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Sanriku Fukkō NP, Aomori / Iwate / Miyagi
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In Hashikami, abalone-and-urchin soup called ichigo-ni takes its name from golden urchin that resembles a wild strawberry in milky, misty broth. Once everyday fisherfolk fare, it is now served at celebrations.
In 1890, Hirota fishers began scanning for abalone through a glass-bottomed box. A local history says catches rose so sharply that the new tool was temporarily banned in 1894.
In Hirono, the season’s top abalone fishers are ranked like sumo wrestlers, with East and West yokozuna titles. At the town’s 2025 awards, the East champion had held the rank 4 years running.
On northern Iwate’s Hirono coast, abalone divers are mostly men—a twist on the familiar image of women ama divers. Farther south, fishers often stay aboard and use a glass-bottomed viewer and long hook.
A 2015 account from Kamaishi’s Tōni area says the abalone opening was announced only the previous afternoon, after checking weather and visibility. Boats then waited for a shared 5:30 start to prevent risky races for spots.
Around Hachinohe and Hashikami, Aomori fishers gather urchins by diving, hooking them from boats while peering through a glass-bottomed box, or collecting them from shore at low tide. That last method is called sagashi.
Sanriku abalone once traveled far beyond local tables: dried abalone was one of the prized marine products shipped from Japan to Qing China during the Edo period, packed with other dried seafood in bundles called tawaramono.
In Iwate, sea urchin fishing peaks from May to August, while abalone fishing mainly follows autumn spawning, in November and December. They share the rocky shore, but not the fishing calendar.
An Iwate abalone must reach 9cm before it can be harvested, and takes more than 4 years to get there. The prefecture releases about 7.5 million young abalone annually to help sustain stocks.
Aomori’s Sanpachi urchin harvest doesn’t end at the landing: fishers and family members may shell the catch together, using sterilized seawater. The work even becomes a hands-on lesson for local schoolchildren.
Sanriku abalone hooks come in 11 patterns shaped to local fishers’ preferences. Getting a bend right can demand adjustments of just 1mm or less—a small but exacting piece of coastal blacksmithing.
In some Iwate fishing grounds, high urchin densities contribute to isoyake: rocky seabeds stripped of seaweed. Fisheries managers respond by managing urchin numbers and promoting the seaweed these animals depend on.
