Kyushu Cuisine: Large Prefectures & Their Dishes

Author: Caroline Grinsted, former head chef of Muse Berlin renowned for international comfort food Edited by: Joost Nusselder, author of The Essential Japanese meal planner cookbook Updated October 31, 2024

Kyushu is in the most southerly part of Japan and has a rich history as a warrior culture during the Edo period, which has led to a preference for strongly flavored food. Many dishes were also developed as a practical and innovative reaction to food shortages in historic times and there is also a strong international influence.

The region contains an extensive coastline and as a consequence, the region is home to a variety of unusual seafood dishes. Chinese, South East Asian, American and European cuisines have also had an effect on regional delicacies, with each of the 8 prefectures (Kagoshima, Kumamoto, Nagasaki, Fukuoka, Miyazaki, OIta, Okinawa and Saga) having different speciality dishes.

The top restaurants to visit in Kyushi are Nagahara for ramen, Kusasenri Coffee Shop for ikanari dango dumplings, Hikari for a sasebo burger, and any of the many excellent Karaage restaurants and street stalls in Fukuoka.

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What food is Kyushu famous for?

Kyushu is famous for several dishes, including karaage chicken, ikinari dango and the sasebo burger of Nagasaki. The most-loved variety of ramen noodles, hakara ramen, was developed in Fukuoka in Kyushu.

There are 8 prefectures in Kyushi, each of which are known and renowned for different sorts of food specialities.

1. Kagoshima

Kagoshima is a prefecture mainly in the southern part of Kyushu island and including the Ryukyu Islands. It was home to the Satsuma Domain, a rich warrior culture during the Edo period, which is thought to explain the region’s preference for strongly flavored food. It also has a range of speciality seafood fished from its extensive coastline.

5 regional dishes are as follows:

• Kurobuta: “black pork” – from black-skinned Berkshire pigs. Served thinly sliced in a shabu-shabu, or boiled in soup.
• Kame no te: barnacles in the shape of a turtle’s foot, often served with miso soup
• Satsumaage (or tsukeage): a type of fried fish cake with rich history from the Satsuma Domain.
• Kibinago: silver herring, usually served as sashimi, sometimes grilled or fried.
• Tobiuo: a type of flying fish, served salt-cured or as sashimi.

2. Kumamoto

Kunamoto is a region that experienced food shortages during feudal times, which gave rise to a range of innovative and unusual dishes, including lotus root and horse meat.

5 dishes typical of the region are:

• Ikinari dango: confectionary dumplings stuffed with sweet potato and red bean paste.
• Ayu no sugatazushi: sushi with rice wrapped inside the ayu freshwater fish.
• Basashi: raw horse meat, served as sashimi, with garlic or ginger.
• Hitomoji no guruguru: green onions with miso vinegar, a poverty dish from the 17th century, now elevated to a delicacy.
• Karashi renkon: deep-fried spicy lotus root with mustard and miso.

3. Nagasaki

Nagasaki is a region with extensive international influence, which has had a distinct effect on its food. Chinese, European and America food have all had a strong influence on the native Japanese food culture.

5 famous Nagasakian foods you might find are.

• Sasebo burger nagasaki: an American inspired jumbo burger.
• Touba: Chinese-inspired creamy stewed pork belly, sweet in flavor
• Champon noodles: a student dish with pork, seafood, noodles and vegetables in broth.
• Hatoshi: fried bread with shrimp paste, a dish introduced from China.
• Goto udon: hand-pulled noodles known locally as the “hotpot from hell”, due to a unique taste that only sinners would enjoy.

4. Fukuoka

Fukuoka is one of the regions of Japan that has developed some of the country’s most popular dishes, with a vibrant street-food culture.

• Hakata ramen: the classic ramen dish known and beloved worldwide.
• Mentaiko: marinated fish roe from pollack and cod. Eaten alone, or inside onigiri rice balls.
• Takana meshi: a rice dish with sesame oil and pickled mustard leaves.
• Motsunabe: a hot winter stew of beef and pork offal, noodles, and cabbage in a miso or soy broth.
• Itoshima seafood: fresh oysters, prawns and sea snails from the Itoshima peninsula.

