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NARA – From jabara to sanbōkan, Japan is home to an exceptionally diverse pantheon of citrus fruits. Among these, the tachibana (Citrus tachibana) is perhaps one of the rarest and least-known.
Besides the Okinawan shīkuwāsā, it is the only citrus genetically native to Japan. Unsurprisingly, it is also on the Global Red List of Japanese Threatened Plants. The average consumer is unlikely to be familiar with it, much less have tasted one.
The tachibana once held hallowed status in Japan. The eighth-century “Nihon Shoki” refers to it as “the fruit of immortality,” claiming that the first tree was brought back from the underworld and planted in the south of present-day Nara Prefecture. Around 70 poems in the “Manyoshu” celebrate its beguiling fragrance; Heian aristocrats often perfumed themselves with tachibana in lieu of bathing. Even today, many people will have unwittingly encountered this citrus: miniature representations of tachibana trees are an integral part of the ornamental dolls’ sets displayed on Girls’ Day, and the ¥500 coin has tachibana fruits and flowers engraved upon its face.
Simply put, it’s exceptionally bitter. Though it looks like a kumquat, its flesh has the richness of a blood orange and the electric, mouth- puckering qualities of lemon and grapefruit. Its peel has an even more pronounced, medicinal bitterness that lingers in your mouth for a good hour afterward.
For fans of the tachibana, this bitterness is precisely what makes it special and worth preserving.
“It was at once bitter and sweet, with a refined, restorative fragrance. Modern consumers will find it too bitter, but it would be a shame to erase that bitterness with sugar.”
- Kyoko Onishi, Nara-based food mediciner
These qualities, along with its rich history and cultural significance, led Kenji Jo and his friends to start the Nara Tachibana Project in 2011. Their mission is to revive interest and awareness in the citrus, preserving what they see as an integral part of Japanese culture while concurrently raising Nara’s culinary profile.
First, they began by planting more trees — when they started the
project, there were only 300-odd tachibana trees remaining across
Japan — and then creating new channels to promote the fruit after their first harvest six years later.
Initially, says Jo, who is the current chairman of the project and one of its five growers, they approached around 30 Japanese restaurants in Nara with samples to drum up interest, but were roundly rejected. Tachibana, they were told, was too bitter to use in washoku. An acquaintance suggested bringing the citrus to chefs who had trained in Europe. To Jo’s surprise, it was enthusiastically received.
“In Japanese cuisine, bitterness isn’t palatable, but for the chefs specializing in European cuisines, it goes hand-in-hand with umami.”
- Kenji Jo, Nara Tachibana Project chairman
Tachibana is the kind of ingredient you’d imagine Michelin-starred chefs parlaying into intricate, multi- component dishes. Available only by special request, the seasonal tachibana-themed course at Ristorante Borgo Konishi in Nara illustrates such possibilities: its zest is scattered over a beef goulash, its peel candied and paired with pumpkin puree. A tangy center of tachibana juice-soaked Savoiardi
sponge replaces the usual chestnut in a Mont Blanc. A skewered Amazonian chocolate cube arrives soaking in a shot of aged “tachi-cello” — a riff, says head chef Masaki Yamazaki, on Italian limoncello.
“It has an incredible fragrance, it’s both acidic and bitter, which translates well to drawing out umami in dishes.”
- Masaki Yamazaki, chef
The juice pairs beautifully with roasted goat meat, he notes, and its leaves are excellent with seafood, as they dispel any unpleasant fishy notes.
Fresh tachibana leaves are edible and — surprise, surprise — extremely bitter, but also faintly reminiscent of sanshō pepper, another member of the citrus family. Hiroshi Kawashima, owner-chef of modern Spanish restaurant Akordu, thinks they resemble makrut lime leaves, a common ingredient in Thai cuisine. While he reserves leaves from the first flush for tempura, the bulk of the leaves he sources from Jo are steeped in 65 degrees Celsius water to make a refreshing tea, which he serves chilled or warm as an aperitif.
“Eating is an act of receiving life. Tachibana is used at shrines to purify a place, so drinking this is like cleansing yourself before the meal.”
- Hiroshi Kawashima, chef
Like most citruses, it’s well-suited to sweet applications. Kakigōri specialist Housekibaco periodically serves shaved ice with tachibana syrup, while Hyogo Prefecture-based patissier Susumu Koyama produces a vibrant marmalade, as well as a chocolate bonbon flavored with its juice, essential oil, flowers and blossom honey.
There’s also tremendous potential for alcohol-based beverages. Besides Nara Brewing Co. Ltd’s tachibana- and coriander-infused Belgian-style craft beer, one of the most exciting products in this sphere is Kikka Gin, a small-batch craft gin produced by brewer Naoki Itatoko of Yamato Distillery, a subsidiary of Yucho Shuzo, in southern Nara.
“Tachibana has an extraordinary depth to it that other citruses like lemon don’t,” explains Itatoko, whose gin took home a Bronze rating at the International Wine & Spirit Competition in 2020. “Plus, in terms of its narrative potential, it was perfect for gin-making in Nara.”
- Naoki Itatoko, brewer
Containing just three botanicals — tachibana, tōki (Angelica acutiloba) herb and juniper berry — the 59% alcohol by volume gin is remarkably smooth and drinkable. From the three tons of Jo’s annual tachibana harvest, an entire ton — peeled by Itatoko himself — goes toward producing 6,000 liters of gin.
Products like these, says Jo, are key to raising awareness and attracting new growers. “You can’t survive by just growing tachibana,” he says. “You couldn’t sell it in supermarkets, either.”
His Hong Kong-born son-in-law, Siunam, with whom he works on the project, concurs. Besides tachibana farming, they spend their time developing food products. One of their most popular items is tachibana koshō, a riff on the traditional yuzu-spiked chili pepper paste.
This strategy seems to be working: Demand far outstrips what they can supply to their clients, who have found diners extremely receptive to the once-maligned citrus. While the tachibana’s extreme bitterness means it’s unlikely to ever achieve mainstream popularity, the project’s efforts are helping lift the citrus out of its endangered status — today, the number of tachibana trees has surpassed 3,000.
