"We want to deliver tasty, reliable and safe food to customers" is our corporate philosophy since the foundation of Marine Products Kimuraya who have been producing and selling mainly mozuku products.

This is our original and intending mind of R&D.

In 1987, our R&D Division was established to conduct further thorough quality control and hygiene management.

Then the research from the scientific perspective started.

In 1994, the joint research with Shimane University, Faculty of Agriculture (currently, Faculty of Life & Environmental Science) started.

We dispatched our researcher to the University laboratory for further studies posing research themes such as quality retention and fermentation control.

In 1996, the outbreak of the group infection occurred by enterohemorrhagic E. coli O-157 (the so called "O-157 incident"), primarily among children and the elderly.

This incident caused widespread illnesses and some deaths throughout

Under these serious circumstances, to confirm the safety of our products, we initiated joint research with Shimane University to investigate the effects of mixing E. coli O-157 in our seasoned mozuku.

Surprisingly we learned that E. coli O-157 was killed in the seasoned

It was also shown that verotoxin (verotoxin is a pathogenic factor that causes bloody diarrhea, hemolytic-uremic syndrome, and acute encephalopathy) was not produced.

Generally verotoxin is produced in the body of patients in which E. coli O-157 itself is being killed. The verotoxin caused serious symptoms.

By following further researches, it was confirmed that viscous parts of mozuku had components that presented antivirus activity.

Our R&D Division and the team of Shimane University Faculty of Life & Environmental Science confirmed that the useful constituent that presented antibacterial properties was the same constituent of fucoidan.

This existence of this constituent in fucoidan was first confirmed in 1913, by Prof. Kylin, of Uppsala University in Sweden.

Since then research has been carried out in various countries.

In the 1980s the anticancer effects of fucoidan started receiving attention.

In our joint research with Shimane University, we confirmed that fucoidan extracted from mozuku in the laboratory had the effect of suppressing the proliferation of cancer cells and the suppressed the side-effects caused by anticancer drugs.

In 2004, we participated in a research project sponsored by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology ("City Area Industry, Academia, Government Cooperation Program" in Yonago City and Sakaiminato City, Tottori Prefecture).

On this occasion we started exchanging information with Tottori University Faculty of Medicine.

Through these collaborations, our method of clarifying the mechanism of biological activity of our mozuku fucoidan was further confirmed, from the basal level research using cultivated cells to more pragmatic verification from animal and human clinical tests.

For the "City Area Industry, Academia, Government Cooperation Program", in 2006-2008, we provided our fucoidan as research material.

We conducted joint research, with Tottori University Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Agriculture, Faculty of Engineering, Tottori Institute of Industrial Technology, on the "Construction of evaluation system of food developed, through chromosomal engineering, to prevent lifestyle-related disease, and the development of food products".

After 3 years of research, it was confirmed that: [1] fucoidan effects lead to prevention of gout; [2] fucoidan effects lead to prevention of blood clots; [3] fucoidan helps promote regeneration of cartilage; and [4] fucoidan has anticancer activity.

Based on this research, we have great expectations that the useful effect of fucoidan will continue to be discovered and confirmed in the years ahead.