I quit my job as a salaried worker to become a farmer, and now I grow sweet potatoes without using agricultural chemicals. I chop the wood myself and roast the sweet potatoes in a special kiln," he says. Mr. Matsumura, a rare Kansai man who learned all he knows about sweet potatoes and yaki-imo directly from his master, Yoshio Matsumoto, known as the Yaki-imo Hermit in Ibaraki Prefecture, produces large sweet potatoes that are overflowing with sizzling honey.

I think baked sweet potatoes are a simple and eternally loved food. I think it tastes better because it is baked slowly under an unstable flame. The fire does the work," he says. Once you try this unforgettable yaki-imo, you will never forget it.