“This ingredient has a 2,000-year-old history, and has its roots in Nara,” says Jo. “The tachibana truly represents Japanese culture itself.”
- Kenji Jo, Nara Tachibana Project chairman
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Origin: Japan
Grown: In rural, typically mountainous regions of Japan, particularly Shikoku, Mie, Nara.
Contains high amounts of nobiletin, a citrus flavonoid that purportedly improves memory impairment. High in antioxidants.
Referred to in English as ‘the tachibana orange,’ the hardy tachibana is one of only two citruses native to Japan, the other being the shequasar of subtropical, southernmost prefecture Okinawa (known as the Ryūkyū Kingdom prior to being informally annexed by Japan in 1609). They are at present on the Global Red List of Japanese Endangered Plants.
The frost-resistant trees can grow up to 10 feet tall, featuring bluntly toothed leaves and branches with needle-like thorns. Its flowers are small and white-petaled. The fruit is dark green at first, turning yellow in late autumn. With minimal care (and frequent weeding during the summer months) a single large tree can produce up to 25kg of fruit. An average tachibana has a lateral diameter of around 2–3cm, with 6–7 segments each containing 1–2 large seeds.
A 1990 paper published by the Japan Society of Horticultural Science, which analysed and compared tachibana with other mandarin cultivars introduced from China, established that it is a genetically heterogeneous citrus native to Japan. Their findings suggest that the tachibana was genetically isolated from other citrus populations in mainland China, and may have resulted from unique gene mutations or similar.
Once highly prized by Heian aristocrats over a millennia ago for its heady fragrance and presumed life-giving properties, it gradually fell out of favour with consumers, who have come to prefer sweeter, less-seeded citruses like mikan or yuzu introduced from other parts of East Asia, over the small and intensely bitter tachibana.
While tachibana still aren’t widely cultivated on a commercial scale, culinary interest in the tachibana is being revived thanks to the efforts of grassroots organisations in small towns across Japan, most notably the Nara Tachibana Project.
産地：東京より北では育ちにくく、奈良を始め高知、宮崎などで確認されている。
日本で一番古い歴史を持つ柑橘と言われており、沖縄原産のシークワサーと共に数少ない日本原産の柑橘。現在、主流のゆず、ミカンなどは橘より後に中国から渡って来たものである。その香りの高さから、別名「非時香果ーときじくのかぐのこのみーいつまでも香り続ける果実」として愛でられ、古事記や日本書紀の中でも触れられている。
また、約1300年以上前の奈良時代に書かれた「万葉集」には、橘に関する歌が約68種も詠まれている。
2017年環境省によって選定されたレッドリストでは、準絶滅危惧種として挙げられており、いかに保護していくかが目下の課題である。今から約10年前に発足した「なら橘プロジェクト」が大きな役割を果たしていることは言うまでもない。
奈良県によって行われた研究では、大和橘にはウンシュウミカンの20倍以上のノビレチン、及びタンゲレチンが含まれていることが分かっている。これらの理由から、古代より不老不死の実として珍重されてきたことが伺える。
＊ノビレチンとは、シークワサーなどの柑橘系に含まれるフラボノイドの一種であり、血糖値の上昇を抑える効果などから長寿に効果があると言われている。
フラボノイドとは、植物に含まれている成分であり、その多くが強力な抗酸化作用を持っていることで知られている。
常緑で樹高は2-4メートルほどに育ち、2-3cmほどの大きさの果実をつける。春から夏にかけて白い花を咲かせ、12月ごろに収穫適期を迎える。
種が多く、味も他の柑橘類に比べて酸味・苦さがあるため、特徴を活かした使用が大切になってくる。
参照：http://www.pref.nara.jp/secure/163354/tatibanaokamoto.pdf
https://himitsu.wakasa.jp/contents/nobiletin/
The first six years of the Nara Tachibana Project focused on tree-planting; the first few trees were planted in spring 2012 on a plot of land next to the railway tracks, facing the mausoleum of Emperor Suinin.
Because this began as a small, volunteer-driven project helmed by private citizens––and largely non-farmers to boot––they did not have access to large swathes of land. Instead, they cobbled together parcels of land here and there across Nara, often by obtaining permission from landowners whose plots lay fallow.
At the time of writing––2021––they have planted approximately 3,000 trees across various locations in Nara.
During the Asuka period (538–710), there were once three highways in Nara located parallel to each other. They ran north to south across the Nara Basin, connecting the old capital, Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara) and Sakurai City via Tenri City. The middle road––nakatsu-do or 中ツ道––began at Tachibana Temple. Little surprise, then, that it was referred to as the Tachibana Kaidō (Road) at the time.
In March 2013, around ten tachibana trees were planted along this historical road in Yamatokoriyama City, and a ceremony was held to commemorate the occasion.
Today, passersby will still see the signboard with 橘街道 (Tachibana Road) carved into the wood. Note that these tachibana trees are planted on privately-owned land and are not for public picking.
The project began with few staff and little money, and in order to raise funds, they implemented the Yamato Tachibana Ownership System in 2014.
Under this system, anyone can sign up and pay a yearly membership fee of ¥4,500 (¥3,000 per year after the second year). 300 people signed up when it was first introduced, and at present, there are around 500 supporters of this system.
As a reward for their ongoing support, members periodically receive new food products developed using the tachibana harvested from these trees. Examples include tachibana pepper paste, craft gin, noodles, and more. Thus far, it has been a reasonably successful way of finding supporters and raising awareness of tachibana.
