The akamoku (Sargassum horneri) is brown algae of the family Paragonidae. In recent years, it has been featured in the media and attracted attention nationwide as a new foodstuff, but it is seaweed that has been eaten only in some areas before. In this study, we conducted a questionnaire survey on the recognition of Akamoku in Yamaguchi Prefecture as an example of an area without the culture of eating Akamoku. In Survey 1, the University of Nutrition Alumni provided Akamoku as one of the luncheon menus, and distributed a questionnaire to 53 participants (mainly dietitian). In Survey 2, a questionnaire was distributed to 102 visitors to the roadside station Senza-Kitchen in Nagato City, Yamaguchi Prefecture. In Survey 1, the attributes of female respondents accounted for 83% of the respondents, and the residential area accounted for 79% in Yamaguchi Prefecture, and the age group was in the order of 30s, 50s, and 60s. Only 81% of the respondents were aware of Akamoku, of which only 43% had ever eaten. More than 90% of the respondents rated Akamoku as "normal" or "good". In Survey 2, respondents were 65% female and 30% male and they were in their 40s to 70s. About half lived in Yamaguchi prefecture and about half lived outside the prefecture. The 63% of the participants were aware of Akamoku, half of whom were aware of it via television. The 69% of those who knew Akamoku had ever eaten Akamoku. In each of the surveys, "information on functionality" and "information on usage (recipe)" were most required as necessary information. Akamoku has been widely recognized due to its attention through the media. However, in Yamaguchi Prefecture, eating experience was less than that of other seaweeds, and it had not been used on a daily basis at home. In the future, it was considered necessary to disseminate information on the use and functionality of Akamoku in order to establish it as a foodstuff.
