Overview
- Yamada Suisan began a limited public trial sale on Friday, May 29, 2026, offering frozen kabayaki at about ¥4,500 each and reporting immediate online sellouts and 45 pieces sold in-store.
- The product is the result of closed-cycle or “complete” aquaculture, meaning eggs are hatched and raised to breeding adults that produce the next generation without using wild glass-eel juveniles.
- Early tasters and company notes say the fully farmed eel has thin skin, good flesh and fat and a taste comparable to conventional farmed eel.
- Production costs remain far higher than conventional methods, roughly three to four times higher now, making cost cuts and bigger output essential before wider commercial rollout is viable.
- The sale follows technical guidance from the national Fisheries Research and Education Agency since 2022 and will expand through major retail channels, including Aeon’s EC platform and a planned July offering at Mitsukoshi.