城さんたちは、大和橘の成分分析や苗木の開発を行うかたわら、地元奈良の神社仏閣に橘の奉納活動を始めます。
そして、2013年3月、その昔「橘街道」と呼ばれた大和郡山市の県道沿いに有志に見守られながら待ちに待った初めての橘の植樹式が行われました。
以降、城さんの友人である久保田有さんの参画も相まり、「大和橘オーナー制」という制度が発足します。これは、1口いくらという形で年会費を納め、オーナーは橘を使った新商品などをリターンとして受け取るという仕組みです。発足当時は数名だった会員も現在では数百に上り、植樹された橘の数も3000を超えるようになりました。
オーナーに橘の管理を手伝ってもらいながら、現在までに橘を奈良の色々な所に植樹されており、2018年には、植樹奉納社寺も30社寺を超え、食品や香水などとしての橘の商品開発だけではなく、奈良の歴史に橘をもう一度花咲かせる事にも尽力を注いでいるのです。
また、オーナーへの活動報告を兼ねて「橘だより」を発刊しており、現在までに40以上の記事を刊行しています。
Located in the Kansai region of west Japan, Nara prefecture was home to one of Japan’s earliest capital cities, and is considered one of the oldest regions in Japan.
In Asuka, to the south of Nara City, is Tachibana Temple, a Tendai Buddhist temple erected by Prince Shōtoku, a regent and politician renowned for promoting Buddhism in Japan. Exactly when it was built is unclear, but records state that a villa existed there before the temple did, and that this villa was the birthplace of Prince Shōtoku in 572 C.E.
The temple is named for its location: the surrounding area at the time was known as Tachibana, thanks to the tachibana trees growing there. The legend of how the first tree was supposedly planted there is described in the Nihon Shoki, the second-oldest extant chronicles of classical Japanese history.
According to these chronicles, the Emperor Suinin, considered to have reigned between 29 B.C. to 70 A.D., commanded a man named Tajima-mori to venture forth into the underworld and bring back the fruit of immortality.
Though Tajima-mori succeeded, he found on his return that the emperor had passed away during his long journey away, and killed himself in front of his liege’s grave. The tachibana fruit and branches he brought back were planted on where the temple stands today.
奈良市内から1時間ほど南に下った所に位置する「明日香村」、石舞台古墳でよく知られるこの村に「橘寺」というお寺があります。
聖徳太子生誕の地とされ、法隆寺と同じく太子建立の七ヶ寺の一つです。
橘寺という名前は、垂仁天皇（すいにんてんのう）の命で常世の国から不老不死に効くとされた「非時香菓」を田道間守（タジマモリ）が持ち帰り、景行天皇（けいこうてんのう）がその実をこの地に植えたことに由来するとされています。
残念なことに、田道間守が常世の国から帰ってきた時には、すでに垂仁天皇は崩御されており、田道間守もその後を追う事になります。
この田道間守という人、実は菓祖としてのいわれが高く、今でも菓子の世界では崇められています。田道間守の持ち帰った「非時香菓」が小さくて可愛らしく、甘いものの無かった時代に神様にお供えする「和菓子」として使われるようになったからだと言われています。
神の木として2000年以上も前から存在し、一番始めにお供えに使われるようになった「大和橘」。歴史との結びつきが非常に深く、春日大社では1400年前から、3/15日のお祭りに橘をお供えされています。また、その香りが邪気を払うと言われていることから、お能の観世流では今でも踊る舞台をまず橘の枝で清める伝統を守っているのです。
平城京の時代、今よりも頻繫にお風呂に入ることのなかった人々は、橘の実を首飾りにして現代で言うところの「香水」のような使い方をしていたと言われています。特に位の高い女性は、長い髪を持ちながら、頻繁に洗えなかったことから皮膚病に悩まされていた人も。そんな時に、強い香りを持つ橘を身に付けることで、殺菌効果もある橘は重宝されました。
The Man’yōshū, the oldest extant collection of Japanese poetry, contains 69 poems about or referencing tachibana. (The entire collection comprises more than 4500 poems.) By and large, the aforementioned poems celebrate the fragrance of the tachibana, particularly as a perfume used by women.
Like many 17th century French nobles, Heian period (794–1185) women of high rank rarely bathed, if ever. Instead, they perfumed themselves with tachibana, tucking sachets of tachibana into their kimono sleeves, or around their necks as ornaments.
Sweet items were, and still are, used as offerings at rituals. However, sugar was once a rare commodity in Japan; instead, the tachibana’s dainty size, bright colouring and fragrance made it an appropriate ‘sweet’ offering for the gods.
In Nara, tachibana plays a central role in Shinto rituals; other citruses are not acceptable substitutes. In 2017, the tree at Kasuga Taisha Shrine––one of Nara’s most important shrines––was less than fruitful. In response to their request, the Nara Tachibana Project supplied the shrine with 160 tachibana fruits, branches attached, so that the shrine could make these offerings for the yearly Kasuga Matsuri in March. This tradition has reputedly continued unabated for over a thousand years.
As recently as the mid-20th century, tachibana fruits were commonly used as decorations during the Girls’ Festival (Hina Matsuri), though as they have become difficult to source mikan oranges are typically substituted. A similar practice is carried out on New Year’s Day: in Nara, households will make offerings of mikan attached with leaves. These would originally have been tachibana.
– 様々な使い方をされてきた大和橘。歴史との結びつきは、他の所でも見受けることができます。1円玉には、橘の葉っぱが刻まれていたり、文化勲章にも橘のモチーフが使われていたりと、その存在と活躍は知られていないだけで多岐に亘っているのです。
「日本そのものが橘やと僕は思っているんです。」
とおっしゃったのは、なら橘プロジェクトの会長「城 健治」さん。
奈良には、お正月に葉つきミカンを神前に供える風習があります。これも、元々は橘を使っていたのかもしれない。神前に供えるみかんは本来橘だったのかも。師走に黄金色に色づいた橘の実を見ているそんな気がすると語る城さんの言葉に橘と歴史のロマンを感じます。
Located in Kitakatsuragi District in Nara prefecture, the history of this shrine has long been entwined with the tachibana.
According to extant chronicles, a forest of tachibana trees mysteriously sprung up overnight in this area in the 9th year of Emperor Suijin’s reign (approx. 89 B.C.) On hearing this, the emperor ordered a shrine to be erected and dedicated to these trees.
