The Kubara Honke Group, which has a history of over 130 years, is a food manufacturer that operates multiple brands, including Kayanoya, known for Kayanoya Dashi, Kubara, which offers a wide variety of seasonings and foods, mainly flying fish dashi, and Shobouan, famous for its spicy cod roe. It has gained a strong reputation for its commitment and high quality, and is loved by many people both in Japan and overseas. We traced the trajectory of how the Kubara Honke Group, which was founded as a small soy sauce shop called Kubara Soy Sauce in Kubara Village (now Hisayama Town) on the outskirts of Fukuoka City, has grown into one of Fukuoka’s leading food manufacturers.
A legacy of gratitude to the local community
About 30 minutes from Fukuoka city, after climbing a mountain path along a clear stream, a large thatched-roof Japanese house appears. That is Onryori Kayanoya. This place, where a paradise-like world unfolds, with cherry blossoms in the spring, fireflies in early summer, and autumn leaves in the fall, is a special place that can be said to be the origin of the Kubara Honke Group.
The story of the Kubara Honke Group dates back to a soy sauce shop founded in Kubara Village in 1893. The founder, the Kawabe family, has contributed to the local community as a village headman who delivered rice and agricultural products to the Kuroda clan since the Edo period. In the Meiji period, the fourth generation and current representative, Kawabe Tetsuji’s great-grandfather, Kawabe Tosuke, became the first Kubara village mayor and worked hard to develop the village. However, this put a strain on the family’s finances, and the family fell into poverty. In the midst of this, the local people came together to help the Kawabe family rebuild. With this support, Kubara Soy Sauce was born. This was the foundation of the current “Kubara Honke Group,” and the use of the place name in the store name expresses gratitude to the villagers who helped them.
“Manufacturing that makes silent objects speak”
A turbulent history and challenges
It was Kawabe Tetsuji, the fourth-generation president, who has grown the Kubara Honke Group to the present day. However, the road was not smooth. The first generation was an academic and not suited to business, while the second generation energetically expanded sales channels, but the war cut off sales channels, and by the time Tetsuji joined the company, the company was facing tough times with six employees. At the time, Tetsuji, who spent his days driving around the neighborhood in a truck to deliver soy sauce and refilling empty bottles in household kitchens, felt a deep sense of crisis about the declining demand for soy sauce due to changes in eating habits and the advancement of nuclear families.
Soy sauce is an important ingredient that supports the taste and food culture of each region. He felt a strong sense of responsibility that the disappearance of local soy sauce should not lead to the loss of the local food culture, and that he had to continue the business for the people in the region who supported the first generation. As Kawabe searched for a solution to survive, the first thing he came up with was an OEM business that made sauces using soy sauce to be added to other companies’ products. His prediction turned out to be spot on, and sales grew steadily, earning him good reviews from clients. However, this did not lead to the name “Kuhara Soy Sauce” becoming more well known, and there was also uncertainty about subcontracting. In order to dispel the anxiety of not knowing when a competitor would take over, he pondered on his next endeavor. That’s when he decided to develop his own brand of products.
Product development based on local food culture
In developing the brand, the company set two principles. One was to “always create flavors that bring out the flavor of the ingredients,” just as the role of soy sauce is as a company with its origins as a soy sauce brewery. The other was to “disseminate local food culture.”
Although it was unorthodox for a soy sauce maker, the first product they worked on was spicy cod roe. After considering how to differentiate themselves in an industry where it was already known as a Hakata specialty and there were many manufacturers, they decided to go the high-end route. They were particular about using the highest quality Hokkaido pollock roe, and focused on how to create a flavor that was even better than the ingredients, and how to express individuality through seasoning. The brand name was “Shobouan,” and the sophisticated design of the packaging differentiated the product, which led to increased demand as a gift or Fukuoka souvenir, and they steadily gained fans. When the image of “high-quality mentaiko = Shobouan” became widespread locally, they also developed new sales channels, such as direct sales stores and mail order sales. Once Shobouan was on track and had made a name for itself, they began developing their next product. They started developing seasonings based on the know-how they had cultivated in the OEM business.
