In this episode of Aiba manabu, Aiba and Co. goes to a Inazusa station, a small unmanned station (yes, many small train stations in Japan are unmanned!) in a local train line, to make a one day special ekiben (see below) for the locals. Apart from bringing some cheer to the local residents, they also learn about the local produce and try their hand at fishing and harvesting.

釜飯 (かまめし, kamameshi) – rice, meat and vegetable dish served in a small pot
Yup, kamameshi, that’s the type of ekiben they are making. They will basically go around collecting ingredients from the locals, and then prepare the food and dish them beautifully in a small pot.

駅弁 (えきべん, ekiben) – boxed lunch bought at a station (often a local specialty)
Many large stations will sell their own ekiben, using local specialty as their main ingredients.

鯵 (あじ, aji) – horse mackerel

白鱚 (しろぎす, shirogisu) – Japanese whiting

Two fish in season that can be caught from the area!

鉤 (かぎ, kaji) – hook

エイ (ei) – stingray

鯥 (むつ, mutsu) – gnomefish

眼仁奈 (めじな, mejina) – largescale blackfish

干物 (ひもの, himono) – dried fish
The kanji 干 means dried, while 物 means thing. So it literally means ‘dried thing’.

興味 (きょうみ, kyoumi) – interest (in something); curiosity (about something); zest (for)

As said by the lady boss of the himono shop “興味があれば何でもできる!” (If you have the interest, you can do anything!

Besides fishing, they visited a dried fish shop + factory and made dried fish out of their fresh catch. They also went to gather some fresh wasabi from a local farm for their ekiben. Part two of the ekiben making continues in the following week!