ON THE UMAMI

Behind ON THE UMAMI is Futaba Co., Ltd., a manufacturer based in Sanjo, Niigata, with a long track record in dashi-related ingredients and seasonings. Founded in 1953 and incorporated in 1966, the company's expertise spans bonito extracts, natural extracts, shaved-bonito products, and various powdered and liquid seasonings — expertise that forms the backbone of ON THE UMAMI's product development.

The brand's guiding idea is simple but deep: focusing on umami as a gentle, lingering sensation that brings warmth and comfort to food. Rather than chasing loud flavors, ON THE UMAMI emphasizes noticing and bringing out what's already good in the ingredients — an approach that shapes both the lineup and the brand's calm, thoughtful tone.

The core products are easy-to-use dashi packs and seasonings. While bonito-based dashi remains a traditional foundation, ON THE UMAMI also offers vegetable-oriented dashi that can work like a "veggie broth," making the products adaptable across Japanese, Western, and Chinese-style cooking. The additive-free policy — no added chemical seasonings or preservatives — reinforces the idea of a dependable daily staple.

From there, the lineup expands into ready-to-use foods: rice mix kits, rice toppings, dashi chazuke bases, noodle sauces, soups and risottos, freeze-dried miso soup, and pasta sauces. With a strong dashi base, meals tend to "land" nicely with fewer steps — especially helpful on busy days when you still want a satisfying result.

What makes ON THE UMAMI especially distinctive is how it turns its philosophy into a physical experience at ON THE UMAMI TSUBAME SANJO PORT. The facility combines a café where you can try dashi-forward meals, a flagship shop, an organic farm, a museum & lab, and workshop rooms where you can make your own dashi packs or join cooking classes.

In the shop, you'll find a wide range of ON THE UMAMI products alongside Tsubame-Sanjo cutlery and kitchen goods. The café features dishes built around dashi and seasonal vegetables, and the shop also offers hand-dripped dashi served to order — positioning dashi as something you can "brew and taste" directly. It's a brand that quietly, steadily increases the ways dashi can belong in everyday life.

Carefully selected ingredients, additive-free approach

ON THE UMAMI is built around drawing out natural umami from ingredients. Its dashi packs and seasonings are designed for everyday convenience, while aiming for a gentle, warm, lingering finish. The brand's policy of no added chemical seasonings or preservatives makes them easy to keep in regular rotation.

A wide dashi-pack lineup built around "UMAMI dashi"

At the core is "UMAMI dashi," with variations such as bonito & kombu, vegetable, chicken, kombu, blended styles, niboshi (sardine), and ago (flying fish). There are also purpose-driven options including a reduced-salt type, an unseasoned "Satori dashi," and dashi formulated for babies and mothers — so you can match your dashi to your cooking style.

From "cooking" to "drinking" — hand-dripped dashi

At the flagship shop, ON THE UMAMI also serves "hand-dripped dashi," prepared to order in front of guests. It reframes dashi as something you can taste directly, not only as a background component in cooking, and connects naturally with the brand's drinkable-dashi offerings and its dashi-focused café.

TSUBAME SANJO PORT — a factory shop & lab you can experience

ON THE UMAMI TSUBAME SANJO PORT combines a factory shop, café, organic farm, museum & lab, and cooking/workshop rooms in one place. The farm uses aquaponics and pesticide-free organic cultivation, while the museum & lab covers dashi history, manufacturing processes, and even the analysis and visualization of "deliciousness." It's a hands-on way to step into the brand's world.