The Origin of Umami: Bonito Smoking Hut Katsuo no Tenpaku

- Private group experience.- Visit a smokehouse where authentic bonito flakes are made.A talk on the history of bonito flakes and their production methods directly from the representative of the bonito workshop.- Experience shaving bonito flakes and get a taste of the bonito you shaved in freshly cooked okaka rice.- You will have the opportunity to taste dashi soup, then you can choose to experience tasting either dashi-wari kan (a warm sake and dashi cocktail) or omiki (sake offered to Shinto gods)./- Since the Nara period (710–794), bonito flakes have been prized for their taste, and descriptions of how the name Nakiri had been written on wooden plaques and other documents and how bonito flakes were offered to the imperial court and Shinto shrines, etc., date back to this period.Bonito fishing was thriving, and Nakiri’s bonito flakes prospered as the smoked method of bonito flakes was introduced.The smoking method is all about discerning between different fish qualities and adjusting the heat manually. This style of careful smoking is old-fashioned, and only about 10 restaurants are still using this style in Japan.The bonito flake production process in the Ise-Shima region involves using firewood taken from the local traditional rural landscape and regenerating the seas by preserving the land.For thousands of years, our ancestors have made dried bonito flakes while preserving the cycle of nature.The ash of this firewood is also used in indigo dyes and natural ash glazes used on pottery. Ise-Shima’s bonito flake production was born out of such a cycle.