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におメンマにおメンマNiomenma — Anan, Tokushima
Anan, TokushimaTokushima, Japan

Our Story

At the market stall
At the market stallAnan, Tokushima
Message

Energizing Japan's satoyama, starting from the table.

Hello. I'm Shuji Nio, representative of NioMenma.

The satoyama of Japan where we live—I want to protect its beautiful scenery and bring back the vitality our regions once had. That wish is why I launched this domestic menma business.

Neglected, deteriorating bamboo forests are indeed a serious problem. Yet seen differently, they are an 'untapped resource' bursting with tremendous vitality. We elevate abandoned bamboo into delicious, valuable menma and deliver it to urban tables.

Every time you smile and say 'delicious!', a bamboo forest in a faraway region grows cleaner, and light returns to the mountain. I want to build that kind of sustainable future—where those who eat, those who make, and nature itself all benefit—together with all of you.

Connecting tables and bamboo forests, energizing all of Japan from its regions. Please look forward to NioMenma's challenges ahead.

Shuji Nio Representative, NioMenma

A grove in Anan
Problem

The Problem of Abandoned Bamboo

But seen from another angle, it is also an 'untapped resource' welling up at astonishing speed.

Roughly two-thirds of Japan's bamboo forests have become 'abandoned bamboo,' untouched by human hands. In regions hit by depopulation and aging, the people to tend them have disappeared, and bamboo expands its reach year after year. In spring it can grow over one meter in a single day; that fierce vitality crowds out the surrounding satoyama and degrades the soil.

Sustainable Cycle

The Four Sustainable Steps NioMenma Turns

From 'harvest' to 'restoration,' a single bowl of menma creates a cycle that brings neglected bamboo back to a beautiful satoyama.

Harvest

'Harvest' protects the mountain

We enter neglected bamboo forests and cut down the young, encroaching bamboo by hand, one stalk at a time.

Craft

'Crafting' creates value

Making the most of local resources, we take time and care to finish the very best purely domestic menma.

Table

'The table' creates smiles

As a ramen topping or an everyday snack—the experience of 'delicious' is the star of this cycle.

Return

'Restoration' completes the loop

The sales we deliver become the funds to protect the next mountain, restoring a beautiful, abundant satoyama once again.

And back to the harvest, again.

Philosophy

The Three-Way Good Philosophy

'Good for me, good for you, good for society'—the Sanpo-yoshi spirit that representative Shuji Nio values. We pursue a system where business owners, consumers, and local communities all prosper together.

Bamboo purchase

We Buy Overgrown Bamboo Shoots

We purchase bamboo shoots from farmers and forest owners looking to utilize their abandoned bamboo forests. As part of bamboo forest restoration—let's work on it together. Quantity and timing are flexible.

At the market
At the marketAnan, Tokushima

Markets and events — we post updates here as they come. Instagram is usually quicker for day-to-day news.

By the hands of the town

Cutting the culms, blanching, curing in salt — most of the work is done by hand, by people in Anan.

nothing yet

There are no announcements at the moment. New products, market dates and press coverage will appear here.

About the groves, about the menma.

Forest owners, restaurants, distributors, press — however small the question, please ask.

Contact