{"id":460,"date":"2026-04-07T18:04:28","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T09:04:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/agriture.jp\/?post_type=sustainable&#038;p=460"},"modified":"2026-04-26T02:36:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T17:36:08","slug":"hokuriku-traditional-vegetables","status":"publish","type":"sustainable","link":"https:\/\/agriture.jp\/en\/sustainable\/hokuriku-traditional-vegetables\/","title":{"rendered":"The appeal of heirloom vegetables in Hokuriku! Regional brands such as Kaga vegetables thoroughly explained"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In the Hokuriku region exist many \"heirloom vegetables\" handed down in their lands.<\/p>\n<p>These are precious food heritage, deeply tied to the region's climate, soil, and food culture and nurtured over long years. While mass production and standardization advance, the value of diverse varieties is being reappraised, and attention to heirloom vegetables is rising among chefs, food manufacturers, and farmers.<\/p>\n<p>The definition of heirloom vegetables varies somewhat by region, but generally the common points are that they are \"native varieties cultivated in that region since long ago\" and \"not F1 hybrids created by crossing new varieties.\" Native varieties that have adapted to their local landscape are often strong against climate change and pests, and their individuality in flavor, aroma, and texture stands out.<\/p>\n<div data-type=\"table_of_contents\"><\/div>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/agriture.jp\/en\/novelty\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/storage.googleapis.com\/studio-cms-assets\/projects\/9YWyw1reqM\/s-1280x720_v-fms_webp_2ed11573-ad31-4ace-a9ba-3de9d75f92b5.jpg\" alt=\"\u30b5\u30b9\u30c6\u30a3\u30ca\u30d6\u30eb\u306a\u8ca9\u4fc3\u7269\u3092\u5236\u4f5c\" width=\"\" height=\"\"><\/a><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"index_bVdZo8vN\"><strong>The Kaga-vegetable certification system and its features<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Ishikawa Prefecture's \"Kaga vegetables\" are a representative of the Hokuriku region's heirloom vegetables.<\/p>\n<p>JA Kanazawa City and Ishikawa Prefecture publish the definition of Kaga vegetables, setting criteria such as \"having been cultivated since before 1945 (Showa 20)\" and \"being cultivated mainly within the prefecture.\" The Kanazawa City Agricultural Products Brand Association was established in June 1997 (Heisei 9), certifying Kaga vegetables as brand vegetables and working actively on consumption promotion.<\/p>\n<p>The association's main operations are twofold: \"activities to raise Kaga vegetables' brand power\" \u2014 brand certification, management and distribution of brand-certification seals, and registration and management of trademarks \u2014 and \"consumption-expansion and promotional activities\" \u2014 public-relations activities and information dissemination, registration and management of Kaga-vegetable retailers, and certification and management of Kaga-vegetable processed goods.<\/p>\n<p>Kaga vegetables are vividly colored, a pleasure to the eye, and distinctive to eat, making them indispensable ingredients for Kaga cuisine. In 2007 (Heisei 19), \"Kaga vegetables\" was registered as a regional collective trademark, and Kanazawa-grown sweet potato, lotus root, bamboo shoot, futo-kyuri, suizenjina (kinjiso), daikon, and pumpkin were recognized as designated goods.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"index_FoSiZ0AE\"><strong>The appeal of representative Kaga vegetables<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"index_WB9MEAyb\"><strong>Gensuke daikon<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Gensuke daikon was created around 1932 (Showa 7) by Saichiro Matsumoto.<\/p>\n<p>He brought back a variety created by Gensuke Inoue of Aichi Prefecture and, crossing it each year with the Nerima-type daikon he cultivated in the Uchino district, repeatedly performing fixed selection, completed it ten years later in 1942 (Showa 17). With a better harvest rate than conventional daikon and strong disease resistance, gensuke daikon came to be grown across Ishikawa Prefecture centered on the Uchino district, and by 1960 (Showa 35) had become a major growing region with 3,000 tons handled.<\/p>\n<p>However, gensuke daikon had the problem of readily becoming spongy, and with the appearance of the disease-resistant aokubi sobuto daikon, growers declined, until around 1995\u201396 (Heisei 7\u20138) only the Matsumoto family remained. Being branded as a Kaga vegetable in 1997 (Heisei 9) increased the number of people wanting to grow it, and there are now 19 growers, shipping more than 20,000 cases a year across the whole Uchino district.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"index_cepECI_G\"><strong>Kinjiso<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Kinjiso is a distinctive leafy vegetable even among Kaga vegetables.<\/p>\n<p>The undersides of its leaves are a vivid purple, and it has a distinctive texture and flavor. High in nutritional value too, it's rich in vitamins and minerals. In Kanazawa it has long been cherished as a summer leafy vegetable, appearing on the table as ohitashi and sunomono.