TEE JAPMESE A&Afir-A&AB DTDUSTEI 



A. Baw Material 



1. Agar-£sgar is made from the car'bohydrate extracted from 

 certain types of seaweed. The weed Is boiled and filtered and the extract 

 allowed to solidify. It is then subjected to a freezing and thawing 

 process which ronoves nearly all of the impurities and moisture. The 

 name agar-agar comes from the Malayan language and means seaweed. The 

 name was originally used to describe a seaweed, Bueheuma epinostim. found 

 in large qviairtities in the South Sea Islands. 



3. Many kinds of seaweed are used in the manufacture of agar- 

 agar. Bach has a special ptirpose. The same variety may have different 

 properties depending upon the location and the season in which it is 

 gathered. To obtain a uniform product it is necessary to blend carefully 

 seaweeds from different areas and of different varieties. This blending 

 produces an agar-agar with a low setting point and viscosity and a high 

 jelly strength. The season is important because seaweed from the first 

 growth collected in May and June has a greater agar-agar content than 

 that of the second growth. Table 1 gives the botanical names and common 

 Japanese terms for most of the species of seaweed used. 



3. The most important source of agar^agar from a standpoint of 

 quality as well as quantity is the seaweed &elidium Amansii. This variety 

 is found in considerable qxiantlty along the coast of Japan Proper. The 

 most abundant sources are the Izu Islands off the Izu Peninsula and along 

 the coast of Kanagawa and Shizuoka Prefectures. 



4. The seaweed is gathered by fishermen and their families and 



by deep sea divers. Seaweed gather- 

 ing rights, like fishing rights, 

 are issued by the Central Feder- 

 ation of Fishermfen' s Cooperative 

 Associations and give the fishermen 



