Protected local food
Toyoshima Cutlassfish
豊島タチウオ
Silver cutlassfish (tachiuo) caught one at a time on hand lines off Toyoshima island in Hiroshima. Handled on board, so it lands unmarked and very fresh.
Key facts
- Registered as a protected name
- 9 September 2019
- Region
- Chugoku
- Official name in Japanese
- 豊島タチウオ
- Official area (in Japanese)
- 広島県呉市豊浜町豊島沖周辺海域
Caught one by one
Fishers on Toyoshima, a small island in the Seto Inland Sea off Kure in Hiroshima, catch tachiuo with single hand lines, a method passed down through generations. The currents around the island change speed often, drawing small fish such as sand lance, and the cutlassfish follow.
Finished on the boat
Every step after catching happens on the boat: sorting, icing and ikejime, a Japanese way of killing fish quickly to keep them fresh. The long, silver fish arrive unscarred and very fresh, and the market rates them highly for that.
How to eat it
Very fresh tachiuo is served as sashimi or seared. It is also delicious salt-grilled or fried.
Good to know
Questions travellers ask
What is tachiuo?
Largehead hairtail, also called cutlassfish or beltfish, a long, ribbon-like silver fish.
Where is Toyoshima?
An island in the Seto Inland Sea, part of Kure city in Hiroshima Prefecture.
Where it comes from
More protected foods from the same area
Crafts from the same area
Heritage stories from the same area
- Fukiya: the birthplace of Japan Red
- Iwami kagura: gods and demons dance the old myths
- Kitamaebune: the merchant ships that made Japan's port towns rich
- Onomichi: a hillside port town of temples and lanes
- The Murakami Kaizoku: sea lords of the Geiyo Islands
- Tomonoura: Japan's best-kept Edo-era port town
- Yokosuka, Kure, Sasebo and Maizuru: Japan's naval port cities
Sources
We checked the facts on this page against these sources.