Uzuwa: Ito’s Local Fish, Spread from Edge to Edge
The fish did not sit on the plate. It occupied it.
At Rakumiya Marugen in Ito, on the eastern coast of Shizuoka’s Izu Peninsula, finely chopped uzuwa arrived as a dark red layer spread almost from rim to rim. It looked less plated than painted.
This was tataki, though not the seared slices you might know from bonito. The word can also describe raw fish repeatedly chopped with a knife. Here, the result was a soft, roughly textured mixture.
Then I was handed an illustrated guide.
Most set meals arrive ready to eat. Uzuwa expects a brief orientation.
First, divide the fish
The guide began by asking me to divide the uzuwa into three roughly equal portions with my chopsticks. Each third had a different destination.
First, though, there was the small matter of the green chilli.
The first portion was to be mixed with soy sauce and chopped chilli. How much chilli? According to the guide, that was “at your own risk.”
The fish occupied almost a whole plate. The ingredient requiring a disclaimer occupied a small patch of a saucer.
The colour was closer to raw meat or liver than to most sashimi. The flavour was rich and oily, but I found no unpleasant fishiness. Green chilli suited it particularly well: the heat sharpened the flavour without overwhelming the fish.
Uzuwa is a local name used mainly for marusōda, or bullet tuna, a small member of the tuna family. The name, the restaurant explains, means “swirl ring”, after the swirl-like markings on its back. The fish loses freshness quickly and is rarely distributed fresh; much of the catch becomes sōda-bushi, dried fish used to make stock.
That helped explain why it was worth ordering here. A fish often encountered through the flavour it gives a broth could be tasted on its own, freshly chopped, in the town where it was landed.
The rice has commitments
The menu describes the recipe as handed down directly by a man of the sea, and names the dish after Usami Port, just north of central Ito. The restaurant calls uzuwa a phantom fish: it had to be eaten so fresh that it once stayed with the fishermen.
The second third received the same soy sauce and green chilli, then went onto hot rice.
Do not relax yet. The instructions immediately added another rule:
Do not finish the rice.
The final third still needed somewhere to go. Eating enthusiastically was encouraged, provided it did not interfere with the next stage.
The final third
The guide had even scripted my next line. Call out to the staff, it said: “Broth, please!”
The remaining uzuwa went onto the rice I had saved. Very hot uzuwa broth was poured over it and mixed through, turning the last part of the meal into ochazuke — rice finished with hot tea or broth.
The broth is meant to be heated almost to the boil. In the bowl, the dark red fish turned pale and firm. The paintwork had not survived.
The fish’s rich flavour, sharpened by green chilli at the beginning, now held its own in the robust hot dashi.
For a fish so often used to make stock, this was a fitting last appearance: both as chopped fish and as the broth poured over it. Saving the rice had been sound advice.
By the end, I could have handed out the guide myself.
Location
Restaurant
Rakumiya Marugen (楽味家まるげん)
About 3 minutes on foot from Ito Station
1-4-1 Shishido (猪戸), Ito, Shizuoka 414-0004, Japan
Practical Information
- Dish
- Uzuwa Set Meal (うずわ定食)
- Associated area
- Ito, Shizuoka
- Opening hours
- Lunch 11:00–15:00 (last food orders 14:00); dinner 17:00–23:00 (last food orders 22:00)
- Reservations
- Not accepted
- Price when checked
- Uzuwa set meal: ¥1,690
- Official website
- Rakumiya Marugen
- Official uzuwa page
- Uzuwa set meal information
- Official menu
- Current menu
Information last checked: August 29, 2026
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