Izu Islands Cuisine Shimoda Ashitaba and Shima-sushi · The Japanese Canon

I

Origin

Izu Islands, Shizuoka — island chain extending south from Tokyo Bay; distinct island food culture

II

Description

The Izu Islands — Izu Oshima, Niijima, Kozushima, Miyakejima, Hachijojima, and further islands — form a chain extending 300km south of Tokyo through the Pacific Ocean, politically part of Tokyo Metropolis but culinarily distinct through geographic isolation and subtropical climate. Island food culture: Oshima is known for anko (red bean), okowa (sticky rice with wild plants), and the camellia oil (tsubaki abura) tradition — the island's abundant camellia forests produce a cooking oil with neutral flavour and high smoke point that has been the cooking fat of choice for centuries. Hachijojima has the most distinct island culinary identity: shima-sushi (island sushi), which is sushi made with local fish marinated in soy and sugar rather than raw, reflecting the historical absence of refrigeration on remote islands — the fish is briefly cured and sweetened before placement on warm shari, producing a unique sweet-savoury profile quite different from Edo sushi. Ashitaba (Angelica keiskei) — a green leafy plant growing wild across the Izu Islands and Hachijojima especially — is the islands' most distinctive food product: deeply green, slightly bitter, extremely nutritious (chalcone compounds, vitamins), used fresh in tempura, stir-fried, in pasta, and dried as tea. The name means 'tomorrow's leaf' — cut one leaf today and tomorrow another sprouts in its place. Ashitaba tempura, ashitaba pasta, and ashitaba tea are island specialties that cannot be easily replicated with mainland ingredients.

III

The Thread

—Both Greek islands and Japanese islands developed distinct food traditions through geographic isolation; capers and ashitaba both represent island-specific bitter greens with medicinal tradition Greek

—Both Hawaiian and Izu Island food traditions developed in Pacific island isolation with abundant ocean access — fishing traditions and plant foraging as the food foundations Hawaiian

—Both traditions developed unique foods through island isolation; camellia oil parallels Canarian olive oil as island-specific cooking fat tradition Canarian · (Canary · Islands)

IV

Flavour Context

Izu Island food is flavoured by isolation — the ocean is the overwhelming presence: flying fish, silver herring, deep-sea fish at peak freshness; ashitaba adds a distinctive bitter-green mineral note; camellia oil imparts a subtle nuttiness; shima-sushi is sweet-savoury-tangy — island adaptations producing a unique flavour register not found on the mainland

Pillars V — VII

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