Kuro Bara Nori and the True Taste of Nori
Jul 03,2025
Jul 03,2025
It’s no exaggeration to say that nori seaweed was a near-necessity in Showa-period (1926 to 1989) households. Although different regions have different types of nori, such as toasted nori and seasoned nori, it was and continues to be a familiar and cherished sight on Japanese dining tables. Conditions for nori production, however, are changing, effected by rising sea temperatures caused by global warming. Amid these changes, Tatsunoko Co., Ltd. has been experimenting with different approaches to ensure nori, a vital part of Japan’s food culture, continues to reach consumers far into the future. We spoke with Umemoto Fumio and Nishida Akio — Tatsunoko’s chairman and president respectively and the creators of the company’s original Kurobara Nori product.
Nori has been produced in the Seto Inland Sea region since antiquity. Tatsunoko was founded in 1989 in Saijo, Ehime, at a location overlooking the Seto Inland Sea.
“The rise of nori in homes across Japan was driven by improvements in the quality of plastics and advances in packaging technology,” explains Chairman Umemoto. “These technological innovations made nori easier to preserve and distribute, leading to its rapid growth.”
The Seto Inland Sea was a prime production ground for nori, so producers cultivated and harvested more and more of the laver. The majority was sold in sheets, in the form of toasted or seasoned nori. Over time, however, the balance between supply and demand shifted, creating a surplus of nori on the market and turning it into a low-cost commodity. This situation led Umemoto to look for an alternative approach.
Umemoto Fumio, chairman of Tatsunoko
“The sheet nori people mainly consume at home is made by crushing harvested nori into fine bits, forming them into sheets, and baking them at high temperatures. In this process, much of the nori’s original flavor and nutrients are lost. What occurred to me was the idea of returning to nori’s traditional form.”
Umemoto began his search for a way to deliver traditional nori — i.e., raw nori, known as genso, not made into sheets — directly to people.
Before sheet nori became the norm, many regions historically consumed nori in its raw, undried form. The problem with this is nori directly harvested from the sea is coated with ocean-borne contaminants and bacteria. Therefore, the nori must be carefully cleaned, sterilized, and dried before consumption. On the other hand, baking nori at high temperatures robs it of its vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and other nutrients as well as weakens its umami flavor. So it’s a dilemma either way.
“Our challenge was to find a way to process genso seaweed while preserving its nutrients and deliciousness. This train of thought led us to develop a far-infrared (FIR) dryer specifically for nori.”
It took them numerous iterations and experiments before the machine was finally completed.
“We poured significant funds into developing the machine, experimenting endlessly to find out this approach doesn’t work and that approach is a dead end. And even after working past all those issues, the completed machine would, in the end, fail once again. But through trial and error and iterative adjustments, the current fourth-generation machine turned out to be a masterpiece,” Umemoto says with a smile. The machine uses the energy of far-infrared light to thoroughly dry and sterilize nori while preserving the nutrients and umami of freshly dried genso seaweed.
Umemoto named this nori Kurobara Nori.
“People sometimes ask me what the name Kurobara means. The ‘bara’ part comes from the name for roses. Roses are incredibly beautiful, and black [‘kuro’] roses are extremely rare and noble in nature. So I named our product Kurobara Nori to signal that this is a precious and noble nori obtained from nature.”
This is how Kurobara Nori came to be, unparalleled in providing the authentic flavor of fresh nori while maintaining strict quality controls.
Tatsunoko’s two main products are toasted Yakibara Nori and Kurobara Nori
The Seto Inland Sea no longer yields as abundant nori harvests as it once did, due to recent changes in the marine environment driven by a combination of factors including global warming.
What saved the day was a type of Korean nori.
“South Korea has a thriving nori farming industry with abundant harvests. Among the different species they farm, we focused on oniama nori — a species of giant red algae. Although the most common species distributed in Japan is susabi nori, a purple laver, oniama nori has even better texture with a robust sweetness. So we decided to try making Kurobara Nori with this delicious type of nori.”
Tatsunoko, while still handling domestically harvested nori, succeeded in creating high-quality Kurobara Nori by processing oniama nori, which is both delicious and available in stable quantities, with its proprietary FIR dryer.
“Our sense is that Japan’s marine products industry is in a critical situation. This is why we continue to innovate so we can deliver nori to Japan’s consumers.”
Tatsunoko ensures the quality of its products with thorough manual inspections alongside color sorters, metal detectors, and other advanced equipment
Tatsunoko recently reached a new turning point for the company.
“We started out processing nori and delivering high-quality products like Kurobara Nori to consumers. At the same time, it has always been our desire to expand the distribution of our products more widely, both domestically and internationally. By joining the Marukome Group, with whom we have had a long-standing business relationship involving, among other things, supplying raw ingredients, we believe we can deliver Kurobara Nori deliciousness to even more people,” says Umemoto.
Now that Tatsunoko is part of the Marukome Group, the first product released under the Kurobara Nori name is Ryotei no Aji — Kurobara Nori. The freeze-dried granule-type instant miso soup pairs exceedingly well with Kurobara Nori, creating a product with a rich, seashore aroma and Kurobara Nori’s distinctive texture.
Ryotei no Aji — Kurobara Nori in economy size is a freeze-dried granule-type instant miso soup
Nishida Akio, president of Tatsunoko
President Nishida expressed their desire to work with other companies to create various collaborative Kurobara Nori foods beyond miso soup.
“For example, when added to ramen noodle soup, Kurobara Nori is far more than an ordinary topping. The flavor of the nori comes to the forefront, creating a particularly delicious dish that customers really enjoy. We’ve had other requests, such as adding Kurobara Nori to bread. These ideas are leading to original products using Kurobara Nori in ways we never imagined.”
Umemoto and Nishida smile as they say they are truly looking forward to what lies next for the company.
Tatsunoko, with its history of innovating to keep on delivering nori to Japanese consumers and to bring the deliciousness of Kurobara Nori to more people, is now entering a new phase with this giant step forward.