Nikujaga, a comforting Japanese stew of meat and potatoes, is often regarded as the quintessential taste of home cooking in Japan. The city of Maizuru, in northern Kyoto Prefecture, is closely associated with the dish’s origins, which are said to date back to the early days of the Imperial Japanese Navy.
In 1901, Admiral Heihachiro Togo became the first commander-in-chief of the Maizuru Naval District. During his youth, he had studied in Britain for seven years and developed a fondness for beef stew. Hoping to recreate its flavor in Japan, he reportedly instructed naval cooks to prepare a similar dish using familiar Japanese seasonings, including sugar and soy sauce.
The resulting sweet-and-savory stew, known as amakuni or nikujaga, became a nutritious and satisfying meal. It eventually spread throughout Japan as a staple of naval cuisine and later became a favorite in households across the country.
The original naval recipe is recorded in the Naval Cooking and Food Management Textbook. According to local accounts, a copy of this historic manual is preserved at the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s Fourth Service School in Maizuru.
Today, Maizuru celebrates its connection to nikujaga as part of its naval heritage. Visitors can enjoy this comforting local specialty and discover the story behind one of Japan’s most familiar home-cooked dishes.