Awaji Island located in Japan is home to a rather obscure tourist destination — an entire museum dedicated to onions. The Onaruto Bridge Memorial Museum celebrates onions, which grow easily on the island due to its climate. Famed across Japan, Awaji Island onions are known for their sweet flavour and tender texture. Visitors will know when they are close to onions on the island as their aroma fills the air.
Due to their popularity, the island even now has its own onion souvenirs, snacks, and eateries. At the museum, visitors can enjoy everything onion — from a giant onion statue overlooking the sea to onion-shaped wigs. In the spring, tourists can visit the Uzu no Kuni Uzu no Oka store, which sells a range of cute souvenirs from the island, including real Awaji onions. If you don't like the layered brown vegetable then you can still enjoy the spectacle of this onion-centred destination and purchase other local delicacies like boiled whitebait or wakame seaweed caught nearby.
The museum is also home to the Uzunooka restaurant, which serves dishes full of local ingredients and has spectacular views out across the sea. Alternatively, for those who don't want to have a sit-down meal, there is the Awaji Island Burger Awaji Island Onion Kitchen Uzunooka Branch. This little burger joint creates unique burgers using ingredients from Awaji Island — one of which, the Awaji Island Onion Beef Burger, won first place in the National Local Burger Grand Prix.
Whilst at the museum you should also make sure to try Awaji Island Hilltop Milk Bread. This simple milk bread has a fluffy texture, which is created using dairy product from the island. One of the quirkier attractions in the museum is the onion catcher. Here visitors can use the typical arcade crane machine to try and win some of the island's onions.
