Izu Islands Cuisine Shimoda Ashitaba and Shima-sushi
Izu Islands, Shizuoka — island chain extending south from Tokyo Bay; distinct island food culture
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.