| Hikimi Wasabi (匹見ワサビ) is a variety of wasabi cultivated in Hikimi Town (now part of Masuda City), Shimane Prefecture, Japan. Wasabi cultivation in Hikimi began in 1818[a][4] and by the early Shōwa era (1926–1989) reached an annual production of 300 metric tons (330.7 US tons). Of the wasabi from Shimane, 90% came from the town of Hikimi[5][6]At the time, Shimane Prefecture was one of the top producers of wasabi in Japan.[5][6] The two top areas of wasabi production were Shizuoka Prefecture in the East and Shimane Prefecture in the West.[5][6] Hikimi's wasabi production declined due to numerous factors, including two large floods since the 1970s, recent generations of farming families choosing different careers, and global warming.[5][6] In recent years, new residents of Hikimi have been attempting to revive the production of Hikimi wasabi.[5][7] In 2013, Shimane Prefecture produced 74.5 metric tons of wasabi (70.2 metric tons were soil-grown wasabi, 4.3 metric tons were water-grown wasabi). That is fifth most in Japan, but far behind the top three prefectures: Shizuoka (867.6 metric tons), Nagano (604.7 metric tons), and Iwate (432.7 metric tons).[8] Shimane Prefecture is known for its Hikimi wasabi. Due to this small amount, Hikimi wasabi is now considered to be fairly rare.[9] |
