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A report published Oct. 20 describes how Kanesa Katsuobushi Shoten in Nishi-Izu makes katsuobushi using a traditional hand-fired smoking method. The process includes boiling, repeated smoke-drying, koji mold fermentation and months of sun-drying; details of the workshop’s production volume and the method’s claimed flavor effects were not provided.
A report published Oct. 20 describes how Kanesa Katsuobushi Shoten, a workshop in Nishi-Izu, Japan, makes katsuobushi, or dried bonito, with a hand-fired smoking method its fifth-generation craftsman continues to use. The fish is boiled, smoked repeatedly, treated with koji mold and dried for months, a labor-intensive process that preserves a traditional regional technique.
At the workshop, craftsman Yasuhisa Serizawa prepares fresh bonito by filleting it and boiling it for about 90 minutes. The fish is then smoke-dried more than 10 times over a wood fire. The report says workers repair the pieces with bonito paste before fermenting them with koji mold and sun-drying them for months.
The full process can take more than half a year. The resulting blocks become extremely hard, and the report describes their surface as shining like a jewel. Katsuobushi is commonly shaved into thin flakes for use in Japanese cooking, though the source does not detail how the workshop’s finished product is prepared or sold.
Kanesa’s website describes its Tebiyama-style smoking method as using a vertical pit about two meters deep. Firewood from the Izu area—including oak, sawtooth oak and cherry—is burned at the bottom, and the fish is smoked and dried with the heat of an open flame. The website’s description was presented through Google translation in the original report.
A Hand-Fired Method Still in Use
The report documents a production method that depends on repeated manual work and extended drying rather than a short industrial cycle. For readers, the details explain why traditionally made katsuobushi takes months to produce and how smoking, fermentation and drying are combined to create a shelf-stable fish product used in Japanese food.
The technique also has a regional connection: Kanesa is in Nishi-Izu, and the company says the Tebiyama method has long been used in the Tago district of West Izu. The source says only a few manufacturers in Japan still use it, but does not provide a count or an independent survey. That makes the method’s continued use notable as a reported craft practice, without establishing how widespread it is nationally.
Kanesa’s website says the open flame produces rich flavor by smoking the surface quickly and locking in umami. That is the maker’s explanation, not an independently tested finding in the report. The documented stages nevertheless show how the workshop links a particular smoking setup with a distinctive, lengthy production process.
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A Workshop With Edo-Period Roots
The original report says Kanesa Katsuobushi Shoten was founded in 1882 and that Serizawa is its fifth-generation craftsman. It characterizes the Tebiyama process as about 200 years old, while the company’s account says the method’s history in the Tago district is believed to date back about 300 years, to the Edo period.
Those age descriptions are not identical, and the source does not explain the difference between them. Both present the technique as a longstanding practice. The report focuses on the workshop’s current production rather than providing a broader history of bonito processing or a comparison with other methods.
What the Report Does Not Establish
The report does not give the workshop’s annual output, the number of producers still using Tebiyama smoking, or a detailed account of how the method compares with other bonito-drying techniques. It also does not provide independent evidence for the company’s claim that open-flame smoking locks in umami.
The source uses two different estimates for the method’s age: about 200 years in its description of the workshop process and about 300 years in the company’s translated history. It does not reconcile those figures. The report also gives no specific temperature readings, drying conditions or food-safety procedures, so those details should not be inferred from the account.
The Process Continues at Kanesa
The account describes Serizawa continuing to use the hand-fired Tebiyama method at Kanesa; it does not announce a change in production or identify a future milestone. The next stages for each batch remain the same as described: repeated smoking, repair with bonito paste, koji fermentation and months of sun-drying.
Readers seeking details about the workshop’s products or current operations can consult Kanesa’s website, which the original report recommends. No additional production figures, interviews or independent assessment are included in the report.
Key Questions
What is katsuobushi?
Katsuobushi is Japanese dried bonito. The report describes it as a fish product made by boiling, smoking, fermenting and drying bonito over an extended period.
How long does Kanesa’s process take?
The report says the process takes more than half a year, including repeated smoking, koji fermentation and months of sun-drying.
What is the Tebiyama smoking method?
According to Kanesa’s website, it uses a vertical pit about two meters deep, with local firewood burned at the bottom to smoke and dry the fish over an open flame.
Does the report prove the method creates richer flavor?
No. Kanesa says the open flame produces rich flavor and locks in umami, but the report provides that as the company’s explanation, not as an independently tested result.
Source: hn
