Ariake Nori Labo | Nori Selected by Sommelier YUMIKO

Through a single sheet of nori,
we tell the story of the sky, the sea, the mountains, and the people.

Welcome to Ariake Nori Labo.

Introduction

From cultivation,
to your table.

A Nori Sommelier involved in cultivation, selection and distribution selects and delivers each sheet.
A town that wakes to the scent of the tide. Here, we live alongside nori.

No two sheets alike

The sea is never quite the same from one year to the next. The water temperature changes. The tides change. The light changes. And so, no two harvests of nori are ever exactly alike.

The very first harvest

Among the nori carefully raised from seed, the very first harvest is known as hatsuzumi. Tender and rich in flavour, it gently melts in the mouth.

Selected

From these first harvests, Nori Sommelier YUMIKO tastes and examines the umami, aroma and texture of each one, selecting a single sheet that expresses the character of that year and that sea.

The Ariake Sea

Where the tide and fresh water,
the mountains and the sea, meet.

Kawachi, Kumamoto. A small fishing town where the underground waters of Aso flow into the Ariake Sea.

ARIAKE SEA

Where sea and mountain meet.

Kumamoto. An inland sea with Japan’s greatest tidal range.

The nori born here is raised by the sea, the mountains, and human hands.

The shape of this sea — 4: Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto. 96 km × 18 km: north to south, east to west. One of Japan’s smallest and calmest seas. 6 m: Japan’s greatest tidal range.

01 ／ THE PLACE

Bordered by four prefectures.

Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto. 96 km north to south, 18 km east to west.

One of Japan’s smallest and calmest seas. That is why human hands can reach every corner of it.

02 ／ THE TIDES

The tide retreats six meters.

What was ocean at dawn becomes tidal flats by midday. Nori grows through this rhythm of tide going and returning.

When the sun bathes it, sweetness deepens. When the sea covers it, saltiness deepens.

03 ／ THE MOUNTAINS

Mountains create the sea.

Underground water from Mount Aso. Spring water from Mount Kimpo. Water rich in minerals travels underground for years and reaches this sea.

03 ／ THE MOUNTAINS

Nori turns that meeting into flavor.

Where the mountains’ water meets the sea, nori finds what it needs.

04 ／ LIGHT & WIND

On winter mornings, nori tastes at its finest.

Cold wind. Mornings so early they leave you shivering. Nori picked in the morning light is processed the same day.

ARIAKE SEA

Raised by the sea, the mountains, and human hands.

That is the nori of the Ariake Sea.

01 / 07

How Nori is Made

A year,
from seed to a single sheet.

From spores settled onto shells, through the winter sea, to one finished sheet.

HOW NORI IS MADE

01 ／ SEEDING

Sowing spores onto oyster shells.

Nori spores are settled onto shells and raised until they are ready for the sea.

02 ／ THE NETS

Preparing the nets.

Nets are readied and set out on the sea before the season begins.

03 ／ THE SEA

Setting the nets in the sea.

The nets are fixed to poles across the tidal flats of the Ariake Sea.

04 ／ WAITING

Waiting for the tide.

Twice a day the sea withdraws. Nori grows through this rhythm of tide going and returning.

05 ／ GROW

Sun, rain, and tide.

In the winter sea, nori grows slowly — a few centimetres a day. In two weeks it becomes the base of a single sheet.

06 ／ HARVEST

The first harvest.

Among the nori raised from seed, the very first harvest is known as hatsuzumi. Tender and rich in flavour, it gently melts in the mouth.

07 ／ WASHING

Washing and cutting.

The harvested nori is washed and cut, then made ready to be formed into sheets.

08 ／ FORMING

Formed into sheets.

Like making paper, the nori is spread thin and formed one sheet at a time.

09 ／ DRYING

Dried the same day.

Nori picked in the morning light is processed the same day.

10 ／ SELECTION

Selected by the sommelier.

Umami, aroma, and texture — each sheet is evaluated, and the finest of the year is chosen.

01 / 10

History of Nori

Seaweed speaks.

In 1953, Fusao Ohta established artificial seeding. Nori farming turned from chance into craft.

HISTORY ／ THREE HUNDRED YEARS

Born in Edo.
Raised in Ariake.

And there was a man they called a god.

1717

Yahei of Asakusa places “hibi” in Shinagawa Bay.

Nori cultivation begins.

1901

Yoshiaki Hayano invites a nori cultivation training center.

Nori arrived at the Ariake Sea.

1949

Dr. Kathleen Drew uncovers the life cycle of Porphyra.

The mystery of how nori reproduces was solved.

1953

Fusao Ohta establishes artificial seedling cultivation.

“Seaweed speaks.” — Fusao Ohta

Nori farming turned from chance into craft. This has been the story of three hundred years. And even now, in the Ariake Sea, nori is being harvested.

01 / 05

About YUMIKO

In a single sheet,
there are many backs.

Kawachi, on the Ariake Sea. She grew up watching her parents’ backs. Before dawn, they would head out to sea.

NORI SOMMELIER YUMIKO

In a single sheet,
there are many backs.

