{"id":2408,"date":"2021-12-01T09:18:39","date_gmt":"2021-12-01T00:18:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sushiuniversity.jp\/sushiblog\/?p=2408"},"modified":"2025-07-18T09:20:05","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T00:20:05","slug":"what-is-toro-katsuo-torogatsuo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sushiuniversity.jp\/sushiblog\/what-is-toro-katsuo-torogatsuo\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Toro Katsuo (Torogatsuo)?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"In recent years, sushi menus have seen an explosion of creative names, many of which begin with the word \u201cToro.\u201d But what exactly is \u201cToro katsuo (Torogatsuo),\u201d and does it truly deserve the prestigious Toro label?<\/p>\n

Toro is an absolute at sushi restaurants and it\u2019s only natural to aspire to such a position. That\u2019s why there are so many sushi dish names that start with \u201cToro\u201d. The most laissez-faire of these is Toro salmon. In this case the definition of Toro is ignored in an attempt to promote sales. Just as bad is Toro katsuo (pronounced \u201cToro-gatsuo\u201d in Japanese).<\/p>\n

Katsuo is born in the warm southern seas. When it reaches about two years old it migrates north in pursuit of Iwashi and other small fish. There are two routes taken by the Katsuo that come to the seas around Japan. One of the routes rides the Kuroshio Current (a warm current)<\/a><\/span> from around the Philippines, passing by Taiwan and the Ryukyus Islands, arriving in southern Kyushu. From there the Katsuo rarely heads toward the Sea of Japan and instead the majority moves northward on the Pacific Ocean side. The Katsuo migration schedule may shift depending on the temperature of the seawater and how the schools of Iwashi and Aji (which the Katsuo feeds on) are migrating that year. The first group appears around Ishigaki Island about January, then in the seas off the shores of Kyushu and Shikoku between February and March. It then moves to the seas off of the Izu and Boso peninsulas between April and June. It reaches the open seas off the southern coast of Sanriku and Hokkaido between July and September.<\/p>\n

Another route follows the Ogasawara ocean current from below the equator in the seas off the shore of Papua New Guinea and the seas around Micronesia to the Ogasawara Islands, along the Seven Islands of Izu and approaching the open seas off the Boso Peninsula. The route then goes northward to join with the routes mentioned above.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the Modori-gatsuo<\/a><\/span> that begins reverse migration toward the south at the beginning of autumn when the water temperatures start to drop. Katsuo has a strong appetite before returning south in preparation for the long trip. Unlike the light-flavored Hatsu-gatsuo, the Modori-gatsuo has plenty of fat and its body fattens up quite a bit. The main fishing locations for Modori-gatsuo are in the northern Pacific, such as the waters off the shore of Sanriku. This is the season when it is truly worthy of the name Toro katsuo when served raw, and nothing else should be called by the same name.<\/p>\n

When served at its peak in early autumn, Modori-gatsuo truly lives up to the name \u201cTorogatsuo\u201d\u2014a seasonal delicacy that offers the richness and depth sushi lovers crave.<\/p>\n

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We hope this information will be helpful.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Revision date: july 18, 2025<\/p>\n

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In recent years, sushi menus have seen an explosion of creative names, many of which begin with the word \u201cToro.\u201d But what exactly is \u201cToro katsuo (Torogatsuo),\u201d and does it truly deserve the prestigious Toro label? Toro is an absolute at sushi restaurants and it\u2019s only natural to aspire to such a position. That\u2019s why there are so many sushi dish names that start with \u201cToro\u201d. The most laissez-faire of these is Toro salmon. In this case the definition of Toro is ignored in an attempt to promote sales. Just as bad is Toro katsuo (pronounced \u201cToro-gatsuo\u201d in Japanese). Katsuo is born in the warm southern seas. When it reaches … Continue reading What is Toro Katsuo (Torogatsuo)?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,75],"tags":[14,32,4,139],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sushiuniversity.jp\/sushiblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2408"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sushiuniversity.jp\/sushiblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sushiuniversity.jp\/sushiblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sushiuniversity.jp\/sushiblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sushiuniversity.jp\/sushiblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2408"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/sushiuniversity.jp\/sushiblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2408\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6936,"href":"https:\/\/sushiuniversity.jp\/sushiblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2408\/revisions\/6936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sushiuniversity.jp\/sushiblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sushiuniversity.jp\/sushiblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sushiuniversity.jp\/sushiblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}