Japan Today reports on a bit of news from our neighbor to the south, Kagoshima: A cooperative of dried bonito flake (katsuobushi、かつお節) producers has opened the first European katsuobushi production facility in - of course - France. The cooperative has named itself Makurazaki (枕崎) after their town at the southern tip of Kagoshima, which is hugely famous for katsuobushi.

Three tips! First, there is a shop on Kokai shopping street which sells only one thing: Makurazaki katsuobushi; they go for about 2,000 apiece. Second, if you buy a whole katsuobushi, you might want to get a bonito shredder, as shown below (かつお節削り器, katsuobushi kezuriki). Finally, if you want to see katsuobushi made, I strongly recommend the town of Yamakawa, just south of Ibuski. It is much closer than Makurazaki and accessible from Kumamoto by public transportation. If you have any questions, please let me know. - William

https://www.japantoday.com/category/business/view/japanese-cooperative-opens-bonito-plant-in-france