Kiyoken is a famous, century-old Japanese food company whose most popular product is shumai (Chinese pork dumplings), a famous Yokohama delicacy.

Today, we would like to tell you about the Yokohama factory where Kiyoken makes these shumai. You can arrange your own factory tour to learn about Kiyoken’s history, view the production floor and sample warm, tasty shumai.

Although Kiyoken is famous for its shumai, the company started out in 1908 selling mostly milk and cider. Only later did the company decide to develop shumai as a Yokohama specialty product. Kiyoken’s shumai became famous with Shumai Musume, a character in a popular 1952 novel by Bunroku Shishi and a 1953 movie based on the book. Naturally, sales of shumai took off.

The entire shumai production process, from mixing, preparing and processing through to packaging, is done at the Yokohama factory. The machine that lovingly puts each small shumai perfectly into its package is a wonder of Japanese technology, but what is even more surprising is the factory’s output—800,000 shumai a day.

The most fascinating information from the tour concerned Hyo-chan, the bottle gourd–shaped ceramic soy sauce holder that comes with each package of shumai. The holder was originally plain white, but manga artist Ryuichi Yokoyama added eyes and a nose. He drew versions with many different and adorable expressions, naming the character Hyo-chan after the Japanese word for such gourds, hyotan. Currently in its third reincarnation, Hyo-chan has also been produced in limited-edition versions, including Christmas and 100th anniversary Hyo-chans.

At the end of the tour, samples of original-recipe shumai and a specialty shumai are provided for tasting. Kiyoken’s shumai are quite different from their Chinese counterparts. First of all, the ingredients are different. In China’s Hunan Province, for example, the main ingredients are sticky rice and oil cake. Kiyoken shumai, on the other hand, are made with ground pork and scallops. The size is also different—Chinese shumai are about twice the size of Japanese shumai. The next time you’re in Yokohama, be sure to give Kiyoken shumai a try.

To take a tour of the Kiyoken Yokohama factory, make a reservation by phone. The tours, which are free, can be booked for Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays for tour groups of anywhere from two to 40 people. The factory is a 10-minute bus ride from Shin-Yokohama Station (675-1 Kawamukaicho, Tsuzuki-ku, Yokohama).

Please note that Japanese is required to make reservations. The tours are conducted only in Japanese. For tour details, please go to the Kiyoken website at http://www.kiyoken.com (in Japanese only).

How to sign up for a tour:
http://www.kiyoken.com/factory/index.html