We at Sea Vegetable Company collect and study seaweed, which is in decline in its natural state, and restore it through land-based and sea-surface cultivation with a low environmental impact, while also developing new ways of consuming the product.

More than 1,500 species of seaweeds inhabit the seas of Japan, all of them considered non-toxic and edible. Even so, only a few dozen varieties make their way to the table — in a country said to have the most advanced marine cuisine in the world. In other words, many types of seaweed remain untapped as potential foodstuffs. Whereas the plants of the earth have been thoroughly evaluated and various methods of cultivation and cooking established, the world of seaweed is still being discovered — indeed, the process has hardly begun.

Our company seeks to preserve the seaweed-consuming culture of the past and expand it further. To do so will support the wellbeing of both the ocean environment and humankind. Our daily activities are based on this belief.

Since Sea Vegetable Company began, we have been mainly producing Suji-Aonori (green laver), the most aromatic and highest quality green seaweed. This variety was once mainly harvested from the Shimanto River in Kochi Prefecture, but yields plummeted due to rising water temperatures in the estuary. By 2020, shipments were down to zero. Declining yields at other locations have led to supplies increasingly falling short of demand. In response, our company has achieved a world’s first: the cultivation of seaweed above ground using clean, mineral-rich, subterranean seawater

By employing our patented cultivation methods and production expertise, we can now provide a stable supply of high-quality Suji-Aonori throughout the year. A comparison with the Suji-Aonori growing in the Yoshino River, in the same region, has found that our product contains between 2.5 to 4.5 times more dimethyl sulfide, considered the main aromatic component of green laver.

Test Kitchen, our base for seaweed cuisine development, was established in the autumn of 2021. Chef Shui Ishizaka and two other cooks have been working daily to discover the potential of different seaweeds as foodstuffs. They have assessed more than 100 varieties, acquiring and sharing knowledge on new ways of utilizing seaweed previously unknown to the culinary world to a large extent. Through desserts, drinks, fermented seasonings, and other products that release the hidden appeal of seaweed, we have uncovered surprising and inspiring ways of eating seaweed. These products have received high praise not only in Japan but also many other parts of the world.

“Re-seaweed,” our original brand developed by Ishizaka, offers “the experience of tastes no one has ever savored before, using seaweed as the main ingredient.”