A Cochin connection: The story behind Japan’s famous culinary legend

This is the story of a chicken. A famous chicken from Nagoya. By name, it seems to have a connection to ‘Kochi’. But there is a little story behind that name. While visiting a pavilion introducing local cuisine at the Games Venue, we met our Japanese friend Himari, who offered us an Onigiri made with chicken. It was delicious.

“This is our Nagoya Cochin chicken,” she told us. That was enough to spark our curiosity. Nagoya Cochin is one of Japan’s most famous local chicken breeds. Unlike the usual broiler chicken, which is bred to grow quickly and produce more meat, Nagoya Cochin is valued for its flavour, tenderness and nutritional qualities.

The story goes back to the Meiji era (1868–1912), a period when Japan was rapidly transforming and modernising. Following the Meiji Restoration, many samurai lost their traditional stipends and were forced to look for new livelihoods. Some turned to agriculture and trade. A few ventured into poultry farming. Among them were samurai brothers Sohei and Madahide Kaifu, who established a poultry farm in Komaki City, near Nagoya. They experimented with cross-breeding chickens, looking for varieties that could offer better production.

And this is where the name ‘Cochin’ enters the story. European travellers once used the name ‘Cochin’ for parts of southern Vietnam. The region later came to be known as Cochin China, to distinguish it from Kochi in Kerala. The local chicken breed came to be known as Cochin chicken. The Kaifu brothers cross-bred Cochin chickens with local Japanese breeds around Nagoya. The result was a new cross-bred variety that came to be known as Nagoya Cochin. Despite the name, it had no connection to Kochi in Kerala.

In March 1905, the Japan Poultry Association approved the breed as one of Japan’s locally bred chickens. Nagoya Cochin grows much more slowly than the modern broiler chicken. It produces less meat, but is valued more for its flavour and nutritional value.

That makes it particularly suited to local cuisine. Dishes such as Onigiri, Hikizuri and Oyokodon use Nagoya Cochin. It is not just raised for meat. The hens are also valued for their eggs.
The breed holds its share in making the city of Komaki famous, which is reflected in a tribute at the entrance of Komaki railway station, where statues of a Nagoya Cochin hen and rooster stand as a tribute to the bird that became part of the city’s identity.