Today, the shrine has five large tachibana trees. They are not the very same trees that existed 2,000 years ago, but the shrine has ensured that there have always been, and will continue to be, tachibana trees on its grounds.
According to Kenji Jō, current chairman of the Nara Tachibana Project, it was sheer providence that the movement to resurrect the tachibana happened at all. In 2011, Jō was a council member of the Association of Commerce and Industry of Yamatokoriyama City. The association was collecting donations by hosting a kingyo-sukui community event, a traditional festival game where participants try to gather goldfish using paper scoopers. At the time, Jō and the other team members were brainstorming ideas for participant prizes; they wanted these items to be uniquely representative of local culture, but everything they came up with seemed trite and overdone.
It was then that Hiroyuki Kikuoka, the 26th generation owner of Kikutani, the oldest Japanese sweets shop in Nara (founded in 1585), mentioned a certain fruit––the Yamato tachibana. He told the group that the origins of Japanese confectionery (wagashi) could be traced back to this small, dainty citrus fruit. Would it be possible to create a product or souvenir incorporating this fruit?
His interest piqued, Jō decided to probe further. Tachibana weren’t easily found in Nara, and there were virtually no growers. It turned out that there were just 300 trees left in the whole of Japan, 200 of which were mostly growing wild on the island of Shikoku.
It was a pivotal moment: not only was this citrus fruit critically endangered, it had what they saw as a deep connection to Japanese culture––and specifically ancient Nara history, as Nara was one of the country’s earliest imperial capitals. Reviving tachibana would not only preserve and promote an important part of Japanese culture, it was also an opportunity to raise Nara’s profile.
Jō, Kikuoka, and a certain Tachibana Katsuhiko (who owns a design firm in Osaka, and happens to share a name with this fruit) decided to create the Nara Tachibana Project. The aims of this project: to increase the number of trees, and promote the culinary use of these fruits through creating new products. They began by approaching Hirose Taisha Shrine and asking for several cuttings to grow the first few trees.
奈良県北葛城郡に位置する廣瀬大社。橘紋を神紋とするこの神社には、大和橘の大木が5本大切に守られています。遡ること水神天皇9年（前89年）、この地に一夜にして橘の森ができ、それを知った水神天皇が神社を建て祀るように命じたのが始まりとされています。
今から、約10年ほど前、ひょんなことから発足した「なら橘プロジェクト」。
「ここが始まりです」と廣瀬大社についてしみじみと語る会長の城健治さん（以下城さん）に、その経緯をお伺いしました。
当時、大和郡山市の商工会の審議委員であった城さんは、地元郡山の金魚すくいを通しての寄付金を集めるイベントでのお土産品について考えあぐねていました。そんな中、奈良で一番古い和菓子屋（創業実に1585年）菊谷の26代目菊岡洋之さんから、「奈良には大和橘というものがあり、どうやらこれがお菓子の始まりであるらしい。」という情報を手に入れます。では、実際問題どこで橘が手に入るのか。なんと日本全土を合わせてもわずか300本の樹しか残っていないことを知った城さんは、菊岡さん、そして大阪でデザイン会社を経営する橘勝彦さんらと共に、橘の保存を通して奈良からストーリーを届けることを決意します。
なら橘プロジェクトの幕開けでした。
早速、廣瀬大社から、実を貰っての製品開発が始まります。
While they had already planted many tachibana trees near the mausoleum and along the historical highway, Jo and Kubota continued searching for a plot of land better-suited to growing this fruit.
By a stroke of providence, Kubota met someone who owned a cafe near Yamanobe no Michi, an ancient road that is today a pleasant hiking trail running through the foothills of the eastern mountains in the Nara basin.
This cafe owner suggested contacting the prefectural government, who had recently purchased various swathes of abandoned land for designation as ‘Special Historic Landscape Preservation Areas,’ as growing tachibana was likely to fall within the remit of this designation.
Eventually, the Ancient Capital Management Department (古都管理係) granted the Project permission to grow tachibana on some of this land, which at the time was mostly fallow save for a few persimmon trees.
Initially, they rented two areas along the Yamanobe no Michi Trail totaling approximately 2,500m², planting around 50 trees. Formerly rice fields, these plots of land were located on mountain slopes. Moreover, the area around the trail is known for its pattern of temperature inversion, where the temperature is warmer around the foothills than at the bottom of the basin below. All these characteristics made this area ideal for growing citrus trees, and by extension, tachibana.
At present, the Project rents around 6,000m² of land along the trail for the sole purpose of growing tachibana.
Like most citrus species, the tachibana thrives when planted in well-drained soil, such as on slopes or on mounds. As such, outside purposeful cultivation efforts, most tachibana trees naturally grow wild on mountainsides. Though they are frost-tolerant, they thrive best in regions with warmer temperatures year-round, including the Izu peninsula, Shizuoka prefecture, the island of Shikoku, and Miyazaki prefecture.
However, tachibana trees are able to survive on flat ground, as can be seen with the trees grown near the Mausoleum of Emperor Suinin. Care must be taken with young trees: it is a particular favourite of the giant swallowtail butterfly (known as agehachou in Japanese), whose eggs hatch into caterpillars that can rapidly defoliate a sapling.
It takes at least 4–6 years for a tree grown from seed to bear fruit. According to growers such as Jō, tachibana fruit harvested from trees grown from seed are far more flavourful compared to trees grown from cuttings.