The Ariake Sea. Kawachi Town. Raised by watching the backs of her father and mother.

01 ／ FATHER & MOTHER

Before dawn, her parents would set out to the sea.

While caring for her little sister, she too went out on the sea, helping her parents with the nori work.

She awoke to the sound of the sea. She slept to the scent of the tide.

02 ／ THE QUESTION

Back then, nori was very cheap.

Why was something requiring such effort so inexpensive? A small question was born in her heart.

03 ／ THIRTY YEARS

Thirty years at the fisheries cooperative.

Mornings, going out to a still-dark sea. Afternoons, returning with the scent of the tide.

Just as her father and mother had done, she too worked at sea, giving everything to the nori.

04 ／ TO SELECT

Thirty years gave her conviction.

She had seen and tasted more sheets from the same sea than anyone. So she began to select them herself.

2023. Ariake Nori Labo. Kumamoto, Kawachi Town.

05 ／ FATHER & THE GOD

Beyond her father’s back, there was a god.

Her father, Tomio Shimada, learned directly from Fusao Ohta. Even now, Yumiko calls him “the god.”

“Seaweed speaks.” — Fusao Ohta ／ Kumamoto Prefectural Fisheries Experimental Station, Kagami Branch, 1953

01 / 06

Nori Sommelier

A sheet that exists
only here.

Nori Sommelier YUMIKO carefully selects the finest sheet of the year and delivers it to you.

NORI SOMMELIER

A specialist who reads “terroir.”

A sheet that exists only here.

Nori Sommelier YUMIKO carefully selects the finest sheet of the year and delivers it to you. That is the work of Ariake Nori Labo.

01 ／ DEFINITION

Reading the taste of the land.

Drawing on years of experience as a producer, combined with refined intuition, she reads the taste of the land — terroir.

02 ／ TERROIR

Four elements of nature.

① Underground water from Aso (the source of minerals) ② A 6 m tidal range (Japan’s greatest) ③ The sun (the crystal of photosynthesis) ④ Sea wind (concentrating umami)

When these natural conditions align, each year’s nori takes on a distinct flavor.

03 ／ SELECTION

The work of sensory evaluation.

While confirming the “taste of the land” in the fields, she watches over the growth of the nori.

Umami, aroma, and texture — she evaluates each through her own sensory tests. Then she selects the finest sheet of the year.

04 ／ THE ONE

Nurtured by nature.
Selected by the sommelier.

That crisp, satisfying sound. The aroma of the sea and the umami filling your mouth.

We treasure the practice of delivering each sheet — nurtured by nature, finished by human hands — together with the story behind it.

NORI SOMMELIER YUMIKO

Yumiko Shimada

The finest sheet of the year.

01 / 06

Shioya-Ichiban

Selected — a single sheet.

Chosen from within a maximum of three hundred sheets per net.

SHIOYA-ICHIBAN

SHIOYA-ICHIBAN ／ JUNE 2025, GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™

The sheet the world recognised.

Selected from within a maximum of three hundred sheets per net.

01 ／ NATURE & FESTIVAL

From the gifts of nature, and the will of those who follow.

The Ariake Sea, and the town that lives with it.

02 ／ SIX CRITERIA

Only a sheet that passes every criterion.

Each sheet is examined against six standards before it can carry this name.

03 ／ RECOGNISED BY THE WORLD

2025. Certified by Guinness World Records™.

In June 2025, Shioya-Ichiban received Guinness World Records™ certification.

04 ／ THE SOMMELIER

Delivering a flavour that was chosen.

A sheet selected by Nori Sommelier YUMIKO, delivered together with the story behind it.

01 / 05

Products

Our Products

Beyond Shioya-Ichiban, each nori has its own character.

SHIOYA-ICHIBAN

Max 300 sheets per net (available from a single sheet)

YUMIKO SPECIAL

Selected by the Nori Sommelier

Kawachi-Ichiban

First harvest of Kawachi

Aomaze-kun

Grown together with green laver

Beppin

Extra thick, naturally sweet

Takara

For the finest sushi

Aomaze Iwa-nori / Shio-nori

Rock nori variety, salt and green laver aroma

Yaki Bara-boshi Nori

Dried whole, unpressed

Torokeru Nori

Six varieties

Taikoban Furikake

The nori fisherman's seal of approval

Gallery

Journal

Journal entries are written in Japanese.

2026.01.14

This season's first harvest is in

The water is below 5°C. From this morning's first net.

2025.11.08

Poles set, nets strung

Over a thousand 10 m poles. Making a field in the sea.

2025.05.22

Spores settled onto shells

The beginning of a life too small to see.

A crisp, delicate sound.
The aroma of the sea filling the mouth.

In one small sheet: quality protein, vitamins A, C and B12, iron and calcium rest quietly.

Contact

096-276-1818 info@ariakenorilabo.com

For product details and prices, please contact us.
We accept enquiries by telephone or email. Catalogue requests are also welcome.

Tue, Wed, Thu, Sun 10:00 - 17:00

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