JOURNAL / JAPAN etc.（English）

JAPAN ［HIROSHIMA］
Japanese Ingredients for the World’s Top Kitchens ＃47

A New Taste in Gastronomy
VIRGIN OYSTERS

2024.12.09

text by Michiko Watanabe / photographs by Daisuke Nakajima / English text by Susan Rogers Chikuba

Though the times are always changing, there are certain timeless ingredients from Japan that will never go out of style. Yukio Hattori, president of Hattori Nutrition College in Tokyo, introduces unique labors of love—items grown and produced with care and integrity by hardworking suppliers across the country.

連載：未来に届けたい日本の食材

About 60 percent of Japan’s oyster production comes from Hiroshima prefecture, and this is where Tatsuo Miho runs Kanawa Suisan, a business begun by his great-grandfather in 1867. “We handle everything from breeding to processing to sales and restaurant operations,” he says. Miho is the mastermind behind virgin oysters, which have never spawned and are prized for their sweet, low-mineral taste.

“Oysters mature in 18 to 24 months, but virgin oysters can be harvested at six months. We grow two types: makaki (Pacific oyster), which spawn in the summer, and iwakaki, which spawn in the fall. That means virgin oysters can be brought to market regularly from January through June,” he explains. Launched in 1962, the Kanawa line of specialist oyster restaurants now has five addresses, including one in Ginza, Tokyo.

Kanawa Suisan’s oyster-breeding platforms lie in front of an uninhabited island 30 kilometers from Hiroshima Bay. Far from any rivers and with no wastewater or agricultural runoff, the beds rest in some of the prefecture’s clearest seawater.

Virgin oysters, a product developed by company head Tatsuo Miho and now sought after by chefs throughout Japan, are shelled and bottled raw. They have a shelf life of five days.