Protected local food
Jusanko Yamato Shijimi
十三湖産大和しじみ
Small Yamato shijimi clams from Lake Jusan, a brackish lake on the Tsugaru coast of Aomori. Famous for the rich, savoury broth they give.
Key facts
- Registered as a protected name
- 7 December 2016
- Region
- Tohoku
- Official name in Japanese
- 十三湖産大和しじみ
- Official area (in Japanese)
- 青森県五所川原市（十三湖を含む。）、つがる市、北津軽郡中泊町
A brackish lake
Lake Jusan sits on the west coast of the Tsugaru peninsula in Aomori, where river water meets the sea. That mix of fresh and salt water is ideal for Yamato shijimi, a small clam. People have fished it here since at least the Meiji era, and the lake is one of Japan's leading shijimi grounds.
All about the broth
Shijimi are small, so they are about flavour, not meat. Cooked, they release a rich, savoury broth full of umami. Fishers limit their catch to keep the clams healthy, and the steady year-round supply is valued by Japan's markets.
How to eat it
The classic dish is shijimi miso soup. Around the lake, restaurants serve shijimi ramen and rice dishes too.
Good to know
- Order shijimi miso soup at a restaurant near Lake Jusan. The broth is the point, so drink it all.
- In the same prefecture, Aomori city is home to Aomori Cassis blackcurrants.
Questions travellers ask
What are shijimi?
Small clams that live in brackish and fresh water. In Japan they are mostly cooked in miso soup for their broth.
Where is Lake Jusan?
On the west coast of the Tsugaru peninsula in Aomori Prefecture, in northern Honshu.
Where it comes from
More protected foods from the same area
Crafts from the same area
Heritage stories from the same area
Sources
We checked the facts on this page against these sources.