さて、１０年ほど続くなら橘プロジェクトですが、最初の6年間は橘の苗を育てることに費やしたとおっしゃる城さん。
城さんいわく、実生（種から育てた苗）の樹に実った橘の方が香りが高く、また味も濃いそうですが、実生は接ぎ木よりもはるかに時間と手間がかかってしまうのが難点と言えば難点。
無農薬で栽培しているため、夏は毎朝早起きして草を刈るのが大変だとこぼしていらっしゃいました。
橘のその香り高さから、特にアゲハ蝶が群がり危うくその幼虫によって幼い苗木が丸坊主にされかけたことも。手がかかりますが、毎年橘の実を収穫するとその香りとつやつやとした実の佇まいに苦労も報われる想いがするそうです。
今年の目標を伺ってみたところ、実生の葉っぱでお茶を作りたいと笑顔で語った城さん、
種からとれるオイルにも期待大だそうです。
ところで、三輪から奈良に通じるこの「山野辺の道」は、歴史に登場する中で最古と言われていることをご存知でしたか？実は山野辺の道周辺は、「逆転現象」と呼ばれる気温が盆地の底よりも山すその方が気温が高くなるという現象が起き、これがミカン栽培、ひいては橘の生育にはうってつけと言われる一因となっています。
Like a kumquat, both the skin and fruit of the tachibana are edible. The skin has a fragrant bitterness that lingers in one’s mouth, while the fruit is extremely tart.
The tachibana is particularly rich in phenolic compounds and flavonoids such as nobiletin, tangeretin, and hesperidin, which may account for its concentrated bitterness.
Compared to similar citruses, the tachibana has a stronger and more distinctive aroma, likely due to its volatile composition.
While the tachibana’s bitterness remains a limitation to widespread popularity as an eating citrus with average consumers, it has high potential for culinary applications. Indeed, Kyoko Onishi, a Nara-based food mediciner involved with the Nara Tachibana Project, asserts that this bitterness is what makes the tachibana special compared to sweeter citruses like mikan or grapefruit. Its fragrance and comparative rarity would make it an excellent ingredient in Asian and European haute cuisine alike.
The tachibana can be used in similar fashion to other citruses––marmalade, cakes, syrups, and relishes are just some examples. Its zest can be grated into butters, sauces, vinaigrettes, ice cream, and salad. Like kumquats, they can be candied whole. Onishi mixes dried tachibana skin with sesame seeds and salt to make furikake, a vibrant, savoury seasoning for rice.
The fruit notwithstanding, tachibana leaves can be steeped in hot water (60~65C) for a gentle medicinal, herbal tea.
Kyoko Onishi developed the following tachibana-themed recipe expressly for the Lexicon’s project, and we have reproduced it in full. As it will be difficult to find tachibana outside of Japan, those interested in attempting the recipe can try substituting with similar citruses, like small kumquats.
Ingredients:
・200ml flour
・8 tachibana, and a few of its leaves
・300g potatoes
・A pinch of sea salt
・A sprig or two of fresh rosemary
・200ml soymilk
・1 tsp baking powder
・1 tsp rapeseed oil (or similar)
Directions:
ヨーロッパで食を通して身体を治す「フードメディスン」の普及に30年以上精を出してこられたオオニシ先生が帰国を決意された理由は、2011年に起こった東日本大震災。帰国後は、奈良の初瀬の地での活動を始めます。その後まもなくして奈良由来の大和橘の存在を知り、幼い頃の大切な思い出が揺り起こされます。
子供の頃、毎年とても楽しみにしていたお雛様。ご両親から飾りの1つである「橘」が「大和橘」と呼ばれる日本古来の柑橘であることを教わり、胸がときめいたそうです。
「大和橘のことを知ったときは運命だと思いました、絶滅の危機にあると知り私も何かしたいと。」なら橘プロジェクト『大和橘』の会員として橘の保存そして普及に携わるかたわら、料理研究家として橘をどのように調理するかについて日々試行錯誤を繰り返しているそうです。
主宰される料理教室では、橘をまるごと塩煮にしたものを餡に入れたたい焼きが生徒さんたちに大好評。また、七味の中に入っていることで知られる陳皮が本来は大和橘の皮で作られていたことから、大和橘を使った陳皮のふりかけを商品化するべく現在試作を繰り返されています。
初めて口にされたとき、あまたの「苦い、昨今のみかんのように甘くない等々」意見ではなく、そのすっきりとした自分を曲げない味に感動したオオニシ先生。「聞きましたらね、私は真っ先にこの苦みが良いと、媚びないこの味と香りが素晴らしいって、新しいって言ったんですけども。」
今回このプロジェクトのためにオリジナルのレシピを考案して下さいました。
-橘パンケーキ
材料：
・小麦粉 200ml
・橘の実8ヶと葉っぱ数枚
・じゃがいも 300g
・海塩 一つまみ
・ローズマリー 少々
・豆乳 200ml
・ベーキングパウダー 小さじ一杯
・菜種油 小さじ一杯
作り方：
Tachibana’s bitterness and heady fragrance make it well-suited to alcohol-based beverages. The Belgian-style craft beers produced by Nara Brewing Co. Ltd. are examples of how tachibana can be introduced to a wider, younger audience: their Belgian Wit and Philharmony use the skins and fruits respectively, pairing the citrus with complementary flavours like lemongrass and coriander.
Another example is Kikka Gin, which received a Bronze rating at the 2020 International Wines & Spirits Competition.
Produced at Yamato Distillery––an off-shoot of the Yucho Shuzo brewery––in southern Nara, this 59% ABV craft gin uses just three locally sourced botanicals: tachibana, Yamato tōki (Angelica acutilloba), and juniper berry.
Brewer Itatoko Naoki sources his tachibana from Jō, using the skins of around a metric tonne of fruit each year. This makes approximately 6000 litres of gin. The rest of the flesh he keeps frozen, selling them by the kilogram to interested parties by word of mouth. Despite Kikka Gin’s unusually high proof, the tachibana’s aroma and flavours are robust enough to stand up to the alcohol content. Australia-based Sake Shop claims that they have “never tasted a more balanced gin.”
