CHOSYU KUROKASHIWA

"CHOSYU KUROKASHIWA" is meat of a jidori (homebred chicken) characterized by pleasant firmness and softness.
　The meat has not only penetrated as a tourist attraction in the producing area, but it is also widely appreciated for its good taste by distributors, restaurants, and hotels in and outside the prefecture as an original homebred chicken from Yamaguchi Prefecture.

The breeding chicks of CHOSYU KUROKASHIWA are produced by crossing a rooster of the "Yamaguchi Kurodori breed*" (50% native-bred hereditary) and a hen of the "Rhode Island Red breed" (native-bred) and meet the criteria for breeding chicks specified in the "Japanese Agricultural Standards for Naturally Grown Chicken (jidori)" (Notification No. 844 of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, 1999).
　* Yamaguchi Kurodori breed is a chicken breed created by crossing a rooster of the Kurokashiwa breed and a hen of the Rhode Island Red breed, crossing a resultant crossbred breeder hen and a Shamo breeder rooster, and then crossing a resultant crossbred breeder rooster and a breeder hen of the White Plymouth Rock breed.
　The chicks are fattened over a minimum period of 80 days after hatching.
　The chicks are then raised by free range (allowing chicks to move freely on the floor or ground) within a poultry house throughout the entire rearing period. The stock density after 28 days from hatching should be 10 birds or less per square meter.

In the producing area, which is in the suburbs of Nagato City, fishing has flourished since ancient times. Because fish lee and other expensive feed have been available at reasonable prices, the poultry industry has thrived. Chicken meat is anchored not only for food at restaurants but also for home cooking and is rooted in the food culture of the region. To connect local industries and food to regional development, the government of Yamaguchi Prefecture developed CHOSYU KUROKASHIWA by using "Kurokashiwa", which is a natural monument of the region and has good taste, after an attempt that continued for 13 years. The use of locally sourced feed, cooperation between producers and the government on feeding management, and efforts to increase consumption in and outside the prefecture have resulted in the establishment of the chicken as a Yamaguchi Prefecture brand.
　The sale of CHOSYU KUROKASHIWA in Yamaguchi Prefecture started in 2009 with an annual shipment of about 2,000 birds. Producers, the city government of Nagato, and the prefectural government of Yamaguchi Prefecture jointly promoted feeding management and actions to keep the quality thereafter, and because demand increased as a result of consumption promotion, the shipment as of 2022 is over 30,000 birds, showing an increase of about 15-fold.
　In 2016, exports to Hong Kong started. Backed by an increase in Japanese food restaurants in overseas countries, the production system is being enhanced to realize full-scale overseas expansion.