kamaboko maker (Hagi, Yamaguchi Prefecture) Akira Nagatani

The Chukobe Kamaboko Company is a venerable institution in its home ground of Yamaguchi Prefecture. The business was started in 1855 by owner Chukobe, and as word of his tasty kamaboko fish cake spread, he was asked to provision feudal lord Mori Takachika. The company prospered, and Chukobe’s grandson Chuzo was the originator of its signature yaki-kamaboko product, a white kamaboko fish cake.
Other innovative products have followed, developed by eighth-generation proprietor Akira. These include gobo-maki, a roll of burdock root and fish skin simmered in sauce and grilled, and yuzu-maki, surimi fish paste with yuzu citrus kneaded into it.