「橘なしではこんな良いジンにはならなかった」開口一番そう語る板床さん。後から分かったことなのですが、大和蒸留所を開いた油長酒造の家紋が実は大和橘と、橘花ジンが生まれる昔からつながりがあったのです。
板床さんいわく、「柑橘全般にジンは合うけれど、その中でも特に大和橘は他にない香りがする、やっぱり原種だから。レモンには無い奥深さがある。」とのこと。
今のところ使用しているのは皮だけですが、年間使用量は1トンと、やまと橘プロジェクトで生産されるほとんどの橘が橘花ジンとなり、世の中に届けられています。橘1つとっても、木ごとに微妙に味が番うのだとか。
そのため、今でも作り方を研究してつねに改良を重ねているそうです。従来のジンのアルコール度数が約45％の中、橘花ジンのアルコール度数は59％とかなり高め。それ程アルコール度数が高いとアルコールの味が勝ってしまうのですが、大和橘の香りの高さがそれを可能にしているのだとか。
奈良の地で蒸留されたクラフトジンが、その地に何千年も前から存在していた大和橘と出会い、新しいストーリーを生み出しています。現在、台湾、香港、シンガポール、オーストラリア、スイスの5カ国に輸出中。2020年には、イギリスで行われた世界的にも権威の高いスピリッツ品評会「IWSC」で銅賞を受賞したKIKKA GIN。その快進撃はとどまる所を知りません。
We have no idea who grows our food, what farming practices they use, the communities they support, or what processing it undergoes before reaching our plates.
As a result, we have no ability to make food purchases that align with our values as individuals, or our missions as companies.
To change that, we’ve asked experts to demystify the complexity of food purchasing so that you can better informed decisions about what you buy.
The Lexicon of Food’s community of experts share their insights and experiences on the complex journey food takes to reach our plates. Their work underscores the need for greater transparency and better informed decision-making in shaping a healthier and more sustainable food system for all.
Professionals at universities and research institutions seeking scholarly articles, data, and resources.
Tools to align investment and grant making strategies with advances in agriculture, food production, and emerging markets.
Professionals seeking information on ingredient sourcing, menu planning, sustainability, and industry trends.
Chefs and food industry professionals seeking inspiration on ingredients and sustainable trends to enhance their work.
Individuals interested in food products, recipes, nutrition, and health-related information for personal or family use.
Individuals producing food, fiber, feed, and other agricultural products that support both local and global food systems.
This online platform is years in the making, featuring the contributions of 1000+ companies and NGOs across a dzen domain areas. To introduce you to their work, we’ve assembled personalized experiences with insights from our community of international experts.
Businesses engaged in food production, processing, and distribution that seek insight from domain experts
Those offering specialized resources and support and guidance in agriculture, food production, and nutrition.
Individuals who engage and educate audience on themes related to agriculture, food production, and nutrition.
Nutritional information for professionals offering informed dietary choices that help others reach their health objectives
Those advocating for greater awareness and stronger action to address climate impacts on agriculture and food security.
Professionals seeking curriculum materials, lesson plans, and learning tools related to food and agriculture.
Over half the world’s agricultural production comes from only three crops. Can we bring greater diversity to our plates?
In the US, four companies control nearly 85% of the beef we consume. Can we develop more regionally-based markets?
How can we develop alternatives to single-use plastics that are more sustainable and environmentally friendly?
Could changing the way we grow our food provide benefits for people and the planet, and even respond to climate change?
Can we meet the growing global demand for protein while reducing our reliance on traditional animal agriculture?
It’s not only important what we eat but what our food comes in. Can we develop tools that identify toxic materials used in food packaging?
Explore The Lexicon’s collection of immersive storytelling experiences featuring insights from our community of international experts.
The Great Protein Shift
Our experts use an engaging interactive approach to break down the technologies used to create these novel proteins.
Ten Principles for Regenerative Agriculture
What is regenerative agriculture? We’ve developed a framework to explain the principles, practices, ecological benefits and language of regenerative agriculture, then connected them to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Food-related chronic diseases are the biggest burden on healthcare systems. What would happen if we treated food as medicine?
How can we responsibly manage our ocean fisheries so there’s enough seafood for everyone now and for generations to come?
Mobilizing agronomists, farmers, NGOs, chefs, and food companies in defense of biodiversity in nature, agriculture, and on our plates.
Can governments develop guidelines that shift consumer diets, promote balanced nutrition and reduce the risk of chronic disease?
Will sustainably raising shellfish, finfish, shrimp and algae meet the growing demand for seafood while reducing pressure on wild fisheries?
How can a universal visual language to describe our food systems bridge cultural barriers and increase consumer literacy?
What if making the right food choices could be an effective tool for addressing a range of global challenges?
Let’s start with climate change. While it presents our planet with existential challenges, biodiversity loss, desertification, and water scarcity should be of equal concern—they’re all connected.
Instead of seeking singular solutions, we must develop a holistic approach, one that channel our collective energies and achieve positive impacts where they matter most.
To maximize our collective impact, EBF can help consumers focus on six equally important ecological benefits: air, water, soil, biodiversity, equity, and carbon.
We’ve gathered domain experts from over 1,000 companies and organizations working at the intersection of food, agriculture, conservation, and climate change.
The Lexicon™ is a California-based nonprofit founded in 2009 with a focus on positive solutions for a more sustainable planet.
For the past five years, it has developed an “activator for good ideas” with support from Food at Google. This model gathers domain experts from over 1,000 companies and organizations working at the intersection of food, agriculture, conservation, and climate change.
Together, the community has reached consensus on strategies that respond to challenges across multiple domain areas, including biodiversity, regenerative agriculture, food packaging, aquaculture, and the missing middle in supply chains for meat.
Lexicon of Food is the first public release of that work.
Over half the world’s agricultural production comes from only three crops. Can we bring greater diversity to our plates?
In the US, four companies control nearly 85% of the beef we consume. Can we develop more regionally-based markets?
How can we develop alternatives to single-use plastics that are more sustainable and environmentally friendly?
Could changing the way we grow our food provide benefits for people and the planet, and even respond to climate change?
Can we meet the growing global demand for protein while reducing our reliance on traditional animal agriculture?
It’s not only important what we eat but what our food comes in. Can we develop tools that identify toxic materials used in food packaging?
Explore The Lexicon’s collection of immersive storytelling experiences featuring insights from our community of international experts.
The Great Protein Shift
Our experts use an engaging interactive approach to break down the technologies used to create these novel proteins.
