Kombu Kelp

Development of the kombu industry in Sakai is said to have a strong connection with the kombu trade route the kelp harvested in Hokkaido travelled.

The route called "kombu road" follows the calm Japan Sea shoreline from Hokkaido to Tsuruga and Obama, then further on to Shimonoseki before reaching Osaka and Sakai by sea.

It was originally brought to the port of Tsuruga and Obama and then travelled by land through Otsu and Yodogawa before reaching Osaka. However, by the middle of the Edo Period (18th century) a sea route to Osaka and Sakai had been opened which caused a large amount of kombu to end up at the port of Sakai.

During this period is when the kombu manufacturing industry in Sakai began to really take off. The peak occurred between the Taisho and Showa era when around 150 different kombu manufacturing facilities appeared in Sakai, creating a huge center of production.

Kombu from Sakai is generally processed into tororo or oboro kombu and while tororo kombu is produced by machine, oboro kombu is processed by the hands of experienced workers to maintain the highest level of quality.

Manufacturer's Association	Sakai Kombu Processing Cooperative
Location	6-629 Otori-higashi-machi, Nishi-ku, Sakai 593-8324 (Inside Matsumoto Co., Ltd.)
Phone	072-274-1818
Fax	072-271-6232
HP(URL)	None