Makurazaki Katsuobushi

"Makurazaki Katsuobushi" is a traditional food with over 300 years of history and has been carefully preserved as an essential ingredient of Japanese cuisine. Today, it is widely used as a gift item, for home consumption, and in restaurants, etc. Makurazaki City boasts the largest katsuobushi ⁽¹⁾ production volume in Japan.
　The dried bonito is highly rated and has earned numerous distinctions, including several Minister of Agriculture Forestry, and Fisheries Prizes, at the National Katsuobushi Competition.

"Makurazaki Katsuobushi" is manufactured from bonito within the designated production area and shipped in accordance with the "Makurazaki Katsuobushi Certification Standards" established by Makurazaki Marine Products Processing Industries Cooperative.

The production area, Makurazaki City, is located at the southern end of Kagoshima Prefecture, where bonito fishing has long flourished thanks to the Kuroshio Current ⁽²⁾. Bonito caught in the area in spring has a low fat content, making it ideal for producing high-quality katsuobushi. The production area also has geographical conditions that suit katsuobushi production, such as high-quality pure water suitable for boiling the fish and abundant oak and sawtooth oak forests that supply ample firewood for the drying process.
　The production method, which includes roasting and mold inoculation, was introduced to the region by Mori Yahei, a fisherman from Kishu who was invited by Satsuma Domain ⁽³⁾ after a massive earthquake and tsunami off the coast of Kishu in 1707.
　From the Meiji period ⁽⁴⁾ onward, the motorization and enlargement of fishing vessels expanded fishing grounds. Makurazaki subsequently became a significant base for pelagic bonito fishing, further boosting katsuobushi production. The local producers enhanced the quality of their products and established independent certification standards to ensure high quality. These efforts led "Makurazaki Katsuobushi" to achieve nationwide recognition and acclaim.

1. Kastuobushi : Boiled, smoked and dried bonito.
2. Kuroshio Current: Also called the Japan Current, it refers to the north-flowing ocean current from the East China Sea through the Tokara Channel into the Pacific Ocean and along the south coast of the islands of Japan before flowing east off the Boso Peninsula. It is one of the largest ocean currents in the world along with the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and the Gulf Stream.
3. Satsuma Domain: A domain was a feudal territory granted to a feudal lord by the shogun during the Edo period, along with its governing administration. The Satsuma Domain governed the present-day Kagoshima Prefecture and the southeastern part of Miyazaki Prefecture.
4. Meiji period: An era of Japanese history extending from 1868 to 1912, during which Japan shifted from feudalism under the Shogunate to a modernized nation state.