Hikimi Wasabi () is a variety of wasabi cultivated in Hikimi Town (now part of Masuda City), Shimane Prefecture, Japan.
Wasabi cultivation in Hikimi began in 1818 and by the early Shōwa era (1926–1989) reached an annual production of 300 metric tons (330.7 US tons). Of the wasabi from Shimane, 90% came from the town of Hikimi At the time, Shimane Prefecture was one of the top producers of wasabi in Japan. The two top areas of wasabi production were Shizuoka Prefecture in the East and Shimane Prefecture in the West. Hikimi's wasabi production declined due to numerous factors, including two large floods since the 1970s, recent generations of farming families choosing different careers, and global warming. In recent years, new residents of Hikimi have been attempting to revive the production of Hikimi wasabi. In 2013, Shimane Prefecture produced 74.5 metric tons of wasabi (70.2 metric tons were soil-grown wasabi, 4.3 metric tons were water-grown wasabi). That is fifth most in Japan, but far behind the top 3 prefectures: Shizuoka (867.6 metric tons), Nagano (604.7 metric tons), and Iwate (432.7 metric tons). Shimane Prefecture is known for its Hikimi wasabi. Due to this small amount, Hikimi wasabi is now considered to be fairly rare.
Climate
Japan, except for the Hokkaido region, is in the subtropical high-pressure belt, a unique area in the world rich in water despite being located at a latitude which often is desert. When winter comes, rainfall often turns into snowfall, and the Japan Sea side of the main island Honshū has one of the highest amounts of snow at that latitude or lower in the world. Hikimi is located in the southwestern tip of this heavy snow fall area in Japan. Snow acts as insulation to help protect wasabi from frost during the winter. Snow also functions as a natural dam, keeping water plentiful, which is good for growing wasabi. Hikimi is also humid and, being in the mountains, has fewer daylight hours throughout the year. A species native to Japan, wasabi was originally distributed mainly around the Japan Sea side of Honshū. It grows much better in areas with high humidity and short daylight hours than in areas with strong sunlight and high temperatures. With all these favorable factors existing in Hikimi, wasabi grows naturally and has been used by the local people since before it was farmed In terms of climate, Hikimi is the best place for wasabi cultivation, but there are concerns about the future of wasabi production in Hikimi. It is said that the average global rise in temperature is 0.68 °C per 100 years (1.22 °F), but the temperature of Hikimi rose 1.1 °C (1.98 °F) in the past 100 years. This means that ideal conditions for wasabi cultivation rose 200 meters in that time, since temperatures decrease at a rate of 0.55 °C per 100 meters. In the past, top-quality wasabi could be harvested even in the lower areas. However, the water temperature gradually has been rising since World War II, and the warmer temperatures have resulted in more damage to the crops from insects. Some farmers are trying to avoid disease and pests by farming fields at higher elevations, but soon they will run out of land to move up to. Moreover, on the Japan Sea side, in recent years there have been torrential rainstorms at a scale never seen before. These large storms wash away wasabi plants and sometimes devastate entire farms.
Cultivation
Water-grown cultivation
In Hikimi, water-grown wasabi is commonly grown on farms in the Keiryū style (, , "mountain–stream style"). The water comes from the Takatsu River system, which is one of the cleanest rivers in Japan. The Tatami-ishi style ( , "paving-stone style") is the main style used in Shizuoka, and the Heichi style ( , "flatland style") in Nagano. These use spring water as a source and are usually constructed on a large scale using heavy machinery in easily accessible locations. On the other hand, Keiryū-style fields use water mainly from mountain streams. The fields are built on a small-scale by hand along mountain streams, making full use of the natural features of the landscape. To access the Keiryu Style fields, people need to be excellent mountain hikers, because the fields are located in difficult to access places