Meet the Maker: Senbei Lab

Mar 23, 2020by Julia LiMarzi

Senbei Lab

Established in 1966

Located in Saitama Prefecture

The Senbei Lab team. Founder Akinori Oshikubo is front, center-left.

Senbei Lab captured our heart with their adventurously flavored senbei. With their nearly 50 years of experience, Senbei Lab continues to make a wide variety of traditional and modern senbei in their family-owned factory. The company began in the wake of World War II, with Japan still feeling the effects of the war. Founder Akinori Oshikubo thought entering the food industry by opening a senbei shop would be a good way to have reliable access to rice and other foods at a time when food was still expensive.

The shop began as a rice cracker wholesaler in 1966,

but switched to making their own rice crackers just a few years later. Since then they’ve been committed to balancing tradition and innovation in their products. Their senbei mixes caught our eye with their fun seasonal shapes and flavors that make every bite a delight.

As a way of honoring the traditions behind senbei, the Founder, Akinori, makes dango daily, by hand. Senbei and dango both start their production the same way and share the same simple base ingredients: rice flour and water. Dango is a difficult product to make by hand, so not many people do so anymore. For Senbei Lab it’s a reminder to approach each day with a respect for their product and the customers who have come to love it.

Of Senbei Labs employees, 10 are blood relatives, making this truly a family business. The success of the business is the success of the family, and the shared responsibility inspires them to work hard together, creating delicious products that bring people joy. Enjoy one of their more unique mixes in this month’s box, the Ajimai Senbei, and try more of their snacks on our site!

Handmaking dango is a reminder to approach each day with a respect for their product and the customers who have come to love it