't seen fresh renkon until this spring. Oden seems like a winter dish. Potatoes store really long, so they are available year round. Lotus root, growing in the mud under water seem as though they'd be difficult to get in the winter, and unless they're processed they don't keep long...
This is probably why we have a culture of buying local souvenirs or gifts wherever we go to bring back home to family and friends. Until I watched Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories, I had never seen or had Tonteki (トンテキ). Tonteki is a regional food in Mie Prefecture in central Japan...