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| Cuts of kindai tuna from Kinki University fly off the shelves after the fish was sliced in front of customers at the Mitsukoshi department store chain's main store in Nihonbashi, Tokyo. |
The fish section on the basement level of the main store of Mitsukoshi department store chain in Nihonbashi, Tokyo, heaves with customers every Friday. The section sells many treats from the ocean, but one in particular has been setting tongues recently - fillets of tuna farmed by Kinki University.
Known as kindai tuna (kindai is a portmanteau of Kinki Daigaku, the university's Japanese name), the meat comes from bluefin tuna raised from birth by the university. In 2002, Kinki University succeeded for the first time in the world in farming tuna over their entire life span, including the hatching of eggs.
Medium fatty flesh, or chutoro, of kindai tuna is priced at about 2,000 yen (US$23) per 100 grams - half the price of tuna caught in the wild, but more expensive than chutoro of other cultured tuna.
Masaaki Kagoshima, a buyer of Mitsukoshi's purchasing department, said the tuna appealed to customers because "it's fatty and juicy, and also very traceable since the fish have been raised since hatching".
"The high traceability has struck a chord with consumers, who are strongly interested in food safety," he said.
Kinki University is just one of a growing number of high schools and universities that have been producing their own brand-name foods as part of their regular education activities. Although they are usually only produced in small quantities, they are winning over customers' taste buds.
Kakiyasu Honten, a meat shop of long standing in Mie Prefecture, has been selling pork from Berkshire pigs, known as kurobuta (black pigs), raised by students at the Kagoshima prefectural government-run Kanoya High School.
The meat is only available on weekends, but its quality is on a par with other brand-name products due to the meticulous care the students devote to their small herd of pigs, a Kakiyasu Honten representative said.
Nara Women's University has teamed up with companies in the region to develop new food items to reinvigorate the local economy.
One of their more unusual culinary creations is gotochi aisu (ice cream unique to our locality). The ice cream contains sake dregs left when making narazuke pickles, and is surprisingly tasty.
Other schools trying their hands at the brand-food market include Utsunomiya University's pickles mixed with mozzarella and canned steamed sea urchin at Hachinohe Fisheries High School in Aomori Prefecture.
Production is often restricted to small batches since they are made as part of educational activities. Many are sold at university and high school festivals, although people craving the delicacies have been known to contact the schools directly.
Some foods have even been used as centerpieces of sales promotions at department stores and shops set up by prefectural governments in big cities to promote their marine and farm produce.
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