---
title: Katsuura's fresh tuna
url: https://karigurashijourney.com/en/notes/katsuuras-fresh-tuna/
lang: en
journey: https://karigurashijourney.com/en/episodes/nachikatsuura/
---

# Katsuura's fresh tuna

A little of each town’s story　/　Nachikatsuura, Wakayama

With the Kuroshio current flowing offshore and a deeply indented coastline, Nachikatsuura is a fishing town with Japan's largest landings of fresh tuna. The people of Katsuura port are committed to longline fishing, and since the 1970s only longline boats have been admitted. The tuna is caught one fish at a time and shipped without freezing, which is why it is sold here as "fresh tuna." Many places in town serve tuna bowls, and there are even unstaffed tuna shops around the harbor.

## This moment in the journey: Katsuura port and the fresh-tuna market

And the taste of Nachikatsuura is tuna. Katsuura Fishing Port boasts the largest landings of fresh, never-frozen tuna in Japan. Inside the Katsuura Fishing Port Nigiwai Market, a whole tuna lay on ice, being cut into blocks and packed on the spot.

The shop's chalkboard read "The owner bids at the auction every morning" and "a tuna wholesaler's staff-meal bowl." No wonder so many places in this town serve tuna bowls.

![A whole fresh tuna lying on ice](https://karigurashijourney.com/img/nachikatsuura/s50-1200.jpg)
- Sources: https://www.pref.wakayama.lg.jp/prefg/000200/nagomi/w54/10_11/index.html

Read this scene in the full journey: https://karigurashijourney.com/en/episodes/nachikatsuura/