Company GuidanceE x pressing True Flavor

本物の味を正直に1

Expressing True Flavor
A creator strives daily to always begenuine, and to stay true. Both goals
are connected by the words “thankyou”. We learn from the wisdom of
the past, and the sweat of today,
to aim for the taste of tomorrow. In
steadfastness we will carry on.
In the half century since establishing this company
in 1956, we have strived to express true flavor. We
started out as wholesalers of dried bonito, but in
1975, in an effort to meet our customers’ needs,
we began to make our own bonito packs and otherdried bonito-related products under the brandname Futamaru. Literally “Double Circle,” Futamaru
is intended as a playful reference to the “Mato,”
meaning “target,” in my family name.
We have also introduced a new brand called Katsuoya, a line of products particularly suited for highquality gifts. In recent years, in the pursuit ofexpediency, true taste has been largely neglected by
the food industry. It is in times like these that we must
rigidly protect our traditional production methods andprovide our customers with products that are safe,reliable and satisfactory. I strongly believe that thisis our duty to our customers and we will keep this in
our hearts as we earnestly undertake the productionof fine products.
Shinya Matoba
President and Managing Director

2Contribute to food culture while keeping ourfoundation rooted in passed down traditions.
How many people truly know

heavily on the expertise andrequired to produce a single

One tense moment follows

how much time and effort isdried bonito? Even now, we atMatoba Fisheries continue toprotect painstaking production
methods that date back someexperience of skilled artisans.
another, and a momentary

distraction can adversely affectthe outcome.

When a honkarebushi product

300 years. Bonito that haveis cut in half, the inner surface

thawed and sectioned by hand.

that of a precious stone. It would

been quick-frozen out at sea are
They are then boiled, boned andshaped by applying a bonito
paste to any cut or crevice.

Next, they are slowly smokedfor two weeks. The driest of ourproducts, called honkarebushi ,mature under a layer of moldand require anywhere from thre
e to six months to produce.
As no step in the process
is particularly well-suited

to automation, this work is

performed by hand and relies

gives off a beautiful shine likenot be an exaggeration to saythat dried bonito is a treasurefrom the sea that, through hard
work, has been transformed

into a jewel. This would not be
possible without artisans who

have learned traditional methods
handed down across time. We at

Matoba Fisheries will continue tocontribute to food culture while
keeping our foundation rooted
in passed down traditions.

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The Making of Honkarebushi
Cleaning The Fish

1

After cutting off the bonito’s headand gutting it, it is cut in half andthe spine is removed.

Filleting The Fish

2

The fish is then cut
in half again. The twoback sections arereferred to as “male”
sections and two belly
sections are “female.”

Placed In Baskets

3

The sections are lined
up carefully in trays
taking care not to alter
their shape.

4

Stewing
These trays of bonito
are submerged for 6090 minutes in waterthat is 90-95 degreesCelsius, just below theboiling point.

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The Making of Honkarebushi
Bone Removal

5

After cooling, the smaller bones
are carefully removed by hand.
Half of the skin is then removed
from the two back sections and
1/3 from each of the two belly
sections.
6

Mending

Before continuing on to the next part of theprocess, the bonito needs to be checked
for any damage or cracks. If any damage isfound, the bonito will need to be mended.
A bonito paste is used to fill in cracks
and smooth out any irregularities. This
improves the ultimate shape of thefinished product and prevents any moldfrom forming beneath the surface.
After mending, the bonito will besterilized with hot (90℃ )steam for
more than 10 minutes.

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The Making of Honkarebushi
Fire Roasting

7

The bonito sections arethen smoked using thewood from oak and otherhardwood trees.

Bare Honkarebushi

8

Sections that have been
dried 10-15 times are calledarabushi or “rough timbers.”
Any tar or fat is carefully
scraped off the surface.
9Molding

Stored in a very humid environment for
2-3 weeks, a layer of blue-green moldforms. This mold is harmless and resultsfrom a breakdown of fats that renders
the final product all the more tasty.

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The Making of Honkarebushi
Drying

10

The pieces are then dried
before being placed inhumid storage once again.
This cycle is repeated 3 - 4times.
11

Completed Honkarebushi

After a minimum of 6 months of work, thehonkarebushi is ready to eat.

7A Production Line With Safety In MindIn December 2016, a new factory built tointernational sanitary standards, equippedwith both “dirty zones” and “clean zones”, wascompleted and certified. We believe that we must
not only protect our tradition and flavor, but also
our customer’s safety and security.

Finely-tuned tomeet your needs -customizable shaving& grinding line

We have both shaving
and grinding lines in
our factory that can becustomized as per theclient’s request.

Shaving Line

Here at Matoba Fisheries, while contributing
to Japanese food culture with the productionof honkarebushi and other dried bonito
products, we have also procured

advanced facilities for the slicing, grating
and packaging of dried bonito. Thus,
while making use of and transmitting
traditional technology we are also
applying advanced technology to thedevelopment of a large number of new
food products as we strive to be anactive, all-around food producer.

We are able to shave as thinly as 0.01mm, or
cut as thick as 1.0mm.

Grinding Line

On the grinding line we are able to grind ascoarse as 5mm or fine as 0.001mm.

Meiwacho 6 Makurazaki-city Kagoshima Japan 〒 898-0036
TEL：0 1 2 0 - 7 2 - 0 4 3 7
FAX：0 9 9 3 - 7 2 - 5 1 8 8i n f o @ f u t amar u .jp
URL：h t t ps ://f u t amar u .jp/