Sea Vegetable Company　[Kochi]

 The Other Side of Japanese Food Culture

Japan's coastal waters contain more than 1,500 species of seaweed, yet only a small fraction are commonly eaten. Sea Vegetable was founded to explore what the rest might offer.

The company started by developing seedling production technology for suji-aonori, a type of green seaweed with a clean, delicate flavor that is well known in Japan. That was only the beginning. Today, Sea Vegetable has established cultivation techniques for more than 30 seaweed varieties, growing them both on land and in the ocean, often in partnership with local fishermen and fishing communities along the Japanese coast.

Flavor at the Forefront of Innovation

The driving force behind Sea Vegetable is the simple conviction that seaweed, when handled well, is genuinely one of the most interesting things you can eat.

After harvest, each variety is treated according to its own characteristics, either dried, salt-preserved, or processed in a way that holds onto its natural aroma, texture, and umami. The company has worked with well-known chefs and restaurants to develop new ways of preparing the many varieties of seaweed, and runs a kitchen lab and concept shop where those ideas take shape. The thinking is that research, farming, and food culture all have to move together. Otherwise, you end up with a great ingredient that nobody knows how to enjoy.

A Vegetable That Comes From the Ocean

Seaweed is one of the few ingredients that can bring genuine depth and umami to a dish without meat or dairy, which is one reason it has found an audience in plant-based cooking. But Sea Vegetable's pitch is broader than that.

Seaweed pairs well with olive oil, tomatoes, nuts, and cheese. It works in salads, pasta, and soups. It fits naturally into Western cooking once you start thinking of it less as a Japanese specialty and more as a vegetable that happens to grow in the ocean. That reframing is exactly what Sea Vegetable is after: not just selling seaweed, but making the case for it as an everyday ingredient with a place in kitchens well beyond Japan, including, perhaps, yours.