Although not from Shizuoka, this Okinawa delicacy regularly appears in good supermarkets such as Shizuoka JR Station Supermarket and in good Japanese restaurants.
Although called Sea Grapes (Umibudou) for their shape, it is a saweed variety!
Its Latin name is “Caulerpa lentillifera” for the purists.
Apparently they can be found in some islands an seas in South Eastern Asia and Oceania. World vegetarian and vegans, look out for them (I mean discovere and eat them! LOL)!
The whole seaweed can reach betwen 2 and 5 metres, but only the extremities including the “grapes” are consumed.
In Okinawa where they have been eaten eons, they are also called “green caviar”!
You can eat them raw of course with soy sauce or rice vinegar mixed with mustard.
In sushi, as “gunkan/maothership”, they certainly make for great fun and taste!
Beware of counterfeits! No less than the JAS was recently caught selling them in August 2008!
Growing them in Japan has apparently been successful, great news for vegans and vegetarians who will find a great source of iodine and other beneficial elements!
Didi I say it? They are delicious/”oishii”!
SHIZUOKA SUSHI & SASHIMI: The other Jewels of Japan 
hello !
i want an information. i write an article about use of seaweeds in the world. i talk about caulerpa lentillifera, and i research photos about the seaweed in high definition. Have you these photos in high definition ? And could you give me these to illustrate my article ?
thank you for your answer.
emilie
Chere Emilie, bonjour!
Merci pour l’interet que vous portez a mon article! je suis Francais et j’habite au Japon!
Je n’ai plus les photos en grande definition (j’ai change de PC depuis), mais vous etes la bienvenue. N’hesitez pas a copier les photos et les articles puisque j’ecris tout dans le but de partager les informations dans mes blogs!
Si vous avexz besoin d’autre chose, n’hesitez pas!
Bien amicalement,
Robert-Gilles
Japanese food ingredients never fait to amaze….I love seaweeds of all kind and I have yet to try this ‘green caviar’…take that Ferran Adria!
THanks for posting and fantastic site for us nihon no ryori lovers.