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Fuji-Hakone-Izu NP, Tokyo
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Niijima’s famous kusaya began as thrift, not a mysterious recipe: salt was scarce because the islands had to send it to the shogunate. People kept used fish brine, topped it up with fresh salt, and reused it; over centuries, that inherited liquid became the heart of the pungent ferment.
Niijima’s sweet-potato story starts in 1735, when scholar Aoki Konyō sent the island seed and a guide to growing and storing it. The crop thrived where rice could not, helped ease food shortages, and later supplied island-made starch, vinegar, soy sauce, and shōchū.
Niijima’s tataki is not raw fish: it is seasoned, finely worked fish paste, often made with flying fish or blue mackerel scad. Fry it as tataki-age and the raising agent makes each piece puff up into a soft, airy island-style fish cake.
Niijima’s first Moyai statue was carved from local Kōga stone after the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, modeled on a respected old exile. “Moyai” means “help one another”—not just a twist on Easter Island’s Moai—and Shibuya’s familiar statue was a gift from Niijima.
In Niijima’s UNESCO-listed Ō-odori, men dance with their faces hidden beneath cloths hanging from straw hats. The dancers move to drawn-out live singing, with a drum only at song endings; Honsōn uses purple veils, while Wakagō uses red.
Niijima’s “American potato” is actually a white-skinned sweet potato called Shichifuku, introduced to Japan from the U.S. around 1900. It suited the island’s sandy soil and kept well in Kōga-stone cellars—where hungry children once crawled in to sneak a snack.
Niijima’s exile register records 1,333 men and women sent to the island between 1668 and 1871. One was Sōma Kazue, known as the Shinsengumi’s last captain; on Niijima, he married a local woman and taught island children at a temple school.
Accounts of the 886 Mukaiyama eruption say ash turned Niijima white. The Japan Meteorological Agency’s historical record also describes ashfall so extensive that livestock died on the distant Bōsō Peninsula.
“Mama” means “cliff” in Niijima’s local dialect, so White Mama is literally the white cliff. As volcanic deposits erode, they release volcanic glass and quartz; waves wear away softer grains, leaving the tougher quartz to brighten the beaches.
Niijima’s beaches are not all white: dark iron-sand layers can show through the pale sand. The island’s iron sand was considered good quality and was shipped to mainland Japan until the postwar years.
Kōga stone is so light that it can float in water, yet Niijima’s local guide says it can withstand temperatures of 1,000°C. Easy to cut and fire-resistant, this porous volcanic stone became a practical choice for island buildings and walls.
Niijima’s glass gets its olive-green color from the island’s own volcanic Kōga stone: iron in the stone naturally colors the glass when it is melted. The local glass center also brings artists from Japan and abroad to work and teach.
Niijima’s surf break called “Secret” earned its name when local surfers sought quieter waves beyond crowded Habushiura during the island’s tourism boom. A world surf event used the spot in 2003—making the secret rather less secret.
According to Niijima folklore, the sea spirit Kannanbōshi walks through the village at night on January 24. Traditionally, families tucked fragrant tobira branches by their doors and stayed indoors, making the night one of quiet and caution.
In 2023, researchers working with a Niijima kusaya maker reported the first link between microbes in kusaya brine and the compounds behind its distinctive smell. A family-kept ferment became the subject of a modern microbiology study.
