Japanese nameくろさき茶豆
In Niigata City’s Nishi Ward, Kurosaki Chamame grows with brown inner skin, pale fuzz, roasted-tea aroma, and a field routine built around morning harvest and cooling.
Information last updated 128 days ago
Kurosaki Chamame is a summer edamame from Kurosaki, Koshiin-Matoba, and Kamegai-Toraaki in Niigata City’s Nishi Ward. Its main season runs from early July to early September. The pods are green, slightly large and flat, with pale brown fuzz and a brownish inner skin; when boiled, the beans release an aroma often compared with roasted hojicha or popcorn, followed by sweetness, umami, and crisp edamame texture.
The growing area sits around Kurosaki, Koshiin-Matoba, and Kamegai-Toraaki in Niigata City’s Nishi Ward. These fields belong to the alluvial lowland of the lower Shinano River, and many are converted paddies in a sea-level zone with fertile soil suited to edamame. Kurosaki Chamame’s local character is grounded in that landscape: river-made lowland, paddy fields turned to vegetable production, and a named cluster of districts in western Niigata City.
The bean is traced through Kohirakata Chamame, a tea-bean line connected with seed brought from Tsuruoka in Yamagata Prefecture and selected in the Kohirakata settlement for aroma and fit with local weather and soil. In the Showa 40s, growers, agricultural cooperatives, producer groups, and local government advanced seed work, improvement, and distribution. Through that work, the Kurosaki name became tied to the tea-bean grown across the surrounding area.
The chamame name points to the brownish thin skin inside the pod, while the outside remains green. Compared with common edamame, the pods are slightly larger and flatter, with pale brown fuzz. When boiled, Kurosaki Chamame gives off an aroma likened to roasted hojicha or popcorn, then brings sweetness, umami, and a crisp bite. Its identity rests on visible and sensory details: brown inner skin, flat pod shape, pale fuzz, and fragrance released by heat.
Kurosaki Chamame is difficult to cultivate because the plants can stretch and lodge, and the pod color can fade. Growers manage sowing time, harvest timing, topdressing, soil-building, and fertilizer practices around those traits. The main season from early July to early September leaves a tight summer window, so field work moves from soil preparation to picking with little slack.
Morning harvest is central to the work because edamame loses sugar, amino acids, and aroma more quickly in warm conditions. After harvest, the pods are sorted, washed, placed in bags, and precooled. The flavor people notice at boiling time is linked to that sequence: night-to-morning labor, harvest machinery that reduces heavy work, careful sorting, and cooling soon after the pods leave the field.
The production community includes growers, agricultural cooperatives, local government, and regional groups working on self seed saving, cultivation guidance, field coordination, sales meetings, and local events. Around 2004, the Kurosaki area had about 350 edamame farms and about 240 hectares of edamame, with roughly 120 hectares planted to Kurosaki Chamame; a council of 19 associations also appears in the production history. Those period details show a crop organized across districts, not only within individual fields.
The protected name keeps the focus on edamame grown in the specified Nishi Ward districts and on traits connected with the Kohirakata Chamame line: color, aroma, taste, and texture. In field terms, the name points back to Kurosaki, Koshiin-Matoba, and Kamegai-Toraaki; to brown inner skin and roasted-tea-like aroma; and to morning harvest followed by quick cooling after the pods are picked.
Kurosaki Chamame is best understood through its particulars: lowland fields by the lower Shinano River, the Kohirakata seed line, green pods with brown inner skin, and a short summer season shaped by morning harvest and cooling. From early July to early September, those details turn boiled edamame into a clear expression of Niigata City’s western fields.
Compiled from public records and official sources; see the recognition links below. Details may change over time.
Where this product is officially registered, designated, or recognized in Japan.
Geographical Indication (GI)
Registered under Japan's Geographical Indication Protection System, run by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
Sources1
It is written as くろさき茶豆 in Japanese. Search Rakuten and other Japanese sites with that spelling — the English name will not bring up the listings.
Kurosaki chamame edamame is a summer edamame grown in Kurosaki, Koshiin-Matoba, and Kamegai-Toraaki in Niigata City's Nishi Ward, in season from early July to early September. Linked to the Kohirakata Chamame line, its pods are slightly larger and flatter than common edamame, with pale brown fuzz and a brownish inner skin. Boiling brings out an aroma compared with roasted hojicha or popcorn, alongside sweetness and umami. Growers harvest in the morning, then sort, wash, bag, and precool it quickly.
Kurosaki Chamame is linked to Kohirakata Chamame, a tea-bean line traced to seed from Tsuruoka and selected in Kohirakata. The fields lie in the lower Shinano River alluvial lowland, many of them converted paddies in a near sea-level zone. The plants are hard to grow because they can lodge (fall over) and the pod color can fade. Boiled Kurosaki Chamame combines sweetness, umami, and a distinct edamame texture.
Kurosaki Chamame is typically boiled and eaten as a summer edamame. Its aroma and balanced sweetness and umami make it a popular regional gift. Producers also promote it through tastings, sales events, and promotional materials.
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