run by Tanaka Seika, and located in Iwakuni City Marketplace. Customers can enjoy the best-seller cold-pressed juice, as well as custom smoothies and hand-made ice cream bars.

Address: Iwakuni City Marketplace 5 Chome, 11-1, Ozumachi, Iwakuni City, Yamaguchi Prefecture.
Tel: 080-2898-7911
Business Hours: Weekdays 7:00～16:00. Weekends 10:00～16:00.
Closed:Wednesdays.
Homepage: http://vegetrip.net/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vegetrip/

Setouchi Finder photo-writer: Nana Takei