Hajime Yasui's eyes lit up as he pulled seaweed that looks like a large squid out of a fish tank, likening its potential to that of an up-and-coming baseball player.
Yasui, a specialist in marine plants, has been grappling with a type of seaweed called "gagome kombu" ever since he encountered it on the beach of Hakodate, Hokkaido, 30 years ago while he was a student in the department of fisheries science at Hokkaido University.
In the course of his research, Yasui confirmed around 2002 that the kelp is rich in fucoidan, a sulfated polysaccharide said to be a natural anticancer agent. He also found that the seaweed possesses a large amount of alginic acid, which can lower hyperlipemia.