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"index_1eHmVmD8\"><strong>Kaga futo kyuri<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Kaga futo-kyuri is characterized by a thicker, shorter shape than ordinary cucumbers.<\/p>\n<p>With thick flesh and few seeds, it's suited to simmered and stir-fried dishes. As an indispensable ingredient in Kaga cuisine, it's used in a variety of cooking methods.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"index_lOR2Rb30\"><strong>Fukui Prefecture's heirloom vegetable \"Yoshikawa eggplant\"<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The Hokuriku region's heirloom vegetables aren't limited to Ishikawa Prefecture.<\/p>\n<p>\"Yoshikawa eggplant,\" cultivated in Sabae City, Fukui Prefecture, has a history of more than 1,000 years and is also said to be the root of the Kamo eggplant. Its harvest season is June to October, and it's a round eggplant about the size of a softball, weighing around 300g. With thin skin and firm, dense flesh that doesn't fall apart even when cooked, it suits dengaku and the like. It pairs well with oil too, and has been cherished for a sweet, melting flavor.<\/p>\n<p>The unimproved Yoshikawa eggplant has sharp thorns on its leaves, branches, and calyx, and when the wind blows, the fruit brushes against those thorns and gets scratched, marring its appearance. On top of being difficult to cultivate, its yield is also less than a third that of high-yield types, so growing farmers plummeted, and around 1990 the number of growing farmers fell to just one household.<\/p>\n<p>The Yoshikawa eggplant, which a single farmer kept cultivating and passed down, left only three fruits in the field when that farmer passed away. It was city agricultural-affairs staff and local dedicated farmers who resolved to protect and pass on seeds taken from the Yoshikawa eggplant received from the farmer's wife. In 2009 they formed the \"Sabae City Heirloom Vegetable Cultivation Study Group\" and took on the revival of the Yoshikawa eggplant, whose production had nearly been cut off.<\/p>\n<p>In July 2016, the Yoshikawa eggplant was registered under the national Geographical Indication (GI) protection system. It's the first GI registration in Hokuriku, and the first-ever registered product nationwide among heirloom vegetables. The GI protection system is a system in which the state registers and protects high-quality regional products, and it's proof that the value of the Yoshikawa eggplant has been officially recognized.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"index_I13wphXP\"><strong>The value and use of heirloom vegetables<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The value of heirloom vegetables isn't merely their rarity.<\/p>\n<p>It lies in their individuality of flavor and texture. Compared with mass-production varieties, they can be uneven in shape or low-yielding, but their taste unique to that land is distinct, leading to differentiation in processed goods and at restaurants. Cases of food companies developing products using heirloom vegetables are actually increasing, with application to vegetable powder, dried vegetables, drinks, confectionery, and seasonings advancing.<\/p>\n<p>Heirloom vegetables are also the core of \"regional identity.\" Moves in which local farmers and municipalities set up branding and certification systems to promote both regional and agricultural development are active nationwide. Kyoto's \"Kyoto Brand Products,\" Nara's \"Yamato Heirloom Vegetables,\" Ishikawa's \"Kaga vegetables\" \u2014 municipalities publish official definitions and certification systems.<\/p>\n<p>Seed preservation is indispensable to preserving and passing on heirloom vegetables, and \"seed-saving farmers,\" \"native-variety preservation societies,\" and \"regional agricultural centers\" cooperate to work on maintaining genetic resources. Now that suitable growing areas are shifting under the influence of climate change, heirloom vegetables are also essential from the standpoint of \"securing diversity.\"<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"index_Mx5NbsjQ\"><strong>Summary<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The Hokuriku region's heirloom vegetables are a \"treasure of food\" produced by the region's landscape and culture.<\/p>\n<p>Centered on Kaga vegetables, native varieties cultivated since before 1945 (Showa 20) are carefully protected in Ishikawa and Fukui Prefectures. Gensuke daikon, kinjiso, Kaga futo-kyuri, Yoshikawa eggplant, and more \u2014 each has its own history and features, and has supported the region's food culture.<\/p>\n<p>Being recognized as a regional brand raises their value, and they're used in diverse settings \u2014 improving farmers' incomes, tourism, food development, and more. The diverse varieties remaining across the country are an important asset in thinking about the food and agriculture of the future, and efforts to preserve and popularize them need to continue.<\/p>\n<p>If you've taken an interest in the Hokuriku region's heirloom vegetables, by all means visit a local farm stand or certified shop and pick them up for yourself. You should be able to feel the flavor unique to that land and the history that's been handed down.