5. Miyazaki

Miyazaki is one of the prefectures with the warmest climate in Japan. That means there are a lot of cooling summer dishes on the menu, as well as premium meat from the livestock that thrive in the mild climate.

5 typical plates of Miyazaki are.

• Miyazaki beef: beef with a bright red color, tender texture and intense flavor, said to melt in the mouth.
• Chicken nanban: deep-battered, deep-fried chicken with vinegar.
• Hyuuga kabocha: a special type of pumpkin that needs the extended daylight hours to thrive.
• Hiya jiru: a refreshing cold summer soup with fish dumplings and dashi, originating in Miyazaki monasteries during the 12th century.
• Ise ebi lobster: spiny lobster, fishes uniquely off the Nichinan coast of Miyazaki.

6. Oita

Oita is a big consumer of chicken and is best known as the inventor of karaage chicken. It is also very well-known for its seafood, with several species and preparations unique to the region.

5 dishes of the Oita region are as follows:

• Karaage chicken: breaded. deep-fried chicken, so popular it has spread throughout the country and the world.
• Tori-meshi: chicken with rice and gobou – burdock leaf.
• Shiroshita karei: a special type of white flounder fish, fished from beneath a castle in the Oita region.
• Hyugadon: fresh tuna in sesame oil, served on rice.
• Uraka: salted ayu sweetfish, blended and served with it’s fermented internal organs

7. Okinawa

Okinawa has a strong Chinese and South East Asian influence to it’s cuisine. Consequently pork meat features very heavily.

5 local specialities are:

• Mimigaa: boiled or pickled pigs ear with vinegar and soy.
• Goya chapuru: a stir-fry dish that includes goya – bitter melon.
• Chi irichee: pork tripe and vegetables simmered in pig’s blood.
• Okinawa udon: noodles at the halfway point between ramen and udon, served with pork and fishcake.
• Rafute: an ancient royal dish of very tender pork rib stewed in miso

8. Saga

Saga is home to a rich variety of seafood from its surrounding waters, and also has some local delicacies originating from its hot springs. It also offers a premium grade Wagyu beef.

5 of the ingredients and dishes typical of the region are:

• Saga beef: a premium grade wagyu beef, used for steak, steamed, or in shabu-shabu
• Ureshino yudofu: tofu boiled in hot alkaline spring water, to create a silky smooth texture.
• Mutsugoro no kabayaki: grilled mudskipper, an odd type of amphibious fish, with a smoky, fatty texture.
• Shappa no nitsuke: boiled mantis shrimp with simple seasoning.
• Yobuko ika: a translucent squid with a very sweet flavor, served raw.

What restaurants do you go when eating in Kyushu?

In Kagoshima, the website Japan Travel recommends trying kurobuta at the restaurant Ichiniisan and Food in Japan suggests Kibinago Sushi Ajisen for kibinago, when in season.

MOS Burger in Nagasaki is top-rated by consumers on several platforms as the best place to try a sasebo burger. The website Food in Japan recommends going to Hikari, which is arguably the oldest burger restaurant in the city.

The Kumamoto Food Guide recommends Kusasenri Coffee Shop or Aso Milk Factory to buy ikanari dango dumplings.

Japan Travel recommends trying a kakigoya – oyster shack – in the village of Shimafunakoshi on the Itoshima peninsula in Fukuoka. It also alleges that Nagahama is the top-rated ramen producer in the region, with both a restaurant and a yatai (street-food stall).

Web Japan suggests going to Oita for the annual Chicken Karaage Grand Prix, at which Oita karaage restaurants are usually among the winners.

Why is buffet so famous in Kyushu?

Buffets in Japans are known as “viking” and have increased greatly in popularity in recent years, due to their variety and value for money. The diversity of dishes served in Kyushi, including those with international influences make Kyushu cuisine especially well-adapted for buffet dining.

How does Kyushu differ from other regional Japanese food?

Kyushu food differs from other regional Japanese food due to its exceptional seafood and its unique blend of Japanese, Chinese, and Western flavors. Additionally, ancient times of food scarcity in Kyushu led to the usage of unusual ingredients which have now become renowned delicacies.

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Caroline first opened the doors to her own apartment in Berlin to guests, which was soon sold out. She then became the head chef of Muse Berlin, Prenzlauer Berg, for eight years, renowned for “international comfort food.”