Ten Principles for Regenerative Agriculture
What is regenerative agriculture? We’ve developed a framework to explain the principles, practices, ecological benefits and language of regenerative agriculture, then connected them to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Food-related chronic diseases are the biggest burden on healthcare systems. What would happen if we treated food as medicine?
How can we responsibly manage our ocean fisheries so there’s enough seafood for everyone now and for generations to come?
Mobilizing agronomists, farmers, NGOs, chefs, and food companies in defense of biodiversity in nature, agriculture, and on our plates.
Can governments develop guidelines that shift consumer diets, promote balanced nutrition and reduce the risk of chronic disease?
Will sustainably raising shellfish, finfish, shrimp and algae meet the growing demand for seafood while reducing pressure on wild fisheries?
How can a universal visual language to describe our food systems bridge cultural barriers and increase consumer literacy?
This game was designed to raise awareness about the impacts our food choices have on our own health, but also the environment, climate change and the cultures in which we live.
First, you can choose one of the four global regions and pick a character that you want to play.
Each region has distinct cultural, economic, historical, and agricultural capacities to feed itself, and each character faces different challenges, such as varied access to food, higher or lower family income, and food literacy.
As you take your character through their day, select the choices you think they might make given their situation.
At the end of the day you will get a report on the impact of your food choices on five areas: health, healthcare, climate, environment and culture. Take some time to read through them. Now go back and try again. Can you make improvements in all five areas? Did one area score higher, but another score lower?
FOOD CHOICES FOR A HEALTHY PLANET will help you better understand how all these regions and characters’ particularities can influence our food choices, and how our food choices can impact our personal health, national healthcare, environment, climate, and culture. Let’s Play!
The FOOD CHOICES FOR A HEALTHY PLANET game allows users to experience the dramatic connections between food and climate in a unique and engaging way. The venue and the game set-up provides attendees with a fun experience, with a potential to add a new layer of storytelling about this topic.
Starting the game: the pilot version of the game features four country/regions: Each reflects a different way people (and the national dietary guidelines) look at diets: Nordic Countries (sustainability), Brazil (local and whole foods instead of ultra-processed foods); Canada (plant-forward), and Indonesia (developing countries).
Personalizing the game: players begin by choosing a country and then a character who they help in making food choices over the course of one day. Later versions may allow for creating custom avatars.
Making tough food choices: This interactive game for all ages shows how the food choices we make impact our health and the environment, and even contribute to climate change.
What we eat matters: at the end of each game, players learn that every decision they make impacts not only their health, but a national healthcare system, the environment, climate and even culture.
We’d love to know more about you and why you think you will be a great fit for this position! Shoot us an email introducing you and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible!
Providing best water quality conditions to ensure optimal living condition for growth, breeding and other physiological needs
Water quality is sourced from natural seawater with dependency on the tidal system. Water is treated to adjust pH and alkalinity before stocking.
Producers that own and manages the farm operating under small-scale farming model with limited input, investment which leads to low to medium production yield
All 1,149 of our farmers in both regencies are smallholder farmers who operate with low stocking density, traditional ponds, and no use of any other intensification technology.
Safe working conditions — cleanliness, lighting, equipment, paid overtime, hazard safety, etc. — happen when businesses conduct workplace safety audits and invest in the wellbeing of their employees
Company ensure implementation of safe working conditions by applying representative of workers to health and safety and conduct regular health and safety training. The practices are proven by ASIC standards’ implementation
Implementation of farming operations, management and trading that impact positively to community wellbeing and sustainable better way of living
The company works with local stakeholders and local governments to create support for farmers and the farming community in increasing resilience. Our farming community is empowered by local stakeholders continuously to maintain a long generation of farmers.
Freezing seafood rapidly when it is at peak freshness to ensure a higher quality and longer lasting product
Our harvests are immediately frozen with ice flakes in layers in cool boxes. Boxes are equipped with paper records and coding for traceability. We ensure that our harvests are processed with the utmost care at <-18 degrees Celsius.
Sourcing plant based ingredients, like soy, from producers that do not destroy forests to increase their growing area and produce fish feed ingredients
With adjacent locations to mangroves and coastal areas, our farmers and company are committed to no deforestation at any scale. Mangrove rehabilitation and replantation are conducted every year in collaboration with local authorities. Our farms are not established in protected habitats and have not resulted from deforestation activity since the beginning of our establishment.
Implement only natural feeds grown in water for aquatic animal’s feed without use of commercial feed
Our black tiger shrimps are not fed using commercial feed. The system is zero input and depends fully on natural feed grown in the pond. Our farmers use organic fertilizer and probiotics to enhance the water quality.
Enhance biodiversity through integration of nature conservation and food production without negative impact to surrounding ecosysytem
As our practices are natural, organic, and zero input, farms coexist with surrounding biodiversity which increases the volume of polyculture and mangrove coverage area. Farmers’ groups, along with the company, conduct regular benthic assessments, river cleaning, and mangrove planting.
THE TERM “MOONSHOT” IS OFTEN USED TO DESCRIBE an initiative that goes beyond the confines of the present by transforming our greatest aspirations into reality, but the story of a moonshot isn’t that of a single rocket. In fact, the Apollo program that put Neil Armstrong on the moon was actually preceded by the Gemini program, which in a two-year span rapidly put ten rockets into space. This “accelerated” process — with a new mission nearly every 2-3 months — allowed NASA to rapidly iterate, validate their findings and learn from their mistakes. Telemetry. Propulsion. Re-entry. Each mission helped NASA build and test a new piece of the puzzle.
The program also had its fair share of creative challenges, especially at the outset, as the urgency of the task at hand required that the roadmap for getting to the moon be written in parallel with the rapid pace of Gemini missions. Through it all, the NASA teams never lost sight of their ultimate goal, and the teams finally aligned on their shared responsibilities. Within three years of Gemini’s conclusion, a man did walk on the moon.
FACT is a food systems solutions activator that assesses the current food landscape, engages with key influencers, identifies trends, surveys innovative work and creates greater visibility for ideas and practices with the potential to shift key food and agricultural paradigms.
