Protected local food
Kawamata Shamo
川俣シャモ
Chicken from the shamo, a gamecock breed, raised in the cool hills of Kawamata, Fukushima. The meat is rich and flavourful, with more fat than ordinary chicken.
Key facts
- Registered as a protected name
- 31 March 2022
- Region
- Tohoku
- Official name in Japanese
- 川俣シャモ
- Official area (in Japanese)
- 福島県伊達郡川俣町
From fighting bird to dinner
Shamo is a tall, muscular gamecock breed whose name comes from Siam, the old name for Thailand. In the Edo period, the silk weavers of Kawamata in Fukushima grew rich and kept shamo for cockfighting as a pastime. Raising them spread through the town, and people ate them too.
Rich and flavourful
Kawamata shamo has more fat and less water than ordinary chicken, and a high share of oleic acid, which gives the meat a rich, satisfying flavour.
Cool upland air
The town sits about 200 metres up, and even in summer cool wind comes down from the Abukuma highlands. That suits chickens, which do not cope well with heat.
Good to know
- Try Kawamata shamo as oyakodon, ramen with shamo broth or yakitori at restaurants in town.
- Kawamata is about 40 minutes by car from Fukushima city.
Questions travellers ask
What is shamo?
A Japanese gamecock breed. The name is believed to come from Siam, today's Thailand, where its ancestors came from.
Is the meat tough?
It is firmer than ordinary broiler chicken, with a rich flavour.
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.