Their next brand, “Kubara,” was a lineup of products that could be easily used at home and were mainly sold at supermarkets and other mass retailers. They started by selling “Cabbage with Umatare,” a dish that could be enjoyed at home, similar to the “chunked cabbage” served as an appetizer at yakitori restaurants in Hakata, and it was an instant hit. Starting with this, they released a series of seasonings that bring out the flavor of ingredients, such as dashi soup and hot pot soup, that are rooted in the unique food culture of Kyushu and Hakata. The familiar flavors of Hakata were rediscovered locally, and at the same time, they were accepted by people all over the country.
A place that preserves Japanese food culture and traditions
As the names of their own brands, “Shobouan” and “Kubara”, gradually spread, they came up with a plan to make their products known to more people and to create a base to protect and pass on the local ingredients and food culture. The location was decided upon in Hisayama-cho, as it was a way to return to their roots and to liven up the local area that had supported them.
Kawabe-san’s mother’s family home, a sake brewery, had a thatched roof, so he had a strong desire to protect Japanese food culture as a soy sauce maker and pass on the disappearing traditions to future generations. He wanted to make the new store “a place to comprehensively convey Japanese culture”. Thus, “Oryori Kayanoya” was opened in this special place, as a stage to convey the “Kubara Honke” group’s commitment to food and hospitality. This was the birth of the “Kayanoya” brand, and it became the base for taking a big step forward as a company.
However, when they first opened, the place was hardly known even to the locals, and there was some anxiety as to whether customers would actually come to such a remote location, and whether their food would have that much appeal. However, the unexplored location piqued their interest, and many customers began to visit from far away, seeking the beautiful nature of the four seasons, the relaxing Japanese atmosphere with its thatched roof and earthen floor, and the seasonal food. “I was amazed to see such a wonderful Japanese house standing alone in such a remote place, surrounded by nature. Both the building and the food were memorable, and I would like to bring someone here again,” said Kawabe, giving it high praise. Kawabe felt that he had once again been supported by the land.
We spare no effort in the pursuit of deliciousness
Some customers feel that they have traveled far away, and so expectations naturally rise in terms of the space, the food, the hospitality, and everything else. To meet those expectations, the head chef carefully considers how to prepare dishes that will make customers feel glad that they came all the way here, and takes great care in creating seasonal courses. In particular, the dashi stock that forms the base of the dishes is made with the utmost care, from the selection of ingredients to the way it is prepared, to create the finest quality.
Among them, the signature dish from the restaurant’s opening, “Jukoku Nabe” (10-grain hotpot), has been well-received, and with an increasing number of customers asking “how do you make the dashi?”, Kawabe decided to try making dashi that could be enjoyed at home. After many trials with the head chef, Kawabe was able to create “Kayanoya Dashi” with grilled flying fish, which he carefully selected, and spent a lot of time and effort on.
“Ago” refers to flying fish, which has less fat than other fish that causes unpleasant flavors, and is characterized by a refined taste with a clean sweetness and deep umami. One theory is that it was so delicious that it was named after the fact that it is “so delicious that your jaw will fall off.” It has been popular in Kyushu for a long time, and is an essential ingredient in the local Hakata dish “Hakata Zouni.” However, because it is a high-class ingredient, it was only used at home on special occasions such as New Year’s, but with the birth of “Kayanoya Dashi,” flying fish dashi can now be enjoyed on a daily basis in dishes such as hotpots and udon. It also spread to various places in Kyushu and Fukuoka as a souvenir, and although it was not very familiar at first, its deliciousness led to more and more people buying it again and again, and it quickly gained fans. As a brand that pursues quality, many products were released one after another, and it has now grown into a major business with about 30 Kayanoya specialty shops nationwide.
As Kawabe says, Kayanoya Dashi is a symbol of the group’s goal of “making silent things speak.” When people eat something delicious, they want to tell someone about it. The product itself does not say anything, but the deliciousness that exceeds expectations naturally conveys its value.
Hakata dashi to the world
Flying fish dashi has now become so popular on dining tables all over Japan that it is said to be the third dashi after bonito flakes, kelp, and shiitake mushrooms. The next goal of the Kubara Honke Group is to spread dashi culture overseas. “If soy sauce has been accepted so well, dashi should have plenty of potential. By spreading Japanese food culture around the world, we want to revitalize Japan, which has been in a downward spiral in recent years. We want to build a business model that shows that even local soy sauce makers have a chance if they try,” says Kawabe.
With a history of over 130 years, the Kubara Honke Group has protected local food culture and continues to take on new challenges, so we look forward to seeing what the group does next.
