🏯 PILGRIMAGE TO ANJŌ'S SACRED PLACES BY TAM NAKANO

In preparation for STARDOM's show today (April 6) in Tosho Arena (東祥安城) located in Anjō City (安城市), Aichi prefecture (愛知県) native Tam Nakano (中野たむ) has dedicated a column about places around the city for fans to go to where she was raised from the age of 10 till she finished high school. Her column was released on February, 12, 2025 as part of their bi-weekly column in the Weekly Pro-Wrestling (週刊プロレス) called "Tam Purin a La Mode/Tam Creme Caramel a La Mode" (たむぷりんア・ラ・モード).
Octopus Park (タコ公園)
This is a park that contains an octopus slide known as a "Taka-no-yama" (タコの山). It is located near the Tosho Arena and her former junior high school. During her time in the school, its sporting grounds were under construction, so they had their P.E. lessons at the nearby park. She would appreciate if fans take photos with the octopus while pretending to play hide-and-seek.
Banacho (バナチョ)
A delicious crepe store about 30 minutes walk from Tosho Arena in between her former school and the nearest train station. She used to stop here on her days off from extra-curricular activities. The crepes are crispy, filled to the brim with mildly sweet cream, and have a lovely chubby shape to them.
Her personal recommendation is the "Choco Cream Banana" (チョコ生クリームバナナ).
If you want a meal, she recommends getting the "Tuna Corn Salad" (ツナコーンサラダ).
DENPARK (デンパーク)
A cultural park modelled after the country of Denmark where you get to become closer with nature.
The usual place people recommend for amusement activities is "Anjō Korona World" (安城コロナワールド) or "Ankoro" (安コロ) for short. Usually, popular/extroverted people go there, so Tam has not really gone to "Ankoro" much and would rather enjoy nature quietly at DENPARK she says.
Her favorite spot is the Floral Place (フローラルプレイス) where a Danish townscape is replicated inside of a big greenhouse. You can watch seasonal flower shows and shop at a cute general store while enjoying the flow of time as you forget all the hustle and bustle of everyday life. They also offer well organized hands-on cooking workshops where you can make things such as sausages and bread.
Many facilities for kids are available around the place.
Pekin Honten (北京本店)
A popular restaurant that serves Chinese cuisine known as one of Anjō's "soul food" (meaning popular/unique food in the region). Its signature dish is the "Pekinhan" (北京飯) which is their original rice bowl containing pork karaage topped with very fluffy eggs that look magnificent as Tam describes.
It's always closed on Mondays and she doesn't get much chances to eat there, so she promises to go this year. Also apparently Kazuchika Okada is a regular customer in this place.
Sugakiya (スガキヤ)
This is one of the oldest ramen shop chains in Japan that is known for its affordability which is also labelled as "soul food" and can be found inside of malls. She likes their Niku Ramen (肉ラーメン) and the Gomoku Gohan (五目ご飯). Tam describes the Niku Ramen as having a unique light tonkotsu broth that is addictive.
She typically makes a "mini ramen" bowl on this unique looking spork that they call a "ramen fork". Then she puts lots of pepper before eating it which she wants y'all to try.
The Gomoku Gohan is a rice bowl served as a side-dish that contains fried tofu, carrots, shiitake mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and gobo (burdock roots).
Pan No Tora (パンのトラ)
A bakery that opened after Tam left Anjō. Her mom seems to like their bread, so she gets taken here whenever she visits. The shop holds 2 Guinness World Records for selling the most curry bread"and "freshly baked sandwich bread" within 24 hours.
One of the baking that she likes is their "Nama Choco Shoku Pan" (生チョコ食パン) has a fluffy, chewy dough with a mix of rich creamy chocolate and a heavenly taste to it according to Tam.
Souvenirs
In terms of buying souvenirs, she mainly suggests buying "Ooanmaki" from this shop called "Fujitaya No OAnmaki" (藤田屋の大あんまき) located in the city of Chiryu (知立市) just outside of Anjō. They also have stalls inside Meitetsu department stores (名鉄百貨店). She used to live in Chiryu during her early childhood and enjoyed buying herself treats after finishing cram school.
"Ooanmaki" is basically sweet bean paste known as "anko" wrapped within a fluffy pancake-like dough. You can choose within a wide selection of flavors such as adzuki (red bean), shiroan (white bean), custard, matcha, and more.
Tam's personal pick is the cheese flavor which she describes as the peak of salty-sweet food because of how well the saltiness of the cheese compliments the sweetness of the bean paste.
Other souvenirs she recommends getting are:
-
Deep-fried eel bones (うなぎボーン) apparently make you smarter when consumed.
-
These biscuits called "Shiruko Sando" (しるこサンド) filled with bean paste. Her granny's house is always stocked with these.
-
The "Nagoyan" (なごやん) manju filled with white bean paste. A round dumpling baked in a style of a sponge cake.
When you do come to Anjō especially if you are attending the show today in the Tosho Arena, she wants you to please come visit these places and also take home a few gifts.