Seaweed Harvesting and Fisherman Lunch Tour

An exciting local experience in early spring!
Wakame seaweed, a kind of kelp, is a popular ingredient in miso soup and many other traditional Japanese dishes. The thin, green, and satiny species has long been cultivated in the Ise-Shima region, where seedlings are placed in the sea in fall and left to grow firm and flavorful in the cold winter waters. Harvest takes place the following spring, between mid-January and the end of March.
That’s also the time of year when we offer this tasty tour, on which you get to learn the ins and outs of wakame cultivation and savor the real thing fresh out of the water.
You’ll ride a fishing boat to a seaweed farm, where a local fisherman will show you the ropes of wakame harvesting. Once you’ve mastered cutting kelp with a small knife and collected enough kelp for a meal, return to shore and share your seaweed harvest with the fishermen.
Munching on the seasonal seafood, you can feel good about your day’s work, too. Proceeds from this tour help sustain Toba’s wakame farms, which in turn protect the planet by absorbing carbon dioxide from the air and produce oxygen that nourishes the marine ecosystem.

• Learn about seaweed farming in Toba
• Ride a boat with fishermen to a seaweed farm
• Harvesting seaweed from the boat. A kind fisherman will teach you how to cut seaweed using a small knife.
• Let’s eat the seaweed we caught together with the fishermen. Let’s experience their style!