Protected local food
Kyo Kamo Nasu
京賀茂なす
A large, perfectly round eggplant from Kamigamo in northern Kyoto city. Glossy black-purple and thick-fleshed, it turns silky when cooked but holds its shape.
Key facts
- Registered as a protected name
- 18 March 2025
- Region
- Kansai
- Official name in Japanese
- 京賀茂なす
- Official area (in Japanese)
- 京都府京都市北区、左京区
Grown by Kamigamo Shrine
Kamigamo sits on a fertile fan of dark soil between the Kamo and Takano rivers in northern Kyoto. Farmers have grown big round eggplants here since the Edo era. The area has close ties to Kamigamo Shrine, one of Kyoto's oldest: the eggplants are offered at a rite during the Aoi Festival and at New Year.
Round, glossy and firm
Kamo nasu is perfectly round, with big thorns on the stem cap and glossy black-purple skin. The flesh is thick and silky, yet it does not fall apart when cooked. Growers save their own seed and keep traditional methods to protect the true type, and some still sell door to door, a custom dating back to the Heian era.
How to eat it
The classic is nasu dengaku: thick slices grilled or fried and topped with sweet miso. It also appears in Kyoto's kaiseki meals.
Good to know
- Summer is eggplant season. Order nasu dengaku at a Kyoto restaurant and look for Kamo nasu by name.
- Also from Kyoto: Manganji Amato sweet peppers. Compare with Yoshikawa Eggplant, another round heirloom from Fukui.
Questions travellers ask
What is nasu dengaku?
Eggplant grilled or fried and topped with sweet miso. Kamo nasu is the classic eggplant for it.
Where is it grown?
In Kita and Sakyo wards of Kyoto city, around Kamigamo.
Where it comes from
More protected foods from the same area
Crafts from the same area
Heritage stories from the same area
- 800 years of Japanese tea in Uji and southern Kyoto
- Kitamaebune: the merchant ships that made Japan's port towns rich
- Lake Biwa Canal: the waterway of hope from Otsu to Kyoto
- Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage: Japan's 1,300-year journey of the heart
- Tango chirimen: 300 years of silk on Kyoto's north coast
- Yokosuka, Kure, Sasebo and Maizuru: Japan's naval port cities
Sources
We checked the facts on this page against these sources.