Each activator focuses on a single moonshot; instead of producing white papers, policy briefs or peer-reviewed articles, these teams design and implement blueprints for action. At the end of each activator, their work is released to the public and open-sourced.
As with any rapid iteration process, many of our activators re-assess their initial plans and pivot to address new challenges along the way. Still, one thing has remained constant: their conviction that by working together and pooling their knowledge and resources, they can create a multiplier effect to more rapidly activate change.
Co-Founder
THE LEXICON
Vice President
Global Workplace Programs
GOOGLE
Who can enter and how selections are made.
A Greener Blue is a global call to action that is open to individuals and teams from all over the world. Below is a non-exhaustive list of subjects the initiative targets.
To apply, prospective participants will need to fill out the form on the website, by filling out each part of it. Applications left incomplete or containing information that is not complete enough will receive a low score and have less chance of being admitted to the storytelling lab.
Nonprofit organizations, communities of fishers and fish farmers and companies that are seeking a closer partnership or special support can also apply by contacting hello@thelexicon.org and interacting with the members of our team.
Special attention will be given to the section of the form regarding the stories that the applicants want to tell and the reasons for participating. All proposals for stories regarding small-scale or artisanal fishers or aquaculturists, communities of artisanal fishers or aquaculturists, and workers in different steps of the seafood value chain will be considered.
Stories should show the important role that these figures play in building a more sustainable seafood system. To help with this narrative, the initiative has identified 10 principles that define a more sustainable seafood system. These can be viewed on the initiative’s website and they state:
Seafood is sustainable when:
Proposed stories should show one or more of these principles in practice.
Applications are open from the 28th of June to the 15th of August 2022. There will be 50 selected applicants who will be granted access to The Lexicon’s Total Storytelling Lab. These 50 applicants will be asked to accept and sign a learning agreement and acceptance of participation document with which they agree to respect The Lexicon’s code of conduct.
The first part of the lab will take place online between August the 22nd and August the 26th and focus on training participants on the foundation of storytelling, supporting them to create a production plan, and aligning all of them around a shared vision.
Based on their motivation, quality of the story, geography, and participation in the online Lab, a selected group of participants will be gifted a GoPro camera offered to the program by GoPro For A Change. Participants who are selected to receive the GoPro camera will need to sign an acceptance and usage agreement.
The second part of the Storytelling Lab will consist of a production period in which each participant will be supported in the production of their own story. This period goes from August 26th to October 13th. Each participant will have the opportunity to access special mentorship from an international network of storytellers and seafood experts who will help them build their story. The Lexicon also provides editors, animators, and graphic designers to support participants with more technical skills.
The final deadline to submit the stories is the 14th of October. Participants will be able to both submit complete edited stories, or footage accompanied by a storyboard to be assembled by The Lexicon’s team.
All applicants who will exhibit conduct and behavior that is contrary to The Lexicon’s code of conduct will be automatically disqualified. This includes applicants proposing stories that openly discriminate against a social or ethnic group, advocate for a political group, incite violence against any group, or incite to commit crimes of any kind.
All submissions must be the entrant’s original work. Submissions must not infringe upon the trademark, copyright, moral rights, intellectual rights, or rights of privacy of any entity or person.
Participants will retain the copyrights to their work while also granting access to The Lexicon and the other partners of the initiative to share their contributions as part of A Greener Blue Global Storytelling Initiative.
If a potential selected applicant cannot be reached by the team of the Initiative within three (3) working days, using the contact information provided at the time of entry, or if the communication is returned as undeliverable, that potential participant shall forfeit.
Selected applicants will be granted access to an advanced Storytelling Lab taught and facilitated by Douglas Gayeton, award-winning storyteller and information architect, co-founder of The Lexicon. In this course, participants will learn new techniques that will improve their storytelling skills and be able to better communicate their work with a global audience. This skill includes (but is not limited to) how to build a production plan for a documentary, how to find and interact with subjects, and how to shoot a short documentary.
Twenty of the participants will receive a GoPro Hero 11 Digital Video and Audio Cameras by September 15, 2022. Additional participants may receive GoPro Digital Video and Audio Cameras to be announced at a later date. The recipients will be selected by advisors to the program and will be based on selection criteria (see below) on proposals by Storytelling Lab participants. The selections will keep in accordance with Lab criteria concerning geography, active participation in the Storytelling Lab and commitment to the creation of a story for the Initiative, a GoPro Camera to use to complete the storytelling lab and document their story. These recipients will be asked to sign an acceptance letter with terms of use and condition to receive the camera.
The Lexicon provides video editors, graphic designers, and animators to support the participants to complete their stories.
The submitted stories will be showcased during international and local events, starting from the closing event of the International Year of Fisheries and Aquaculture 2022 in Rome, in January 2023. The authors of the stories will be credited and may be invited to join.
Storytelling lab participation:
Applicants that will be granted access to the storytelling Lab will be evaluated based on the entries they provided in the online form, and in particular:
Applications will be evaluated by a team of 4 judges from The Lexicon, GSSI and the team of IYAFA (Selection committee).
When selecting applications, the call promoters may request additional documentation or interviews both for the purpose of verifying compliance with eligibility requirements and to facilitate proposal evaluation.
Camera recipients:
Participants to the Storytelling Lab who will be given a GoPro camera will be selected based on:
The evaluation will be carried out by a team of 4 judges from The Lexicon, GSSI and the team of IYAFA (Selection committee).
Incidental expenses and all other costs and expenses which are not specifically listed in these Official Rules but which may be associated with the acceptance, receipt and use of the Storytelling Lab and the camera are solely the responsibility of the respective participants and are not covered by The Lexicon or any of the A Greener Blue partners.
All participants who receive a Camera are required to sign an agreement allowing GoPro for a Cause, The Lexicon and GSSI to utilize the films for A Greener Blue and their promotional purposes. All participants will be required to an agreement to upload their footage into the shared drive of The Lexicon and make the stories, films and images available for The Lexicon and the promoting partners of A Greener Blue.
