Protected local food
Tanegashima Anno Imo
種子島安納いも
A sweet potato from Tanegashima island in Kagoshima. Baked, it turns soft and sticky and so sweet it oozes syrup. It started Japan's craze for sticky baked sweet potatoes.
Key facts
- Registered as a protected name
- 2 March 2022
- Region
- Kyushu & Okinawa
- Official name in Japanese
- 種子島安納いも
- Official area (in Japanese)
- 鹿児島県西之表市、熊毛郡中種子町及び南種子町
Why it tastes like dessert
Anno imo has more sugar and less starch than everyday sweet potatoes. When it is heated it turns soft and sticky, and sweet enough that syrup seeps out. It sparked the boom in sticky-style yaki-imo, and it sells for about 20 to 50% more than ordinary sweet potatoes.
The island where sweet potatoes began
Tanegashima, an island in Kagoshima, is where sweet potato farming first took hold in Japan, in 1698. Anno imo has been grown in the Anno district of Nishinoomote since around 1947. The island barely gets frost, which suits a crop that is easily hurt by cold in storage.
Good to know
- Look for "anno imo" baked sweet potatoes at supermarkets and stalls in winter; they are sold all over Japan.
- It grows in Nishinoomote, Nakatane and Minamitane on Tanegashima.
Questions travellers ask
What does anno imo taste like?
Very sweet, with a soft, sticky texture when baked, almost like a dessert.
Where is Tanegashima?
An island south of mainland Kagoshima, in southern Kyushu.
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.