Kugani Kitchen

Kugani Kitchen is a small farm in the village of Ogimi in the northern part of the main island of Okinawa, surrounded by the lush Yanbaru forest. Ogimi Village is famous as a village of longevity with many of its residents living well past the average life expectancy in Japan. The land Kugani Kitchen cultivates used to be abandoned land where Karaki had been grown. Kugani Kitchen started cultivating the native Karaki plants again on the land, letting them grow among the natural environment of the forest. They also take part in conservation efforts of Karaki.

Kugani Kitchen is managed by Miyagi Miwako with the support of her elderly father. Miyagi spends most of her days in the forest attending to the trees and picking the leaves. Each leaf is hand picked, allowing the best flavour and beautiful shape to be preserved. The work is time consuming and hard but Miyagi and her father do it in hopes to share the charming flavour of Karaki with the world. After picking the leaves are sent to a factory where they are carefully dried in low temperatures to preserve the aroma and flavour. 

Miwako was born and raised in the Ogimi Village. Her father cultivated Shikuwasa fruits and for decades used the Karaki trees as windbreaks to protect the Shikuwasa. Seeing the Karaki trees and sensing their beautiful scent Miwako got curious about focusing on the cultivation of Karaki and started researching it. Through study, trial and error she learned to cultivate them. Now she continues the process of researching, hoping to in the future become able to utilise the roots and bark of the Karaki trees as well.

Kugani Kitchen works together with other producers to create unique products using Karaki and the Okinawan citrus Shikuwasa which they also grow. Product development and introducing the versatility of Karaki as an ingredient plays an important role in their effort to protect and popularise Karaki. They also collaborate with Ryukyu University and other institutions to advance research and product development related to Karaki.

This beautiful video made by Ogimi Village features Kugani Kitchen among other producers in the area. You can see the beautiful sceneries of the area in this video.