Kombu - History

History

"Qūan resembles 綸(lace, cord or rope). This is in the East China Sea." from the Erya (3-2nd C. B.C.) and "Gūanbù, alias kūnbù" from the Wupu Bencao(3rd c.). Tao Hongjing(456-536) noted kūnbù is edible. As previously mentioned, however, kūnbù can not be identified with kombu. Zhang Yuxi refered to haidai in the book 嘉祐補註神農本草 (1060).

Though seaweed is hard to find as archaeological evidence because of its easy decomposition, some plant remains of seaweed such as wakame are found in some ruins of the Jōmon Period and the fact leads the supposition that kombu was eaten as well at the time. As to surviving documentary the letters 軍布 (In Sino-Japanese reading 軍 is gun/kun ; 布 is fu/pu/bu), appeared in Man'yōshū and wood strips from Fujiwara-kyō, may have indicated kombu. The Shoku Nihongi(797) tells: in 797 Suga no Komahiru (ja) of Emishi (Ainu or Tohoku region people) stated they had been offering up kombu, which grew there, as tribute to the Yamato court every year without fail. The Engishiki (927) also tells it had been offered up by Mitsu.

During the Muromachi period, a newly developed drying technique allowed it to be stored for more than a few days, and it became an important export from the Tohoku area. By the Edo period, as Hokkaidō was colonized and shipment routes were organized, the use of kombu became widespread throughout Japan. Traditional Okinawan cuisine relies heavily on kombu as a part of the diet; this practice began in the Edo period. Okinawa uses more kombu per household than any other prefecture. In the 20th century, a way to cultivate it was discovered and it became cheap and readily available.

In 1867, the word "kombu" first appeared in an English-language publication—A Japanese and English Dictionary by James Curtis Hepburn.

Since the 1960s, dried kombu has been exported from Japan to many countries. It was available initially at Asian, and Japanese in particular, food shops and restaurants, and has later been sold by supermarkets, health-food stores, and other nonspecialised suppliers.