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\" data-thread=\"\"><a href=\"https:\/\/agriture.jp\/en\/novelty\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/storage.googleapis.com\/studio-cms-assets\/projects\/9YWyw1reqM\/s-1280x720_v-fms_webp_2ed11573-ad31-4ace-a9ba-3de9d75f92b5.jpg\" alt=\"\u30b5\u30b9\u30c6\u30a3\u30ca\u30d6\u30eb\u306a\u8ca9\u4fc3\u7269\u3092\u5236\u4f5c\" width=\"\" height=\"\"><\/a><\/figure>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Recommended reading<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/agriture.jp\/en\/sustainable\/\">Sustainable initiatives<\/a> \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/agriture.jp\/en\/oem\/\">Commercial dried vegetables<\/a> \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/agriture.jp\/en\/product\/\">Product lineup<\/a> \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/agriture.jp\/en\/sustainable\/rolling\/\">Dried Vegetables for Emergency Food. A Recommendation of \"Rolling Stock\" to Prepare for Disasters<\/a> \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/agriture.jp\/en\/office\/telework-vegetable-welfare\/\">5 benefits to resolve the vegetable shortage of telework employees<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u5317\u9678\u5730\u65b9\u306b\u306f\u3001\u305d\u306e\u571f\u5730\u3067\u53d7\u3051\u7d99\u304c\u308c\u3066\u304d\u305f\u300c\u4f1d\u7d71\u91ce\u83dc\u300d\u304c\u6570\u591a\u304f\u5b58\u5728\u3057\u307e\u3059\u3002 \u3053\u308c\u3089\u306f\u5730\u57df\u306e\u6c17\u5019\u3084\u571f\u58cc\u3001\u98df\u6587\u5316\u3068\u6df1 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":776,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"swell_btn_cv_data":"","footnotes":"","ssp_meta_description":"\u5317\u9678\u5730\u65b9\u306b\u306f\u3001\u305d\u306e\u571f\u5730\u3067\u53d7\u3051\u7d99\u304c\u308c\u3066\u304d\u305f\u300c\u4f1d\u7d71\u91ce\u83dc\u300d\u304c\u6570\u591a\u304f\u5b58\u5728\u3057\u307e\u3059\u3002\u3053\u308c\u3089\u306f\u5730\u57df\u306e\u6c17\u5019\u3084\u571f\u58cc\u3001\u98df\u6587\u5316\u3068\u6df1\u304f\u7d50\u3073\u3064\u304d\u3001\u9577\u3044\u5e74\u6708\u3092\u304b\u3051\u3066\u80b2\u307e\u308c\u3066\u304d\u305f\u8cb4\u91cd\u306a\u98df\u306e\u907a\u7523\u3067\u3059\u3002","ssp_meta_keyword":"\u4f1d\u7d71\u91ce\u83dc,\u5317\u9678\u306e\u9b45\u529b,\u52a0\u8cc0\u91ce\u83dc\u306a\u3069\u5730\u57df\u30d6\u30e9\u30f3\u30c9\u3092\u5fb9\u5e95\u89e3\u8aac","ssp_meta_canonical":"","ssp_meta_robots":"","ssp_meta_title":""},"categories":[39,42,92],"tags":[75],"vegetable":[],"class_list":["post-460","sustainable","type-sustainable","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sustainability","category-traditional-vegetables","category-kaga-vegetables","tag-traditional-vegetables"],"acf":{"summary":"\u4f1d\u7d71\u91ce\u83dc \u5317\u9678\u306e\u4ee3\u8868\u683c\u306f\u77f3\u5ddd\u770c\u306e\u52a0\u8cc0\u91ce\u83dc\u3067\u3001\u662d\u548c20\u5e74\u4ee5\u524d\u304b\u3089\u306e\u683d\u57f9\u3092\u57fa\u6e96\u306b\u91d1\u6ca2\u5e02\u8fb2\u7523\u7269\u30d6\u30e9\u30f3\u30c9\u5354\u4f1a\u304c\u8a8d\u5b9a\u3057\u3066\u3044\u307e\u3059\u3002\u6e90\u52a9\u3060\u3044\u3053\u3093\uff08\u5e742\u4e07\u30b1\u30fc\u30b9\uff09\u3001\u91d1\u6642\u8349\u3001\u52a0\u8cc0\u592a\u304d\u3085\u3046\u308a\u306a\u306915\u54c1\u76ee\u306e\u307b\u304b\u3001\u798f\u4e95\u770c\u9bd6\u6c5f\u5e02\u306e\u5409\u5ddd\u30ca\u30b9\u306f2016\u5e74\u306b\u5317\u9678\u521d\u30fb\u4f1d\u7d71\u91ce\u83dc\u521d\u306e\u56fd\u306e\u5730\u7406\u7684\u8868\u793aGI\u4fdd\u8b77\u5236\u5ea6\u306b\u767b\u9332\u3002\u5730\u57df\u30d6\u30e9\u30f3\u30c9\u5316\u3068\u8fb2\u696d\u632f\u8208\u306e\u52d5\u304d\u3092\u8a73\u3057\u304f\u89e3\u8aac\u3057\u307e\u3059\u3002","product":1105},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/agriture.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sustainable\/460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/agriture.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sustainable"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/agriture.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/sustainable"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agriture.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agriture.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=460"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/agriture.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sustainable\/460\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4397,"href":"https:\/\/agriture.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sustainable\/460\/revisions\/4397"}],"acf:post":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agriture.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/1105"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agriture.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/agriture.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agriture.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agriture.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=460"},{"taxonomy":"vegetable","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agriture.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vegetable?post=460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}