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Sanriku Fukkō NP, Iwate
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Tanohata’s sappa boats are working fishing skiffs, not sightseeing craft. Their shallow draft lets fishers reach sea-urchin and abalone grounds through reef passages and sea caves too tight for larger boats.
In Tanohata’s summer uni fishery, crews peer through a hakomegane viewing box and use long-handled tools. The catch is gathered in a 5–7 a.m. window, then served fresh in local sea-urchin rice bowls.
At a relative’s urging—the relative was then village mayor—fisherman Shigeyuki Kamimura began carrying visitors in his own sappa boat in 2000. The tour grew from about 350 riders in 2004 to 6,100 in 2014.
The 2011 tsunami swept away 6 of the 8 sappa boats. The 2 survivors and 2 used boats purchased with help from Aomori’s Iwaya Fishery Cooperative restarted the rides on July 29, 2011.
After the 1933 tsunami, fishers rebuilt Tsukuehama’s banya work huts with old house timber and local wood, using communal labor called yui-tori. The huts stored gear, hosted repairs and sometimes gave crews a place to sleep.
Tanohata’s dialect calls fishers and shore-work experts ハンモウド (hanmōdo, “people of the beach”); skilled forest workers have the parallel name ヤンモウド (yanmōdo). These words praise local know-how, not just occupations.
Sappa-boat pioneer Shigeyuki Kamimura says he wasn’t confident at customer service and considered himself poor at conversation. He learned to guide by joining study sessions and talking with passengers.
