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Hidakasanmyaku Erimo Tokachi NP, Hokkaido
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In Erimo, a designated fisher checks the day’s weather and sea before the boats go out. On a harvest morning, a siren sounds at about 4:30 a.m.—and the fleet launches together.
Off Erimo’s Utabe coast, fishers use a long hooked pole to pull kelp from rocky reefs by hand. One trip takes about 30–40 minutes, and boats may shuttle back and forth 4–6 times in a day.
Freshly harvested kelp is spread by hand on gravel drying grounds and sun-dried the same day. Erimo’s park ranger describes families pitching in—because sea and weather decide when the work can happen.
Locals cut small pieces of Hidaka kelp and fry them for a snack. The kelp is also soft enough to eat after it has made dashi, so the used strips can become tsukudani or kelp rolls.
Windblown soil from Erimo’s denuded hills clouded the sea and reduced kelp catches. In a restoration method begun in 1957, residents spread washed-up seaweed over seeded ground to help stop drifting sand and drying.
Hidaka’s regional history credits a 1860 experiment with helping kelp flourish: a fisheries contractor tied ropes to 100 rocks and sank them in a seabed short of natural rocky habitat. Kelp grew on the stones.
A Hidaka history register says that in 1818, a contractor named Wakasashōbei gathered kelp in the Mitsuishi fishery and called it Mitsuishi kombu. The name came to cover kelp from a much wider stretch of coast.
After low-quality exports hurt the kelp’s reputation, Mitsuishi producer Horomura Unpachi won a prize at a Sapporo exhibition in 1918 for his long-cut kelp. The Imperial Household bought it, too, according to Hidaka’s history register.
A study of historical Ainu illustrations and cultural records describes summer kelp gathering from small boats with long wooden poles. It also records that Ainu in Hidaka sun-dried kelp, ground it to powder and ate it.
Boat-based kelp harvesting is seasonal, but in Hidaka, people also gather kelp washed ashore by rough seas throughout the year. It’s a different kind of harvest from pulling fresh kelp off the reefs.
After drying, long-cut Hidaka kelp is trimmed to 105 cm. Many fishers use cutters they made themselves; then the kelp rests in a special tent in a process called anjō, which develops its dark color and aroma.
In 2020, Erimo accounted for 65.8% of the Hidaka-region harvest. The town’s kelp is wild, not farmed, and is traditionally dried by hand in the sun.
Kelp’s local life extends beyond the drying ground: a Shinhidaka food guide lists kombu-flavored soft serve served with grilled kelp instead of a spoon, as well as shochu made with Hidaka kelp.
